A Personal Literary Review of Poem “As You Are Coming” Written by International Well-Known Indian Poet, Bhawani Shankar Nial (2021)

By Leni Marlina

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[Poetry Community of Indonesian Society’s Inspirations: PPIPM – Indonesia; Writers Community of Satu Pena West Sumatra; Poetry-Pen International Community; ACC SHILA]

Reading Bhawani Shankar Nial’s poem “As You Are Coming” feels like opening a doorway to a deeply intimate and universal truth—a raw, unfiltered meditation on life, relationships, and the inevitability of death. The poem resonates with me not just as a reader, but as someone who grapples with the same questions about existence, meaning, and what we carry into the unknown.

The opening lines captivated me instantly: “I’m getting ready / With a handful of alphabets.” I paused, feeling the weight of those words. Isn’t that what we all do—craft meaning from the chaos of life, using the only tools we have? It felt like a gentle nudge, as if the poet were saying, “We’re all just trying to make sense of this, aren’t we?” For me, these lines exemplify the poet’s brilliance: taking something so ordinary and infusing it with profound significance.

As I journeyed further into the poem, I found myself drawn to the intricate imagery: “Rearranging the draft of security / The nest of Baya, the weaver bird.” What a striking metaphor for the fragility of life! It reminded me of the delicate balance we all maintain—building homes, nurturing relationships, dreaming dreams—knowing full well how easily they can unravel. The Baya bird’s nest, so intricate yet impermanent, felt like a mirror to my own life. It’s a reminder of both the beauty and vulnerability in all we create.

But the heart of this poem lies in its paradoxes—truth and falsehood, love and war, self-struggle and deceit. The poet doesn’t offer solutions; instead, they lay these contradictions bare, inviting us to wrestle with them. I found myself nodding at the lines, “To live amidst consolation and deceit / With a handful of truth and falsehood.” Yes, this is life, isn’t it? Messy, complicated, and beautiful in its complexity. These words stayed with me, urging me to embrace the contradictions within myself and the world.

The poem’s dialogue with death is what moved me most. Death isn’t cast as an antagonist here; it’s a presence, a certainty, a savior even. “Oh Death! The savior of my birth / My Salvator for generations,” the poet writes, not with fear, but with reverence. This perspective felt deeply personal to me. How often do we shy away from confronting mortality, only to find, when we do, that it holds not just endings, but beginnings as well?

What This Poem Offers

For readers, As You Are Coming is more than a poem—it’s an invitation to reflect on your own life. It challenges you to confront the fleeting nature of the things you hold dear while finding solace in their beauty. It whispers to you, “What will you carry when the call comes? What will you leave behind?”

For poets, this work exemplifies sensitivity and depth. The intricate metaphors, rich imagery, and brutal honesty highlight poetry’s ability to accommodate life’s inconsistencies. It instructs us to believe our readers, to let the silences and spaces between words speak as loudly as the words themselves.

My Takeaway

As I finished the poem, I felt a sensation of peaceful wonder. As You Are Coming is more than just a contemplation of mortality; it is a celebration of life in all its broken, frail beauty. It reminded me to hug my loved ones near, cherish the fleeting moments, and confront life’s uncertainties with courage. If I had to describe my experience with this poem in one word, it would be humbling. It humbled me as a writer, demonstrating the value of simplicity and honesty. It humbled me as a human, reminding me that life is both transient and tremendously meaningful.
This poem is not merely a piece of writing; it is a gift. a mirror. This is a chat. And its echoes will stay with me and also other readers for a very long time.

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Short Information about Reviewer

Leni, a committed member of the Indonesian Writers’ Association (SATU PENA) for the Sumatra Barat chapter since its inception in 2022, is also an active participant in the Creative Writers of Indonesia Era AI Community. Her literary contributions have extended to the international stage as a member of the ACC Shanghai Huifeng International Literary Association, where she proudly serves as the Indonesian Poetry Ambassador. She was previously involved in the Victoria Writer’s Association in Australia.

Since 2006, Leni has devoted herself to academia as a lecturer at the English Language and Literature Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang.

As the founder and head of various digital communities centered on social, language, literature, and literacy, Leni has established:

1. World Children’s Literature Community (WCLC): https://shorturl.at/acFv1
2. Poetry-Pen International Community
3. PPIPM (Pondok Puisi Inspirasi Masyarakat), the Poetry Community of Indonesian Society’s Inspirations: https://shorturl.at/2eTSB; https://shorturl.at/tHjRI
4. Starcom Indonesia Community (Starmoonsun Edupreneur Community Indonesia):
https://rb.gy/5c1b02
5. Linguistic Talk Community
6. Literature Talk Community
7. Translation Practice Community
8. English Languange Learning, Literacy, Literary Community (EL4C)

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As You Are Coming

Poem by
Bhawani Shankar Nial
(Internationally well-known Indian Poet)

I’m getting ready
With a handful of alphabets
Crafting ego,
As you are coming.

For you’ve affirmed
To reach at a time fixed,
I am getting ready
To reach you
Arranging the lines of palms, blue heaven
And the jungle of words,
Deceit, knavery, treachery,
Self-struggle unattached, love and war
Gone astray
And the silhouette
Of the unattached sympathy.

I’ll come
All alone
And if you ask
Shall I be in the company
Of my life partner
The architect
Of my mansion of happiness,
My son and daughter
Rearranging the draft of security
The nest of Baya, the weaver bird,
Waves of drunken Ocean,
Or moments of stars
Playing hide and seek.
Searching identity with
The floating Kalahandia clouds
The festivity
Of Nuakhai and Pushpuni
Or in ethnic food.

Oh Death!
The savior of my birth
My Salvator for generations
In multiple rebirths,
I’m coming
All alone
Responding to your only call
In the cloud
Of vowels and consonants all
Amidst love and fondness,
War and self-struggle,
To live amidst consolation and deceit
With a handful of truth and falsehood.

India, 2021

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Source:

Nial, Bhawani Shankar. 2021. “As You Are Coming”. An Encounter with Death. London & New Delhi: Bluerose Publishers.