I
steal
the yellow
from the
sky, peeling
away the
dusk’s wild
lemon skin,
to share a
saucerful of
crepuscular
light – bathed
in blue – with
my sun-burnt
tongue and you.
Crepuscular (“relating to twilight”) is the loveliest word that I learnt in 2014. I first heard it while sitting at the edge of the cliff, about 6,600 feet above sea level.
So last November, three of us were on a hiccup of a trek in Vattakanal – one of my favourite places in the world – to see the sunrise. The trek ended when the cliff did. It was a spot where hundreds of Red-Rumped Swallows flocked together every morning. They went through their exquisite dance routines, like ballerinas with wings.
They flew below the cliff where a family of hills, often clad in misty gowns, converged. As the sun rose, the swallows flew across giant burn-marks in the sky. The horizon rolled sideways, beautifully, over a bed of yellow, red and orange paint. The clouds appeared, in shapes and colours, as only they otherwise would have in a painter’s dream.
This time around, there was an astronomy enthusiast and a photographer with me. They were discussing the nature of light in relation to a camera’s aperture settings. That’s when one of them told me about crepuscular rays.
I asked him to repeat the word ‘crepuscular” twice or thrice, and then again to spell it out. It sort of blew my mind. It wasn’t because the word itself sounded like something a Street Fighter character might say before shooting destructive energy balls via double palm thrusts. That was a phenomenal bonus. The word just sounded right. If I could have wandered carelessly towards the edge and magic-carpeted myself across these ethereal landscapes, it would have been perfect.
Loved this, C!
“saucerful of
crepuscular” – Wow!
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merci aplenty D 🙂
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Wow, this is exquisite!!! Love this!
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thank you so much 🙂
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Another master stroke and one more word added to my vocabulary, thank you !
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awws thanks priya 🙂
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Beautiful 🙂
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thank you 🙂 the triangles have their way with us
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I have placed this poem on toast, grilled cheese over top, for lunch
oh my
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And some fruity pie for manu 🙂
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i never new a re-grilled poem, with temporary vegan cheese, could be so creamy in colour
p.s manu unfolded his beak to reveal the most splendid of sun-burnt maps
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Giggles, all is fantastic between the ears and years then 🙂
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Beautiful…
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That’s a lovely little poem. And the photographs are crepuscularly beautiful!!
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Awww such a lovely thing to say, merci
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This is beautiful! Love the word, the lines at the beginning and the pictures 😀
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Thank you kindly 🙂
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This looks so Indian!
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It is proudly so 🙂
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This is a wonderful descript n.. tjose amazing snapshots..
Cud feel that elongated eureka moment in a continuum of goosebumps when some striking interesting word or anything curious is felt first…i cud relate to words more as a poet n have felt same moments…wen u say crepuscular.., am reminded of a related beautiful word ‘vespertinre’ when i read first from my fav poetess at my site.. it relates yo evening happenings than the sharp twilight which rather is luie a switching elusive moment
Dug out that poem link fr u, frm my site.. Where in tjis small poetry..vespertine was used
http://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/185860-trespass/
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thanks for the poem, it was preciously haunting. i’m quite fond of the word “vespertine” too. i heard it first in a lovely song by Bjork 🙂
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Srry fr my typos bharat…am always in my mobile.. N i suck most times in touchscreens;)
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parvalai comrade, adhulam orru matter-eh ilai 🙂
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I LOVE
I
steal
the yellow
from the
sky, peeling
away the
dusk’s wild
lemon skin,
to share a
saucerful of
crepuscular
light – bathed
in blue – with
my sun-burnt
tongue and you
Just gorgeous and the photos, great post!
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Thank you so much 🙂
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lovely..
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Thanks bud!
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Beautiful poem and wonderful photos! Ah, the quality of that light! And the bonus of a rich new word!
Awesome! 🙂
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Thank you radhika 🙂 quality of light indeed
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beautifully written 🙂
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Merci comrade 🙂
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I love this one. How on earth were you able to re-post it in April, previous post and comments in-tact? I would love to know!
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Aww thanks comrade. Tis just a matter of changing dates. WordPress is a good boy 🙂
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