Wouldn’t you like to know, the kind of dreams we could have
been — beneath the depths of the sea; cherished hopes drifting
away, swallowed by the relentless tide of time, as we strain to
glimpse the farthest reaches of eternity?

As tears cascade like a territorial downpour, your mind unravels,
as you lose the mind to all your ideas. You yearn for a peace that
brings you to your knees, a surrender so profound it echoes in
the silence.

With your eyes shut tight, you invite your heart to unveil its truths,
allowing your innermost feelings to emerge, unshackled and raw.
Yet here I stand, feeling unworthy of love’s embrace, grappling
with the remnants of healing from the scars it has left behind.

I’m trapped in a dream that's impaired – both lovely and blind.
An uncanny Eden, where beauty and confinement intertwine
in a haunting embrace.

she was salt
the mariners ally
flew before the mast of every big ship
treading carefully
caressing pennants , the flowing reds and pinks
and sometimes when the skies are blue
and the winds are shifting
carrying the scents of jasmine from a faraway land
that she could never visit ,
She would sit next to the figurehead
viewing the world before ,
the chaos , the love , the dance of disarray , the sad and happy tears
of everyone who ever lived .

She was salt
an escaped soul from the briny bed rocks that clinged to the memories of the deep
she was creation before creation
she was art before art
she was destruction before destruction,
Or so the many fables painted her as ...

And she fell asleep
a sleep so deep ,
neither light nor time reached the depths of the slumber ,
neither music nor poetry pierced the dormant armour ,
A sleep so deep , she forgot how  to breathe , to continue
to remember memories of the past
A rest so profound that creation ceased to exist
until the Night

The Girl was a nuisance
to the townspeople  , to the unsupple ideas that were music to most
She had plain air , unembellished eyes
A salty smell blew everytime she walked across the citadel
"a witch , she could be "
"chanting the unknown"
"preaches the unwanted "
"a curse "
"a wretched sorceress"
The whispers gained favours
found new strength from lands unknown .
"The Girl should Die "
And so it went

One Faithful night
when the air was warm and the moon was bright
Their voices grew strong and their hatred gained might
"The Girl was The Sacrifice
A means to end this Game of mice
Her blood shall Cleanse
Her flesh shall feed
A fated offering to the gods We plead "
the words of the leader rang loud and clear
And the confused soul heeded the Seer
Dressed in White with  Her hair bleeding to the night
The Girl stood , Dried salty tattoos coating her face
Wide eyed and trembling , She stood before the Seas
with the Seer , the sharp knives and the gravel behind her
She walked , hands tied , bloodied
To the seas , Wailing a silent song

THE CRY went pass the waters through time and light
through past and future
through the cries of up and below
Reaching the Deep

I love the way the Sea comes rolling in
Towards me
And all I can do is lower my arms
Helplessly
To gather these cherubic expressions
Toddlers and young ones so full
Of spontaneity
And I take them to my breast
Grateful for the unfailing love of their greetings
They know me
I am them, of them, for them
Born on this land of golden sand & sun
Naura of the ancient,
Kannur in present times
And here I am with these watery rings
Waltzing around me
In great camaraderie
Tempting to go deeper, further in
To feel the water boulders slam
The shores shoulder
And the wet soggy sand
Hauled like sheets of golden veils
With each ebb of the waves
Caving into large hideouts
Known only to my curling toes
I love the way the Sea comes
Wave after wave elbowing their way
Towards me
Cornering me from all sides
They are so full of glee
Like pups of Portugues water dogs
They want to play games of frisbee
With me thrown about in the air
Riding the highs to the sky
As though on a giant trampoline
Full of exuberance of the teens
Wave after wave wearing high on their crowns
curly filigreed milky white veils
Finally they settle down
To shy bridal countenance
All the while twirling about
In coquettish stance
From the corner of my eyes
I see them drawing near
Echoing the turbulence inside
And I stretch my arms to gather
the varying cadence of tiny wavelets
Ushering in whispered nothing's
Beneath the crash of the giants
At the threshold of this blessed land
-----
Seema Kj
©SeemaKJayaraman
2 Jun 2022
Kannur Payyambalam

<Frothy waves coated the slippery rock
Seagulls gulled annoying caws
A ship had wrecked upon the beach>  

There he sat
Dazed and confused
Trying to grasp his surroundings
“Thou art alive,” he said to himself.
“Not for long,” replied the sea.
Fear told him to run
Reason told him to listen
Experience forced him to say
“It is true that thou hast lived many a year,
Ye foul beast,
Many a day hast thou slaved upon thine waves.
Just look upon my hands and ye shall see
The scars that time and ye have left upon me.”
He waved his hands in violent gesture
Caulouses cracking in dehydration
Pain a parasitic friend
The sea casually mocking him
“Oh, but I know of thee.
I have looked after thee from afar for many a sun,
And moons have bled and stars have fallen
That cannot give number to the times I held thee afloat
When otherwise thou wouldst have sunk into my depths.”
He laughed and his body ached
A grin twisted his wrinkled facade
Gazing around at the irony of the god
He said,
“Yet here thou sittest, surrounded by thee on all sides
Accursed by thy blasted brethren baking thee alive
And thine water be poison that I cannot drink
Parched with a thirst thou canst not sate
If thou be so benevolent,
Why must thee be so prevalent?”
At this a rogue wave rushed high
A not-so-veiled threat flattening him in proscinesis
“Little man, knowest thou not of my scope?
Thou hast sailed me across the constellations,
Beyond Terra and Firma
Riding Pegasus to Orion
With Polaris as thy guide
Across the entirety of my body have I graced thee
With nigh a swell to impede thee.”
He paused in recollection
Remembering hard days and nights
Pulling his oaken oars with little resistance
To his taskmasters chiming rhythmic timing
“Row… row… row”
A tear rolled down his face to join the sea
“Then why hast thou stranded me here,
Alone to die,
Ostracized from thine protective *****?
What sin hast relegated me to divine flotsam,
Cast away and destined to be forgotten?”
With a splash that could be translated as a laugh
The sea sighed as the tide began to recede
“We all have our limits, little man.
Mine is the earth that bars my current
And thine the body which rides it.
It seems we have both reached our ends
Mine the land
And thine thy life.
It is time that we say goodbye and part ways
Mine to my depths
And thine to thy death.”
With a wash he looked down
Only now realising the ghostly cast of his weathered skin
Slowly he stood and with a few tentative steps
Descended into the God who had taken his life
In exchange for his freedom  

<Frothy waves coated the slippery rock
Seagulls gulled annoying caws
A ship had wrecked upon the beach>

There were no survivors

As tears pour out relentlessly,
a cold ember of desperation
fills my aching lungs,
desperate for a fraction of warmth
that the once lit flame provided.

The water pulls me in deeper,
scattering the pathetic remnants
of the depths of devotion,
that ache for you.

And as sunken eyes
akin to the bequeathed stars above,
call out your name through the
torments veiled by moonlit waters,

The silent sea cradles
what now are just chronicles,
of my drowning woe.