May 15, 2014 Uncategorized

Perspectives

©May 15th, 2014

By Vijaya Sundaram

Doors are good,

But there are so few of them

Windows, on the other hand,

Draw me like a magnet.

 

Windows keep the wind out

Wind down our day,

When we shut them.

Windows tantalize,

Holding out a view

A promise of something,

Which, if we chose, we could

Climb out, fly out,

And claim.

 

Looking out, we see dogs run,

Children play, cars rush on,

Stray bags on aircurrents.

 

We see flowers unfold petals,

And birds unfurl wings,

And our vision takes flight.

 

Or, perhaps, we don’t see.

Perhaps, we see blankness.

Where a brick wall faces our window.

 

We see a fire escape,

A bored pigeon, 

Pedestrian and dreary.

 

Or, maybe, schoolboys

Smoking pot, or drunks in

Stumbling stupor.

 

Perhaps, our windows trap

Pockets of madness,

Of sadness, of despair.

 

Perhaps our windows are

Simply painted on, faking

A word that doesn’t exist.

 

But doors, now.

Ah, doors are good.

 

Hinging on promises, symbols,

Giving us sweet metaphors,

Making portals, pathways

Into other worlds, they flash

Glimpses of secrets which swirl

Into other more mysterious ones,

Perhaps to another, darker,

Gnarlier, older universe.

 

Or, perhaps they give

Us an out, a means to escape,

Even if for a little.

 

Every doorway has its

Secret Mezuzah, its blessings

Keeping out danger,

Locking in peace.

 

But what if the danger

Were within?

Would the mezuzah be

A Möbius loop?

 

If I had my way,

I’d have my door close

To my window, and

Make one work as well

As the other.

 

It’s all a matter

Of perceptions, perspectives

Of a frame, after all.

 

That which is framed

Is good, named, tamed.

 

And then, when we step out,

The world, dense and hungry,

Advances, intent, angry,

Rears its massive head, and

Swallows us whole.

Tags: #Original Poetry, Doors and windows, Frames, perceptions, Perspectives, Worlds