Monday, November 30, 2009

The Terror of Absence

The presence of absence
permeating the silence
turning oppressive
becoming tangible
in the aftermath

of the brief disruption
of its humdrum reign,
by invasive Presence
fun and frolic in tow.

As though it resents
the destabilising
of the peace of Limbo.

It wreaks vengeance
with the torture
of the deafening sound
of Silence.

10 comments:

Anjuli said...

I loved the opposites which actually went together!!! Really striking.

P. Venugopal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kochuthresiamma p .j said...

@ P Venugopal
Kozhakkata? what a tragedy! i went for ambrosia and see how high i've reached:-)
@ anjuli
thanks.

P. Venugopal said...

sorry, madam. i did not understand this poem in the first reading. with your permission i am deleting my earlier comment. i understood the terror only when i read it again today.

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

@ P Venugopal
need not have deleted or apologised, sir. i was only joking. honest.

P. Venugopal said...

I too had taken the comment only as a joke, madam. It was not the comment, but the 'failed stoic' that did it. I saw the article only this morning. Then I came back to this poem and only then I understood its meaning. Now you realise why I deleted it, don't you?
There is a problem with the blog. It is flat, not three dimensional like when we know one another. The truth struck me reading Matthew. He is superb.

Swatantra said...

Amazing!!

Balachandran V said...

Can't say I understood the poem. But the sense of absence and of silence is something I have enjoyed most, especially in the snow mountains I have been to. One regrets the return to the lower levels. Funny, 'oppressive silence' is a cliche' that I have not understood. I crave for silence, external and internal...

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

@ balachandran v
am not good at explainig what i try not to be open about:-)nevertheless shall try.
it's not as philosophical as u expect. very pedestrian sentiments: one gets used to the absence of a loved one, who comes back briefly, like a whirlwind of fun & laughter - and then leaves, making more acute that awareness of his/her absence.

Balachandran V said...

gotcha! :)