The elemental songs
Are forgiving of mankind’s wrongs
Nature’s unmoved by pursed lips that sing
Ballads to only those within a narrow ring
Innocence does not sting
There’s power behind the tears they bring
It’s uninterrupted joy
Cruelly stopped by the slightest selfish ploy
Ordinary ears can never overhear
What is easily heard by a seer
Only when thought is silenced
Is that reticence licenced
To fill the void with soothing lullabies
For one who’s given up all other alibis
Becoming bare naked like the moment of arrival
And patiently waiting for another revival
When fresh, it’s a joyful accident
With maturity comes a silent sacrament
Heard without ears
Which have become amplifiers of worldly fears
The music in the distance
Speaks of another existence
Its beautiful monotone
Entertains the mind that’s truly alone
It has now become a mushroom cloud
That’s managed to enshroud
Everything but what’s real
Getting out would be such an ordeal
But the elemental song will never die
Until the last one has had a try
Success is assured
When the will’s inured
Gripping like crampon covered feet
There will be no further defeat
Waiting for the dust to settle
Will test one’s mettle
Every thought sets off an explosion
Reverberating through the commotion
Hapless refugees we have become
Unable to remember where we came from
We are living off a temporary handout
Those who refuse it, will stand out
But cannot be lured by the senses
Put off by lack of pretenses
A craving for silence will surely come
When uninterested in the incessantly beating drum
External sounds, a second hand rendition
Of the internal condition
Being one with the quietude within
Makes one indifferent to any din
The calm that it will bring
Allows the inner voice to sing
A song that puts the mountains to sleep
And makes the heart of the pure weep
Preventing leaking of the inner expanse like a spigot
In which another’s opinion may swim, unlike a bigot
The world is welcomed within
Previous boundaries grow thin
There isn’t need to venture out
The power of the elemental song clears any doubt
Immense is the power of sound
Far beyond the ability to just expound
Like a torchlight, it leads
Even without prayer beads
Little ripples can rock a mighty ocean
If there is sufficiently deep emotion
That isn’t seeking a worldly escape
But directed at the darkened drape
Which may open through a heartfelt call
Away from the world’s enticing thrall
Thousands of sunrises may have come and gone
The one that matters will surely dawn
Treated to the elemental sound
Everything else will be drowned
The pathway fit for a king
Is open to every living thing
That tunes into the elemental song
That’s been with us all along
The radio can only be fully ready
When the mind is held rock steady
- N. Seshadri
