Unheard Melodies by Emmenay (icecream ebook reader TXT) 📖

AL STEWART:

"It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before
And juggled away the night for the same old crowd
These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor
As here once again they strut and they fret their hour
I see those half-familiar faces in the second row
Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes
But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know
It's like a chord that rings and never dies
For infinity..."

Emmenay:

It seems as though you and I have been here,
Upon this stage before,
Laughing and whiling away our hours,
Caring the least about our unseen fears
And having doffed our masks and shoes,
We chose to disappear
Embarked on a flight through stars...
And yet, while we were on our cosmic way,
We landed here again...
With everything locked inside our heads,
The secrets of pain and gain...
The past, the present and the future threads:
How I seek each of all those moments gone,
Trying to figure out how
And when I happened to lose almost all,
When I and my loved one were not alone -
Not for once did life stall...
Why this space confounds me now,
How did I drift here again,
Is a question that keeps raking inside,
I see that I have nowhere to go,
Sans her - not even a mile...
At nights I find that all my fears,
Enshroud me, not letting go...
Where's the hoor* who smiled and said,
"Fear naught, for I with my sway,
Will share all that this life offers,
Will be with you wherever you go..."
Ah, how I miss her at each step I take,
Her laughter and her grace...
And even though time has connived with fate
And has distanced her somewhere,
I shan't give up...not for a day,
My quest, to relocate her,
A promise I have made with myself,
And I care not come what may...
Well, why doesn't someone, with harp and song,
Refill the gaping void,
Recreating that which seems no more -
- The colours in all their shades?
Tell me, why can't I, like Khidr*,
Turn the tables on Hades;
And do what no one, they say, can do,
Has been able to do before...
Why not free all that's trapped beyond,
For a thousand years and more...
Why not revel with death again,
And mock this sad encore?
Ah! That I had not fallen here,
To float between life and death,
To suffer all of Karma's pangs:
In body, mind and soul;
And keep searching for an escape route,
From this vast, unending whole...
Where's heaven, will the Green Guide* tell me please,
Or at least give me a clue...
To the Eden that I once shared with her,
Asking for nothing more...
A song she sang upon this stage before,
May it resound yet again,
And bring back all that I have lost,
My soul's few desires,
The raptures of a blissful realm,
For ever, for all the while -
In infinity...

*Hoor: Arabic and Urdu meaning Houri. 2) Khidr or Khizr: The only man who is believed to have sipped the Water Of Life. * Green Guide -- the Arabic description of Khidr. Composed on September 17, after listening for the umpteenth time, "Upon this stage before", a song by one of my favourite English singers, Al Stewart.

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(30) DELINKI NG?

The past is a long-gone affair,
Why do memories cloud me now?
There seems to be no end to the pain,
That clutches the heart:
For what cause should I suffer,
The stabs of swift darts,
Tearing me apart,
Being made to drink the hemlock of grief,
Day in and day out,
Dying and living,
To die again and again!
*******

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(31) DESTINY

Summertime,
hot winds blow,
no respite.
Water smiles,
from the sea,
have to earn.
Stuffy rooms,
daily grind,
of this life.
Tea, coffee,
soft-drinks, chips,
served and shared with hollow smiles.
Sunny front,
lights computers,
work, work, work...
Dim-lit halls,
power fails,
Who to blame?
Soon it is,
time to go,
where is home?
I sit still,
Heavy heartbeats thud inside,
where should I unwind, relax?
So many suns,
set for me,
why am I tired?
Dusk creeps in,
invites me,
to join friends.
Tragedy!
Chains bind me,
to a place called house.
Unfulfilled,
is my wish,
for a loving home.
Wife she says,
only mine,
words and deeds hurt me.
No comfort,
no coffee,
just questions...
"Why so late?
You are dodging me?"
Sons and daughter look afraid.
Dark evenings,
And rebukes,
Await me...
This is called a house,
I longed for a home,
where hearts beat with warmth.
This is called a flat,
Luxurious yet,
Can I call it a home?
This is fate,
Destiny,
Let's pretend!
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(32) DISGUISED DAYBREAK

Wake up and see this desolate world of mine,
How the disguised daybreak exposes my decline!
With closed eyes I am whiling away this night,
Hoping you come in my dream and see how I pine.
Why are you bent upon destroying your abode?
Does not your love live in this broken heart of mine?
Wake up and see this desolate world of mine,
How the disguised daybreak exposes my decline!
****

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(33) DIVINE STATE

More than often, in my imagination,
My beloved comes with moonbeams in her hair,
With dancing eyes and jocund lips,
And I forget my state of damnation.
Her gait is sprightly and her ways smooth,
It is as if God's mercy has descended,
She sings me songs in melodious silence,
And I forget whatever pains I have, insooth!
She is most beauteous in her entrancing form,
Delightful and sublime her ethereal stance,
Her presence is angelic and all my mind's demons,
Vanish and I fear not any dreadful storm.
My childhood schoolmate, my very first love,
She comes from God's vast and unseen realm,
To cheer me up and fill me with music,
So that I sink not into Hellish disdain.
I thank my Lord Almighty for sending her,
To ease a state of nerve-shattering living,
My paradise is made real in this temporal world,
And I drink deep from the divine cup she offers.
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(34) WHERE TO FROM HERE
AND IN SKY’S CARESS

The last remnants of the "Bang" keep floating,
And memories still cling on like ghouls;
In the twilight of these fleeting days
My life keeps yearning for its goals.
Glassy skyscrapers gaze at me,
Like eyes, staring from lifeless forms,
Devoid of feeling all reflections,
Hover like moths on misty morns.
Time stretches like an endless trap,
Confined to a glass-like dome I glow,
My very existence mocks me,
There is no scope for the soul to grow.
Deserted roads or traversed streets,
I hear echoes of a bygone beat.
From many worlds have I wandered here,
Not knowing when this circle will complete.
Is there peace in nothingness?
Is that point the end of all tests,
The ultimate edge of the frontier,
The point of tranquility and rest?

IN SKY’S CARESS

From here my friend and fellow poet, free to be
Let us escape echoes of the "bang" and soar.
The done is done, we can not dwell on the past.
The sweet Hope, Divine in the balance, we implore.

Desire is a floating dream, let's catch its star
And sprinkle its remaining light with tenderness.
We will strip away the ghostly robes and bare
Sorrowful souls, across the sea, in sky's caress.

Below the twilight, harsh city lights will gleam,
Close your eyes but to the heaven's paradise.
Listen to a song of wind, join the dance of clouds.
Keep goodly goals and dreams within your eyes.

Time is not an essence, it has no relativity,
Forget penciled schedules, unmark all the dates.
You and I erase all clocks and calendars of man.
Let's travel on my friend, no fear of being late

We 'll stand the test beyond all thought of time.
We will write upon the earth with cosmic ink and quill.
We will gently force the hand of peace to write
And call upon the voice of angels of free.
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In Sky's Caress is a response by Deborah Russell

(35) DURESS

With each passing day,
I see some more fools,
Crossing my path of life,
Pretending to be wise.
Chaos is increasing,
Global warming, pollution,
Beautiful nature,
Being destroyed steadily.
I see young men and women,
Seeking a reason to live on,
I see the downtrodden,
Struggling to carry on.
I also see the rich ones,
Busy in adding more,
To their swelled-up bank accounts,
Without compunction.
I witness right and wrong,
Truth and falsehood,
Gearing up, as always,
For an epic battle.
And then I ponder,
On what Emily* said,
That mankind is,
Servile, insincere.
I look at myself,
In the mirror,
Trying to make out if,
I am just like others.
My heart and soul,
Revolt at this age,
It is not easy,
To compromise and be.
Where is the woman,
Who promised happiness,
Who said, "Let's fly high,
In sky's caress"?
Deborah*, the poetess,
Artist, sculptor,
Why is she unaware,
Of my soul's duress?
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(36) ELEGY WRITTEN ON AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON

How sadly sighs the autumn wind,
Who will come now that spring has gone,
The dull sunlight's heart isn't in,
The way it was on an April morn'.
Untold gloom hovers over all,
Nature's creations big and small,
A lonely barren feeling hums,
The moments as they heavily crawl.
Tall trees, how they weep their grief,
The falling leaves show how they heave,
Like maidens robbed of their ornaments,
By the cruel hands of an unseen thief.
Desolate looks wear all the paths,
The pond is there but none to bath';
The shadow pines for the soul to come,
And spread the joy of its mock wrath.
How a tear gives birth to a thousand smiles:
Who cares to dote on the autumn's brown?
All are moved by those tragic sighs,
Few trace the traumas of her disguised styles!
The world consoles the weeping face,
Looks not through the laughing one,
The caress of the blooming rose is felt,
Not the pain of its shielding thorns!
Most have their desire blown off to bits,
Some get what they do not dream for;
While some, like the twirling moths,
Consume themselves in their passion's flame.
Why is all this, why are things so;
How the sad part of me longs to know,
When joy is born but out of grief,
Why doesn't autumn like spring glow!
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**

(37) EMBER OF MEMORY-1

Deborah Russell (D) begins stanzas, Emmenay (E) replies:

D
I am caught in the waves of a rushing tide
Where does one run with no where to hide?

E
Like you once said, in this world of lust and greed,
Who wants love without selfish need?

D
Im still chasing rainbows and dreams
And love is never of the heart it seems.

E
So rightly put, I know how you feel
The repeated stabs of bloodthirsty steel
The lusty denizens of this lousy land
Wait like vultures above desert sand.

D
The waves rush and gnawl at my heel
Grasp for my heart and cause me to reel
Is it love that makes my soul tremble and shake
Or is it what mends and binds the heart that breaks?

E
Even my feet are cold in knee deep water