Momentary

Hark!  Hark!     With my unsubstantial body twisted westward,

Balanced heavily betwixt those two bonny toes halfway arrested in the space;

The dusty palm adding to the lope of the curious ears hanging from the bewildered head;

O Nightingale; is it you that sooth my breath, or is it an empty tiger sending its unbearable message?

I will heed but not to all these baseless distractions;

For it will conquer my peace which otherwise prevails in my beauteous domain;

Neither certain whence the sound bloweth from nor the source therefore trumpeth forth;

Or my own spirit did scare me with his jests lest I walk lost in thoughts; I attend not.

The shimmering moon bestrides the floating clouds of the eastern hills;

The torrential brook wailed its song through the tiny narrow ravine;

The gentle south-western breeze caresses through the hanging cypress leaves;

And I, bestowed with the streaking moonlight under the cypress, walk alone.

Give me a lute, or lyre, or anything, anything will do;

For passion in my heart burns with hunger, like unreasonable cries of a child;

Do ebb my tremulous eyes; thrill, quivering all my body, awaking every hair like a reed;

Shuddered those feeble shoulders and shiver hath plagued restless feet.

Not in hundred thousand years would have the nature blessed this earth with her sheer tranquility;

Not in this whole world, has one sucked the sweet honey from warm bosom of the Mother Nature;

Nor in my entire lifetime, would have the gods misunderstood me for a lord;

For I am unreasonably advantaged, enrapturing my heart in boundless ecstasy of nature.

In such moments of enlightened self, how dare my foot torture a blade of leaf?

Or wonder of what thoughts shall I think, and of what pace I breathe the air around me;

Had I the power to kiss the moonlight and hug the gentle breeze blowing against my breast;

Therefore do I merrily open my arms to the world and walk forward in an uncertain direction.

But oh! What light breaks through yonder space, augmentation does it to moonlit earth;

Does my eyesight fail me tonight, reverie even as I walk? Perhaps nay, my spirit awake;

My furrowed forehead projecting forward, brows raised quite above it normal horizon;

Was I stationed there simply helpless trying to regain my lost consciousness.

Shame be most beauteous blossom of all on the earth for it lies but beneath her mark;

Even now burning candle her adorned hand holds droops in reverence for her angelic face lightens brighter;

Had I in school days but learned to encounter in true hours of such beauties;

But alas, beyond imagination did I not realize to prove myself a mad wooer.

Comes forth? Oh nerves, my heart, fail me not for thou fail forever if thou canst not prove thyself here;

Clear me my clouded eyes, if she be my form likewise angelic or demon in human form;

Oh, blasphemy! Cursed be my tongue for thus uttering the last;

Still! Still! She raises her light, what fortune had spring sown for unproved man like me?

She

Anybody else there?

Me

 A…ay …Aye me, wa.. lking for ……

She

Come hither, for moonlight canst not let me acknowledge anyone distant.




When she said this:

My nerves which at the battlefield would stand any unknown danger now tinge and shiver;

Hurried heart beats, with bated breath and in whispering humbleness I sang to her;

I beseech you beauteous lady, for thou in my esteem, an object of veneration;

Pardon me, if my meagre form ever offends your eyesight or husky unfaithful voice deafens your ear;

Be not perplexed though, for I too am startled with what beauty my unbridled eyes are lain upon;

And be not afraid, my words too fast unknown, my heart too unprepared known to hold them back.

She

Beauty is but a form of wax, which even does not belong to so called me;

The fearful time though drunk with flatter or asleep, at his whim takes it away unasked;

Tonight, night of all nights does my heart surge with tenderness, thence lay unarmed;

Bethink not too fast or too easy blown, else karmic residue has ripened where two strangers now stand.

Me

Oh Triple Gem! Blessed be those two, for blessed is their invisible connection;

Generous Dhakini, clear off any untoward occurrence envious hidden the path we trade;

Oh holy lama, preach us thy thoughts, for this world be covered with thy compassion;

And fair lady; attend closely to the words of your moved stranger.

                                      Behold me O wondrous’

             No entice nor baseless pleasure do I bespeak lair;

                                  But with a fair ostent of love;

                    With my happy hands crown thee here.

                         Words my heart long to pronounce;

                                Intoxicates me if left untold;

                          Told not attended or denounced;

                            Whirl in to the abyss my heart.

          Flower that blossometh gentle feelings afore my eyes;

                          Shower me with your everlasting rays;

                                  Beyond earth and sky;

                       Is the incessant love I bear for thee.

                      Of worldly possessions I bid farewell;

              Am I now set forth even death conspires me;

             For no unattained hopes will my spirit suffer;

                            And buried will I lay withal.

                                Whence come you?

                         Wherefore art thou here?

              What name should I thus call you by?

     Or oh! Will your kindness extend thy arms?

She

Here is my hand;

Hold it for it belongs to thee forever;

Mindu Gyalmo am I known to the world;

Whatever thou callest will sweeten my ear.

Guest am I and my only father here;

For you canst descry burning hearth of my host ahead;

Golden ring my deceased mother at her death bed adorned my finger;

Slid away from my undeserving hand and I walk for its recovery now.

Me

Oh! Let me be thy fellow mate at search, for thy will, mine too;

From miles hath the waves driven thee thither;

It is then my will; I intent to attend at your mistress’s command;

Free are thee to set me at any will at thy whim.

Mindu Gyalmo

Nay, I beseech thee, for the ring is gone, let it be;

On account of the ring have I found a more beauteous ring;

Thou art timeless yet everlasting ring of my heart;

Wilt thou be but consistent with thy own thoughts?

Me

Invisible is the shores of the mighty ocean;

Immeasurable is the depth of the Pacific;

Uncountable is the stars in the open sky;

And boundless is my love for you, O wonder!

Aye! Aye! Let me hold thee close to my heart;

Prove wilt I to thee of myself invariable;

Unlike to the moon which itself cease of its next form;

Worthiness shall my heart hold unto thee henceforth.

Mindu gyalmo

Alas! Will no one still cover the night with shade?

Oh dimming moon! Stay awhile, for my words seldom visits you;

Envious summits of the eastern hills, be not brightened;

My lonely heart has to drive miles away at the daybreak.

Oh beloved! What warmth shall your bosom warm my cheek?

I canst feel your heart beat for it sets mine too in tune;

Even now can I hear it whispering in to my empty ears;

I am afraid for my heart will long for it every second of the hour.

(Thunder claps and Lightning)

Me

What mishap conspires against our truly beheld moment?

Let me hold thee close for nothing ill can betray our hours;

O! What air hath rendered your piteous hand icy cold?

For now will my balmier lips warm thy little fingers.

(Thunder) 

Close to my heart, close…

 At that very moment, I flew my blankets over my legs and woke up to see myself but in my friend’s bedroom for whisky had numbed my senses last eve. The alarm was constantly ringing at the clock and would not cease. Like a furious cat I pounced on it and raised it high above my head so that I can crush it in to hundred pieces but… What? ‘I will hold thee close to my heart’!       “Oh clock! I remember”. I then gently lowered it, looked at all four sides and pressed softly against my heart.

I drew the curtains apart, the twilight bade me farewell and the eastern horizon appeared clearer, but everything was still and quite. My companion who was lying on the floor was at his snores. Then I pulled back my blankets but those words bore me countless repetitions but I once again covered my head to dream again.