Light of Hope

Out of a dreadful nightmare, I was awakened.

There was nothing but darkness around me.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I cried; my voice weakened.

Although I knew there was no life in my vicinity.

Sitting all alone in a place entirely unknown,

I am gasping for air, it’s getting hard to breathe.

In appalling fear, my mind is slowly getting blown

In bits and pieces which I am unable to concede.

It’s so dark I haven't a clue of where I am:

It may be a room or a monstrous dungeon.

Or the deepest hole on earth which is damned,

Or have my eyes gone blind by a lethal poison?

How long I have been suffering here; I don't know.

I am not aware whether it is day or night.

Why on earth am I thrown here, so down below,

In this death hole without pity surrounded by fright?

My memory is erased but not completely,

It is making me recollect only my sinful nature,

Oh Lord, please have some mercy on me;

Give me a quick death instead of this torture.

Along with the pain, I see something up in the sky:

Hazy images of my immoral deeds flash in my mind.

Those tormenting pictures brutally jab my eyes

Reminding me of what I did; thus leaving me maligned.

There is not a drop of tear even when I begin to cry.

Instead, my eyes burn when I think of my heinous sins

I shamelessly committed which took many, many lives.

Thus I deserve to be in this gloom which I am rightfully in.

Then I felt a gentle breeze in my hair, I lifted my head up.

Is that the smell of freedom or am I lost daydreaming?

There it is! I see a gleaming dot: The Light of Hope.

Thank you, God, for showing the way out of this suffering.

I got up, but my weak legs don't allow me to stand.

With that guiding light, a new soul has given birth inside me;

I stumbled and fell down, this pain I have to withstand,

And start crawling toward the only hope I could see.

I began walking slowly placing one step after another,

Without losing sight of that faint glow of light I gained.

Thankfully that graceful speck is growing bigger and bigger,

I ran as fast as I could to escape but I fell down again.

On the way, my mind reminds me of everyone I abandoned,

But I cannot lose focus on my goal of begging for mercy; 

Because now I must endure for my sins to be forsaken.

I am going to make it; it’s not too far and I will be free!

As I see the rays at my feet erasing my disgrace.

Since I am about to enter that enlightening space,

My eyes are dazzling jubilantly with confidence,

Making me wear a beaming smile of benevolence.

The glimmering spot is now a giant ball of glow;

My eyes are pierced by its first rays of light.

I shut them hard out of pain I must undergo,

As I haven't seen such a blessing on me so bright.

At last, I am out and into the lamp I stepped in;

It wasn't a surprise to see the burning of my dead skin.

"I am finally free!" I shouted with great relief,

Seeing my teardrops at my feet was hard to believe.

Now that I have realized the reasons for my incineration,

The unwavering dot was the only thing that offered salvation.

This light has now made me follow the path of self-righteousness,

To work for well being of all mankind begging forgiveness.

Idea behind the poem:

We, Hindus, have small places in our homes meant exclusively for Gods to reside. We also call them Holy Temples. Every morning we light a small lamp in it. It is called: Deepa - The Light of Hope. It burns gracefully all day. Its a custom. But there is more to it than that. It offers a sense of tremendous satisfaction and protection that nothing can go wrong.

Bragging rights:

It was a challenge for me to put all the things into this poem that capture the essence of Deepa without expressing religious or spiritual views about it. I had many headaches while composing this as it was quite a struggle to look for right thoughts. But the way it has come out, I love it and it was worth a shot!

Coincidence:

If you have been following my work, especially if you have read my poem: The World that was Heaven, what do you think about this one? Does this look like a sequel? I think it does! It came completely as an element of surprise when I thought of my earlier work. Thank goodness, I did not think of writing a sequel to that poem while composing this one. Otherwise this wouldn't have looked better.