Standing Under an Open Sky

Dr Sudhansu Dash

The sky is welded together without a joint

Holding the hearts through long periods of separation

Making us tolerant of each other’s convictions

Gathered from many years

Exchanging the words lazily.

Each of us follows a silence

The day ends with the  brilliant stillness of an unselfish belief

Under a benign and unstrained light of the short day

That comes and departs forever.

Faces turn foreign to one another

In the mystery of the unknown

Perhaps they are men enough

To face the darkness in the heart of a wild man.

The strength arising from the weakness of the other

The green flames crossing each other

We are fated to hear the inconclusive experience

In the deepening night upon the sleepless river

To look for hours and lose the self

In stitching the words with downcast eyes

In the map of a blank space.