THE OCEAN AND THE SHORE

The sun goes down

In the quicksand of violence

But is born again

In the ocean of love

 (How it heaves!)

Does the ocean

Belong to the shore?

Does sand persist

In its journey

Over water

Or does it remain

At its sides and below?

Does the tea cup

Make it at the poles

Does it rise again

After the wash?

In the worldliness of the world

A bad sign

Can it be that

The sun shines despite all odds?

The earth is clad as it is

Water ponders about the sky

The heat dips its head

In the snow

Light and darkness-

How they persist!

The wind turns its coat

And sun casts out its loneliness

Purified form

Brought out through the rain and the clouds

The slender stalk of rain

Has it not grown thick?

Is the world matter or idea-

Does it matter one way or other

In the seventh night of the desolate

There shall come redemption breaking the knots and seals

Something remains, emerges

Something goes under

Only the living can keep accounts for the dead.

Will the morning not arrive

The noontide and the moonwalk

Are they not true?

Does not the cricket chirp

Winding the clock of darkness into the night

The racket tailed drongo

Calls out in many voices to the winged world

Returning thus to others

Something of what it had taken.

The sound of water

Reaches out to the dry lands

As the train moves on

On its rails through life.