Life had not snuck silently past. It had been a slow, deliberate, high-octane drama played out in five acts, with staccato dialogue and questionable direction, hysteria and inept expression, banal music and imagined climaxes, its protagonists as naked from the back rows as from the front, its predilection towards a trite end evident in the rank imperfection of its beginning.
The books in her vast mahogany shelves were the changing backdrop as one set disappeared into the darkness and another was arranged with more tired fonts, more worn clichés and more minimalist emptiness. The rectangular void of those gone filled with more benign contradictions, carefully curated so the new bore no resemblance to the old. Tolstoy, Gibran, Eliot, Marx, Gandhi, Whitman, Tao, Baldwin, Tagore, Aurelius, Nietzsche – the coming and going of the books like konnakol beats, vocalized percussion rhythms, that traced her every movement— faster, slower, towards, away, louder, softer, year after year, feet dancing, feet dragging— the scenery changing, until that moment in the darkened theatre, the sounds deafening, watching herself, a book clutched on her lap, turning, as if compelled by the tempo, catching the eye that caught hers, moving through time, feet dancing, feet dragging, even while she was spot lit on the stage, even while her head turned back from the fourth row, watching the seventh, naked, clothed, pulses in timeless meter, time stranded in the aisle, the book clutched harder, the book that had not fled, the book that had not replaced the one that had not fled.
The music cracks— a cough, a snigger, one beat too many, two beats too less, the mridangam drummer overcome with horror, the unseeing audience not seeing as phones twinkled between pockets and skin in arrhythmic insolence, the rustle of silken dhotis and sarees as the knowing knew and shifted uncomfortably, calves and eyebrows raised in arched judgement. The scene pauses till eyes shift and the spell is broken and the book falls and curtain falls and the backdrop is gone forever.
Life had not snuck silently past. She pushes her hair away from her face, still young, still old, still ageless, her heart loud in the forced interlude, the drama of her life drifting into act six without her on stage, without her in the fourth row, the empty seat in the seventh watching intently the empty circle under the spotlight, a slow violin sliding into the quiet, the book climbing into the seat in the fourth row, the empty seat three rows behind it burning through the back cover, still young, still old, still ageless. The drumbeats gone forever.
this mulberry tree, this worm, this untouched skin,
this silken shroud —
everything in lockstep
i couldn’t help but feel sad for the protagonist in this richly layered haibun. She is like a performer/dancer who has grown old, and no one watches her anymore and she could not perform as well as in the past.
the haiku reminds me of a funeral march, or ennui, of not going anywhere.
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That is such an interesting take – I love how poetry inspires so many different visuals. Thanks so much!
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I love this beautiful, surreal haibun.
[I’m just reading Patti Smith’s latest book, in which at one point she refers to Aurelius as ‘Marcus’ – and I thought, ‘Oh, that must be Rajani’s Marcus.’ (Which hadn’t occurred to me before.) The mention of Aurelius above, among the books listed, would seem to confirm this.]
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Ha ha… when I started that blog, that name and character that evolved seemed most distant from what was familiar and common around me. But I do have a copy of Aurelius and maybe at some level – no I was thinking of Mark Anthony maybe ! I haven’t read Patti Smith but your reviews have put her on my list!
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This is masterful writing … and my pleasure to read.
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Thanks so much, Wendy!
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This is incredibly gripping!❤️ I am in love with the haiku in the end .. so much depth 🙂
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Thanks so much, Sanaa.
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Gorgeous. And timeless.
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Thank you, H.
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This is wonderful… I love how you have used the scenery of books and I feel sure that she will be a welcome guest to the aged librarian… he will cook her some tea and they will discuss Act VII
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What a fabulous idea to get her to meet your librarian!!! Super scene that would be!
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I was pulled into the scene. You almost had me turning around in my seat too!
Beautiful prose.
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Thanks so much, Vivian.
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😊
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Truly a beautiful scene is created in your words….sad and emotional…and dramatic! Your writing continues to impress me.
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Thanks so much, Mary.
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This is one tight, powerful and deeply engaging haibun. Imaginatively meditative. Awesomely crafted Salute!
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Thanks so much, Ron!
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This is an amazing write. I loved her being both on stage and in the fourth row – and all the books.
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Thank you, Sherry.
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What a rich post
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Thanks so much, Jae.
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