Arrested Eyesight: Three poems by Vasundhara Parashar
Photo: Karan Madhok
Poetry by Vasundhara Parashar: ‘I used to know my conscience, I used to see the world, / But now I read, Byron, Browning, and Burns, / Only to find myself lying on kitchen floors.’
Metamorphosis
What I bear in my arrested eyesight
is a distinguished blush;
seconded by a discrete grin.
Where daunting proximity ignites a
scintillating spark of art;
Just as my hands have taken to poetry.
For the winds, the lights, the stars, the moon,
that were for me, are now for him.
Instead of using cups, sons, and blood,
Ovid should have used, rings, lovers, and roses,
Then he might empathize with Shakespeare
For his Sylvia.
I used to know my conscience, I used to see the world,
But now I read, Byron, Browning, and Burns,
Only to find myself lying on kitchen floors.
*
Zephyr
O’ fragile, full of might,
Don’t loath my leaves, and let me write.
Mix with moss, flow through me,
Nay, world! Let me flee.
This scented psithurism,
This wanton plea,
These dancing trees in a rhythm,
These deceitful droplets on trees.
Oh, but any moment now,
the blob might drop,
Leaving its leaf
lonesome, loathsome, and low
Oh there!
The leaf is me.
For, amidst cement
my mind is sand,
Petrichor enters my mind as I stand,
Quick! hand me your reins,
Let us fly
Make me count the numberless skies.
*
A Palleted Glance
I see you wearing maroon,
Not walking for the wants of your will,
Smiling below your eyes.
Pretending to know the reason
for your head held high,
Effortless, some may call it.
I speak with your deceiving eyes,
Oh, to know their pain;
of you not giving them what they desire.
Let me lift the burden your lashes bear,
For only then, my lips will not tremble.
But I know the burdens you bear,
And for that, I may let myself
sway with your flow.
And just like every other day of reading
your breaths like a book,
I still want more of your maroon.
***
Vasundhara Parashar is a creative writer who is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in English at Delhi University, India. Her writings have been published in PoemsIndia and Childo Education Research and Development Foundation. You can find her on Instagram: @vasundhara___.
