Ordinary Masons, Who Paint a Sun on the Sky
Photo: Karan Madhok
Poetry by Shivangi Mishra: ‘Icarus’ airplane crashed squarely into forsaken humanity, a pit, / In future was shown history.’
Author’s note: For Nanaji, whose luminous chuckle and unwavering resolve we shall treasure for all time to come. You have left behind lamps, all so bright and warm that we shall never run short of light.
As a measure of morrow,
Deadalus’ road always led to a silhouette, its nuclear radiance, a skylark.
Mighty splashes of Aegean would roar and retreat in praise,
Innocent of conceit.
Then came Oppenheimer, albeit his hallowed apparition.
Oppenheimer landed even before he did on world’s eroding serenity.
Intuitively wary of churlish human ways, his ingenuity feared explosive dazzles.
One’s own beckoning to crash and repair, over science’s game,
In history was shown future,
Icarus’ airplane crashed squarely into forsaken humanity, a pit,
In future was shown history.
Today at dusk, while returning from work, a mason saw Deadalus and Oppenheimer crossing paths at the sorry juncture,
In the midst of reconstruction mission(s) underway,
He says they raised a toast and emptied the bone china saucer.
Did they express concern over sick and fallen Icarus?
In resplendent modernity, soaring Icarus still falls,
“They’re far too many, they’ve lost count”.
They must rather paint a sun on the sky,
And borrow its warmth for the hearth,
That’s what masons do, whether ordinary or extraordinary.
***
Shivangi Mishra is currently pursuing her masters in law at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her work has featured in Adelaide Literary Magazine, The Hindu, Madras Courier, The Chakkar, Society of International Law and Policy, Law and Other Things, etc. She is on Instagram: @_shivangimishraa.
