Poem - The Ballad Of Yauvani

Born of intense love and purple ardor Under lightning and symmetric raindrops

A girl child, emanates serenity and elan

Glistening eyelashes adorn her rosiness

Her tresses, wings of raven, fly in the sky

Angel-like she glides, maiden flawless

Yauvani befriends the Bird of paradise

That sings each day, "Yauvani, Yauvani

The journey is oh soft, roses, riddled with

Sharp thorns, you will conquer and fall"

Under a shady Gulmohar, she looks

At her home of pale brick blocks, dark tiles

The rosewood door hides a joyful

Rise to womanhood, the mother's tender

Care and the father's shielding arms

Nayan, a brother, proud, filled with

Emptiness, involved with only

The self, hollow and inhibiting

The young woman blossoms, untainted,

Easels, brushes, chromatic colors,

Water miscible oils and images are her

World of poetic visions, rhythmic mosaics

Of humans she excels, with her entirety

She paints, her life flows into her portraits

"I see flaws", sings the Bird of Paradise

"Your paintings are rising rainbows"

The bird taunts, "they are works of darts,

Of random colors, one day or one night,

A perfect portrait will come to full life

A blessing and a curse, conquer and fall"

On a silver full moon night, Yauvani paints,

A man with a chiseled face, muscled,

Gentle, shining with immense depths, a Finality of dreams, he stands before her

From canvas to reality, in a never ending

Embrace with his creator, kissing nectar

The jealous brother aims to destroy, ruin

The lovers, he fears the valiant, the noble

That might demand the family fortune

Take away the secure love of parents

He sees evil in a smile, misfortune in love,

Where there is none, the mind clouded

Yauvani embraces Yuva, as she names

A pair insatiated, deep desire unbound

Sun rays in their interludes, moon beams

In their unions, jasmines and roses strewn

Yuva, is he a figment, a fantasy or a Waking, walking perfection? O Yauvani

A throb of poison in a delicious dinner

Virile, odorless, two young lives dissolve

No trace of crime or violence, the deed is

Done, the town and its folks turn

Pale in the nightly twirling mists

The villain, invisible, cowering

An eclipse of kindness and brotherhood

Shadows cast on giving and purity

Fall of innocence, loss of merit and benevolence, gems of the first water

Sink untraceable, into oblivion

Nayan gloats, evil wins, fleetingly

Life, never equitable, like in a sport

There are lives beyond this one

The two are born together again to thrive

With memories of Yauvani and Yuva

They embrace the twisted, lonely brother

The moment, with life, blossoms forward NOTE: This poem is nominated for the SALISMANIA.com Best Poem Of The Year Award 2017.