L'aura del Campo

Redaction song [216] (won)

Won 1st place

Redaction song

         “This is not war. It is the ending of the world."

A dancer —

clean white cotton kurta,
metallic ghungroo around his ankles,
jingling as he moves.

think —

human connection,
tradition, cultural identity,
stability.

Ropes
begin to move,
pulling away life — chairs, tables.
Lights flicker.

Ghungroo
transform into bells
shaped into bullets.
become more.

words drift
across the stage:
music transforms, an industrial
crescendo of percussion

Stage blackens,
the light revealing
floating beings
in despair

made aware
of the futility
of resisting — the descent into chaos,
already sobbing.

© Kåre Enga [177.216] (6.september.2020)

28 lines

Blocked out text x'd, quote used in bold.

A dancer, in Indian classical Kathak style, appears on the stage and enters into a corporeal conversation with the seated vocalist and percussionist. He wears a clean white cotton kurta, metallic ghungroo around his ankles, jingling as he moves. Watching, you think of human connection, tradition, cultural identity, stability.

But the idyllic scene quickly transforms. Ropes hitherto leaning innocuously against the high, backwards-angled wall begin to move, slowly pulling away the few objects of “civilised” life — chairs, tables. Lights hanging over the stage flicker. The ghungroo transform into bandoliers, bells shaped into bullets.

The dancer’s moves become more contemporary, while foreboding words drift across the stage: “This is not war. It is the ending of the world.” The music too transforms, now an intense relentless industrial crescendo of violin, double bass, percussion, saxophone.

The stage blackens, the only light revealing the musicians on a platform above, as if floating ethereal beings in despair of what is to come. You are made acutely aware of the futility of resisting the imminent descent into chaos. I am transfixed, and already sobbing.

For:

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The Daily Poem  (13+) A Week of Poetic Craziness #2133562 by JayNaNoOhNo

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