Jan 4, 2020 Uncategorized
Nostra Culpa
©January 4th, 2020
By Vijaya Sundaram
©January 4th, 2020
By Vijaya Sundaram
Out of the shadows, emerges
Your face, dark and radiant
Full of night, full of light.
You look through the window,
And your heart lurches.
Your face, dark and radiant
Full of night, full of light.
You look through the window,
And your heart lurches.
Now, here, beautiful, calm:
The air full of mist-rain,
And traffic flowing along
The veins of a city, singing
An urban song, leaving trails
Of that which destroys.
The air full of mist-rain,
And traffic flowing along
The veins of a city, singing
An urban song, leaving trails
Of that which destroys.
The dog sleeps, curled on
Freshly made sheets, daughter
Singing softly to herself in her room,
Though the lights are out,
Husband sleeping quietly after
A long day, and trip to his mother,
Who, suffering from dementia,
Dreams of yesterdays, all alone,
In another town, another time.
Freshly made sheets, daughter
Singing softly to herself in her room,
Though the lights are out,
Husband sleeping quietly after
A long day, and trip to his mother,
Who, suffering from dementia,
Dreams of yesterdays, all alone,
In another town, another time.
Elsewhere, burns a fire
Singeing the fur of creatures
Who cry and cry, and flee
With flames dogging them,
And ancient forests exhale
Their last Dream-Time song.
Singeing the fur of creatures
Who cry and cry, and flee
With flames dogging them,
And ancient forests exhale
Their last Dream-Time song.
Elsewhere, a Prime Minister
Flees the mocking and the rage
Of those on whom he’s turned his back.
Elsewhere, people flee homes
Getting sucked into infernos,
Flees the mocking and the rage
Of those on whom he’s turned his back.
Elsewhere, people flee homes
Getting sucked into infernos,
And seek an almost-forgiving ocean.
Elsewhere, a continent is on fire,
The youngest of them all, the first
To die, while the others wait in line,
Birds, animals, fish, plants crisping,
Curling in pain, blackening in death,
While humans face away, stricken.
The youngest of them all, the first
To die, while the others wait in line,
Birds, animals, fish, plants crisping,
Curling in pain, blackening in death,
While humans face away, stricken.
What have we done?
Should we just turn ourselves in?
How? Where? And to whom?
Should we just turn ourselves in?
How? Where? And to whom?
Nostra culpa.
Ignósce nóbis,
Libera nos ab
Igne inférni,
Dona nobis pacem,
Terra Mater.
You say these words, then
Turn your face away
Till the light retreats.
Turn your face away
Till the light retreats.
Pull yourself into the night,
Fall into oblivion.
It is all you can do.
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Fall into oblivion.
It is all you can do.
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