Stop And Stare Poem by Saroj Padhi

Fifty eight steps closer to death
up the winding stair
as I pause at my own life to stare:
the hazy past with its angst, exhilaration,
laughter and tears
like a layer of mist
over the distant hills do lie;
hopes of a better dawn always flutter
with their lure
like leaves under the sun's shiny eye;
and seated in lap of solitude
I dream of painting a few stars
in the chest of a panoramic sky-

as the agony of living grips the sleeves
in moments of acute consciousness
and the ecstasy of all beautiful meets
vanishes like day's stars into nothingness.

Elements in the body seem to prepare
in their aching desire to return home
saddled on the wheels of a morbid time
splintered away from a collapsing dome.

The mirror threatens to break
confronted with the tense muscles
on the rocky face with dark curves on cheeks
bones rattle like dry twigs falling off trees
and I lie on the earth
to be lifted by the whimper of a cold breeze!