Tuesday 4 November 2014

Dead Man prays

source


Dead man wishes

For a body

Any color would do

Black, white, yellow, brown

Any hue

 

Dead man yearns

For a body

Any body would do

A man’s, woman’s or a eunuch’s

A body true

 

Dead man dreams

Of a body

Of any kind

Deaf, mute, blind

 

Dead man badly needs

A home

 

He has consciousness to keep

He will pray for a thousand years

He has sacrificed his sleep

 

 


Posted for Grace’s prompt @ d’Verse Poetics

28 comments:

  1. i wonder if he really would be happy in any body... it could turn out quite difficult for him as well..

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  2. funny how all our prejudices and our preferences change once we lose our body eh? intriguing perspective in this sumana

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  3. I think the dream of having any body could come.. the disgust might come later though.. not easy to float around without a bode.

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  4. "He has sacrificed his sleep"- That is a foreboding line for me and your words all in all remind me of old horror shows like Aahat, which had a more of creepy factor than horror. I could picture your dead man to be one of the ghosts in such serials.
    And then when I think of it, there is another side to your poem which is bound by the sentimentality attached with the dead and the dying.

    Anyhow, your words made me think a multitude of things.Great job. :-)

    -HA

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  5. It must be difficult to be dead and in search of a body & to pray for this for 1000 years. Life would be so different then. I wonder if he would forget his old life.

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  6. gone and wishing for a body--to be reborn in a way. Wonder if this ever really happens, ya never know. Makes me think of reincarnation.

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  7. I like the way you express the dead man's longing for a body. Your poem made me think of reincarnation and whether people who believe in it think that they will have a choice in the matter and will be able/allowed to choose the body who will next host their souls.

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  8. A thought provoking post....I would think we would like to have our own body back or be able to choose a body ~ Can any body be okay with us...????

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  9. He will pray for a thousand years...lovely, Sumana.

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  10. This is an intriguing response to the prompt. I imagine those who feel they left work unfinished might wish for a body and another chance to go back and do it right.

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  11. So true! I used to rue the fact that I seemed destined (by the family gene pool) to carry those few extra pounds through life. Now, in my sixties, having seen so many lovely slim friends pass away far before their time, my perspective has altered dramatically. Sadly, we live in a world hung up on superficiality - though, it does diminish with age.

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  12. no prejudice at some point... unfortunately it's after life... nice point of view

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  13. all the desires cropping up, guess when we have this life, we all should cherish what we have.

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  14. Yes. We learn to value all life when we have none left! Beautifully worded and sequenced. I must share it!

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  15. Such love of life, such desperation to come back - he must have had a really meaningful life.

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  16. Groovy piece. Love the last three lines.

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  17. i suppose the most horrible feeling of all is NO FEELING AT ALL..

    Worst than not having a body really...or even the worst pain that ever existed.. as one will yearn for that.. when NO FEELING AT ALL COMES.. AS ANYTHING IS better than nothing...

    and oh my goodness.. no goodness at all in that...

    is the paper thin existence of the reality of the dead man
    in life.. and YES..been there done it..

    and i guess there must be heaven in life.. as i knowNOW..

    as Hell.. real Human Hell.. as death in life..

    is truly possible.. i hope..
    for
    no one..
    but
    me..
    and that is what death in life teaches..

    the greatest love..

    of
    ALL.. of feeling

    anything
    @ALL
    aka
    GOD
    2..

    So smiles and have a LOVING DAY..

    friend.

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  18. oooh a dead man in search of a body, eerily good. love the last stanza.

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  19. Makes me consider how my body is my home and i must take care of it - while I have one.

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  20. we all want what we don't have, don't we - even the dead

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  21. So very Zen, cool, sad, thought provoking; for those of us who have developed disabilities over the years, who spend so much time coping & accommodating & letting go & find substitutes, it can be hard to own the (dis)ease. Somewhere in the cosmos we might be regarded as heroes, those who can take it, who, as entities chose to give ourselves difficulty as a bedmate; but regardless joy is still achievable, and poetry is a sanctuary.

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  22. Sounds as if your dead man has unfinished business to resolve before he can sleep. Interesting take on the prompt.

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  23. That's an interesting look at what a dead person might be thinking. I wonder whether he might be disappointed if he got one deaf/mute/blind or otherwise not so desirable. Sometimes when we get what we wish for, we wish we hadn't.

    janet

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  24. This makes me think of enjoying life and being content with what we are given. The dead man's longing for a body of any color, shape, or condition reminds me not to take my life for granted.

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  25. I love it, Sumana! Yes, there are great pleasures and satisfactions in inhabiting physical bodies! I particularly love your last verse, and above all the line, 'He has consciousness to keep.' If it wasn't that the two communities overlap and so many will have seen it already, I'd be begging to use this one for my 'I Wish I'd Written This' column at Poets United, it's so beautifully realised.

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  26. an interesting view ~

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