Joy

The blackened stage appeared timeless
Like a long yawning moonless night
Darkness stretched out pervasively
When all that needed concealment
Was safely out of sight 
From a carbon-arc spotlight 
There shone a beam dazzlingly bright
Seeing the stage as revealed
The waiting audience clapped and screamed
And before the roar could fade 
The masked magician stepped inside
The white-hot spot
The clattering din rose
And then shrank
To a dot

Almost hushed 
Almost focused
Under the looming sepia sheet
The pleasure-hunting folk 
Looked out for joy…
Through the shimmering white hole
With mathematical elegance
As if miming an exotic dance
And chanting unfamiliar words of far-away lands
The conjurer swayed his crafty hands
Sprinkling the air with maya sparkles 
There was nothing but clockwork motion
Interrupted by spectacular apparitions
Was that magic or expansive aberrations?
The gazing public
Under the spell of music and light
Spoon-fed on rich doses of delight
Swallowed it all in a lump
And slowly let their muscles slump
Into a bemused shaking jelly heap
Gradually provoking   
First boredom 
Then sleep

"That's not very deep"
Thought poets 
Fighting off their own sleep
As they got keen
To uncover 
The unseen
Becoming witnesses to their deep blues
Poets searched diligently for clues
To the enchantment of joy
They turned away from the illusion of light
And refused the grotesque servings of delight
Surprised, sleepy folk took a poke
At 'deprived' poets' plight
Said, "That's not very bright"
But poets pursued their inner fight
For, though not sure, it seemed right

Poets sat poised in restless peace
Facing darkness for ages
They acted with seeming self neglect
Like ungroomed Hindu sages
Awake, there and aware
Despite a blank motionless stare
Poets played alchemy with their juices
Denying all they had ever been told
They had set out to make their own gold
Away from the glare of light
Little at a time
With each breath
Poets accrued insight 
Into all – self, darkness and light
Joy was in the breath
In pleasure, sorrow, life and death
That was joy
That was all
And all was that


© Jitendra Khanna 2006