Premiere Contest WinnerIllusion of Solidity

—When Matter Remembered It Was Light—

I dwelt within a palimpsest of appearances,
a sepulchral architecture of borrowed forms
where every mirror preserved the vestige
of selves I had mistaken for sovereign truth.

I crowned impermanence with alabaster names,
inscribed my vanishing upon the vellum of hours,
and worshipped the transient splendour of matter
as though dust could inherit the throne of stars.

The body—my first cathedral of illusion—
opened its ossuary corridors of bone and breath;
I wandered its chambers like an heir,
unaware I had merely been entrusted with the keys.

Then you arrived—

not as an apparition summoned from Olympus,
nor as some celestial fire descending through the firmament,
but as an incorporeal hush
that entered the sealed manuscript of my being
and taught the ink its forgotten origin.

Within that silence, the hidden gardens awakened:
black irises unfurling their nocturnal scripture,
myrrh-scented winds crossing abandoned sanctuaries,
and buried rivers reclaiming the ancient music
engraved beneath their own forgetting.

I followed that music beyond desire’s dominion,
beyond the sapphire labyrinths of possession,
beyond the gilded hallucination of permanence,
until my name itself became a fading constellation
drawn briefly upon the breathing darkness.

The mountains remained in their immemorial patience.
The oceans continued their argent liturgy.
The stars kept their distance, untouched and infinite.

Only the illusion of ownership dissolved.

And then I understood—

solidity was never the substance of the world;

it was the momentary crystallisation of longing,
a fragile architecture of light and consciousness,
through which the universe concealed one final mystery:

I was not the vessel through which light entered creation;
I was the brief illusion through which light learned to believe it was separate.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Sultan Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 11:34 AM
This is beyond words. Reading this felt like silence speaking. The way you dissolved the illusion of "self" and showed that we are not the vessel, but the brief moment where light forgets it is one... that line will stay with me forever. It’s not just poetry, it’s remembrance. Masterpiece. ❤️🙏Do you understand or speak Urdu language? I want to write something about this master piece in my beloved national language
MITRA Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Dear Nazia, Thy sincere reading of my poor verses, and the discerning generosity with which thou hast received them, humble me more than I can say. To hear thee call them “remembrance” is itself a remembrance I shall cherish. As for Urdu—its poets, and the Persian masters who have so profoundly intrigued me, have often reached places within my soul where ordinary speech cannot. Yet I confess, with some humility, that I must frequently seek a dictionary to follow the full fragrance of this most hallowed language. Pray, write whatever thy heart wishes to say in Urdu and send it to me. I shall verily be honoured and read it with gratitude; and should some word or nuance elude me, I shall most happily ask thee its meaning. ❤️🌹✨
Kauffman Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 10:53 AM
Congratulations on your trophy win, Mohit! Your profound interpretation of this theme is overwhelming with phrases like "my first cathedral of illusion" that elevate words into realms like Olympus. This is a spiritual love song of light and shadows, illusion and reality. What can be touched and the illusions we think we can touch. Truly the way you use words is pure poetry, dear poet. Blessings of joy and wonder to you!
MITRA Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Dear Sam, Thy generous words have insinuated themselves into the deeper chambers of my thought, for thou hast perceived not merely the architecture of the verse, but the paradox beneath it—the theatre wherein matter feigns permanence whilst light remembers what we have forgotten. 🤔 Thy phrase, “a spiritual love song of light and shadows,” names the poem with singular grace. Beneath its metaphysics lies an act of love: the relinquishing of possession, until the self discovers itself as light momentarily persuaded that it is alone. 💕 With an ember of soulful gratitude, ✨🌸 Mohit Mitra
Guptar Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 8:12 AM
Congratulations dear poet on your first place win in this contest with a lovely poem shining with layers of imagery, an elevated diction, profundity of thought and a flowing rhythm. Sending you the blessing of light.
MITRA Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Dear Krishna, To me, thy gracious appreciation arrived not merely as praise, but at the very soul, borne as though through the nine divine gates of that cosmic reed whose music thy name itself seemeth to render. I receive such grace with profound gratitude, and shall treasure the strange music of thy blessing long after these laurels have faded. 🕊️🌹
Poet Avatar
August 21, 2026 at 4:56 AM
Dear Mohit, your wonderfully crafted poem beautifully explores the concepts of impermanence, identity, and the interplay between light and matter. It paints vivid imagery of existence as a transient phenomenon, with eloquent metaphors that invite us to reflect on the nature of reality and self. The journey from illusion to understanding is depicted with depth and subtlety, making it a thought-provoking and engaging piece—my hearty congratulations on a well-deserved trophy win.
Dietrich Avatar
August 20, 2026 at 4:31 PM
So profound this is. It's easy to see how you got a trophy 🏆 win with your elegant style of verse and this "spot on" response to the contest sponsor's prompt. A big congratulations to you
MITRA Avatar
August 20, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Dear Andrea, thy gracious words have left me in that rare silence wherein gratitude outstrips the faculty of speech. That thou shouldst discern, beneath the visible architecture of these verses, the inward thought which sought to inhabit them—and shouldst deem their answer to the given summons so “spot on”—is to me a distinction of a far nobler order than any laurel a contest may bestow. For what is a trophy beside that more secret benediction whereby a reader enters the poet’s inward chamber and finds there some answering ember of her own? The poem may receive its crown from the world, yet it receives its truer consecration when another consciousness beholds within it something that was already waiting to be understood. Thy generous reading hath therefore made the verse seem less solitary to its maker. I remain most humbly grateful for so discerning an embrace of the work, and for the grace with which thou hast spoken of it. 🌸✨
Volumes Avatar
August 20, 2026 at 3:08 PM
I could not muster words to appropriately fuse meaning to my thoughts in order to write on this subject, and now you have said it all by scribing this perfect verse.
MITRA Avatar
August 20, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Dear Speaks Volumes, thy words have moved me more deeply than I can readily confess. To say that thy thoughts could not readily summon speech adequate to their inward meaning, and that these verses have, in some measure, given utterance to what remained unspoken within thee, is to confer upon a poet a gift more precious than praise. For perhaps this is the strangest mercy granted to language: that what one soul cannot wholly articulate, another may unknowingly inscribe; and what begins as one man’s solitary seeking may awaken, in another, the recognition of something long nameless. In that mysterious exchange, the boundary between writer and reader grows thin, and the poem ceases to belong entirely to either. If these lines have indeed carried even a fragment of what thy spirit was endeavouring to say, then I count the writing itself abundantly rewarded. Thy words have returned the poem to me transfigured by another consciousness, and for that I remain profoundly, and most humbly, th
Dietrich Avatar
August 20, 2026 at 4:32 PM
I agree !
Smith nee Howarth Avatar
August 3, 2026 at 7:48 PM
I was not the vessel through which light entered creation; The body—my first cathedral of illusion— of selves I had mistaken for sovereign truth. Only the illusion of ownership dissolved. I was the brief illusion through which light learned to believe it was separate. ⭐
MITRA Avatar
August 3, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Dear Alison, Your generous attention has touched me more deeply than I can adequately say. That you gathered those particular lines from the poem feels less like admiration than a quiet act of understanding, as though you had listened not only to the words, but to the silence from which they were written. If any light abides within these verses, it is because a reader such as you was willing to receive it with so discerning and gracious a spirit. I remain profoundly grateful that you gave the poem both your time and your thoughtful presence. Thank you, Alison. Your kindness has become part of the poem's continuing life. Under kinder stars, Mohit Mitra
Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace