Tuesday 22 July 2014

 


TIME / CLOCKS




I could taste time’s softness

In the juicy golden mangoes

I could smell time’s fragrance

In the bosom of my mother

And how can I ever forget

That velvet touch of time

In the palm of my childhood friends

I saw time’s soft smile

In my father’s face

When he took that snap

Of his first born going to school

For the first time

Time’s melodious tune

In the voice of music teacher

Still rings and echoes

I always thought time

As slow, tender, loving, friendly, colorful and musical

Until those two unforgiving

Hands of clock made this world go

Topsy turvy, rough and harsh

Dragging time in an incredible pace

To a barren land

To an unfamiliar home

To this impossible world

 Smeared with blood

Where fragmented shelters

Drive everyone out in the street

Where children are fed with bombs

Where only two languages are spoken

Fear and tears

Where the Paradise is lost forever

Mutated Hollowmen have seized this Earth

They will not stop until

Our living place is the dead land

Until time is burned

And becomes mere ash

 

The words in red are from T.S. Eliot’s Hollowmen

 

Posted for d’Verse Pub Poetics where the prompt is Time / Clocks


25 comments:

  1. A very strong & diverse take on the prompt, Sumana; starting out so gently, sweeting, treacle dripping off nice safe warm images & memories; then BAM, just as I was think, "very lovely, but that's not the world I live in", you shift the focus, the POV out of the halcyon & into the horrible, where millions struggle as we write. Like your line /where children are fed with bombs/. How are things there living in tomorrow anyway?

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  2. How sad the turn of fate from carefree, happy & musical life to one of Paradise lost, our living place, a dead land ~ I specially like the powerful closing lines ~

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  3. Very effective contrast between the sweet memories and today's harsh reality. I cannot stand to look at Facebook and see so much hatred and misunderstanding at the moment. I hope we soon revert to using languages that are not fear and tears.

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  4. Sumana, the contrast between the beginning of the poem and the conclusion is so very stunning - something the reader does not expect - something that takes the reader by surprise. As the poem concludes, we all come to understand how time has changed for many...as it becomes the ash of Paradise lost! Powerful writing, Sumana.

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  5. No did not expect the turn of events in your poem but I know in the blink of an eye many peoples' lives are turned upside down. You illustrate that contrast very effectively, Sunama. Excellent.

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  6. Your first line pulled me in - so soft and lovely - and then the shocking turn - very effective and affecting -

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  7. Excellent work--childhood can have so many happy memories, and then we grow up and become more aware of the cruelties and horrors around us. Nicely done, very moving piece!

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  8. oh heck... i love how you start so gentle with time's softness and those beautiful memories and then the break to the wars... the fear and tear language... love how the emotions come across and the contrast... well done

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  9. The second part of your poem felt like a virtual bomb in my heart. You shocked me with truth, from which I cannot escape. Life is not always sweet, especially for those in the midst of wars. But in a sense we all are warring, because we all suffer even if only a few are victimized. Good writing here.

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  10. Very strong, powerful writing.. started out as sweet, nostalgic, straight from the heart writing.. and ended on an intense note... wow...

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  11. Powerful message. The world is going awry. We need more poets and artists of all disciplines to civilise the world.

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  12. Wow! I loved this. The contrast is so effective and, sadly, so true. Beautiful write!

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  13. From the innocence and safety of childhood to today, "where the Paradise is lost forever". This is moving, Sumana. So sad the world we inhabit as children and the one we live in now, with our eyes open.

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  14. Wow! Such a contrast between the innocence and beauty of childhood and the harsh reality of today. Great imagery, Sumana. Very effective.

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  15. Love the exploration of time through the senses and the harsh reality of where we find ourselves today.

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  16. You have combined some beautiful images with some stark and grotesque ones. So well done and you make such a valid point Sumana. So very well done.

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  17. Time can be tarnished...from the beauty of childhood to the rough reality that we can face in this day and age. A powerful write Sumana!

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  18. a very intense end...I liked the quite peaceful start, which lulls the reader as it did the writer and then turns things upside down in a similar fashion to the feelings expressed. nicely done.

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  19. very intense and very true. sad but true if i may say. so much to take from time and yet we choose shades of grey. yes! we choose

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  20. Wonderfully handled change of tone - from the very soft velvety lines to the strongest tones at the end. Very well done indeed.

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  21. Tis sad when paradise is lost.. a thought provoking write..

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  22. What a contrast, "Where only two languages are spoken
    Fear and tears" are to the beginning of this poem.

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  23. loved the softness of time..and how have shows how callous it is now..very powerful poem:)

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  24. Time... Friendly except when the selfish and hateful choose to abuse that time.

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  25. love the opening part on seeing time in the people of your family...and experiencing it through them...that is very cool...interesting turn toward the end as well....

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