Elemental: A Collection of Prose, Poetry and Photography

By Akanksha Chokshi

Discover what is elemental to you, and the elements will unite to save you. Feel the force of the universe—earth, fire, air, water, and self—and you will be in your element balanced and at peace. Even with all your flaws, it is you that is elemental.

This is me making sense of the world around me. This is me making sense of me. This is me and my journey.

elemental is a collection of prose, poetry, and photography.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Nov 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543704341

Akanksha Chokshi

a seventeen-year old who believes in the magic of words, dreams and colours

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Akanksha Chokshi.

ISBN:                Hardcover                978-1-5437-0436-5

                          Softcover                978-1-5437-0435-8

                          eBook                       978-1-5437-0434-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Part One. • Colours of the universe

white

black

new moon

half moon

full moon

half moon

new moon

red

cosmos

air glow

yellow

cosmos

brown

green

aphelion

cosmos

blue

colours

aurora

cosmos

constellate your thoughts and the sky is yours

Part Two. • feel the elements all around you h

first, diving down

hope

Part three. • discover what is elemental to you h

things you must know about me:

yes, i write

there’s magic all around us, but i can’t seem to find it.

you are alive. you are your story.

e l e m e n t a l

adj.

1. forming an essential feature; fundamental

2. simple but strongly felt

3. embodying the forces of nature and the universe

part one.

• colours of the universe 294.jpg

1.jpg

the earth breathes in colour

place your feet on the ground

and stare up at the sky

watch it come alive

watch the earthly hues around you fade

till you are wrapped in the colours of the universe

and they burst and swirl around you

and slowly fade away

you stare at sunrises and stars

and while the earth is drained of colour

you watch bubbles rise up to the universe

until the skies are an explosion of colour

and they’re all you see

and you run

run to the horizons

chasing colours

or chasing stars

torn between the universe and the earth

all you can do

is simply alternate

between the two

the colours and the stars

until you understand them both

will you ever learn?

the universe won’t stop spinning.

w h i t e

you’re running now,

your feet pounding against pure white marble

but they’re slipping.

you try to keep your balance

but the brightness around you is blinding

mirrors keep throwing reflections around

till the world seems like one large illusion.

you can’t tell which way the path bends

you’re tumbling down slopes you didn’t know existed.

the ground crumbles like snow under your feet.

you trip over rocks hidden under snowy blankets

and fall into pits swallowed up by wisps of fog.

the ground is icy and unforgiving

as you collapse onto it.

the cold pavement sends frostbite up your spine

and there is something frightening about statue-like calmness

that sends your pearly teeth stuttering.

but you get to your feet somehow,

dodging the hailstones raining down relentlessly,

and soon

you’re on your way.

2.jpg

we’re all that’s left,

hollow echoes

and dust that stretches out

as far as the eye can see

bleeding starlight from our veins

like poetry

b l a c k

you keep running

and the world around you darkens.

you watch the light around you fade away into darkness,

the brightness creeping away into dark alleys

to retreat into the shadows.

your eyes relax as the blinding glow fades away

shadows bring perspective into your world

till it is now engulfed in shadows

and your vision falters again.

you’re running through tunnels you can’t see the end of,

crossing bridges

but you can’t see the missing planks

till you’re falling into an abyss of darkness

but it feels just the same until you hit the ground.

but this time it doesn’t crumble like snow

but remains solid like concrete.

you can see distant silhouettes in fading shades of dark

but the grey hills at the horizon seem too far to reach.

the fog grows darker

and thicker

until you’re unable to make your way through.

you keep stumbling through the dark,

making your way through the unknown

because there is something about the horizon

that seems to hint at the clarity of colour

and the coal in your eyes is beginning to smoulder

and give off sparks.

3.jpg

n e w m o o n

the world around you changes in the blink of an eye,

morphed beyond recognition every few seconds,

whirling around so rapidly it’s a blur

impossible to comprehend.

you watch this constant cycle of change unfold around you

and as the waves of change lap at your feet,