Starlight
Nishka Moghe 2005 (India)
I begged the sea to sing me to sleep.
Then it told me that it always did-
when the daylight affliction seared me
and when relief lit up the twilight sky
but I was blind, at ease, living buried
under the shore, burdened as its alibi.
I begged the sea to sway me to sleep
Just once to know how it feels.
The sun wasn't as cruel as it seemed,
blinded... I squinted to see all white,
the dark, it left me indebted for sight.
I fisted a few rocks on my way in...
the weightless waves didn't feel right;
I could still move and was breathing.
I begged the sea to keep me asleep
as I was washed out back onto the coast.
The men with the wrecked ships in heaps
said, "The ocean's ruthless and deep.
The currents were kind in disdain at most.
It's a sign that you ought to survive."
By drowning in the filth pile.
For they had never been buried alive,
I never believed their claims, all their cries.
They stood above; dry... we weren't alike.
I was engulfed again, and they didn't pry.
Because they thought it'd never be a fight.
I couldn't answer, but only I knew why
The night sea's soothing beyond the eyes.
While I fell asleep to the song of starlight.
About this poem
I wrote this poem to normalise the confusion that one faces while coming out of a toxic pattern. Knowing what the right thing to do doesn't mean that it is easy to break out of habits or situations that are damaging both mentally and physically but are also comforting because of the familiarity. The need for change might be realized in a moment, yet accepting it takes much more than that. It means indecisiveness and going in circles which is perfectly valid.
Written on July 07, 2022
Submitted by curlyandlou132 on July 13, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXBXB AXXCCXCX ADXADEX EFXBCBFC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,149 |
Words | 245 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 8, 7, 8 |
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"Starlight" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/133785/starlight>.
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