One day, as I was sitting on an empty beach on the west shore of the island of Kauai this poem flowed out of me...
It did so as I listened to the sweet moaning of the surf rising and falling, as the gentle trade winds chanted in my ears, as the call of birds drifted through the ether, and the squeak of dolphins playing in the waves opened my heart and mind.
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| Photography by the author, Janavi Held |
Earth Chant
by Janavi Held
I am divided
between extremes
it seems
am lost
have bid farewell
at any cost
can’t run to far
can’t live on air
can’t shun this
life I carry far
can’t grip the past
can’t touch now
can’t dive to deep
or stay too shallow
can’t mourn the loss
can’t travel far
to take this all
with me when I fall
life waits for me
I can now see
the long
the short
what it was for
is gone today
so gone today
so gone today
yes far, far
I say.
Time unfolds
the cunning lie
resting now in my eyes
steps into my mouth
languishing all the while
in my ears echoing raw
summer can’t touch
what I think I saw
and I can’t
hold
on
either
resting
tethered
in the dirt
imprisoned by the sky’s command
I stop a while
humbled while
she chants outlasting my regrets
even as I take these last few breaths
Step away
I step away
too far
too close
I cannot say
my breath she has
my breath she keeps
and I am hers
I’m lost too deep
Sleep a while
yes, sleep a while
she speaks to me
not knowing what can never be.
Oh black night
when stars collide
I find myself far inside
underneath this dammed roof
with nothing but myself to reprove.
I watch and wait
for sun to come
so that I may start again
on my journey so long now
to find what moves my heart along
in nature is where I belong.
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| Photography by the author, Janavi Held |
Janavi Held is the author of Letters to my Oldest Friend: A Book of Poetry and Photography. She has also contributed poems to two poetry anthologies, Bhakti Blossoms: A Collection of Contemporary Vaishnavi Poetry and GODDESS: When She Rules: Expressions by Contemporary Women. Two of her poems were shortlisted for the prestigious Hamilton House International Poetry Prize awarded by the University Centre Grimsby, and published in their anthology "Eternal". Janavi started writing poetry and wandering around with her father’s camera as a child. At the age of nineteen, she began practicing Bhakti yoga. She held a bachelor’s degree from Goddard College where she studied poetry, photography, and media studies. She passed away peacefully in December of 2018 after having battled a brutal illness. You may read more of her poems and view her artwork on her website here and Facebook page here.
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