Island of Stability and Other Poems

By Chris Krishna-Pillay

Island of Stability

There are moments of true serenity 
To breathe, to not think, respite to unwind 
Places and times where there is space to be 
Quiet things tip-toe back to front of mind 
 
Do we not all yearn for moments like this? 
It would be more than just soothing when found 
Awake to new things we’d otherwise miss 
From limited insight newly unbound 
 
Seas of unknowing, with unfinished charts 
To lands where unimagined things emerge 
Where the fruit of our minds charges our hearts 
Ride waves of wisdom - are we on the verge? 
 
From reaction, decay, breakdown and noise 
Useful surprises and other such joys. 

Vive Le Chien!

A wag-filled adventure, never enough 
Sniffing, drooling – woof! Tails and paws and ears 
Heart swells, thinking back, all the dogs I’ve loved 
A loss recalled, smiles at times mixed through tears 
 
Puppy days fleeting, older age extends
All the years and the moments in between 
We shared so much, though the time fairly flew 
Beaches, balls, bones – boy, even to our genes 
 
Methylation measurement so we see 
Where different forms share points upon the path 
Growing and learning, quicker you than me 
Finding sticks to chew and then logs to graph 
 
You left before me, rates of life ensure 
I remember us, so you still endure 

To our centres

I don’t feel you try to pull me nearer 
I know you do not sense me do the same 
We can’t help but do this is, which is queerer 
All the masses known and not, in this frame 
 
Countless bonds that bind everything and all 
Dictate our stability and motion 
Forever bodies come and go and fall 
Lunar seas as the moon tugs the ocean  
 
Even that which is dark and clandestine 
From sensory perception occulted 
Reveals itself by curving space and time  
And like all else, to all else is bolted 
 
When separated by a greater length  
Our bond remains but each step halves its strength  

Chris has a background in science and the performing arts, including music,
theatre, radio and television. He has written scripts and songs for cabaret shows
and rock bands. He is interested in the different ways people see the same object,
or experience the same circumstance. He enjoys the challenge is expressing this
within the boundaries of structured form, specifically sonnets – inspired by science.