MOHIT MITRA Poet Blank verse

Thirst Beyond Blood

—Where Love Rewrites Distance—



I petitioned not solely for the blade, but tears—
for eyes which, having endured grief’s iron law,
still husband in their depths those ancient waters
by which the living heart maintains its blood;
and even those who rise against me, let
them come of houses tempered to honour war.

For I had dried my eyes beyond all speech;
yet from their saltless chambers blood arose
and crossed my face with such grave insistence
that grief itself seemed startled by its red;
then, past the frontier of what eyes could see,
the sea leaned towards the shore and whispered: Thirst.

The sun kept vigil; the moon withheld its sleep;
the stars remained within their ancient courts—
until your hand entered mine, and suddenly
the distances between their fires drew close,
without catastrophe, as though the dark
had waited all this while to witness it.

I am no leaf the bough may cast away
when autumn comes to prosecute its claim.
Let the wind rage; it has mistaken force
for sovereignty, and noise for rightful power.
There are roots whose subterranean allegiance
runs so deep the earth itself must break
before they learn the ancient word, release.

I have seen blood remember that it was water;
I have heard the ocean confess its thirst;
I have watched the heavens alter nothing
and yet become entirely other; and I know
that what the hand once inscribes upon the heart
survives the jurisdiction of time and distance.

So let the gale unsheathe its nameless sword;
let night discharge its black artillery; let stars
go blind above the earth, and every compass
forfeit the north to which it once submitted.
The hand withdrew; the universe resumed its ancient art—
yet found one law forever altered in the grammar of the heart.

♡Like0

Share 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

Alison A Smith August 23, 2026 at 4:58 PM Mohit, this is an absolutely magnificent piece of blank verse. Your command of rhythm gives the poem an epic, timeless weight, which makes the shift to that final, resonant rhyming couplet ("art/heart") feel incredibly powerful. The cosmic and natural imagery throughout is breathtaking, particularly the personification of the sea whispering 'Thirst' and the profound realization of a law forever altered in the 'grammar of the heart.' Thank you for sharing such a masterful and deeply moving work. MOHIT MITRA August 23, 2026 at 7:59 PM Cherished Alison, Thank you—your reading of the poem has touched something deeper than the verse itself. I am especially grateful that you sensed the tension beneath its imagery and the altered law at its close. 💕 At times, one’s self-respect quietly unveils itself—not as pride, nor as a refusal to love, but as the realisation that love, if it is true, must sometimes demand that we rise beyond love’s ordinary boundaries. “Thirst Beyond Blood” was born from one such state: when affection remains, yet the soul can no longer consent to diminish itself for it; when distance becomes less a geography than a test of what the heart is willing to become. 🤔 Perhaps that is why the final law changes—not because love has ended, but because something within us has learned that even love must sometimes bow before dignity. 🙌 And I sense thou hast traced, through the music, the vintage musician who resides within my soul—and this strikes a chord more honeyed than any crescendic crotchet. 🌹 Stay blest evermore, dear Alison!