Us

By: Tejas Ranade

2008

Emblazoned onto that which sullenly vilified us,

That barrenness which foresight had abandoned,
We stretched forth, clawing out through dust and dusk –
The army that no man of heaven commanded!

Out of the sepulcher, lined with bowls

Of golden flame that watched with creased warm eyes
Guarding the sepulcher of life, secrets were untold.
Chanting was the earth’s breath on us to the sky.

On the left hand, bodies forged by cobalt and tendon out

Of rocky sentries, and on the right, a balanced roar
Of life that escaped out desperate lips, a nearing shout
That through grand green and godless air tore.

To Surya rise our pupils, with unmatched, untamed zeal

Through our very bones and far beyond the dark within –
 Ye Gods, this new force of consumption you cannot
conceal
As we blaze away, creating light from quenchable sin.