Description

Each hymn, each poem, each line in this collection, is a little droplet filled with beauty. — Karan Madhok, founder, The Chakkar

Agnibarathi’s voice reflects the poetic rhythm of folklore and myths that stir a reader’s own memory through their repetitive resonance. — Neera Kashyap, author of The Art of Unboxing

Open, honest and deeply resonant, Agnibarathi’s collection of poetry pushes us to examine who we are a little more closely. — Chetan Mahajan, founder, The Himalayan Writing Retreat

Agnibarathi is a poet and a novelist based in Bangalore. He is the author of How to Love in Tamil, a Sangam-Tamil adaptation scheduled for publication in 2027. His works have appeared in leading journals and publications, including The Hindu, Usawa Literary Journal, The Hemlock Journal, Muse India, The Chakkar, Ethos Literary Journal, and The Madras Courier. Winner of the Singing Oneness contest conducted by Jindal India Institute. He reviews books at Muse India and Atta Galatta and sunlights as the head of the India division of a software MNC.

FROM THE BOOK

†

Hymn for Purpose

Great things are afoot, my love.

 

This grass under our feet

is holding hands with another

across the world stopping it from falling apart.

 

Slender rays of the sun are

diligently drinking up entire oceans.

 

The invisible wind is

deliberately herding clouds

to bluer pastures.

 

Birds smaller than a palm

are ushering in

distant momentous springs.

 

Even ants, my love, are lifting

universes many times their weight.

 

How are you, my love,

still asleep in your

just human sleep?

†

Hymn for Awakening

My mind is a bird

with a forked tail

fighting foes

greater than me.

 

I rise at dawn

and twirl and fight,

stir the overrun milk

of the day and cry in alarm.

 

My voice, it dons

many a cloak,

all but my own.

 

Pierce me, my love

with your sunbeam’s spear.

Plunder my vain clinking trinkets.

 

Return to me, my love,

my very own silence

and let me gaze unblinking

at your blinding glory.

†

Hymn for Loving

Love, let’s stride

this world that teems with

fish in

rivers that overflow

with bountiful rains

kissing selfless lilies

blooming to hold

drunken bees and

drunken suns in every bloom.

 

Love, let’s stride with

steps small and big.

My first step on

your endless heart.

Your second step on

my firm ground.

Our third step all over

the bountiful everything.