Saturday, January 26, 2008

Skin

The bell-boy stepped into my rented room

of elbow-brushed windows and I asked him,

Why does this hotel

smell of sunlight

so soon?

He pointed to a painting.

He said he knew.


So the rumours

of our sweat still remain,

clinging to the silvered frame

hung on this wall,

and the canvas feels like

a second skin,

Skin, I said, that was caught

on the corner of your bed,

old lover.

Skin, I repeated, that was

no longer fresh,

and I surely left it behind.


Yes,

I have seen your nakedness before,

and today once more

I feel it in these disturbed colours,

but who stands hidden

in the corner of the painting

possibly reciting songs from memory

to the red sparse tree, and making

the world believe that he

loves and exists

like the poor light

filtering in and drawing his shadow.


(He cannot be you,

because you believed in night

and miracles, only,

and your tinted glasses changed

the way you looked

at the world and me.)


And while I lean through

the frame, trying to

paralyse the night sky,

letting down my hair

like a shadow

of some fairytale,

for you,

my grey lover,

asking you to climb out over the edge

your smell stalks away into

the chalk-laden streets

far, far away from this painting

while your old whisper rings,

Girl, you said, make me violet,

like the sky in your pocket

and I will be your poem in death.


Then the bell-boy murmured

that he knew all about poetry

and he granted me

deliverance, suddenly.

I’ll take you, he said, to Bluebeard’s Room

if only you could pledge

to set free the demon of scents.

But I could only promise him

my name.


He must have agreed for soon

I let his steps roam,

as freely as his voice

till I entered the room

of blueprints and bones.

Silently,

the sea seeped in through the floor,

you crept in too, dusting chalk dust

from your clothes.

And I knew you wanted a reward

for your presence.

As the music ceased in your boundary

of blue walls, I lie down again

for I have transgressed,

and my slashed wrist must feed

the dried blood on your sheets.


Lover, I said, you must know

my skin is scarred now

and I cannot leave it behind.

14 comments:

The Mad Girl said...

Hmmm. very very nice.:) I am incapable of writing long comments. But I tell you this is a beautiful poem.

WritingsForLife said...

oh such a beautiful poem :)
I am glad you wrote something... after a long time though :)
Cheers!

Anush said...

u know? even snakes shed skins

What's In A Name ? said...

The Magic has touched as it should have.

Bravo!

Bone said...

what can i say, i loved this the moment i saw it. i'm not allowed to comment on the magazine, so. just so you know :)

Anoo. said...

@mad girl, raaji, what's in a name:
Thank you so much! I try being prolific- but...alas.

@crazybugga:
Yes, but try understanding the human context etc. :P

@quietlittleshything: thank you for publishing this, and letting me know that you liked it. :D

will be able to scribble soon i hope... once i get my computer back!!!

Jadis said...

:)
I'll kill you Anu. I seriously will. You give me a complex. Hmmph...:x
Jokes apart, this made a marvy read.Keep it up.

Unknown said...

words really fall short to describe how beautiful it is..!

What's In A Name ? said...

1 week and no posts. ???

Anoo. said...

I seldom write these days :)
maybe once or twice a month... i'm not at all prolific you see!

Anonymous said...

You write beautifully...

What's In A Name ? said...

we are waitingggggggg..... :)

moumita said...

wow!excellent...you have magic in ur hands...beautiful poem loved it!
every time u write u leave me spellbound...

Anonymous said...

lovely words...you have crafted it beautifully!