Raised in India and transplanted to the United States, poet Prabhu Jha has lived his life in a diverse duality that comes across in his work. Dust of Memory is a look back in time but also a look toward the future, whatever it may hold. Jha presents relatable situations, moods, and scenarios from day-to-day life . . . with a twist. His words are peaceful and sometimes lull the reader into a state of prolonged bliss-until they are awakened by a quip of wit or whimsy that inspires the mind. He writes of universal emotions like love, loss, failure, and success, still with the dualistic view of a man who has lived in two different worlds and acquired life-altering experiences in both. He is in touch with nature and sees how the natural world can be a mirror of the human condition. How can a sunset remind him of a lost love? It's possible, as we are so intertwined with the world around us, including nature and the people in our lives. Nature and words have the power to revisit places long forgotten, and so, through poetry, Jha reexamines memories and finds in them the strength to go on. Dust of Memory By Prabhu Jha AuthorHouse LLC Copyright © 2014 Prabhu Jha All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4969-3855-8 Contents EPHEMERAL, Dust Of Memory, 3, Death, 4, The Day After, 5, The Decade, 6, Shadows Of Memory, 7, Ephemeral, 8, Metaphysics, 9, Quest, 10, Memories, 11, YOU, Hallucination, 15, You, 16, Spring, 17, Summer Blues, 18, The Stroll, 19, LIFE, Solo, 23, Life, 24, She, 25, Detachment, 26, Exile, 27, Sailing The Seven Seas, 28, Longing, 29, Waz Up?, 30, SOLITUDE, Dusk, 33, Precis, 34, Transformation, 35, Just To Exist, 36, Sweet Deception, 37, Romance, 38, Solitude, 39, Colors, 40, DAYDREAMING, Daydreaming, Again!, 43, Fantasy, 44, The Leaves, 45, The Redwood Tree, 46, Daydreamer, 47, MAYA, The Cold Companion, 51, The Moon, 52, Maya, 53, Illusion, 54, The Swan Song, 55, The Mystical Mirage, 56, TIME, Betrayal, 59, Abstract, 60, Time, 61, April, 62, Fiction, 63, April Redux, 64, Presence, 65, LOVE, The Debt Of Love, 69, The Vision, 70, That's Why, 71, The Spell, 72, Sudden Fiction, 73, The Falling Sun, 74, EVENING, Evening, 77, Reflections, 78, Evening, Again!, 79, Evening And You, 80, Deception, 81, ETERNITY, Just A Thought, 85, Eternity, 86, Enchantment, 87, The Electric Blues, 88, Equations Of Eternity, 89, Nirvana, 90, CHAPTER 1      DUST OF MEMORY     The setting sun     Sinking in the silk of the evening,     Turns to the moon,     Anticipating the cashmere of the night!     I can see your dismissive smile;     No, this isn't one of my caffeine – fueled delusions;     I'm just dusting off the upper shelves of Memory. DEATH     Nothing changes,     But you do, eventually.     A storm rages, and your world crashes.     But, then, nothing changes.     The stars still come out;     The sun still rises.     Yes, the sense of finality with which Death comes     Makes you scream:     Why can't the stars go out like cheap electric bulbs?     Nothing changes,     But you do eventually.      THE DAY AFTER     The morning shows up at the door step     Like an orphan.     Listless, lost, I prep     For the afternoon; and soon     It appears as an unpaid debt,     And gets compounded in its doom.     The evening doesn't bring the moon,     And accentuates the dark dread of the Redwood trees,     You left behind.      THE DECADE     Days and weeks     Dissolve at the door of Eternity;     Time turns into a blue strip     Of a pre – digital movie     I love to rewind and watch;     Small consolation;     I'm still blue ten years after your     Departure!      SHADOWS OF MEMORY     Summer,     Silently slipping by,     Leaves a trail of indulgent moments,     Surrendering its charm     To oblivion,     To be lived again     Down the hill     In the shadows of memory!      EPHEMERAL     Thinking of you     In my moments of silent nothingness,     Almost invariably I begin to view     A vanishing metaphor:     The setting sun!     Soon it will sink into the nocturnal abyss,     And the evening's empathy is nothing but ephemeral!      METAPHYSICS     Do you know     Of an abstraction     That is as vague as     A Cirrus cloud,     And yet is as solid as a concrete wall?     You don't see it,     Like I don't see YOU –     At least not anymore!     However, you miss it     Once it's gone.     It's TIME!     Yes, the time gone by     Is as solidly stubborn as a concrete wall;     But YOU were never stubborn!     What happened?     Did you fall in love with an abstraction?      QUEST     The shades of a dark green mango orchard,     Struggle to provide an oasis of relief from the brutal     summer;     The white rim of heat encircles the orchard.     In my mind's eye I see a mango falling off the tree.     I run to grab it