A Poem By Prof. Tom C. Thomas - Department of English, SH College, Thevara
What are those bundles, shrouded and sealed?
Where are they being trucked to
In horrid numbers
Sans the meed of a petal or tear?
And a sombre silence accompanies them
As the sole requiem.
Streets, the flooded streams of human greed,
Seem to ready themselves for another breed
Hugs, handshakes and kisses
Get stamped as sinister anathema
Steeples, domes and idols
Turn turgid tombstones
Stretching begging bowls to the murky ether
For some metaphysical clemency.
Currency gets cast off lonely casements
To the spectral lanes where
Mongrels piss on them.
Combined forces of Mars and Mammon
Recoil in dread from an invisible foe
Masts of the Armada that man clung to
Shed their sails
And expose their hollow interiors.
Shed their sails
And expose their hollow interiors.
Faustus, thou hath bartered
The real for the unreal
The palpable for the virtual.
With an abysmal instinct for the artificial
You have squandered your natural grace
And greedily devoured the forbidden flesh.
Be the babe you used to be,
Inoculate yourself with vital innocence
For, the hour of peripeteia
In the uncanny drama of anthropocene
Seems to be imminent.
The sole succour rests in the
Anagnorisis:
Nature is the name that suits you best
Everything else is pain and pest.
"Nature is the name that suits you best, every this else is pain and pest"- classic lines
ReplyDeleteThe poem makes us realize the true nature of this tragedy. This is infact a shift of fortune from good to bad. Delightful poem and a very beautiful impact it makes.
ReplyDeleteGood sense is the parent of good writing. Very deep, on which I would have to ponder more to grasp the thoughts.. This piece of writing evoked the reflection on "anagnorisis"; towards anything granted in life- nature, emotions,conscience and the list goes on. Great lines as always Sir.
ReplyDeleteGood sense is the parent of good writing. Very deep, on which I would have to ponder more to grasp the thoughts.. This piece of writing evoked the reflection on "anagnorisis"; towards anything granted in life- nature, emotions,conscience and the list goes on. Great lines as always Sir.
ReplyDeleteI was reminded of your lecture on the essay ''Art'' by Emerson
ReplyDeleteThis poem on the invisible foe and the woebegone condition it has caused have been described in a beautifully tragic manner. The helplessness of mankind in the face of these unforeseen change of circumstances have been presented accurately. Contrasting the cliched usage of terms like "quarantine" and "lockdown", the darkest depths of the issue has been conveyed, with a simultaneous enhancement of the literary beauty of the poem.
ReplyDeleteA much needed clarion call to return to innocence to nature!
ReplyDeleteSir, you never failed to invoke a sense of awe through your words. This piece of work also adds to your merit, as the call to return to nature points to the call to return to basic essence of human life. Words hold your emotion making this an exceptional poem. It becomes a thumping beat of heart proving once again that your poems touch the soul.
ReplyDeleteglad to see what had been advocated like people like Fukuoka (Back to Nature) and Carson (Silent Spring) and Rio-summit (1992) being echoed in a poignant poetic manner. I hope that sense awakens in us, in our decisions of day to day life. Thank you, Tom. Prasant CMI
ReplyDeleteIndeed a hymn!....
ReplyDeleteThe versicles, in fact picturizing the ‘cold hard realities’ that ‘we are digging a hole for ourselves’.
Each word carries a lot…..yelling that our inventiveness creates a profound modification…hitherto trivial in essence. While we seem to forget that ‘others’ are also 'instinctized' to modify the ecosystem…vital in nature, for survival matters.
How proud we are…shaping and moulding a civilization exclusive…and rendering a terrible ‘thandav’ on and on…utterly failing to recall that the giant civilization created, cannot afford to a tiny quiver of mother earth.
Hats off to you sir….for bringing out the real threat to Life on Earth and I assume that this threat will remain until the humanity realizes ‘we are our worst enemies’.
Great lines that herald the imminent change
ReplyDeleteThank you Tom mash!
ReplyDeleteReally long since a well versed poem. Sometime in the past I had stopped reading poetry amidst my waning interest in reading itself. This poem of yours provokes me to make a u-turn. May be.. eh!
Comments are all superb and apt,to be precise, much more than I intended to convey myself. So, I proclaim, yes, it's all that. Could make a really good turn; I did.
Hats off.....
Words from your heart.
ReplyDeleteGreat lines sir.
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ReplyDeleteAs we are safely tucked in our abodes, this classic piece of work indeed takes us through the murky lanes of this tragedy. As I was reading this, I remembered Shakespeare's take on life, 'All the world's a stage, all the men and women merely players.' As we stand perplexed in the play, at this tragic turn of events- the perepetetia, we got a chance to reflect at this conflicting epochs to recallibrate the play settings. The times when the mankind amassed wealth, plundered the nature, pawned integrity oblivious to the virtue, expressed epheremeral affection, they never realized that they were summoning the devil that would take their own soul. Through these times, humanity must learn to cast away their love for materialistic life and learn to abide by nature's commands, or the price to be paid would be quarantining ones happiness and their well-being. These times are a remainder for the humanity to reconsider their actions, warning them about the consequences that they will have to face if they keep plundering nature and her resources. Through these lines, the author confront with the reality at which the humanity have been turning a blind-eye until now.
ReplyDeleteGreat sir!
Dear Sir, as I am writing this comment, human beings around the world are collapsing from a deadly infection.The false sense of security that pervaded our lives has dissipated and the ephemerality that characterises our existence has made itself known. The poem with its ominous tone captures the mood of the world perfectly. Although it is a period of alarm and mourning, it is also a time for revisiting and revising the values that we have come to uphold. Hopefully, the tunnel of suffering would end and the light of healing at its end would guide our thoughts and actions appropriately.
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