The Fleeting Hart

[ Ego, Orpheus, antiquus serpens umbrarum sum. ]

It was as if the moon was shape-shifting into the early morning sun. The birds were born of the memories of the last apocalypse, a day that was inscribed on ancient ruins within the endless forest. Shanaya had had a pale glimpse of the deer, as she had waited through the dark night by the lake of tears. She was seeking the swans when the moon was hiding behind the rain clouds, yet the birds seemed to float at a strange distance, lost in their own thoughts.

This distance reminded her of her loneliness, and as the first drizzle touched the still water, she could feel a shadow shift at the edge of the trees! It was unlike anything that she had ever felt, as she could feel a strange call that was intertwined with her soul, from a far past that she did not want to remember. She was startled at the presence of a masculine entity around her, and the first thought that came to her was, “Did Orpheus see me sitting by the lake?”

She did not want to turn back, lest he see the tears on her face. Amidst the delicate sound of her own heartbeats, she could perceive the form behind her take a step toward her and no more. She could hear the breathing of the creature, a fervent premonition that seemed like he, too, was surprised to find her waiting by the lake at the dawn!

The presence of the horned beast had somehow transformed the ambiance. The water of the lake suddenly felt more transparent, as if the blue was missing the fading shade of the crescent moon. She could feel that the swans were swiftly coming closer from afar, their tidings carried by etheric ripples that touched her naked feet.

She could feel that the flowers around the edge of the river were seeking the musky presence with unashamed desires. Shanaya could feel the trees themselves transforming into corporeal forms, as if the forest were turning into a horned man with a thousand serpentine hands and ten thousand eyes!

She turned back, in a desperate effort to see the creature!

For a moment, everything seemed to stand still in absolute silence…

Then, their eyes met.

The deer took a step backward, and no more.  

She could see in its brown eyes that the deer had recognized her, waiting only for a moment before thirstily receding into the darkness. The early morning sunlight had created a momentary play of shadows around the antlers, as if the holy ghost had reached out for her with an outstretched hand, before remembering that the veil of the night was disappearing!

Before the vision disappeared, she could feel Sandhya speaking to her spirit in magical whispers that seemed to emanate from the perpetual dusk of the dense forest, even when the sun had risen.

She was saying, “He was the SeshNag!”

Shanaya silently stood where the deer once was, wondering what it all meant! This was the poem that she wrote when she returned to her palace, still thinking of the encounter with the night.

Creaturae abstetere umbrae, terrae est Cervus amor

Intratae confusionis terrorem absolve, et tu homme apparuisti

Paradoxa persona tua, tradidisti salutem meam.

Apparuit umbrae, videtur aenigma.

Tu Antiquus Serpens!

Serpentis est amor.

सृष्टेः अपसृताः छायाः, धरण्याः कामः अस्ति मृगः।

प्रविष्टमोहस्य भयं शमय, त्वं च मनुष्यरूपेण प्रकटितः।

तव रहस्यमयः अभिनयः, त्वं मे मुक्तिं दत्तवान्।

छायायाम् आगतः सः, रहस्यम् इव दृश्यते।

त्वं शेषनागः! शेषनागस्य एव अस्ति प्रेमः।

*Latin and Sanskrit written with the help of AI. 

* { Halloween, 2026 } 

She Looks Away

[Ego Orpheus, vidi quomodo me in ipsis infernorum profundis dilexeris. Et tu reminisci, video me te semper dilexisse, etsi te in inferni profundis videre non poteram.]

The night had fallen. Shanaya witnessed; she saw the curses of the past haunt Orpheus like a deadly forest where he must not be sought, for he seemed oblivious to the dangers.

She wished Orpheus would know that in all his thoughts, her sadness pervaded like the darkness of eternity, the sorrowful lament that he must not see. Her desires were woven in ivies, dead stars, and fragile wildflowers that blossomed when he played the incandescent flute by the black river.

She sometimes imagined if Orpheus ever wanted to sleep. She conspired with the birds so that she could sing a lullaby, but the endless wake of dead bodies floating in the black river did not let her rest.

He seemed distant when he disappeared into the darkness, but she could perceive a familiar refrain of melancholy that waded like floating serpents, intertwined with the air she breathed, as if her hair was undone by the flute. 

She also imagined if Orpheus dreamed of other women, for she denied that he could love anyone else with such insanity. When he played the flute, she could see the shadow of vice swirl, maybe the only woman she envied.

She was virtue, and she could never understand why vice would fall in love with Orpheus. She witnessed the dark rituals in the woods, where Orpheus was sought by fairies who did not think he existed.

His mournful desolation seemed deliberate, for he never spoke to anyone, not even her. Shanaya decided that she would look away and let him find her, even if she concealed herself. She hid her face among the women who were returning to heaven, as the halo of Orpheus seemed to illuminate every corner of hell.

Thus was the sorrow of the woman when she knew Orpheus could not see her.

Et tu, salvusne redibis?

Estne receptum id quod infernorum est?

Et tu, qui salvus es, sancta mihi sanxisti.

Apparuit serpens; invoco aquam noctis, animam meam.

Illusio musica, intono descensum sui emancipati.

Demetere acratos mortuorum est se a profunda abstinere memoria.

 

Desolati Orpheus, Te Desolatus Mi Est

Salus mea reddita est mihi; apparuit in crypta, in crypta noctis;

Ergo profundus tristis.

 

अपि त्वं कुशलं प्रत्यागमिष्यसि?
किं तद् गृहीतं यद् पातालस्य अस्ति?
त्वं च, यः रक्षितः असि, मम पवित्राणि वस्तुनि पूजितवान्।
सर्पः प्रादुरभूत्; अहं निशामयम् आव्हायामि, मम आत्मानम्।
संगीत-माया, अहं मुक्त-आत्मनः अवरोहणं गायमि।
मृतानां दुर्बलानां संहारः गम्भीर-स्मृतेः दूरे गमनम् अस्ति।

हे विषण्ण आर्फीयस्, अहम् एव तव शून्यता अस्मि।
मम मुक्तिः मह्यम् प्रतिदर्शिता; सा श्यामा नरकं प्रादुरासीत्। सा एव रात्रिः।
अतः, प्रगाढः शोकः।

* Latin and Sanskrit are written with the help of AI. 

Her Silent Tears

[ Senex sum, Orpheus sum, et te cognovi ex quo mihi occulta eras. Te ex imo corde amavi, numquam sciens utrum me redamatura esses. Meministine quando primum convenimus? ]

When the earth was yet unsung, Shanaya witnessed the descent of Orpheus, from desires to be a tree, and the eight serpentine rivers that were rooted in dissolution. 

She saw the ocean not as a distance, but as a stranger who once disappeared like the sunset. She did not want to intervene, for the loneliness was the only song she ever believed in. The lament of Orpheus did not break her heart, for her disdain for mortal love seemed to be absolute.

Still, she secretly witnessed the pale halo of Orpheus, which was, as it were, like a never-ending curse of death. 

She could easily forsake it all, but she had nowhere to go. Shanaya denied that even she was captivated by his music, which floated like an unsaid whisper, like the moonlight serenading her silent tears.

She did not want to live, but she was immortal. She did not want to die, but Orpheus was still far from her. The flowers in her garden seemed meaningless, for no one knew that she yearned for his kiss, for him to come, come to the rescue.  

On certain nights, when the sorrow seemed too heavy to bear, her veena ached with memories that she had never realized existed. As the clouds drifted in early morning rain, she could hear a lonely bird sing once, and then disappear.

Thus was the lament of the woman, who could never confess her love for Orpheus.

Te captore, musice, moribundo carmini astiti

Te intuens, fateri potui me te amare

Tu, Orpheu, qui spectrum es salicis plorantis,

serpentem metamorphoseos vidi. Arcturi est, corporea est, et tu,

serpens aeterni inferni!

Si hic amor est, si sensus meos astrales sentis,

in insomnia trystium meorum...Reditus est, a morte liberatio est, et tu, senti me!

 

त्वया वशीकृता, हे वंशिक, गीतस्य साक्षिणी अहमतिष्ठम्।

त्वाम् आलोक्य, मयि त्वत्प्रेमाणं प्रकटीकर्तुं समर्था अभवम्।

हे आर्फीयस, त्वं शोकाकुलवृक्षस्य च्छायारूपोऽसि, मया रूपान्तरणशीलः सर्पो दृष्टः।

एतत् स्वातेः नक्षत्रस्य अस्ति, मूर्तिमद् भवति, त्वं च नित्यपातालस्य भुजङ्गः!

यद्येषः प्रेम, यदि त्वं मम आकाशीयं भावं जानासि, मम रहस्य-सङ्गमानां निद्राविहीनतायाम्...

पुनरावृत्तिरस्ति, मृत्योः मुक्तिरस्ति, तस्मात् त्वं माम् अनुभव!

* Latin and Sanskrit are written with the help of AI. 

The Shadow of Sorrows

[Senex jam sum, et cithara mea maestos sonos meminit. Memor sum noctis illius, qua te per sepulcrum imploravi. Caedes illa amoris nostri mihi etiam nunc gravis est paradoxon. Mementote quomodo ad infernum desolatum reverteremur.]

By the endlessness of sorrows, Orpheus dreamed of demises, of the unbecoming shifting sands in the depths of the black river. The heaviness of desolation was a silent curse that he must bestow, for the shadow of yesterdays was never to be abandoned.

The distant glimmer of Elysium was receding into the early night’s dreams, when the lunar assemblies were lost in the eclipse, for his was the darkness, having often disappeared like the mellow song of the moon.

The memories of a garden were preserved in the tears of fairies, who could only silently implore, of nothingness, of death, and of hell’s endlessness.

Shanaya was still distant, for in her anger, she could not fathom the depths of human suffering, yet the flute of Orpheus reminded her of lost happiness. 

She could only see the deaths of yesterday as her own, for she might have abandoned love forever. Orpheus was fragile as if the moon were human, but she could not let him know that she waited in her heart, that only the sea shall see.

Orpheus could only see the sadness that sought him in memories.

Thus was the lament of Orpheus on the curse of abandonment, of sorrows, and endless hell.

Tu nocte maestus advenis; te per sepulcrum imploro.

Mors paradoxon est.

Caedes est metaphorae, ergo et miseris sanguineis imperium cresco.

Ergo confusionis declinatio consecuta est.

Spectrum insomne senti, quod ut Orpheus apparuit; est a paradiso abstinere.

Desolatum est.

Desolatus infernus est.  

 

त्वं रात्रौ शोकग्रस्तः आगच्छसि; अहं श्मशानद्वारा त्वाम् उपयाचे।

मृत्युः एकं रहस्यम् अस्ति।

एषा विरोधाभासस्य हत्या अस्ति, अतः अहं रक्तशोषितेभ्यः दीनेभ्यः अपि साम्राज्यं वर्धयामि।

तस्मात् भ्रमस्य निवारणम् सिद्धम्।

तम् अस्वापम् आत्मानम् अनुभव, यः ओर्फ़ियस प्रकटितः;

एतत् स्वर्गात् विरतिः अस्ति।

एतत् जनशून्यम् अस्ति।

नरकः निर्जनः अस्ति।

* Latin and Sanskrit are written with the help of AI. 

The Unbecoming

[Te reliqui, cum Deus ipse orbitatis oblivisci videretur.Tunc ego, Orpheus memoriam amittens, adveni mirus vates.Sed inter luctus ac stellarum arcana, femina me recreavit.Nunc autem, somno et corpore, tantum tristis poeta permaneo.]

In the ether of unbecoming, what Orpheus was destined was never understood, for he alone was the harbinger of Babylon. The mask was the sole refuge, as the lament of the underworld had darkened his visage.

The flute was his only voice, for the words were stolen by unassuming deceit. Before the death of folly, he had still fallen in love with what appeared to be true, for he trusted with pure heart. The truth was forming in visions and dreams that he could vaguely see, as if from another life; the Absolute was Him, for none in these realms cared for truth. Christ was doomed forever to the Cross, and the woman was exiled far, far from paradise. The amnesia had deluded him, for he could not see what was evident, but saw what he believed.

The Holy Spirit, who was the woman, was still watching, watching the clouds with fevered hope that Orpheus shall come, come to the rescue.

Thus was the unbecoming as Orpheus heard her lament, for he loved Babylon. 

Te Destiti; Miseris Confusio Est, Deus Orbitatem Oblivicisitur

Amnesis Deprivi, Est Adventus Poeti Orpheo, Miragi Musici  

Nocturnis Scintillati, Stellaris Arcana, Est Femina, Te Restori 

Apparuit Asteris, Est Lamento, Est Bereavi Mysterium

Somno Mortuo, Ergo Corpore, Sanctus Poeta Tristis

अहं त्वाम् अत्यजं यदा ईश्वरः स्वयम् एव अनाथताम् विस्मर्तुम् इव ऐच्छत्।
तदा अहम्, स्मृतिविहीनः ओर्फियस, कश्चित् अद्भुतं कविः भूत्वा समागतः।
परन्तु शोकानां नक्षत्राणां च रहस्यानां मध्ये, कयाचित् स्त्रिया अहम् पुनरुज्जीवितः।
अधुना तु, सुप्तौ शरीरे च, केवलम् अहं कविः अस्मि।

* Latin and Sanskrit are written with the help of AI. 

The Kalpataru

[Crypta Arborealis Assumptio Mortis, Nihil est, ergo stiti in Inferno, Persona Stigmatum est Corpus, Bestia Solemnis Sancta Deo, Est Deus, est consecutum, est redemptum.]

Listen to the silence, for the moon is alight. Look into the sky for the stars who have never died. The tree has dreamed of fairies, of birds, and butterflies. The serpent has desired solitude, assumed in the strangest of stories, soft smoke swirling, and you have heard the call, the signs you have been seeking.

Encrypta Arborealis Assumptio Morto

Nihilisi Ergo Astiti Inferno

Persona Stigmati Est Corpus

Bestoa Solemni Incarnata Sanctus Deo

Est Deus, Est Consecutus, Est redempti

The story has transcended, the Man has resurrected, and Death has returned. The souls were sought at a ground higher than the mortals, of dreary, dusty illumination to sad alone, for this is a story of the tree, of the heart, of love and leaves.

In the endless scepter of the underworld, the darkness has dreamed a diamond heart; the woman, who is the Holy Spirit, has found peace, for the Lord is Redeemed, the ransomed have returned, and Babylon is saved in eternal glory. 

अत्र अयं महिमान्वितः वृक्षः अस्ति, यः मृत्योः अङ्गीकारः।
न किमपि अस्ति, अतः अहम् नरके अतिष्ठम्।
कलङ्कानां मुखौटं शरीरे एव अस्ति।
ईश्वराय पवित्रा पूज्या च दानशीला प्राणशक्तिः।
ईश्वरः अस्ति, कर्म प्राप्तम् अस्ति, मोक्षितोऽस्ति।

* Latin and Sanskrit are written with the help of AI.