‘My poems are born of you,’
the river whispered to the mountains.
As the wind carried the river’s gentle sighs,
high up to the land of clouds and veils
nestled in the skies,
the mountains trembled.
It had felt the young love of his beloved
as she skipped, laughed and tripped along with him.
Majestic he had stood, watching her antics,
she had murmured her delight and thundered in pleasure.
But… his silence engorged her senses.
Nothing else could she bear.
Yet, she wanted, just for once, to be held
and loved with words she could hear.
Flowing away, with time, she left her mountain behind.
Meandering amidst valleys, she heard
voices other than her lover’s silence.
Thrilled, she gurgled with delight and rushed on.
She was loved, adored, worshipped, and more.
Yet, greater as her name grew,
farther as her fame spread.
she missed the silent communion
that had created her.
She wished she could turn her waves around
force the currents back to the source.
Sometimes she raged.
Sometimes she sluggishly moved on.
Did he hear her cries and sighs?
Did her love know that she was done with life?
She moved on… tired and dirty,
loved and worshipped.
Stillness replacing energy.
And then with her baggage of offerings,
bodies, debris, and silt,
she gave up the last of her freshness –
her very essence –
to the vast blue
that matched her beloved
in hue.
As the clouds burst above him,
drenching him with her love,
he realized that she had given up her life
to once again fall in his arms and lie.
Binu is a Dubai-based writer, mother, and mountain-lover who teaches creative writing to middle and high schoolers. Her poems have been featured on Dubai Poetics, and she is now working on her first novel. In the past she has worked as a journalist, editor, assistant director and script writer. You can read her blog here.