Ode to poetry

Ode to poetry
by azly rahman

poetry
you have never come to me
telling me what a terse verse can be
an iambic pentameter looks like
what a metaphor and a simile might do to me
or how a free verse might free my soul

... you are an occasional visitor to the dungeon of my soul
deep inside the forest of long ago
where those paintings on the cave lie
blurry they may seem
but a story they once told

you have not taught me anything
o'poetry
except to wake me up from my slumber
of a thousand memories i have etched
onto the paintings
on that wall
as my screams of consciousness
only a mute of a distant life could hear

o'poetry
you once told me that these are words that will show the world
what you and i can recite
to the sound of the beginning of the world
torn apart
and next
come together
and torn apart
and next
come together
like the dance of shiva
while visnhu smiles
in this cosmic sound of fury
they tell stories through the ages
for the prince of light to read
as a story the universe knew

o'poetry
you have not told me anything
except to whisper into me
words like spring eternal they flow
bathing me with the daily verses of love and hate
of loss and belongingness
of what is there
and what is no longer there
of what i have seen
and will forever see

o'poetry
i have often asked you to leave
the abode of my desire
so that i may
remain close to my nature
of a nature nobody knew
of a nature close to you
where the breath of life
and the whispers of love
is one and constantly renewed

o'poetry
i shall leave you knocking at my door
in the harsh winter of my frozen sun
so that you may wonder
what have become of the moon shining bright
burning itself till there is no more light
to shine the hearts
of those still whispering words of love
of this world that
sings the song of love gone mad
in a divine comedy
of an unfinished plot

o' poetry
leave in peace
till my heart calls thee
for a long serenade
at the edge of eternity