Sublime and stately
Sparkling and animated
Adorned with a coiled necklace
Immersed in profound thought
Contemplating
The whirlpool of existence
The Adiyogi
Radiates
Cosmic luminescence
And the extremities of eternity.
Lips resplendent
With a serene smile
Conceal the volcano of anger
That lies dormant within.
Exuberant love and benevolence
His imperturbable peace
Ensconce
Seeds of creative explosion.
Hair matted
Dry, mysterious, and majestic
Dripping torrents of life-sustaining waters
Funneling the flow of air
The undulating
Mind magma
Swings dizzy
limitless inner expanse
Frozen into a crescent.
Body smeared with ash
Temporality writ large
Yet tantalizing
With the possibilities
Of an interminable existence.
The cosmic sound
Ripples through the universe
Awakens
The diffused
Slumbering consciousness.
The cosmos
Breaks into a frenzy
As he dances in ecstasy
Silence engulfs the motion
Celestial bodies
Plunge into inertia
As the propitiated Shiva
Slips into meditative silence.
A dynamic interplay
Of dissolution and fusion
Runs incessantly
Within the cosmic consciousness
Equipoised
In a state of constant flux.
Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar, who taught English language and literature in Himachal Pradesh for close to 30 years, retired as Principal from Govt. College, Sarahan, Dist. Sirmaur. He was a member of the Board of Studies in English for undergraduate classes for a two-year term. He co-edited an anthology The Threshold in 2002, which was prescribed as a textbook for B.A. 1 st year students of H.P. University. In 2022, he co-edited an anthology of short stories entitled Let Us Tell a Story. He occasionally writes poetry, both in Hindi and English, short pieces on literature and topics of general interest, and also runs a podcast named The Joy of Ideas. Presently, he is the coordinator of the English Teachers’ Forum, Himachal Pradesh.