Enslavement of a loner who spurned to visit the wonderlands offered
Is the path unknown?
She stumbles, unbalanced,
takes a few steps back and a few steps ahead, what's so luring?
luring about the forest? Which seems beautiful than of the wonderlands she had come across,
The scared loner wants to get lost,
lost in the forest,
to see, to feel and to touch nature.
She turns back again, is this all hallucination?
A dark unknown forest to give an exotic vibe, this must be a mirage, a trap.
Disappointments become the results as the hand reaches out and touches no skin.
This is wrong, she has to come back to her senses or she'll get lost, lost in the forest of the unknown.
- Vhaishnavi Krishnakumar
* Bio - Vhaishnavi is a makeup artist and the Human Rights - Jaffna District Directress of Child and Women Affairs
From my perspective, this poem talks about the dilemma in the girl's mind who is bound by the chains dictated by society. She wanted to break away from gender roles, norms and culture imposed on her and want to live life on her terms. But, she couldn't make up her mind to take that step toward her presumable freedom because of the uncertainties involved in making such a choice.
She is concerned that the path ahead is unconventional. Yet deep down she wanted to choose that path because she thinks it will be her solace. It will make her truly feel like herself. But, she is also doubtful whether the freedom the path promise is real or just a figment of her imagination. She keeps convincing her mind it is not good to break away from accepted norms though deep down she is not so sure.
I loved the way Vhaishnavi symbolises the journey towards living free and on her terms as a journey towards the dark unknown forest. She has an excellent command of the language. The cohesiveness between the words used can be improved because it affects the flow. Using the forest as a metaphor has been extensively used in literature to denote an unknown journey. So in the future, Vhaishnavi should challenge herself and identify new symbolism.
Apart from that, this is really good poetry for someone who just started writing. She has a great creative mind and the art of abstracting the world around to apt symbolism is not an easy thing to master and I think that comes naturally to her. I'm looking forward to reading her next poem.
