True To Name

Maya was her name, an identity she wore like a superhero cape
It stood in place like an ensemble cast of a bad movie remake
(Integral to the character, useless to the plot)
I should’ve known she was trouble, when the first thing she said,
Maya was her name.

She had a glint in her eye that comes from knowledge of power within
Isn’t after all, ‘Maya’ the power that deludes?
When I first saw her walk into that room, it was as if the sun had burst through an unsuspecting wintry morning
A burst of color when still in deep mourning.

Somewhat of a mellow soft glow was she, in a room where everything was long cloaked blind
Blind with soullessness, soulfulness, and just plain soul at times
It was then I thought I could even settle for an illusion of a phenomenal world
As long as I could imagine one with just me and her

So I wrote an epic romance for the rest of the life to be, a sonata for each passing day, a requiem for a dream
And she played along with equal aplomb, matching me in passion and soul
And with a skewed perspective, believing it all to be true, I went on
Until, she gently reminded me, Maya was her name, and who she had to be.

Who could blame her, didn’t after all, the fault lie with me?
A romance is only as good as the last quickened heartbeat; betrayed by my own heart, fuelled by naiveté, why couldn’t I see
She was nothing but a fleeting reality, strengthened by fundamental truth
She was ‘Maya’, not who she was when with me.

I believed her to be an enchantress, much like the gods who spun illusions
A limited reality that wove my conscience in knots and tangles
A power she held by which my universe became manifest
An influence under which my self was lost, a conscience in constant state of jest.

Much time has passed since then, my notions have long turned into whimsical vagaries
Its only as I see you again today, I realize the untruth I surrounded myself with
You once told me, ‘Maya’ must be seen through to achieve ‘Moksha’
And its only now, I see the transcendent state attained by this liberating truth

And with an epiphany I realize my name.