By Sanithya Jayakumar
On the banks of a river, I gave my thoughts a rest...
Little did they know, I awaited a test...
Surrounded by sacred chants, a little lamp came floating...
On the palms of dried leaves, rested a wick frail yet doting...
Embraced by flowers, each petal graced a tear...
Answering my curiosity, I saw a pyre burning near...
I thought this lamp was an ode to the end...
Or is it the beginning? A thought to defend...
And then my mind laid eyes on the lamp swimming...
Amidst a tug of war of tides, its flame still brimming...
Braiding its waves, the tides build a rope...
One end of reality and the other of hope...
Aching goodbyes contested God's greeting embrace...
An immortal soul against a perishing face...
The lamp was indeed a sign that the goodbyes were complete...
Marked the end of rituals and the material world's defeat...
But all I had eyes for, was the river that kept flowing...
Giggling at how my anticipation kept growing...
Extinguished the fire of pain and quenched the thirst of mortality...
Since when did a quiet river answer questions about reality?
And as the tides teased the lamp out of sight...
I guess I knew who won the cosmic fight...