The Empty Space Poem by Varanasi Ramabrahmam

THE EMPTY SPACE

On the left, huge and grand mountain Udayagiri!
And on the right, tiny village of the same name:

Standing in between beheld I
The erstwhile Sanctum Sanctorum of Lord Ranganatha, The Maha Vishnu;
An empty space, a midst ruins, covered by the walls of rock on four sides
Without ceiling and fully exposed to the vagaries of nature

Looked I at the basement which once held the auspicious
Statue of Lord Ranganatha;
Now remaining as stony spectator to the
Vandalism of armies of another faith
Completely destroying the sacred place,
An the surroundings of the temple of Lord Ranganatha;

The ruined structure remained
As a silent witness to the Hatred and Barbarism
And disrespect shown to the
Culture and civilization of the defeated armies;

That empty space is seen by me
As seen the empty class sans students by the teacher
After the class is over
Silent and without activity;

Same is seen by me
As a father seeing the room of his
Recently married daughter who left to in-laws place;

The empty space is also seen by me
As a widower seeing his bed room
Days after the demise of his beloved wife

***************

That empty space bereft of the Divine Sculpture
Made me sober and philosophical;

Annihilation as a human trait
Demonizing the defeated and disregarding
Their culture, religion, and their symbols
Vandalizing them with so much venom
Surprised and disturbed me;

Lords "fleeing" their Sanctum Sanctorum
And taking shelter elsewhere;
And the victorious faith trying to ruin the
Vanquished faith;
But failing miserably only leaving
Their barbarism and hatred
In the remains of their destruction,
The great and sacred place of worship;

Humans are savage
In their faith towards their faith
Barbarians towards other faiths;

Faith is balm
Faith is also venom;

But we cannot
Survive without faith

We have to only absorb
All atrocities on faiths with a pinch of salt
And proceed with our lives and daily routine
Not allowing empty spaces prompting us
For revenge or retribution;

Our hearts must be full with compassion,
Understating, serenity, love and common sense;

Else our hearts remain empty spaces
Allowing hatred, barbarism, demonic qualities
To fill these empty space leading to our destruction by ourselves