MEHER PESTONJI

 

 

Specks

 

A speck of a speck of a speck

is all we are, in a galaxy

peopled by planets

multiple times

earth size

 

From Burj Khalifa

roads become ribbons

cars dots, people invisible

 

Night flights

reduce cities

Into twinkling

dots and dashes

 

Google maps

make earth a child’s toy

zooming from apple orchard in Kulu

 to cherry blossoms in Japan

to the Sydney skyline,

Frisco bay and back

within minutes

 

Computer voice guides 

to destinations near and far

by foot, bicycle or car

avoiding traffic snarls

arriving on time

 

While Branson and Bezos

race to round the earth first

making earth a rich boy’s toy.

 

But despite intelligence and innovation

we’re still a speck of a speck of a speck

in the smallest galaxy of galaxies

That’s what we’ll always be.

 

Space, the Celestial Void,

 

No length, no breadth

No height, no depth

Nothingness is everywhere

 

Rockets whiz through nothingness

past pinheads of somethingness

called Venus, Jupiter, Earth, Mars

 

Nothingness appears dark

 till a something bounces sparks

of streaming light from a body ever bright

 

Darkness powerless

against reflectors

of Eternal Light

 

MEHER PESTONJI

MEHER PESTONJI is a veteran journalist writing on street-kids, housing rights, anti-communalism issues while interviewing artists, writers, filmmakers. She has written two novels, three plays, published two poetry collections ‘Poems’ and ‘Can Poetry Halt War?’ and a collection of short stories ‘Being Human in a War Zone.