Monday 22 December 2008

Checkmate *


On the clay-tiled floor
I spread myself like chess pieces,
sleeping all morning.

Dreaming...I perspire
over the next crucial move,
facing smiling void.

*****

6 comments:

Balachandran V said...

pawns become queens; queens run all over the board, bishops slash, knights kick, castles ram.. what do i, the king do,helpless, bound,at the mercy of the rest?
alone in the crumbling castle, I rue... I never wanted to be the king...

P. Venugopal said...

This is about complete 'let go.' And conflict even in the midst of satori, or satori bringing conflict.

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

reminds me of Omar Khayam:
it's all a chequered board of nights and days
when destiny with us for pieces plays
hither and thither moves, and mates & slays
one by one in the closet lays
(forgive me for misquote)

a case of great minds thinking alike?:-)

P. Venugopal said...

madam, i saw your comment on this piece only by chance a couple of days ago. then i looked up Omar Khayyam and understood what you meant. where are we people in relation to a great sufi mystic like him?
i wrote this piece at about the time i started going deeply into Krishnamurti, Osho, Buddha... i felt checkmated by Buddha. and there was tremendous conflict within me, because i am a man of this world, very much in the centre of its madness, both in profession and personal life. i was trying to fight off Buddha, but i found myself checkmated by the smiling void, which is what Buddha is.
the conflict continues even now, but my hands are on the steering wheel.
when i glance at my blog from beginning to now, it is all about the ups and downs i have taken going through a period of some kind of transition.

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

'the conflict continues even now, but my hands are on the steering wheel'

ideal situation, i'd say.should not compromise both.

budha like withdrawal is, for ordinary mortals, an escape. he and those like him should remain guiding stars to those of us with both hands on the steering wheel.how we steer ouselves thru life is what is important. that's where budha & his ilk come in handy.they show the way. they show us how to alchemise the manner in which we negotiate the bends and curves and the potholes and the highways of life.

guess i sound too practical pedestrian:-(

P. Venugopal said...

you don't sound the least pedestrian, madam.
you are right: they show us how to alchemise the manner in which we negotiate the bends and curves and the potholes in the highways of life...
and i have a feeling if we approach them without fear, they will show us how to transcend ourselves too. this is the possibility about which i think i had hinted in a reply to your comment before.
i am not speaking about the Buddha-like withdrawal you have mentioned. i am speaking about touching the heights of creativity in whatever we do, in our relations within and outside the family and in everything we do...