Facing west –
on Marine Drive,
outstretched arms supporting
giant robes; you stand
there Oh Chaitanya,
keeping an eye on the horizon.
Stoically.
Waiting.
The prophecy of a new phenomena
to come true.
Unlike home –
no meandering river banks,
no wandering Bengal tigers,
no monsoon rain to wash your feet,
only white wet snow
to chill your soul.
In the dark –
you look drowned
in the flood of neon lights
as raindrops mimic fireflies,
exposing your stone heart
devoid of palpitation.
Can you see Oh Chaitanya,
the hurdles in your way?
I think you know
what I strive to say.
Colossus.
More than words can say.
You preach –
a stone commandment
a new Catechism:
Opaque yet apparent.
Banal yet complex.
Shallow or deep, give or keep,
dark or light, sorrow or delight,
fight of flight,
from a single cell to a mound of earth
is the journey of life.
Oh Chaitanya wake up,
your stone smile baffles
your followers
and it looks inappropriate.
Ashok Bhargava is President of Writers International Network (WIN) of Canada. WIN meets once a month at Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre, Vancouver. For further information he can be reached at [email protected]
