denouement.osi

' iris '


watches the writing on the wall
in the gray color of the clouds
the scribbled flashes of lightning
make a veiled threat to his hutment

dyslexic eyes falter with words
unable to read the warning
in plottings of the thunderbolt
and conspiring skies scarcely lit

with the rain gone a rainbow shines
he gazes in fascination
at the seven wonderful shades
of do re mi fa sol la ti ..

/original/ z.g.

[ Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by problems with reading, spelling, writing, speaking, or listening.
Recent studies have shown that incorporating music in learning can help to increase language skills in children with dyslexia / iris ~ greek goddess of the rainbow ]

( ED - line 3 : the flashes of lightning scribble
line 4 : 'nother veiled threat to his hutment
line 8 : and conspiracies in the sky )

dropped.osi

( to all the folks of my hometown ~ bhopal )

' in cold blood '

i hear my voice speak to myself, is that being alive
an ordinary question that segues into the dark
i think of the cows mooing sorrowfully, a bird crying
the dogs wailing and running like mad into a blind street

it was the dead of night and the eyes of the people burnt
the wind , a farrago of rumors , shrieks split the silence
one old man wanted to run , was shackled by arthritis
an ailing wife could not stop coughing , till her lungs burst

two wheel-chairs, a daughter on one , a son on the other
their scared mom and dad , helpless , could not run , could do nothing
the MIC , methyl isocyanate,was in the air
a factory's gas chamber of death was knocking the door *

like hiroshima memories , a tree sprouts yellow leaves
unborn children , still , pay with birth-disorders , their pulse drops
carbide , with a new name , rationalizes a drop in profits
and the victims they die slowly , if that's being alive ..

/original/ z.g.

[ union carbide usa , maker of eveready cells , in the december of 1984 dropped a shroud of death on the unsuspecting citizens of bhopal - infamous as - the bhopal gas tragedy ..

web ref :

methyl isocyanate (MIC)

On December 3rd, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal , India , were gassed to death

Remedial measures were then taken at Union Carbide's identical MIC plant in West Virginia, USA, but not in Bhopal. December 2-3, 1984: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/toxic-hotspots/bhopal-timeline- 63k -

u can click here - to reach the said page

the plant released 42 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500000 people to toxic gases. ./ the ecology has been hit - the disaster carries forward into f2 , f3 / the company takes a new 'avatar ' ]

[ ED - ' a factory had opened its gas chamber of death ' * / sprouts replaces grows ]

tolerance .osi

ny ny

so the clouds of dank thoughts
compressed inside her head
get her steaming again
like a pressure cooker

but she whistles it out
tolerates , lets it go
the vaporous notions
they cook the grains of life

and the controlled burning
leads up to 'nother meal
willing her to survive
the rising systolic

of 42nd street ..

/ original / z.g.

what's it like .osi

( the pain is a - ) phantom


what's it like to be like him

he had viewed pornography
and had read erotica
but also read the bible
and heard the bhagwad gita

he thought of zarathustra
and also of yom kippur
of socrates and qur'an
and existentialism

he knew they knew everything
the thought, yearning and belief
of the poetry of words
the words where he searched for life

and he wondered how they knew
for he was still wondering
'bout him who lived in his mind
someone so much like himself

someone human as you are ..

/original/z.g.

tactile .osi

~ ' her gaze in braille ' ..





i keep groping for words

a tangy nothingness
this palpable ether
it leaves language behind
but works out the meanings

a ripple of rainbows
reverberates with scent
it is only her gaze
that has touched my insides

with no baggage of words ..

/original/z.g.