DYING EMBERS
I have struggled all my life
To keep my dreams alive.
They have held sway over me,
Those that consoled me
And those I learned to disdain.
But in the darkness of time,
None, not even my thoughts,
Stood aligned with me. The fire
Once ignited in my dreams
Left me blind, barely
Clinging to the timber of my bed.
These dreams, like faded stars,
Have drifted awfully far, too far
To cast me still beneath their spell.
Yet I doubt. All is not ash.
Embers lie in slumber.
In storm or in calm, I must tread
Deftly as a whisper, lest a dying ember
Shriek its way from the clutter
And ignite my life into flames.
Pramod Rastogi is an Emeritus Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is a poet, academician, researcher, author of nine scientific books, and a former Editor-in-chief (1999-2019) of the international scientific journal, Optics and Lasers in Engineering. He was an honorary Professor at the IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004. He was a guest Professor at the IIT Gandhinagar between 2019 and 2023. He is presently an honorary adjunct Professor at the IIT Jammu.
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