An Uprising Poem by Jayesh Ganesh

There has been an uprising,
staged by my mind’s random rambling.

I have given it much thought,
and yet I seem to end up distraught.

My dilemma in short is this,
I type, as I wrench open a can of fizz.

If Space is ideological,
and Architecture is philosophical,

Function is anthropological,
and Behaviour is sociological,

If culture is timeless,
and history is boundless,

If there is a meaning to a place,
and an experience in the space,

If my inspirations are to stem from indecision,
and then lead to some derailed communication,

If what I undertake,
must confuse and complicate,

If creativity is inherent,
and criticism is belligerent,

If the design is fastidious,
and the acclaim is sedulous,

If I am to think, of things to come,
and conjure an image, of ‘The way it is to be done’,

And yet if I can create for you a place to live,
a place to take and a place to give,

If you can see through my mind’s eye,
and nothing ever more is an eye’s spy,

If I present to you an edifice,
something simple, neither gaudy nor kitsch,

If I am to you, what you are not to me,
but this to you, what it is to me,

If you can feel and respect this place,
even in ephemeral time and space,

Then I ask you this, will I be satisfied,
knowing I have ‘succeeded’ after having tried?

Yet these schisms seem to pervade,
skirmishing their way through every mental blockade,

I do not know if the uprising has been quelled,
but of one thing I am certain...

My thirst sure has been quenched.