the year
was nineteen
eighty four
i was a child
that year
a child of
nine
or maybe a year
more
there was a day
that year
that year
a long time ago
a kind of day
when the afternoons
seem to go on
till evenings
and the nights
are spent on porches
that was the day
when i had decided
who i wanted to
be
and what i wanted to do
childhood
puberty
adolescence
were kept on hold
that was the day
i achieved
clarity
my thoughtful
duality
an arsonist
and an environmentalist
i had decided
to be
ever since
i burn
i burn
and protect
all that is sacred
and all that is loved
sometimes with words
and sometimes
with smothering acts of kindness
the one next to me
and the one miles away
equally
i tear down things
í build with my own hands
tear them down with my teeth
and then gather the torn
ripped off pieces
and keep them in a jar
of organic formalin
to preserve for later
if there is a later
my backyard
a repository
for your viewing pleasure
ample footprints
of the arsonist
and the environmentalist
marked all around
around those burnt remains
of a relationship with those
two
who sired me
and under that seared
old heavy metal gate
a potted flowering plant
once a purple chrysanthemum
now white
one which
i caringly nurse back
to the colour of its origin
and i do see some
familiar hues coming back
on its face
there is evidence
of both
all around
the places
i left
a little greener
and the places
that i left
after burning them down
the places with
charred walls
and places
with
warm
blossoming hearts
and every once in a while
both have a quiet casual
private
conversation
the arsonist
a drunk sentimental
and the environmentalist
who doesn't care
i guess it is fair
i guess it is fair
that the two exist together
together
with shades
that overlap
with no clear cut
marked off territories
no boundaries
setting the two apart
i celebrate that day
in the year
nineteen
eighty four
when i was nine
or maybe a year more
the day
i learnt about the
chaotic coexistence
of opposites
in one being
and that it could
very well have been
a predestined necessity
i celebrate this
tearingly soothing day
the day
i achieved dichotomy
was nineteen
eighty four
i was a child
that year
a child of
nine
or maybe a year
more
there was a day
that year
that year
a long time ago
a kind of day
when the afternoons
seem to go on
till evenings
and the nights
are spent on porches
that was the day
when i had decided
who i wanted to
be
and what i wanted to do
childhood
puberty
adolescence
were kept on hold
that was the day
i achieved
clarity
my thoughtful
duality
an arsonist
and an environmentalist
i had decided
to be
ever since
i burn
i burn
and protect
all that is sacred
and all that is loved
sometimes with words
and sometimes
with smothering acts of kindness
the one next to me
and the one miles away
equally
i tear down things
í build with my own hands
tear them down with my teeth
and then gather the torn
ripped off pieces
and keep them in a jar
of organic formalin
to preserve for later
if there is a later
my backyard
a repository
for your viewing pleasure
ample footprints
of the arsonist
and the environmentalist
marked all around
around those burnt remains
of a relationship with those
two
who sired me
and under that seared
old heavy metal gate
a potted flowering plant
once a purple chrysanthemum
now white
one which
i caringly nurse back
to the colour of its origin
and i do see some
familiar hues coming back
on its face
there is evidence
of both
all around
the places
i left
a little greener
and the places
that i left
after burning them down
the places with
charred walls
and places
with
warm
blossoming hearts
and every once in a while
both have a quiet casual
private
conversation
the arsonist
a drunk sentimental
and the environmentalist
who doesn't care
i guess it is fair
i guess it is fair
that the two exist together
together
with shades
that overlap
with no clear cut
marked off territories
no boundaries
setting the two apart
i celebrate that day
in the year
nineteen
eighty four
when i was nine
or maybe a year more
the day
i learnt about the
chaotic coexistence
of opposites
in one being
and that it could
very well have been
a predestined necessity
i celebrate this
tearingly soothing day
the day
i achieved dichotomy