Love Poem: Prabahan Shakya
Not someplace we used to sit,
We'd barely talk in the rare dry summers
And if the grass itself were rough,
What eloquence was the world to expect from us?
So we'd mock the lovers who'd make cows out of clouds
The ones so desperate about creating memories they'd forget.
And each time we'd smell irony
we'd look at each other
And pretend- Naah.
Not some song we used to hum
Would ridicule me in mixtapes I now listen to
With Whiskey While Whining-
Winter has been too harsh this year.
For souvenirs of love are heartbreaking when lovers are apart.
What use a seashell without the sound of the sea?
Yet my love,
I never quite learned to pat my back in pity and hence
Not sometime in the month of April,
Just before the Bordoisila hits,
I shall throw open the kitchen windows,
And make myself some Nameri tea.
So when it rains on your porch,
You shall know some part of it was mine.
We'd barely talk in the rare dry summers
And if the grass itself were rough,
What eloquence was the world to expect from us?
So we'd mock the lovers who'd make cows out of clouds
The ones so desperate about creating memories they'd forget.
And each time we'd smell irony
we'd look at each other
And pretend- Naah.
Not some song we used to hum
Would ridicule me in mixtapes I now listen to
With Whiskey While Whining-
Winter has been too harsh this year.
For souvenirs of love are heartbreaking when lovers are apart.
What use a seashell without the sound of the sea?
Yet my love,
I never quite learned to pat my back in pity and hence
Not sometime in the month of April,
Just before the Bordoisila hits,
I shall throw open the kitchen windows,
And make myself some Nameri tea.
So when it rains on your porch,
You shall know some part of it was mine.
Hello Prabahan!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing poem! The core idea of "romance" is beautifully speculated with both amorous/lackadaisical strand on one hand, and noetic/rational streak on the other hand. Yet the poem is not either of these, the expression 'not', which has been used in all of the 3 stanzas, has proven to be the linchpin of the entire poem.
Excellent!
Cheers!
Jesus Loves You!
Borhiya. Bhal lagise dei. "bordoisila", " nameri"...good one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAha thanks friend. Means a lot. The last two lines are actually a play on the butterfly effect, something that sir was mentioning in his first class on ghazals
DeleteHey Prabahan! This is a good poem. Many lines really do make all the sense in the world, like the 4th and 5th lines and the 14th and 15th ones etc. I see the deliberate use of 'not' at the start of each stanza (except the couplet) and while I get that it probably establishes a running theme, I don't understand the basic meaning that emerges from each of these three lines. Could you please explain?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful remark. As far as your query in concerned, the use of 'not' to begin each verse derives from the following line in my poem-
Delete"For souvenirs of love are heartbreaking when lovers are apart."
Every memory of the lover inevitably invokes a sense of sadness and melancholia, hence the author wishes to be in a comfortable denial. Hence the 'not's. Hope it answers the query.