This time, I wrote this poem as part of an ekphrastic prompt based on the painting titled HYLAS AND THE NYMPHS by John William Waterhouse. The painting, in turn, is based on an ancient myth.
My poem was not selected for final publication in that particular capacity but that doesn’t deter me at all as I now get to share it with you. So here it is.
***
UNDERWATER
He dived deep into the abyss to be marooned beneath, as if among Atlantic ruins, in a city that lives underwater for eternities.
The beguiling voices called out to him, coming from yonder, caught in the mesh somewhere between the floating hyacinths and weeds,
“Hylas, Hylas, come, let us show you the afterlife where bodies flit and swim, coming up for air to the surface, just like the myth of the mermen. A netherworld in your reach, only if you choose to come and dive deep like a king of the sea”
Words to beguile the enduring ego of youth Such a fate to divine in those last moments between leaving shore and entering a tempestuous watery grave.
Hylas, Hylas ’tis here is your tomb, your desecrated youth, the myth that history repeats in leaden circles. Naive, guileless young lad, here is your cautionary tale.
I launch myself, with a searing, soaring passion for all domains verging on the writerly and creative with a beginner's appetite here and that's how I believe in adding meaning to each day. A lucky mascot of literature, cinema and culture, I come riding on spirited wings from the emblematic city of Lucknow where all those reside and thrive. My breeding ground and my mindscape all are committed to these three life forces. Cinema. Culture. Literature. But the biggest and all consuming parent to these is life that breeds them . There is the discovery that comes from expressing yourself, clear eyed and even mystical, when you come from a city like this. I am here to expand my worldviews, share my earliest inspirations and evolutions and go with the flow through the most accessible outlet there is : writing. Conventionally, my biography is that of a degree holder in English literature encompassing Undergraduate, Postgraduate and M Phil years and every possible experience of learning finer points of knowledge . I have already taken the plunge of creating a solid base for my works by publishing my poems and articles on the renowned worldwide community/ writing sanctuary Wattpad since 2015, a platform which is a miracle for anyone pursuing so much as a flash of wordplay and thoughts to spare. It has redefined my life and allows me to go strong. You can read my works there under the username MadMenWearingFedora / Prithvijeet. That is the springboard that catapulted me to a confident vocational revival. So here I am. Both originality and novelty are the key words to define this eternal student of life. So with the tip of the pen blessing my head and a new vigor, I welcome you all to my realm. AN AWADH BOY'S PANORAMA beckons.
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2 thoughts on “UNDERWATER- AN EKPHRASTIC POEM”
Very beautiful and haunting poem, PJ. Your poetry always takes me to another time and space and place, and that’s often a very good thing for someone like me who tends to spend more time in fantasy than reality!
I just love it when you wrote, “my poem was not selected for final publication in that particular capacity but that doesn’t deter me at all as I now get to share it with you.” This is INDEED authenticity. I often get frustrated that others don’t read the God Sonnets I write every morning (have been writing these as such for over a year now….ONLY God!). A few read them but only a few. I’ve come to realize that the writing of these God Sonnets is two-fold (BOTH, as I’m always fond of speaking): For MY healing AND for God’s Glory! If others read them and it’s for THEIR healing and for God’s Glory, that’s just icing on the vegan cake! I hope I only write because God is MY EVERY WORD! If I thought I could only write from my own time and space and place, I would be so limiting the all-encompassing and all-compassionate God….and the all-encompassing and all-compassionate myself!
I pray what you write is for YOUR healing and whatever Glorification you see fit, as long as it’s not glorification of you. We have already been glorified because “I’M HERE! (sorry….I just had to steal Celie’s life anthem from THE COLOR PURPLE). And I say all of this as more of a note to myself than you, PJ! 😊
Love and blessings, “my huckleberry friend,”
Timothy (Mr. T)
An Awadh Boy's Panorama : tracing words on these filigreed, discerning fingertips. 
Very beautiful and haunting poem, PJ. Your poetry always takes me to another time and space and place, and that’s often a very good thing for someone like me who tends to spend more time in fantasy than reality!
I just love it when you wrote, “my poem was not selected for final publication in that particular capacity but that doesn’t deter me at all as I now get to share it with you.” This is INDEED authenticity. I often get frustrated that others don’t read the God Sonnets I write every morning (have been writing these as such for over a year now….ONLY God!). A few read them but only a few. I’ve come to realize that the writing of these God Sonnets is two-fold (BOTH, as I’m always fond of speaking): For MY healing AND for God’s Glory! If others read them and it’s for THEIR healing and for God’s Glory, that’s just icing on the vegan cake! I hope I only write because God is MY EVERY WORD! If I thought I could only write from my own time and space and place, I would be so limiting the all-encompassing and all-compassionate God….and the all-encompassing and all-compassionate myself!
I pray what you write is for YOUR healing and whatever Glorification you see fit, as long as it’s not glorification of you. We have already been glorified because “I’M HERE! (sorry….I just had to steal Celie’s life anthem from THE COLOR PURPLE). And I say all of this as more of a note to myself than you, PJ! 😊
Love and blessings, “my huckleberry friend,”
Timothy (Mr. T)
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Thank you as always and once again our worlds intersect as THE COLOUR PURPLE is one of my all-time favourite novels/ works of life.
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