Poetry: Mani Rao

POEM, SISYPHUS



Moon, Sisyphus
Full
Null

Life, Sisyphus
Chain

Who knows how many

Days in the
Life of Brahma

Pebble, Sisyphus
On a beach
      Wave
      Wave
      Wave
Polishing

Up there
Slick stars who made it






You know how Sisyphus had to roll a massive rock up a steep hill, and how it would roll back down again. But, do you know, a day in the life of Brahma = 4.32 billion years. So is a night. Brahma’s life of a hundred years (36,000 days) = 311.04 trillion human years. Human life is not manifest during Brahma’s night.


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Mani Rao Photo by Paul Schollmeier 2Mani is the author of eight books of poetry including Ghostmasters (2010) and Echolocation (2003) and a translation of the Sanskrit Bhagavad Gita as a poem. www.manirao.com has updates.

Photo by Paul Schollmeier.