The Painter's Mantle
Nayanathara
Whenever I get time, I write a few lines of poetry
Or don the painter’s mantle,
Not a mere hobby or an idle woman’s pastime –
But an exploration of my long-lost identity,
An honest expression of my thoughts,
An aesthetic unravelling of my past, present and future.
Quite often, I do spend considerable time
Pondering over my life’s incorrigible patterns –
Its sudden undulations, sloppy curves,
Mountainous terrain, deep crevices and gorges,
Its stupendous waterfalls…
Having thought long and hard,
I finally wield my long, broad brush
And palette of cool, placid colours.
In a span of few hours, a painting is born -
A collage of sad images,
Fragments of broken desires
Etched onto the canvas of life.
But today, what has happened to me?
All of a sudden, I feel at a loss,
Feel perplexed and flustered
At my indecisiveness,
Lack of clarity in thought…
What shall I paint?
Shall I paint you? Me?
The stormy turbulence
Of an unforgettable past?
I really don’t know.
I squeeze my head for an answer.
I had never felt like this before.
I never had any dearth of ideas.
But what has happened to me now?
I throw the brush away in a fit of desperation.
The palette hits the wall and a riot of colours
Splashes across the ceiling;
A random mix of soft, dark, violent hues…
In just a few seconds, a painting is born.
The whole of nature appears embedded in it;
Its deep seas, dragon whirlpools,
Wild forests and mountains…
Perfectly etched into the background
Are two dark shadows;
Two images trying to find
A world of solace in the dark,
Unknown wilderness.
Nayanathara - A native of Kerala, India, Nayanathara has been working as a content writer for the past 5 years. Presently, she is working as a part-time content writer for a firm in Thiruvananthapuram. A post-graduate in English literature, she has contributed poetry to several leading websites and online literary journals.
e-mail: nayanathara27@gmail.com
