Cartography of Places never visited in any Year by the Author (See Notes at the back p. 1947-2022)
If I ever could,
I would love to write a History of Maps
Of not just places and figments of imagination,
But trace the paths to things for which we don't need
maps because no one is looking for them.
I would take great pains to draw maps for broken things.
To find the shortest route to take to reach The Central Archive of Forgotten Dreams
I would toil in the night
to unearth the secrecy
of pathways to all the lamps without a fuse
that render darkness a form
for lovers to kiss in peace
I would lean against thousands of doorjambs
Walk through many university corridors
Sit in the shadow
of so many shut windows —
Till I can draw a map of light itself
Pouring languidly at confounding times
I would chase the emptiness that escapes
once cocoons fall vacant
and make a map, easy and simple
to trace that fleeting flight of air itself.
I would draw neat maps with clear instructions,
to all the places where people have wept anonymously
to the Souvenir Shop of Intoxicated Memories
Overcrowded
with echoes of helpless laughter and timid embarrassment.
To the Factory of Mass - Produced Hate,
For it is a map so much in demand.
I would sit down at my desk and compile them all
Writing a Forward, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents and a short history of each map drawn and
placed
And if I could, I will leave one map out
a single sheet of paper
The least important one
1. A blank map
naming in clear invisible ink
the sites of death
Of people who were never murdered
By Nobody
Using neither sword, guns or tanks,
Of thousands of sufferings that never took place in any era
2. A history of utmost unhappiness
That never can be written or mapped
buried in graves with
No year, no witnesses or mourners,
No
Afterword.
Swarnika Ahuja is currently an M.Phil scholar in the Department of English, University of Delhi as well as a Guest teacher in Hansraj College. After obtaining her Bachelor's in English, she went on to complete her Master's from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has presented papers in academic conferences and published essays on various literary works/ themes. Apart from painting, teaching and petting stray cats, writing poetry continues to be one of her most enduring passions.