Poem: My Pond, Your Sea
Painting: Augostino Veroni
By Gaurav J. Pathania
In school books
And Hindi films
In poems and tales of yore
One often hears the line
“I would cross the seven seas for your love”
What is the sea?
My child’s mind could never imagine beyond our village pond
With every season of rain, the small pond filled to the brim
And with every downpour
I feared the pond would engulf the village whole!
Years later,
I crossed the seven seas, to be here in your village by the sea,
Dipping my feet in the cool clear water
Feeling the thunderous waves crash onto my body
Looking at those giant ships cross the Pacific
My village pond appears like a small jug of water
Your ocean is a like an unending canvas
Yet every time I draw our names in the sand
A giant wave rolls in
And sucks away the sand underneath my feet
Oh, you stubborn sea! Why can’t you stay calm like my village pond?
Then I close my eyes and imagine
That maybe it wants to swallow up our names
And spread our love
Across the seven seas.
Bio:
Gaurav J. Pathania is a sociologist and poet based in Washington DC. He is the winner of All India Poetry Competition 2016 organized by The Poetry Society India and Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
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4 Responses to “Poem: My Pond, Your Sea”
I love Urmila and Bollywood. I can’t understand what they’re saying. Well, I can in one song because the singer says a dirty English word by accident–or not. I think there was a school boy making an inappropriate joke there, kind of like how Muslims hate the word, “Nike.” This is a good poem, btw. I read your story earlier. You have a gift for words.
I love this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxqB1xUX36s
I guess there are multiple authors. Sorry. I’m new here.
Such a beautiful way to posit a frisson for global love and understanding through ‘the seven seas’.