The Teak In The Graveyard Poem by Vinaya Joseph

I saw from my bus window,
On a bright September,
Looming imposingly,
A lone teak in the graveyard
At Pachalam…

I kept gaping at nature’s artistry,
The Teak in the Graveyard
It’s canopy of white flowers
Touching the blue-and-white sky,
Under its mighty boughs,
Lay many active souls,
Their backs kissing the earth,
Now resting in peace,
In this cemetery
Or sanctuary of death…

I remembered ‘Tectona grandis’,
The scientific name…
That’s what they taught me in school...
It stood there in its full bloom,
Broad green leaves,
Swaying to the breeze,
Brown stems,
White tiny flowers that I couldn’t see clearly,
Lounging in the sun…
It was a sight to behold…

There was something grand about it,
And near its roots,
Engraved on the stones,
Were the names, dates, and other details
Of men and women,
Who once strolled on this lovely earth
And now lay peacefully…

There was so much more to death,
Than I could comprehend,
Each headstone,
Had beautiful epitaphs,
Inscribed on them,
Tucked in these tombstones,
Were not mere human bodies,
But many untold stories…


Stuck-in-time,
I was coming to terms,
With what I was seeing,
Who knows?
Was I awaiting my turn?
So many questions,
To which I have no reasonable answers…
Death: The inevitable fact,
Relieves you from all the stress of life…

I felt strange,
Or perhaps puzzled,
The tree was teeming with life,
While the cemetery with death…

It was better,
To lay my thoughts to rest