A human being
is not symmetrical.
— Srečko Kosovel
1.
I gently touch you now
not the way I dideleven years ago —
not with that yearning
for faith and peace,but with a private prayer
for inner calm, care,
stillness; andfor forgiveness and love.
The gleaming hand-worn
shine on Jerusalem stone,where the public merges
with the private,
where prayer and passioncollide and unite —
where a certain kind
of kindness changesto another kind —
where a certain kind
of passion changesto another kind
of desire. It is
a blessing of time —eleven years is a lifetime.
2.
As I tried once again
to wedge ina piece of coded-paper
into the cracks
and joins of The Wall,I discovered
another paper piece
behind the new oneresisting my approach.
I tried to force it in —
the more I triedthe more impossible it got.
Failing, I now tried to
take out the old paperthat prevented my will,
take out that piece
to resizemy own new prayers —
but the longing
of past years resistedto dislodge the old.
I prised out
the old folded sheet —it looked weathered
and yellow
like the local stone’ssun-stained ochre.
I opened it —
it was the same oneI had put in
eleven years ago.
Time had preservedmemory,
preserved my wishes.
Was I the same thenas I am now?
Was the feeling then
more sincerethan now?
Passion for life
never wanes for some.New love
like old love
balancetheir inherent truths.
3.
Here, gun-slung soldiers,
pilgrims, children,and men in black garb —
move forwards
and backwards —their axis, their waist —
a symmetry
that instils and heightenstheir own faith —
a symmetry
I cannot hopeto aspire to,
as I am —
like Kosovel’s man —not symmetrical.
Jerusalem, 2008
~ Sudeep Sen
Sudeep Sen is widely recognised as a major new generation voice in world literature and ‘one of the finest younger English-language poets in the international literary scene’ (BBC Radio). His poems have been translated into twenty-five languages, and have appeared in numerous major international magazines and anthologies. He is the editorial director of AARK ARTS and the editor of Atlas.
In January 2013, Sen was invited to the Nobel Laureate Week in St Lucia to present the prestigious Derek Walcott Lecture and read his own poetry. A special commemorative edition of his work, ‘Fractals: New & Selected Poems|Translations’ 1978-2013, was released by Derek Walcott himself.