Poems by Ashok Niyogi
Parable
1
Chinese pomegranate
is flame redpebbles find
total delightthe wind
is absolutely conscious
as it was
before it birthed
the flame red flower
beneath which
the pebble lies
2
this road walks up
to a suspended moonshe will swoon
in swirling mist
about her feetthe owl will meet
its real prey
rotate its head
and pretend to be gayin the blindness
of sunlight
3
the poet looks for
clarity in yellow smoghe reckons
today is the day
he will find
a subterranean connect
between sulphur springs
and pterodactyl wingsthe lice will bite
skin that is watertightangels will alight
from horse drawn planes
4
a fossil tree
will aggressively save
his laptop screenwhile ephemeral spirits
trick or treat
on Halloween
and soldiers ambush
very small childrenjoy is manifest
on the cherry tree
our facial skin
is rhino hide
bees fight shyand ghosts multiply
in Shanghai
5
he that slaughters
does not slay
he that is slain
is unnecessarily vainflame colored flowers
fallen between pebbles
are in immense painthrough the sunlight
fall large drops of rain
Scene
Ying and Yang
embrace prematurely
beneath the apple tree
on this mountain
it is early fall
pitted apple blossoms
choke with the misteven if you insist
obstinate grass will resist
the onslaught of fallen fruit
rock hard with frostin this humid cold
the worm has hundreds
of arthritic feet
retreat is laboredbeneath the bifocals
of a wind eroded god
Story With An Uncertain Ending
winded by the hard labor
of being an unmitigated god continuously
for a century
he leans against the leafy banyan treean anonymous archer
has shot a miscellaneous arrow
through his divinity
that which has come to pass
was ordained to beremoved from passion
above virtue and sin
enamored by no one
besotted with nothing
always blind now bleeding
he cannot but winwhat final commandment then
for other immortals
who are eternally condemned
to walk the straight and narrow path
or incur his dying wrath
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