Thursday, September 30, 2010

doomed if I do, doomed if I don't












an adornment now- 
I sit on the side-table 
rueing my wick less days
I want the dark nights
with only me as a light

the blue you see
is a smudge on me
my yellow base
wants to catch fire
silently watching the wires

if you can't use me
why don't you break me
I would prefer to be buried
in earthy soil, 
water soothing my fire

"get a wick and let me get on with it"

36 comments:

Abhilasha-The Desire said...

Beautiful poem Gautami..liked the lines "I want the dark nights with only me as light"... I wonder whether these feelings go beyond the lamp as well... Nice mag

Susannah said...

I like this very much. :-)

"if you can't use me
why don't you break me
I would prefer to be buried
in earthy soil,
water soothing my fire"

Nice Magpie!

My Magpie

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

love your perspective of the lamp,
powerful message,
well put!

Harvee said...

You tell them, Gautami!

Anonymous said...

The pain of indifference & neglect, the loss of purpose & meaning in life!
Well captured.

Uma Anandane said...

Hi gautami,your poem is very eye-catching and nice

डा0 हेमंत कुमार ♠ Dr Hemant Kumar said...

if you can't use me
why don't you break me
I would prefer to be buried
in earthy soil,
water soothing my fire
Gautami,
it's very nice and expressive poem. i liked it.
I am also trying to write some thing in my blog children's heaven.Please visit here---
http://childrensheaven.blogspot.com
Best wishes.
Hemant

Anonymous said...

wow such a strong poem for a lantern, amazing how ur thought process lead u to write this... Cheers!!!

barbara said...

I like that attitude: let me get on with it

Priyanka Bhowmick said...

indeed inverters and generators did steal the lamp's job but it's always a fun to sit under it. fine penned verses.

Martin said...

When lamps speak, we are all enlightened.

Unknown said...

Heh... Martin H!!!!!

I love how the lamp is silently watching the wires...

remembering the days of wireless :)

Rene

Tumblewords: said...

Nothing worse than a lamp without a wick. :) This is a great response to the prompt - love it!

RavenQuills said...

You truly have a way with wrods, Gautami. I love the imagery and the emotion that was packed into this.

This was really a treat to read. :]

Catalyst said...

Quite nice, Gautami. Quite nice, indeed.

indiwriter said...

Brings out the 'rueful'ness quite well:)

Mine is still WIP.

Sezaaay said...

wonderful! :)

Erratic Thoughts said...

Quite a predicament of the Lamp!
Simply, Loved it!

Marilyn & Jeff said...

To be unwanted and useless is about the worst thing that could happen to a person - and a lamp! Great poem. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Jim Swindle said...

Interesting, creative poem. Yet I'm reminded of Milton's line from his poem "On His Blindness," "They also serve who only stand and wait."

My favorite line of your poem is "ruing my wickless days." It's a fine unexpected twist on "wicked ways."

Lyn said...

Really like this..I too have been known to be the single wick..maybe next time?

Teresa said...

Thanks for stopping by. This is excellent. I love that you've told your tale of progress and growing pains through the lamp's viewpoint.

Ramesh Sood said...

Just loved it.. beautiful..deep insight..Gautami..

Alice Audrey said...

Relic

Passed by newer, brighter, colder flames.

Left as decoration;

Reminder of what has been left behind.

Kristen Haskell said...

Wow Have I felt like that before. Great job with this magpie.

Nessa said...

This sounds like a trophy wife.

Jinksy said...

an adornment now-
I sit on the side-table
rueing my wick less days

I think this is a good interpretation of old age! LOL :)

Pauline said...

Love these lines:
I want the dark nights
with only me as a light

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that you visited my magpie so that I could follow you to yours. Otherwise, I would never have found your beautiful poetry.

Reflections said...

Painful, lonely start... to bring the beauty of the night.

Lovely magpie.

kathi harris said...

"get a wick & let me get on with it" Ilike that.Is that a quote, or is it yours?

Unknown said...

I absolutely love the way you write. It is such a pleasure to read your words. Nice Mag. Love and Light, Sender

Brian Miller said...

oh i so feel for the lamp...feeling useless...you stir much in this short verse...excellent magpie!

ds said...

Lovely. Thank you.

Jennifer said...

Excellent. I just love the larger metaphor - *I* want the dark nights with only me as light too! :-)

Well done!

Tess Kincaid said...

Beautiful piece! I know, I need to get a wick for this poor lamp! :)