FIGURE
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of S P E E C H
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PREFACE “Transcending boundaries Extending spaces Redefining renditions” What started as a studio assignment briskly transfigured itself into a studio phenomenon bringing together the batches to convert and contribute to life-like portrayals of their thoughts into words and patterns, as per their “figure of speech.” The idea was to embrace the understanding of one’s innate sense and converting them to tessellations of escher and geometry followed by their iterations in words to thoroughly bring about the idea in its pure yet raw form. Figure of speech, is by all means, a figure of speech: figuratively and metaphorically.
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What is there is and what is what isn’t? What if we can see it? What if we can’t unsee it?
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It expands ahead -into Spaces one cannot feel Crumbling back again-into Pieces one cannot see You talk to it about life About how the roads Are never in sight It pushes you back Into scream About all the misery You witnessed in your dreams You look closer A conference of galaxies come alive Subject is the sky Who gets how much And what is the price?
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Could you hear the colours? When you inhaled her light Did it touch your fingertips And tasted like spice? Flapping the wings Side and beside Shredding the skin From the previous lives Could you hear the patterns When she smelled of wry Did it flash your eyes And tasted like ice?
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Thread beside a thread A needle that pulls it through Weaved in a story That engaged us in the view A charpai Fertile soil Aroma of ghee Dancing between The yellow goodbyes The sound of cattle Chimes through my toil It was the time to leave So I sighed Dragged down my stories From wired sky Wrapped it around my body As I navigate through climb
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Edges to corners A pixel per second A point in left A point to the right One more in the centre To set it right? Unbending it grows Dropping the cape of night Leading you to places Where your chords are tied So shoot me now Shoot me again If there are are points to look through There will be points to ponder over again
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Here I sit with a blank canvas, Thinking whether to spill paint or ink, Because your face has many new scars; Can i let my brush sink… In those craters of myths and lies. I’ll take notice of the brink, So I don’t spill your hidden cries, Stuffed within these feeble cuts; My blank canvas will now have, A painting, painted with your sorrows. My brush strokes show the naiveness, The hands which are still a child, Which will still caress you in your absence. Now the canvas is a partly part, Of your gorgeous mould. If not you, i will stare the black strokes, And complete my thoughts, like the one you read.
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Is that a wolf? Or is that a sheep? Or is that a delusion, For my eyes to see? It’s in the herd of sheep, I’ve never seen before, Am I far too behind, For things to know? It’s running very fast, And also eating grass. It actually ate one from the herd! O now I am left aghast!
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To be, To feel; To be, To be; I see you, You see me, We are right here, Where we used to be; Stuck in a loop, Forever be a part of “the troop,” Is it where you want to be? Is it you? Or is it me?
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Jumping up, Jumping in, Jumping to conclusions, Jumping in cringe; Doubts abound, What is this all about? I’ve known it all, I’ve known it since; You were right, Where have I been? Was I wrong? Was this all for nothing? You ask me if I was ever wrong, And I tell you, Have I ever been?
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Man of different faces, Man with different phases; Cheating the world with a smile on top, Creating a world that is bright with spots. Looking for trouble, Sensing some peace; Asking for sympathy, Getting a tease; The world is a different place, The world is what if not some finite space? Creating notions, Looking for emotions, People die searching for promotions; Getting lost, Losing track of time; What is this place? The world is what if not an extended crime?
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Different regions, Sacred prides; Following seasons, Raising shrines. Thinking aloof, Fighting strange, System’s broken, People fake. Broken lamps, Guiding lights; Heart broken, Same sides. Hoping something, Sometime’s faith; Getting nothing, Answer’s innate.
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Looking for signs, I built a shrine; Hoping that one day, My fate would shine. I built one, I built some more; I didn’t give in, Until I couldn’t count them anymore. Searching for hope, Hoping for faith ; I was about to give up. I looked above, I found the crux; It was always about, My reach-less trove. I thanked my luck, I saw a space. It was all in my head, It was never about faith. The boxes done, The worlds I made; One thing I didn’t realize, I forgot the gate.
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O now my sky is starless which gleamed above my gentle, waves of the ocean, that used to caress your holy beach. O my words have pierced holes after holes, arrowing through your heart! And now I’m cursed! For burning your cheer. O I whip my back red, the bruises don’t pain. Because the tears you shed will all be in vain. O will my punishments to myself Be any worth to cause a ripple? A ripple in the motionless tides, A ripple that causes the flow in my eyes Will it be enough to overcome you?
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Searching for answers, Seeking no trouble; Diving in deep, Stuck in a bubble Round and round, The myth goes about, Small becomes big, Big becomes a mouth. Looking sharp, Sharing new secrets; Delivering rumors, Nothing in sequence. Floating ideas, Digging new pits; Say anything otherwise, They’ll say, “I quit.”
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Flying high, Flying too low, Embracing the clouds, Away we go. Stick my feet, In the mud; What if I don’t fly? What if I don’t go up? I want to stay, I want to learn. I can’t wait, I want to take every turn. Please don’t stop me, Let me go; I’ll try harder, I’m not afraid anymore.
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You are tearing pages Wasting ink Writing letters To people, out of sync You are finding alphabets And words that make sense All in different shades To put into a sentence The pages you had set apart With sounds similar to breaking In halves Now reach out to each other To stick together With a gentle word Or a gap That is meant to be gawked
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Take me for a religious spin, I’ve been broken, I’ve done sins; Worship me or worship his kin, The way we are, The way we’ve been; Am I noble? Where have you been? Take thy notes, And say, “Amen!”
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Tip top tip top, slowly on my two. But when i brush past on my belly, You’ll have no clue. We’re like oreo, Dark sides, white in the middle; One of the dark knight’s hateful villains, Or is it too much of a riddle? Reaching atop, Wanting to gloat, I feel it free, I want to let go. I am happy, On my feet; Listening to police, Where will the dark knight be?
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When I see you, I see a light; I feel a float, I feel a shine; Every time I think, I think about you; Will the stars shine? Will our horizons collide? I’ve seen the future, I know the line, I looked at the stars again, They said you would be mine. I know this is fake, I know I’ve made a mistake; But for the stars’ sake, Come back, now I’m awake.
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The story of black and white has been about light The sun pierces the night While The shadows cast the sky Elevated above this land Lies a string of lines Meeting at distances Breaking into lies Lies That are disguised Like our eyes Speaking stories Of the wandering knight Arming the day With a dimmed respite And sharing the dark As we rise
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O colours of holy deeds, See how your light bleeds, From floor to above, Banishing the dark, Like the peaceful white dove. O walk me beside clerestories, So high above the abyss, For it’s the deep chasm, Eating up the light, while You ignite the blossom. See how my shoulders are opposite, One burning like a comet, Other mixed with black. Why can’t I move this stretched wire From taut to slack? O how your colours spread The aisle today. How beautiful is my wife, When I see her, and she sees you, I see a peaceful afterlife.
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The drizzle regularly kisses my face Whilst the waves meet the shores with grace The funny stones shaped like a maze The subtle lights help me complete the phrase. O lord, i exclaim, Am i dead? Or simply fortunate and blessed That my eyes have been over fed With visuals no mortal would have ever guessed.
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Crossing paths, Forgetting skins; Fight me here or Don’t come in. This is the system, This is the truth; If you go right, It was all a fluke. Turn left, Turn right, You came wrong, The time isn’t right. If this is a battle, All colors shall win; We are all people, We are the same kin.
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How ironical is it, We face in one direction, Yet have visions from many? How many faces do we carry, To face every other differently, And forget self portraiture? How do we mould into someone, And them into us, Yet stay in our own shoes? How many directions does our head turn, From child to old, Only to see what they want us to? How all of my four limbs, Spread into their own capabilities, Yet help one of them write this?
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Staring at a blank sheet Sigh, as usual, I sat puzzled, Eyeing the prospects it heldWhat would have been done? What has been done? What could be done?
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Spreading gospels of perhaps Love and unity? Maybe my ego could cause War or anarchy, I felt small and large As I tried my hand, Fumbling at my first tries, Manic!
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My words were strokes And my strokes spoke It was vocabulary Regardless of whether it held in mangled sentences or overlapping sketches In untidy hand prints And distraught thermocol muddled and messy The descriptions held their own To those who wished to see And those willing to hear Sigh, I found myself clear.
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“Hello Tom, I am new to this neighborhood, Can I be friends with you?” So Tom spoke, lifting his hood, “Yes buddy, welcome to the crew! The street is our home, The people give us treat, We are friends with every gnome, On each garden we meet. We still steal food, Because it’s a lotta joy. Unless you screwed, You are a good cowboy. So let’s take a walk down, And steal some stew, And oh! Just avoid Mr. Brown, Because he doesn’t like cat mew.”
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Million thoughts are racing in my head Like my tears shining in the sky But none vivid enough To guide me out of this affray With no end ahead of it Here I am sitting in utter tranquillity Gazing at the turmoil Far away from these intersections But still trapped in this mirage all I know is that I lost my soul somewhere in these Catacombs.
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Its hard to trust my vision Because my eyes are blinded, With the light Piercing through the dark Like the warriors of twilight riding, My hopes and dreams My heart is losing its rhythm Somewhere in these dark lanes Following the akin beats of dazzle.
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You the flower, I, the droplets On them. Which comes, With the shower. And stick to you And never evaporate. When the earth, Is boiling hot I still be cold, And quench the thirst Of new birth. Of new petals And its bloom. I fall on your pensive symmetry, Evenly from above Because you are At the highest Of your botany. Proliferate. And feel the solidarity.
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A flight is right In this hushed fight A fistful of sparkle Pressed in her might Down and up Up and down Stretched ahead Streamlined above A catch is fun Swirls under the sun Around the trunk Always ready to run Up and ahead Ahead and above Away they go Without a glance behind
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Mirror mirror, What do you see? Do you see the shining light? Do you see how I want you to be? Looking for a different way, Finding funny, Finding it strange; I’ve been lonely, I’ve been estranged, Will you be with me, Will you be my friend? Fiery faces, Stranding ties, I’ve been here before, I’ve been alive. We have a bond, This isn’t all a lie, Do I even have a friend? Or was it? Sigh.
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I lay face up, with my limbs outstretched Treaded upon by creatures, great and small. Basking in the sun, or in the rain drenched Dust rust, food nude, i ve seen it all. I provide a comforting surface for your feet Or when, on the ground, everyone wants to lay I often come to the rescue as a sheet For a friend over for a night stay. You tuck me under the sofa, Over me place a table. After the end of my services Kick me at the backside of a stable.
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I keep filling water into the glass Even after it begins to flow I run across the rooms and stairs Hunting words and letters To fit into these parallel lines to make sense out of me I know nothing And Want to know everything I pull down the curtains And Tear open the dictionaries I hunt And scream Over my helpless anxiety.
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I fall short of words To put out what goes in me To put out on these sheets what my sight sees I rummage the blocks in me Trying to curate a sentence That could do justice To what I see Hear Observe And perceive I believe in nothing And Sometimes in everything.
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A free creature, rolling its eyes, flapping the wings, A little push from the mother, takes the leap to dive in the above, gliding through the echoes in the hills, the blue sky with surreal horizon, meets the vast fragrant meadows beneath.
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Reality makes you wonder on alternate lines of thoughts rising to a virtual world of alternate light or dark. Reality makes you wonder of a vision through the shards broken in ways of appearance keeping the whole in parts. Reality makes you wonder of the space betwixt the spaces definite or indefinite chapped in which you find yourself trapped.
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