IVORY

 

IVORY

 

Entire life, when alone in silence,

Very often floats a beautiful face,

Married settled with son married,

Hidden in my heart closed chamber,

Secrets of my love spontaneous,

When youth touched this heart,

Concealed underneath my love,

First knew love speechless fumbled,

Captivating look fare skin glowed,

To height small, shoulder-length,

Sharp nose, long hairs wavy thick,

Right up to her knee, freely swaying,

White saree blue border, blouse,

Book notebook at bosom walking,

Pinkish lips natural beaming smile,

Dark eyes so penetrative eyebrows,

Cycled behind her in the afternoon,

Leaving college for home after lab,

Lonely was that road I was standing,

Road parallel, she was walking alone,

That day I wished her friendship,

She must be in high school ending,

Her complexion, gait, long hair,

Bangles colored, wristwatch slim,

I stood for a few minutes, returned home,

Joined next day engineering college,

Burdens of study bade-out system,

I had to prove myself to continue,

She hunted my dreams a nightmare,

Feared performance burning lamp,

Felt surreal her presence silent night,

For fractions of a second, her face floating,

First, I felt a pain in my heart, acute,

It was sheer physical love that attracted,

Missing, strange girl knew not her name,

Never could know her house address,

Local girl, I was dreaming erratic,

First semester over success excellent,

Moving for home semester break,

Sang film songs heart was searching,

Was my life film style to search for my love?

Or search exam result flying color,

In study capable night long,

Mind explores worlds unknown, science,

Technology, innovative, challenging,

Exhausting for hours of concentration,

Escape from small room to wide road,

Nearby, a canal lake size, calm water,

Cold wind refreshing the road, I slept,

Open shirt buttons, look at stars, listen,

Cricket noisy incessant told solitude,

Jungle from a hostel, road dissects,

Use to walk like a ghost, missing love,

Where you dear, wait for the degree,

I shall meet you, propose someday,

Proudly give my details an engineer,

Hope you accept me as a life partner,

Got graduation dared to search address,

Searched lanes, by-lanes failed,

Never knew your name reason stark,

Graduate, by now married, in-service,

Helped wife to forget her charisma,

Never dare to usher first love a figure,

Imprinted in closed chamber ivory,

Heart young, my first love captured.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

UNCANNY

 UNCANNY

 

Come September, floods receding,

Waterworld surrendered to nature,

Sprouting Kans grass at river banks,

Canopy of whiteness plays with wind,

White furry Kasatandi senses uncanny,

Season in the corner festive once more,

Brimming river furry melted quickly,

Sandbeds golden Kans-grass smiles,

Flows water quietly getting blue,

Sparkles dancing on sunrays glaze,

No thunderous cloud dark rising,

White clouds matching Kasatandi,

Sailing gently bright behind the sun,

Fails to blanket cover sun radiate,

Typhoon distanced wind blows slow,

Nature with uncanny sense changes,

Bridal dress greenery flower-bedecked,

Mature sweet fruit leaves colored,

Forest acquires spectacle panoramic,

Paradise descended on meadows,

Crevasse, gurgles waters pouring,

Transparent refracts diamond glitters,

Between rock cracks percolates cold,

Relishing lives refreshing breeze again,

Nature getting ready, uncanny arrival,

Feels, descending to earth after a year,

Tiny grass spread fast, covering valleys,

Descend Mother to earth again,

Velvety grass, soft, spreading to invite,

Sprouting wildflowers, colorful fragrant,

Colored butterflies picturesque crowd,

Got message uncanny her arrival,

The buzzing sound of honey bees,

The humming music of dragonflies,

Mirth, even children pick sudden,

Uncanny world getting so decorated, singing,

Air, water, sky, the greens are pleasant,

Uncanny sense of earth feeling musical,

Vocal singing bird weather beautiful,

Packing our baggage return home,

Village on outskirts of town, nature’s lap,

An old temple of Goddess to celebrate,

Planning nearby villagers to attend,

Village market, largest, to open soon,

Vendors rustic, urban, far-flung arrive,

Goods myriad mindboggling variety,

Spices, millet, corns, rice, wheat,

Sugar, salt, homemade products,

Oil variety many homemade pure,

Consumer goods annual mile long,

Cows buffalo seed for cultivation,

Harvest after the Puja or coincided,

Golden field, standing crops sways,

Peasants offer new grains to Mother,

Ten hands mother weaponize,

Killing demonic beast furious,

Puja celebrated mythical killing,

For nine days, town, villages, noisy,

Celebrate worship idol of mother,

Trident in hand, foot on the chest,

Three eyes, one at forehead focused,

Ornaments, gold, silver, jewelry craft,

Silk saree, dressed mother, tiny feet,

Long hair black, flowing and snake,

Lion charging at the demonic beast,

Symbol of prosperity, security, wisdom,

Mother will give in ten hands to a child,

Alas, a child has only two hands,

Uncanny sense a child surrendered,

Sat on her lap, I am yours, give me,

I inherit your grace, not with hands.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

SANCTITY

 

SANCTITY

 

 

Tumultuous mind sky sinking,

Ageless an incident seems a point,

Moment trapped entire lifetime,

I vowed I agreed, I abide by sure,

Heart stern had taken the oath,

Protect you darling lifelong affirm,

In calamity, struggle, sickness too,

Provide my soldier to lean gently,

Absorb your anguish, pain, worry,

Years passed seemed just yesterday,

We were walking around the holy fire,

Only our witness at birth, wedding,

We promised to clasp our palms tightly,

Till the last breath, the grip never breaks,

My love dear, as fresh as a red rose,

Cool like morning dews wet petals,

Fragrant to attract your heart acute,

Blossoms I wished to see in smiles,

Honestly, tell you your sweet voice,

Soothing like the flowing water of a brook,

Mesmerizing alleviates all remorse,

Sought presence like a speck of iron,

A magnate, my love, the graceful,

Sneaked so often your solitude, look,

Prayed never to see tear, thoughtful,

Seven lives insufficient dare aspiration,

Promised to never to hurt, hard words,

Openly admit you had been a breeze,

Gentle in the spring, solace to the soul,

Disturbed, my heart, evening arrives,

I was blind, dearest never questioned,

Little inquired, mind doubtful never,

Trusted dear, our souls thought one,

I always guess, felt right your feelings,

Remember youth passed smoothly,

Relationship interactions like butter,

Knife my wishes your heart admitted,

Never felt, you allowed to heart cut,

Less could fathom your pain acute,

Your smile betrayed writhing limbs,

Never let me see your cries, silent,

Pacific Ocean trench, I couldn’t fathom,

Calm, quiet, silent, living idol charming,

Walked with me like a morning mist,

Freshness, wet moistures, a veil,

Mists failed to notice till all disappeared,

Your vitality withered, gradual, to bed,

Lonely, ill, lying in bed, missed me,

Worked for wealth, fame, promotion,

Kids spread their wings, fled far,

Forgot infinite love, care, motherly,

Wanted for nesting, achieved today,

Till last breath you smiled, take care,

Evening in life, single for a decade,

Remember only your presence,

Know your spirit very near, I know,

Never I shall cry dear, no more pain,

Feeling sleepy now in a chair, a touch,

A gust of cold wind, shiver, choking,

If violated the sanctity of life conjugal,

Neglected dear, never I could know,

Failed to realize what sanctity is.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

A SPARK

 

A SPARK

 

A moment arrives in life, stays,

Watershed, confidence displays,

Shining glory for Nation, Alma Mater,

Dream of youth swinging remote,

After a decade n graduation in the state,

Watch often my Institute in a picture,

Wanted to touch the sacred soil,

Missed graduation, I must join,

Seven years as an engineer working,

Desperate to be master in degree,

Loved to become an expert in computers,

Electronics, telecommunication cap,

Graduated with honors flying color,

Thirst for growing digital age intense,

Wanted to learn with technology,

Artificial intelligence programming,

That day I got a master's degree well,

Alma Mater proud place of the nation,

Two-room hostel cooking my food,

Meditating first in life for two hours,

Resolved to excel most competitive,

Must get a grade; of A plus in certificate,

Missed convocation, collected after,

Stood before Gokhale Hall in silence,

A year and half of my life stayed alone,

From dusk to dawn, I was awake my fight,

Went, in front of the Institute,

Looked lovingly at my Alma Mater,

With warm tears, I kissed in air,

Read dedicated to service of the nation,

Promised to serve my state Orissa,

Worked for computerization of state,

Service for two decades, I noticed,

India entered to digital age beyond,

I once more visited Gokhale Hostel,

Watched my room no 101 a minute,

Last time in life, moved to the canteen,

My hunting place in between classes,

A cup of tea n India King smoking,

It was empty, closed, sat under a tree,

Smoked favorite cigarette, thinking,

My state is poor, wishes flourished,

I could not know an hour passed,

It is my last visit to my Alma Mater,

Suddenly heart choked with emotion,

I was crying, lonely, prayed dearly,

Another life after another, I wished,

Never believed in rebirth but thought,

What will be Institute after a century?

My teachers, my batch mates, missing,

Will, there be computer science a topic,

If humanoids crowd the campus,

Neelachal express speeding for home,

Orissa was my home, workplace,

For a lifetime I served, to die here,

It was a daily routine to be in the capital,

It was the working life of an engineer,

Worked, but I learned much more,

To learn in life, not in books, more,

The Alma Mater gave a spark of life,

The fire never extinguished in me.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

SANE

 

SANE

 

 

Heaven changes to hell widely,

Differs sane from sanity, socks,

Youthful, healthy mind, alert, wise,

Education touchstone transforms,

Transforms illiterate to speak clearly,

Words tumbled out of a tongue, exact,

Insight mind acquires incisive acute,

Dissects words, manifold meaning,

Writes literate language gift of divine,

Flows directly from a heart spontaneous,

Golden lines depict life, real absolute,

Poet writer novelist paint canvas,

Panorama of landscape gets alive,

Your soul will travel over the globe,

Infinite stories, legends, myths, history,

Keep you sleepy, motion picture run,

Imaginary to your mind colored,

Enriches human heart learned,

Learns culture, art, customs, myriad,

If knowledge, is an ocean, a long beach,

Walk sane, not sanity essential,

Judgment understanding subtle,

Superfine, surreal, under a veil,

The world never portrays true meaning,

It takes years, decades, lifetimes,

Hardly could you fathom the fact of life,

Complex life investigates, with scissors,

Physical hearts you dissect, find little,

Expands heart with love, touch cosmos,

Place of heaven watch pleasure a song,

Luxurious life in comfort, satiated,

Satiate lust, hunger, all-dimensional,

You dreamed, desired for a lifetime,

The place is heart, for hell, you know,

Knife chops heart to minute pieces,

Cannot find dear suffering, misery,

Hell is a place for those, life is tortured,

The immensity of pain, hurt, humiliation,

Eats flesh, savoring, drinks wine,

Intoxicated, forget sickness, disease,

Drug blossoms in valleys, life roams,

Willfully loses mind to think least,

Buoyant in a vacuum feels a void real,

Soul hypnotized floats in dark space,

Turns to a prism globe spectral,

Merges existence to the unreal realm,

This heart, dear spirit, this heart only,

Probes scientists desperate insane,

Failed to find the nature of sane,

Sane is heart, beholds paradise,

Sanity present, alert, heart insane,

Takes you to a kingdom of demons,

Hellish to realize, wine sinks life,

Forget human chaos, pain, death,

Forget wounds raw, heart bleeding,

World, that born must die, O’ life,

Good or bad, everything to perish,

Slippery path slope vertical path,

Sane heart wise walks on struggle,

Each step poses dangers, limbs slip,

Alerted entire life, learned moves up,

Just sleep for a moment, lost is life,

Lost freedom, eternal truth, shackle,

Insane heart lifelong stays blind,

A day in Church, Masjid, or temple,

Ever change your heart sane.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

Picture: Courtesy, Google