By Lindsey Overturf
Preface: This is an ekphrasis poem written in response to Tagore's Gitanjali #59. In case you have not read much of this form of poetry before, an ekphrasis poem is something created to reflect, describe, or interact with another piece of art. Since arriving in Kolkata five weeks ago, seeing how Tagore's thought and writings are threaded into the heartbeat of Kolkata has been a delight. In response to #59 I have woven Tagore's words throughout my poem, they are written in gold and italicized.
I left my heart in a thousand places.
Somewhere between hello and its opposite
Flipping that coin again
And again
In this golden light that dances upon the leaves
Fading now in our golden hour
Roots formed deep
Only to tear from tender soil.
A goodbye is its own burial
Standing silent at a funeral you hold for yourself
As memories pass to shadows.
Yes, I know
This passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead
Whispers of a wind blowing
Woven in a place I have yet to see
Where further rivers flow
Sending these idle clouds sailing across the sky
Someday let’s meet upstream
But here I stand on the shore
The waves that gently wash my feet
A reminder of all that was before
Our crossing of path and channels
Now rolling in different directions
But an ache refracted
By the lighthouse of you
The drops
of moments received
a face turned to the storm
Calling through clouds of days I have yet to meet
Over old paths still left for us to share
threads of gold to hold us
a coming dawn
Home is ahead
Can’t you see it?
This is thy message to my heart
Spoken in a thousand tongues
your voice alongside me adding its new note
to a symphony of faces
pressed in leaves and pages unturned
Unsaid words dried out I carry too
A long road is left back to you
But if every step has led us here
I know this is nothing but thy love
And as the morning light has flooded my eyes to see
Pieces of my heart gathered near
Written O beloved a longing plea
Glinting from caverns far below
Your tears are stalactites
Crystalized pain melting slow
Now meeting the day’s rising height
Side by side with you I may meet thy face
That is bent from above
As thy eyes look down on my eyes
Formed not shattered
A trail we will find
And my heart has touched thy feet
To walk in the rhythm of today with yours.
These pieces I will share
For they led me back to you.
Someday you can carry them too.
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