Of books, tattoos, and infinities

The perks of being a wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

 &

The fault in our stars- John Green

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." - Stephen Chbosky

"It's just that some infinities are bigger than other infinities."- John Green

These two books, categorized under 'Young Adult Fiction', are probably not the first choice of books for final year, English Literature students, who are, in fact, expected to drown themselves in chunky, 'canonical' novels.

This is when summer steps in. The summer light, with its promise of long days; ideal for hours and hours of uninterrupted basking in the sun in the company of iced teas and paperbacks. Not the scorching sun,  blinding the eyes and the words on the page, but the kind of sun that lightly touches the skin, leaving a tickle of warmth. Not the 'On-the-University-reading list' books, but the 'Books-I-WANT-to-read' books.

Little do they know, that as the stories came to an end, the novels came to a close, and summer bid goodbye, they would be changed forever. This might sound like an exaggerated experience- 'being changed forever', but sometimes, beauty lies in the exaggerations of fairytales and the hyperboles of poetry. The kind that have to be experienced personally in order to understand, at once, the height and depth of their beauty.

The perks of being a wallflower and The fault in our stars are two such books. Which, for lack of a better phrase, leave their impression long after one has finished the book. They are powerful and thought-provoking texts, that serve and stand as firm pillars of inspiration. And at once, they are beautiful and poignant, leaving the pages of your paperback tear-stained.


They have inspired a waterfall of words- words that define fragmented moments but are, in fact, an infinite whole.

It's just that some infinities are bigger than others
It's just that some silences are quieter than others
It's just that some noises echo louder than others
It's just that some hearts break more than others
It'a just that some hearts love more than others
It's just that... way.

Tattoo #3

And in that moment

She lived an infinity

Of their love

Of their love gone by

Of their time

Of their time gone by

And in that moment

She said her goodbye.

Closure

Stabbing words, their weapons of warfare

Battling hearts, stand armour-less and bare

Deep incisions, damaging them in unison

Wounding words, bruising hearts to the blue

Vulnerable victims of words too many, few

A string of words, being woven into a lyric

Music of the classics, comforting the cynic

Souls once sore now sing in symphony galore

Bittersweet words heard playing on their pain

Warm words, thawing the once ice-cold vein

The words were confused, the heart conflicted

To the labyrinth, their words were restricted

In the past was pensive, what is now defensive

Scarring words, regretting, however relentless

Flowing sans knowing, in denial of the mess

A whirlpool of words, said in a state of delirium

Heartbreak’s beautiful tragedy you can’t fathom

Desperate words dripping uncontrollably so

Every letter of every word, echoes with pity

It echoes of the beauty of their inevitability  

Restore the Balance

There are no words.

In fact, there haven't been words for a while.

But their absence has gone unnoticed.

Until now. HOW? 

You see, lately there has been a shortage. 

A shortage, in our time and age.

There have been no words on the page.

RAGE.

But now that we know,

we won't fall so low.

We know which way to go. 

GO GO GO.

So now we're trying to cope.

Oh, have some hope!

Don't tie us down with a rope

Don't. Mope. 

We're trying to cope with the scarcity

but it's a tough struggle.

We have contacted the Dictionary,

we have lodged a complaint. 

<NO RESPONSE>

Not yet anyway.

Meanwhile, the Thesaurus 

yeah, it's gone missing too.

WARNING: 

We said there was a shortage, 

a scarcity.

<of words> in our city.

A Depression in the word worLd?

You ask. While in the sun, you bask.

Oh, it's too much of a task. 

Let's just put on a mask.

<to escape the depression>

But, no more digression.

It's the word depression.

So much so, that we're adding 

the letter 'L' to the word 'word'

We're adding, and hence constructing

another word? 

Oops, we meant

WOR<L>D

So much so, a phrase of scarcity.

So much so, the we repeat the word

SO twice- in a three word phrase. 

Such is this phase.

The Word Depression.

Such is this phRase.

Ph<R>ase

We're resorting to

mathematical calculations

and/or chemical reactions.

And when we do so,

We get-

And/or

<The only time we have 

an alternate word>

Note to self: Don't go so far as to say abundance.

And in these times of need,

Oh, won't you pay heed.

In the word crisis, we have

the audacity to

discard and dismiss

words.

Discard and dismiss the word abundance.

Oh, the irony of the word crisis.

Epiphany:

Maybe there is no word crisis.

Maybe there's a worLd crisis.

Maybe they're distracting us with the former

in order to keep the latter a top secret.

In order to maintain order.

It's a word conspiracy.

It's the world's word conspiracy.

Because evidently there's no shortage

of words. 

After all, we're so many words

into this word crisis

or conspiracy.

PICK YOUR WORD.

PICK YOUR WEAPON.

Whatever.

It's a multiple choice question.

It's not the word depression okay?

The word crisis was just a cover up

for the number crisis.

But we fell back 

on mathematical calculations.

We fell into their trap.

Their CRAP.

Because, you see

there is no shortage.

There ARE words.

Rhyming words, even- trap crap

Rapping words, even- 

If you pull that crap, you're in a trap!

Repetitive words, even- even words

Evidence: 

Three words with the letter R-

Rhyming Rapping Repetitive

Oh you could spout poetry-

poetry on handwritten manscripts

no blank wordless parchments.

Cause the truth is,

we need

the scales to balance.

Cause the truth is,

we are

addicted to the equilibrium.

The numbers go 

down

-

up

The words come

Or maybe,

The numbers have gone up

and that's why we are

taking words down.

Who knows.

What does Who know?

Mission: Go find Who

Take him under custody,

threaten him, demand he

tell us what he knows.

Who the hell here knows Who?

Find Who.

Figure this out.

Seven Steps

STEP 1:

Listen to I will wait by Mumford & Sons. On repeat.

STEP 2:

Allow the song's lyrics to be stuck in your head. 

STEP 3:

Pick your favourite line. In my case -

"And use my head, alongside my heart."

STEP 4:

Write a poem. For example -

In the crowded minds of crowded worlds

Imagination bubbling, in pensive minds

Genius minds, magically and magnetically

Attract and trigger dynamic literary sparks

Not long before the genius is overcrowded

The fantasy of the force field, now repulsive

The ignited sparks of yesterday, extinguish

Madness ensues. Like fools, they part ways

In the crowded hearts of crowded worlds

Lies an intense passion, in scarlet hearts

Love hearts, rhythmically and melodiously

Beat in unison, and create epic romances

Soon thereafter, the love is claustrophobic

The illusion of their heartbeats, throbbing

The kindled romances of times gone past

Lunacy galore. Like fools, they part ways

The Genius and The Lover, alike and apart

Extreme togetherness, two faces of The Fool

STEP 6: 

Let your brain draw parallels between the theme of the poem and the quote from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream which conveniently happens to be tattooed around your ankle. 

"The Lunatic, The Lover and The Poet are of imagination all compact."

STEP 7:

Post it on your blog because you haven't blogged in ages.

Ode to M

M always does this to me. She fills me up with love from across the world, leaving me heartbroken. She fills the vacuum between us with poetry and music. She did it across the bed-post, she's doing it across continents and I have reason to believe that she will continue to do so for as long as distance separates us. She builds bridges across the boundaries. She'll move swiftly and silently across stretches of land, she'll dive into oceans, always saving me. She is my saviour, my knight in shining armour.

She is the light of my muse and the might of my quill. She is the writer of my words, she is the reader of my words. She sees me through the smoke.


This one's for you M. This is the long overdue 'Ode to M' I promised you. I love and miss you more than the 'girl who reads' can write.

A musical flame, as smoke fills the air,

Your misty thoughts leaving you, bare.

Your insides are colliding, empty sounds,

Smoke engulfs, embrace your wounds.

Drowning in the smoke, feel the pain,

You're losing, this wasn't yours to gain.

Drenched now, a victim of the haze,

Share this moment, meet her gaze.

Music and lyrics, whisper in the night,

Time to surrender, you put up a fight.

Within you a vacuum, within without,

She'll dive in and save you, just shout.

My December

Oh December, what has taken you so long?

Were you waiting until I wrote you a song?

You've been my favourite, months among

Don't you keep me waiting, it is so wrong

Oh December, I welcome you, come along

I forgive you December, you're finally here

Waiting no longer, i'll wipe away my tear

You've replaced the emptiness, there's cheer

You'd never come, this filled me with fear

You are the beginning of the end, each year

December snow, shining lights in the sky

You have been missed, this I won't deny

Don't trust, words are not what they imply

This year, your cliches, i'm going to defy

No I won't say hello, this is our goodbye.

Now that the long wait has ended, the year slowly gone by, I don't want to say hello, i'd much rather say goodbye. You were the freshly bloomed flowers of spring, you were the scorching sun's rays in the summer, you were the falling autumn leaves, you were everything all at once. 

You were the ghost of all seasons, but now you've come to life. I've been chasing your spirit, month after month, and i've finally caught up. But now that i've found you, your white light is blinding. Now that I can embrace you, I fall to numbness. 

You fill my heart, you shatter it all the same. You pierce me with showers of snow, my fireplace is devoid of flame. The sky with white diamonds shining, i'm lost in darkness, more than ever before. I had come in order to find you, i've lost myself on the way.

I'm trying to explain, this story to bind

To share with you, what's on my mind

I've tried to rhyme, be slow and sublime.

Words fail me, should I surrender to mime?

I've also tried poetry in prose, not knowing which way this road goes. It's a risk i've taken, hoping to be forgiven. The words, they've decided to abandon me. Tonight their not friends, they're foes. I can't write my own lyrics, there's another stuck in my head. It's soft like the piano, healing my pain. It blares like the drums, exposing them again. The music, it's heartbreaking, you'll forget all you've just read. I dare you to listen, and not a single tear shed. 

The beauty of December, it's a burden I can longer bear. Through someone else's words, myself i'll share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YvZn1hgIvo

"And it'll be the best christmas of all"