Lines written in Agonda, Goa

 

I feel a trifle joy,

On being able to cover

The entire long beach

That is Agonda

From an emerald creek

Where you dip your toes

And feel the call of the ocean –

All the way to

The rocky wall that separates

These sands from Palolem’s next

 

In between, as I walk,

I see hundreds of stories

Nestled within

The infinity of the silica;

Tales of the locals -

The oarsmen, the fishermen,

Of the koli urchins

Who accept unwanted winds of change

Only for the flowing coins

That come with summer months

 

And then, there are visitors –

Who converge on Agonda’s sands

The poets, the philosophers,

The artists and the sophists

Perhaps no different to drunkards and the druggies;

There are budding lovers who giggle

With every wave that melts

And then, there are broken hearts

That hope sunset will colour

What their lives couldn’t

 

We all converge here,

Thinking we will take away

A fragment of these sands

When in reality,

We leave a part of us behind

Swept away by the waves

Only to be brought back

As unexpected answers to questions

Others will ask tomorrow

Hid in bits of broken shells

 

My walk is over -

I feel a trifle joy,

On being able to cover

The entire long beach

That was Agonda

But when I turn back

I am struck with wonder

For Sunset’s carmine red

Has taken over blue skies

In a crescendo before the dark

 

As I walk back,

I trace my own footsteps

That have survived

The marauding waves;

But Agonda is a different world now

Flames, lanterns and lightbulbs,

Join the symphony of the stars

While waves reassure

An invisible presence

In a song of somnolence

 

The backdrop has changed

And the actors have moved

As if another act, another scene

Is on display

And as if this is not enough,

Even the Writer smiles

That the spectator himself

Is no longer same,

The book of sands read -

All is transformed in dusk’s display…

 

_________________

 

23^rd August 2024