gulab khandelwal selected poems

Darkness

Darkness spreads upon the earth and the sky,
It is inside the fathomless abyss below.
Darkness is advancing in all directions
Snatching the bright gems of space.

It has engulfed matter and consciousness, both.
There is darkness all around
As if hundreds of nights have fallen like curtains
On all sides.

The inverted bowl of the great vacuum above
Is filled with darkness.
Darkness is coiled like a serpent in the smallest atom.
There is darkness

Up to the furthermost limit of sight,
Where moon and stars are twinkling.
No flash of ray is visible in the waves -of darkness
Which may give a hope of light
For a single moment.

Where is the queen of dawn
Who can emerge with a golden disc in her hands
Tearing this dark veil.
Having engulfed the earth like a python,
It appears,
The darkness will devour the sun.
The last spark of consciousness is sinking.

How will the world get light
If it is extinguished.
Help me to find that shore across this darkness,
From where the fairies of light
Bring transcendental flowers of beauty,
From where eternal springs of nectar
Flow incessantly in a churning ocean,
From where the valley of death appears
Like a dark door-way
Joining the broken lamps of creation
With the ocean of endless light
And the earth appears like a circling honey-bee
Spreading wings of hope,
Flying in the far away sky.