AFTER THE FIRE : The Poet of the Plateau - by Soma AMRITAH

Subtitled 'The Poet of the Plateau', this is the earliest verse cycle of Amritah's, published for the very first time on in this revised translation as a PDF.

"Although I had joined You long before, You had not noticed me in your midst. Years I passed in your sleeping death - You did not see Me pass. In an indiscernible darkness lost, not a single sky star could I kiss. I did not even know my face - and nor did you know my name." Soma Amritah

Amritah's First Verse Cycle: This volume represents the first translation into the English language of Amritah's earliest poetic work. 'After the Fire' , that was written in 1995 and published one year later by the Darius Press. It is, just like 'Out of these Eyes' and 'The Lost Verse', a poem that tells a story at the same time as casting a spell over us with its simple yet effective rhythm of verse. It is a very mature work for his first foray into poetry, and in it one can already detect some of the themes that will make an appearance in his later work. The translators of this work have expressed the hope that with very the different vocabulary of the English language they may have been able to communicate, even if not perfectly, the essential nature of the thoughts contained within 'After the Fire', a work that bristles with as much inspiration as his later works, and undoubtedly with just as much of his spirit. Essential Reading.

The Contents of this Work: Here are the name of its stages and sections in their literary order:
Prologue (At the Beginning)
Before the Fire - I CAN STAY NO MORE / EACH YEAR HE CAME / I FOLLOW YOUR STEPS
The Poet of the Plateau - TO A HALT WE CAME / THEY THERE WERE / THE POET OF THE PLATEAU / A CLOUD HAD PASSED / THE WEDDING FEAST / CANTUS, CANTUS, CANTEI / THE BANQUETEERS
After the Fire - AFTER THE FIRE / THE NAME OF YOUR SOUL / YOU CANNOT POSSESS THE SUN / THE FUTURE OF A DREAM
Gone from Here - YOU DO NOT NEED / WHAT KIND OF A MAN? / WITHIN THE FLAMES / I WALK AWAY / DO NOT RETURN / I HAD BEEN BLIND
Epilogue (In the End)

An Extract from this Work:
Prologue (At the Beginning)

" - I am starting
at the Beginning,
although I know not
Where it really begins, -

I only remember things
vaguely now. I cannot
recall them so clear.

Out of the Fire
I leapt, I awoke,
there in the body,
a man once more,

above this planet
the Eye of the Sun,
beneath my feet
- the Ground.

Some of you here
were beside me then
and a mother and father,
I had like you, -

but I did not recognize
my own face,
and I did not know
my name. -

In an indiscernible
darkness lost -
years I passed
in sleeping death.

Small was the Earth
to me then,
and narrow the path
of my life.

Though no longer an infant
I was not a man, -
my eyes were shut
and no light came in,

I was blind
yet I thought I could see,
I was deaf
yet I thought I heard clear.

I want to tell you
of how things changed,
of a day and
a night which
unclosed my sealed eyes.

For years I stood
in the market square
although I knew not
I was really there,

I sensed,
but I did not feel
my Self. I pretended
I knew who I was.

But one moment passed
and my dead skin was cast
- I knew who I was
where before I had not.

In an instant
a choice was made,
in a day
my life was changed.

All Horizons were Gone!
to a New World
was opened
the Door Beyond,
- I SAW ALL WAS ONE !

Now in the shadows
I saw the Sun
and a lake was
an Infinite Ocean to me,

the gum had been
peeled from off my eyes
and nothing was
what it was.

Now I spend the days
in carving sculptures
of people that I knew

not marble, nor rock
is the matter I mould,
words the material
serving me best -
pen and paper,
chisel and stone.

And my statues
are not recognized
for people seldom
know themselves.
For they look to me
like fishes, swimming,
the river they do not see,

AND I THOUGHT
I WOULD NEVER AWAKE
LIKE THEM.
FOR I THOUGHT
I WOULD NEVER AWAKE!"

A truly rewarding and uplifting experience for readers, both fans of 'Out of these Eyes' and those who are new to his work.