DISPATCHES

I heard them
dispensing
their fire sermons.
Just
some
weak words
they had
given up their days
for.
I had no business
there.
But I had
been there,
done that:
I pilloried
their brazen
tacks
and…..



the earth’s
baptism by fire
was staring at them.


It made heathens
of us all-
“civilization”
was another asterisk
on their torn maps
they had put
behind
the lavatories.

“FLIGHT” & “MONUMENTS”

FLIGHT

A flying nun
rests awhile.
When the afternoon
blinks,
the day’s rhapsody
lightens its timbre.

She comes down
from her cosmic nest then
to the humbler art
of stepping on that tall,
old lamp
and says,
“I am not a guest.
I am here
to stay
in this upper storey”

We look at her
and forget
our immediate
preoccupations.

**

Time haunts us,
with the sky
a keeper of our thoughts.

This bird
is a surveyor.
She keeps her dates
with us.
She will rest awhile
or for as long
as we live
to hear her song
before
moon dappled evenings.

Even on foggy days
and especially
shimmering nights,
we recall her pitch and sweet timbre.

**

She rests
awhile.
For it is always
chaos, otherwise,
always her time to get
away
from it all.

***



MONUMENTS

Beckon the shape of life
and
it offers us
monuments to remember.

Through the mists of time,
a clearing has emerged on concrete.
A crowd dispersed
when the very dust
cleared the way.

***

It is just the two of us
standing there
before the monument of life,
with the purple and
maroon hues
and the sky,
The speckle and splash
of evening lights,
like halos
spread across town.

From the mists of time,
a bird has now emerged.
The lark
sings here!!!

****

LIVE ARCS AND CLASSIC MOMENTS

LANA DEL REY, BILLIE EILISH SINGING “VIDEO GAMES” & “OCEAN EYES” at COACHELLA, 2024.

Music lovers always have to anticipate and manifest a moment like this one. So that when it actually transpires, the results are monumental.

At Coachella 2024, two singing pioneers joined their collective talents on stage to honour their breakout cultural moments in the post 2010s era, cementing the power of musical legacies that stemmed from youth and authentic artistic standards.

It was also not lost on us how Lana’s individual benchmark eventually paved the way for Billie to run towards greater success with her sedate, patient body of work. That moment where the latter sang the second verse to “Video Games” with grace and restraint here gave us cultural iconography to remember.






GOING HOME(LIVE AT WEMBLEY, 1985) by DIRE STRAITS & HANK MARVIN

The “Theme from Local Hero” is a cultural benchmark for guitarists and connoisseurs of the classic rock pantheon. Just recently, Mark Knopfler resurrected its eternal musical imprint with a celebrated roster of “guitar heroes” like Buddy Guy, Joan Jett, Slash, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading etc.

So this live arc from Wembley in the mid-’80s with Hank Marvin and an ensemble of gifted musicians is further proof of its omnipotence in the canon. There’s obviously a valid sense of joy when the theme hits its stride and becomes infectious.

All those qualities are here, with the gradual build-up leading to euphoric moments.






LEANN RIMES COVERING MARTY ROBBINS’ “DON’T WORRY” AT JUST EIGHT YEARS OF AGE, 1991

Handling a country standard such as Marty Robbins’ “Don’t Worry” with utter confidence and vocal expertise at just eight years of age, LeAnn Rimes has done us a great service by sharing this clip in its original form from way back in 1991.

If there was further evidence of her status as a prodigy who created Grammys history at just twelve and a half and is still in a league of her own with that golden voice, this is as sweet as it gets.





ALAN JACKSON SINGING “HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY” AT GEORGE JONES’ FUNERAL, 2022.

A country legend honours not just the memory of one of its many torchbearers’ signatures of singing and songwriting but also a life’s story tinged with wistful hope, melancholy and a profuse sense of love.

Hence, this classic tune is given all the existential and narrative meaning the original made us privy to with poignancy.



***

QUAKER OATS “YOU’VE GOT THIS” ADVERTISEMENT, 2024.

Directed by Charlotte Wells, the acclaimed director of the short TUESDAY (2015) and modern classic AFTERSUN(2022), this commercial for iconic brand Quaker Oats plays to her strengths of basing the content around fathers and children in one pithy capsule.

Full of empathy, the cycle of familial bonds affixed with the ritual of eating oats for breakfast covers lifetimes and generations, set to a rhythmic soundtrack.





***

All the clips are courtesy YouTube.

Katja Lang: Ekphrastic Writing Responses – The Ekphrastic Review

https://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/katja-lang-ekphrastic-writing-responses

I am very happy that my poem SNOWSTORMS has been published by the ever-prolific Ekphrastic Review.

Read it and share your thoughts.

  ***

SNOWSTORMS


Iron bars and grills,
mute sunlight
in winter huts
are like mildew;

there are the passing
signs of
snowstorms
that exempt us from
lodging bigger fears.

  ***

Though
hammer and nails
await commission,
only the lonely
hunger
for confidence
in this solitude,
confident
that the
mark on the estuary
will come.

   ***

Nature is
never hideous.

The farthest we come,
the more merciful
will be its
promotion.

Time
Tenderness

Imagination
are the bare essentials-
all survive here.

एक शनिवार की शाम/ A SATURDAY EVENING

एक शनिवार की शाम

ये वर्णमाला
हफ्तों की चुप्पी तोड़
उत्पन्न हुई है

कितने स्तब्ध हैं हम
की उस एक बिस्तर पर
अपने आप को संभाले
तुमने
रुके हुए ठूठो
से
निरंतर
छंद
और भौतिकता
को जिजीविषा दी

आज तुम
पुनरनिर्मित हुए हो,
तुम्हारी ये स्वछंद
लिपिका
तुम्हे
कई
इतवारो तक
ज़मीन पर
टिकाए रखेंगी

तुम कही नही
जाओगे
बिना इस गठरी के

    ***

A SATURDAY EVENING

This flow of alphabets
has broken
a weeks-long curfew.

We are astonished;
You,
confined to your
depressed spot
on the same bed,
have steadied yourself,
to conserve life
for verses
and philosophy.

They come haltlessly
from your subdued
elocution.

***

You have recreated
yourself today.
This arbitrary
script
will keep you
planted on earth
for several Sabbaths.

You will not leave
without
your bundle.

   ***

BONAFIDE COUNTRY TUNES AND A LONE DOVE’S MUSINGS

MAMMAS, DON’T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOYS by WILLIE NELSON

In just under three minutes, this classic songwriting feat gives us insights into the mind and heart of millions of cowboys who presently live and those who came before them. It’s akin to taking stock of generations of men.

Whether he’s singing it as a solo showcase or with his Highwaymen compatriots and Merle Haggard, Mr. Nelson’s words flank truth about the essence of independence and solitude that the country entails for its fabled inhabitants.

Putting them beyond the myths and legends, this is a sobering and utterly unforgettable portrait of individuality coexisting with social etiquettes. It’s bittersweet.



GRANDPA( TELL ME ‘BOUT THE GOOD OLD DAYS) by THE JUDDS

This is gentle, practical songwriting evincing the affectionate permanence of our elders’ infuence on our lives.

Mother-daughter duo Wynonna and Naomi Judd gives this a meta touch as the union of generations helps both women to absorb the lyrics and the sublime melody to design expert harmonies. It is a quest for comfort and shelter pitted against the alienating forces of the modern world.

Every time I listen to it and am soothed by its guitar strums, I go back to my maternal grandma’s unconditional love. The sense of loss becomes all the more poignant. The power of this song is that it is universally resonant.



WIDE OPEN SPACES by THE CHICKS

Championing gender equality with trademark fiddles and guitars, The Chicks arrive at the most distinct symbol of country music- one where the storytelling itself is a means of breaking chains of conformity and seeking freedom through one’s vocation.

A coming of age narrative delivered with exquisite ease, this one is also about a sense of generational pining and then achieving freedom to live a life of dignity, especially germane to young women. The greatest gift here is how in the final verses, the baton is passed from the previous era to the next to make one’s dreams living realities.



PARIS, TEXAS & HOUSTON IN TWO SECONDS by RY COODER

This dual instrument suite by Ry Cooder illuminates the many-hued journeys that define human lifetimes.

After watching Wim Wenders’ iconic PARIS, TEXAS(1984) where both themes permeate the stark and yet supremely compassionate tale of familial rediscovery, it has become one of my favourites. Without the use of a single word, the guitar gnarls and sways to the rhythms of transient solitary lives searching for an anchor.



A SONG FOR YOU by THE LUMINEERS

Wesley Schultz and his ever-sincere band mates give us goosebumps by the way they pay tribute to Willie Nelson on his 90th birthday honours.

A SONG FOR YOU, delivered here with beautiful piano notes, soothes our senses as Schultz lives each and every word with empathy to spare.

Live performances have a way of transforming artists’ repertoire as I’ve said before. This here constitutes five minutes of vocal brilliance that do complete justice to the lyrical journey of decades defining a lifetime.



COWBOYS ARE FREQUENCY SECRETLY FOND OF EACH OTHER by ORVILLE PECK & WILLIE NELSON

First it was Shania Twain on LEGENDS NEVER DIE. Now it’s the evergreen cowboy, Willie Nelson, himself as a duet partner. Which is grounds to confirm that Mr. Peck is not only on a creative roll but has sanctified his country bona-fides with each passing year.

The greatest aspect of this bonafide country number is that its rhythms and energy are in the traditional mould with a simple melody. Yet the manner in which it candidly acknowledges intragender bonds and subverts binaries with a wink and a grin is commendable.

Never has the word “queer” been used in the country canon as a normalising matter of fact before. Mr. Nelson’s role as an elderly statesman opening the gates for greater discourses beyond the binary is a historic feat here. Along with Peck, a veritable queer icon and profound artist, it also becomes generational.



***

ALL BY MYSELF by ERIC CARMEN

Chances are that like me, Celine Dion’s definitive interpretation of this song has already been a part of our lives for the longest time.

But going back to the long-form employment of empathetic vocals, piano notes and guitars on Eric Carmen’s original classic is a requisite for all listeners.

The “to be or not to be” dilemma here yields compelling results as the clash between being self-sufficient and sociability designs a tune for the ages.



***

All clips are courtesy YouTube.

CINEMA AND VERSE: A CANVAS OF EMOTIONS

Employing the verse form, yours truly disseminates a canvas of emotions, inspired by landmark cinematic works recently watched by him.

***


PARIS, TEXAS(1984)

Lone stars
leave
their predicaments
on the freeways.

Across
these state lines
and heatwaves,
phone booths
script tales
about
raggedy loners,
their choices
hanging like
sweat beads
on the brims
of their fedoras.

The desert palms
always sway
in them.



***

WINGS OF DESIRE(1987)

Empaths
falling
with golden
eves
and morrows,
You are Poetry
and the Confessional.

Let Berlin be.
It conserves its
biennale
for you.


***

ANATOMY OF A FALL(2023)

You are not a victim.
That’s what they believe
and say.

Till
frostbites
and
cold hearts
announce
themselves with
heavy mastheads.

The moral of the story
never really comes.
It always is
a strangers’ battleground
where
those crossing boundaries
butt in.

There
are
always
losers on the lam.




***

DUNE- PART 2(2024)

On the port of call,
a higher legend
seethes
and
raves
in the eye
of the Sun.

On mounds
of spices,
in pools
of cavernous
secrets,
Kings
consecrate
the second coming
of a desert hawk.

These sand dunes
have returned.
From the deep
into
the eye
of a storm.



***

AMERICAN FICTION(2023)

In the freedomland,
our words
fail us.

In this freedomland,
the paperbacks
and hardcovers
don’t aim
for the colour purple.

They sliver our skin
and put
garbled,
marbled words
in our mouth.

We all lose
our voices
in that conference
of extremes.

The books
are
sold out
and merely catered
at the clubs.

In this freedomland,
true poets
find
diminishing
returns.



***

VOYAGE OF TIME(2016)

The master has lifted his chords
and played the minor key.

The maestros have been bowed at
and
Time
has
assented.

Go with this voice.
It alerts this land
of mine
of its own
upstanding brilliance,
gathering itself languidly.



***

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION(1994)

My cell
is beyond
the open-air forks
and lifts.

It has been there
for quite some time.

Fallen angels
shrink their body size
to get
me
out of here.

Let them desist.



***

NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER(1991)

Will there be
a revolution
against sedition.

Will
there be
the land of the free.

Or feet
touching
familiar soil
and higher levels
of human grace.



***

All clips are courtesy YouTube.