Reflections: Poetry and Art by Tamizh Ponni
“The Reflection”. Art: Tamizh Ponni
‘the world will never get to know / one frightful naked truth / that the mirror and its muse / were beyond repair, forever scarred.’
THE REFLECTION
This day began like all other days
Taking a long hard look
at the magnificent piece of polished metal
Both the subject and the object
broken and losing their sheen.
Neither a fabricated expression
nor a vinegar, soap water spray
could restore their lost elegance.
Years and years ago,
grandeur and glamour were all it rendered.
While squandering all the precious hours
when the only mess to fret about
was a lonely zit on his swarthy chin.
Times have changed
Predicaments have evolved
Priorities have shifted
Lessons were learnt
Now there’s just one disappointment
standing as a sombre visual
running over the rococo’s surface.
Something wicked from the unknown realm
sneered at him unkindly,
'What a pathetic travesty of youth!
Just a shadow of his former self.'
He is weak, empty, craving for care
But dark as the vast abyss
A camouflaged narcissist!
As the cracks of the fractured glass
branched out to bedeck the boring plane
perfecting his diabolical facade,
the world will never get to know
one frightful naked truth
that the mirror and its muse
were beyond repair, forever scarred.
*
MOON GIRL
“Moon Girl”. Art: Tamizh Ponni
Her imperfections looked flawless from afar
Though bonded against her will
to the breeze and black clouds.
She glowed under the borrowed light
Truly sun-kissed
The lone orb of the night
Earth’s solitary satellite
When lonely hearts yearned for closeness,
they gazed up to her and the stars
in the still and angelic night
thinking about their first and last,
calling to mind, their bittersweet past.
She became the transmitter of
hackneyed phrases and lovelorn messages
concocted with worthless words and bogus emotions
at least for the most part.
Oceans, mountains, peaks and valleys,
Shelters and streets, big and small
were embellished with her silver glaze.
Darkness played a primary part
Appearing quiet and queerly nonchalant,
it didn’t need her acceptance
for she’s busy basking in her vainglory.
Pride consumed her long ago.
Although it’s an acquired beauty
with distance and luminescence
concealing her greyish grotesque craters,
there’s no one to stop this radiant shrew.
Through periodic manipulative reshaping,
her beauty takes different forms
like an oriental dancer’s curves
shimmying to the Arabic tunes.
A perverse version of hide and seek
remains to be her preferred pastime.
She rides and rushes through the skies,
disregarding the world below,
airily asserting to the whole lot,
“I am the only precious thing you’ve got.”
***
Tamizh Ponni worked as Design Facilitator in an International School, Bengaluru, India. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, an MBA in Human Resources and a Masters in English Literature. She is currently pursuing her M.Tech, PhD integrated course in Data Science. She has worked as a Professional Development Coach and as a Tech Integrationist.
