The Forest of Names

Fire

Raging through the forest of names

Given to one and to another

And many unnamed relations

Igniting a sense of light;

Fire

Without warning licks across borders

Rubbing your jammed up vertebrae

For unlimited pain;

Fire

Scorching the vast expanse of land

As far as one can see

Losing focus in the process…

And love?

Love seeps in slowly like new leaves

Growing out of ash and smoke

In the forest.

Love

Wears out borders imperceptibly

Until there is none to hinder

Its advent.

Love

Escapes the heat and storm of the

Vast ocean of dry land that

Deter your steps.

Love

Is obliquely worked in

Through the fabric of the forest

And gently placed in the vault

And finely submerged in the huge land.

first published in Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2018