a listless dying

dying is an art, believe me.
it can be passive, it can be quiet.
it can be national news, it can be anonymous.
it can be routine and in doses,
for all you know, it may be cheerful and not morbid.

you also have everyday dying,
where a lil' part of you ceases in various forms.
a small part of you gets bored and corroded
another part of your thoughts gets used to things and patterns,
habits and likewise.

like today, something died
the fairytale reality just took a U-turn
sensibilities and attitudes change
in the name of accommodation
many become martyrs.

my belief shook a lil, my fears a lil exposed
close ones go and those living live on
you choke on your own tears
a lil worried to share what i feel
lest, i am judged

so, dying becomes easy and
frowning cowardly.
you die in a crowd or on a hill top
you die alone, and misunderstood
like i care to explain why i die.

3 comments:

Amol Tiwari said...

thats a wonderful piece.. definitely strikes a chord..

Cheers!
Am.
PS: been a long time.. Sorry for absconding!

Shailza Sood Dasgupta said...

Profound!

Moulding defragmentation said...

Reminded me of sylvia plath who said 'dying is an art...I do it exceptionally well' (Lady Lazarus).

I know what you mean about dying everyday, dying in small measures. Circumstances and our responses to them can either kill or nurture our dreams, aspirations, hopes.

I am not so sure about choosing to die being necessarily a cowardly step. It can certainly be an easier way out, like mercy killing. But is that necessarily cowardly? I don't know.

Perhaps I am taking 'dying' too literally. At the heart of your poem is the notion of events that injure, of betrayals, of abandonment by loved ones, of loved ones changing beyond recognition, the 'dying' of relationships...

At the level of structure, I am not very sure of the last line. I think the poem sounds better without the last line.

sayonara!