Poetry: Escape from the Darkness

A few weeks ago, I attended a program at IVS, about which I discussed in my last blog post. One of the tasks that we were assigned during the week on 'Space Odysseys' was to create a piece of art - be it a painting, a write-up, a poem, or a sculpture - based on a space from a story. The story was a 'cassette kahani', an old-fashioned audio story about a prince and how he risked his life to fight an evil magician and rescue his father. The story, which was in Urdu and was probably recorded at least thirty or forty years ago, was fast-paced and adventure packed, telling a thrilling story of the prince's journey. We listened to the story on the first day of the week, and then were assigned the task of working on an art piece inspired by one of the spaces in the story. We were asked to work on this project throughout the week, and had to present it on the last day of that week.

I decided to write a piece of poetry on a scene from the dungeons, when the prince is trapped there and has to escape. At the time of writing this, I only had the actual story in mind and tried my best to present it's spirit through this piece. However, I recently realized that the darkness and imprisonment from which the prince struggles to escape may actually serve as a metaphor for the different kinds of darkness that we sometimes encounter in our own lives. The prince is also a metaphor for the source of light that brings us out of our difficulties and back into normal life, whether the return is through treatment, therapy, counselling, or nutrition. I can also sense some more symbolic and metaphorical concepts in this piece now, which is the reason why I am sharing it here. However, I do not think that it is necessary to explicitly mention all of them, as that may spoil the effect of the poem itself. I would like it if you read it and think about the effect of the poem, and whether you can see any metaphors in it (or if they're just appearing to me!). If you have any comments or remarks about this, please do share them in the comments below!

Darkness.

In a thin alley.

Captured. Clutched 

by the shoulders. Fingernails 

piercing into the skin. Sharp claws 

forcing cuts 

into the prince’s ripped arms.

The prince, 

was a fighter. He 

fought back. Trying, 

struggling, to free himself 

from their grip. But 

to no avail. Pushed 

into more darkness. Dropped 

onto the stone floor.

The icy ground 

slapped the prince’s 

delicate skin. Shivering 

with cold and fear.

Every whisper 

was a shout. Every voice 

an echo. 

Bouncing off walls 

and ceilings, 

it seemed 

Endless.

But there had 

to be an end. The prince 

was determined. He knew 

how to live 

in palaces

and mansions. 

But of dungeons 

he knew not 

of how to live in them.

He only knew 

that this 

was not the place 

for him. He 

had to escape.

And so 

he did. The valiant prince 

knew what to do. 

Determined. 

He fought off 

the evil spirits. 

And returned 

to the life 

he knew 

how to live

in palaces 

and mansions.