One Grain Amongst the Storm

A Mélange of memoirs, fiction, short stories, verses, book reviews and uncorked angst.

Years in the Ash

on by 40 Comments
The scribbler image

The scribbler image

The old year shrivels like a dog-eared calendar in the ash,
Days fuse into dust, hope into hungry tinder, in the ash.

For a decade of scribbling my heart out on Internet,
The façade has imploded in all its splendour in the ash.

The nights tend to crawl with the frozen limbs of the timer,
The dervish dance of memories swirl and philander in the ash.

They have kindled in that attic a bonfire of our residue,
There’s no treasure to be salvaged but slanders in the ash.

Assassins of the kingdom have been prowling for my cranium
For winnowing the minstrels from the pretenders in the ash.

Uma you have cackled, wild with the revellers all night,
The icicles of tears glowed and burned to cinders in the ash.

40 comments

  4. just read first two lines and thought it felt like Rumi’s and then came…..dervish dance…..when memories are in charge that philosophical, spiritual feel is bound to reflect…

    1. You have left me giddy with that invocation, Namita. As a decade comes to a close at this blog, I wonder how and what I have fluttered about in vain, all these years?

    2. Thanks Vicki. The cycle of ash, soil and blades of grass goes on.

      I saw that figurine in an outlet at Mumbai airport terminal. Since the piece was priced at about $ 500, the seller was kind enough to let met just photograph it.

  6. A decade and year end is a great time to huddle around the bonfire of recollections.
    Wish you and your family a great year ahead. And many many more.

  7. उमा शंकर
    जिते रहो, खुश रहो, लिखते रहो
    हुमें पढणे का आनंद देते रहो
    नये वर्ष कि शुभ कामनायेन

    1. आप के शुभाशीष के लिए सहस्र धन्यवाद ! नववर्ष की स्वर्णिम ऊषा आप के पथ को ज्योतिर्मय करे । 🌄

  8. That’s a lovely Ghazal, Uma. Congrats on completing a decade of blogging. Having been with you through a good part of your decade journey, I know exactly what you are talking about.

    1. I received the notification from WordPress a few months back. It’s been a chequered journey, not without the times that have made me wonder if all that furore has been worth it (a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?). But I am sure you know the feeling, being a trusted fellow-traveller. Thanks for your unwavering support down the years.

  9. I have often said of thoughts and memories, that in my head they are ‘all over the place’. Considering the dervish, I think in this we are alike, and mine do spin in much the same way.
    I appreciate all your visits and always-thoughtful and thought-provoking comments.

    1. That is undeniably true. The dervish dance of thoughts and memories will go on as long as we breath. Or shall we breath as long as the dervish dance of thoughts and memories will go on?

  10. As a Russian author Michael Bulgakov said in one of his books, Manuscripts don’t burn. Thank you for the decade of making this world a better place. Happy 2018, Happy Blogging!

      1. There’s always something good to read when I visit! By the way, the “hope is the thing with feathers…” quotation was the tag for my Blue Finch Press when I had it going. Nice how things we like keep coming around again…

    1. And as the afternoon mellows, the passage of years is gathering speed. More photographs, more sadness, or as the Portuguese would say, more saudade.

      1. There’s certainly very few of them in the shadow of this volcano. I think your ghazals get better each one… just when I think they’ve reached an apex, you put out another,

  15. A decade? I have only witnessed a small portion of this accomplishment but enough to delight in your talent and your imagery. Wishing you a peaceful, prosperous and creative year ahead, Uma.

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