RELINQUISH

 

RELINQUISH

 

Telling you dear daughter stories,

Sought grace of Lord as the father,

Only one in life I dreamed acutely,

Chamber innermost of heart locked,

Reverently begged  the stone idol,

Never asked for a good result, career,

Little asked for luxury, wealth, home,

Believed it all came in life in time,

One by one, after marriage, arranged,

A job in metros, house, rest happened,

Everything as a couple felt dreamy,

Materialized in due course by effort,

Savings magic wand checked instinct,

Festive seasons lighted shopping malls,

Our passions checked,  dearest child,

Looked hungrily at  cosmetic goods,

Dress, utensils, gadgets, ornament,

Gold jewelry, mother's intentions,

Saved tours in vacation, tourist places,

Disbelieved our savings crossed million,

Husband n wife laughed a lot, what to do,

Answered my wife for children, I pinched,

How many, dear, you wish in the womb,

Her answer was a son, found I silent,

She ran after me; I never told her,

A hidden desire for a daughter, my secret,

Less believed God provides but prayed,

Son and daughter were both fulfilled,

You arrived first,  your brother next,

Your talent was visible in the school,

Silent, sober, decent demeanor loving,

Beautiful a flower blossomed in time,

Dignified personality after university,

A friend closest in my life, you confided,

Marriage inter-caste, you confessed,

confided secretly, your marriage to me,

Mother knew, objected vehemently,

For weeks tried my best to console,

She was crying inconsolably, hurt,

Her generation-old custom pricked,

Marriage to be within Brahmin families

I left her sobbing till she emptied all,

All her anguishes spent fuel in tears,

Swollen eyes, silent utterly, I evaded,

I feared first in life, never saw agony,

She opened suitcases of silk saree,

Rare prints, costliest, eye-catching,

Purchased for you for wedding,

Showed me gold necklaces, earrings,

Gold bangles, bracelets with gems,

Ring for you with jewel dazzling,

No more she was crying,  she smiled,

Socked, disbelieved looks sparkling,

I know, dear husband, you love her,

Still, your breath is your daughter,

I used all our savings for gifts, marriage

Precious heart is your daughter, I know,

I wished to please you, bought for her,

These are bridal dresses for  my daughter,

I spent lifelong savings, no hesitation,

Relinquish all mother's responsibilities,

To conduct her marriage  is not needed,

Present to her these gifts from us.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

INGRESS

INGRESS

 

 

Bedazzle gradually unaware spirit,

Story generation back rural lives,

Born in upper cast childhood pretty,

Accompanied grandfather in evenings,

A small cottage on the village road ends,

Straw mattress mud walls painted,

A kerosene lamp on  a wooden desk,

Burning bright, lighting the book,

Wooden pedestal for a large book,

Cover red-cotton of the book tied.

Grandpa sits near the wall at a  height,

An elevated platform with a mattress,

Senior villagers, women elders,

Sit in a semi-dark room separated,

All sing with grandpa prayers first,

Silence covered with book worshipped,

Scented stick perfumed lit spread,

Quiet evening dark ingresses sanctity,

Silent people, I observed all,

Before us, they were looking calmly,

Mahabharata eighteen books to be read,

Started the first book, simple poems,

In the native language, simple stories,

Grandpa orates hymns lyrical sweetly,

I listen to stories intricate entwined,

There was suspense, thrill, pleasure,

One chapter of each book to be read,

Grandpa explained in simple,

The meeting used to be over in hours,

With lantern lit, we move home,

While sleeping heard the story again,

Grew up much later, recollecting  teenage,

Knew Mahabharata, Ramayana  well,

Myth for some, true philosophy,

Human life complex time is a spider,

Weaving nets trapped killed many,

Plays greed, anger, ego, and envy nicely,

Family trees generations widen long,

Grandson to great grandfather narrates,

Birth, childhood, education, marriage,

Narrated ancient aspirations, lust,

Kingdom, gold, horse, elephant, sword,

Arrows, battles, king won or defeated,

 The story describes generation-wise,

Ended eighteen books a royal race,

Kauravs, a race that prospered, fought,

Brothers, the war was the Mahabharata,

Time erased everybody, wiped the race,

The last king was bitten by a snake,

He died knowing forefathers fought,

Fought for an inch, died most,

Time wiped out the race of cowherd-boy,

Avatar, considered was killed,

Teaching  now a grandfather to kids,

Sat eagerly listening to my story,

Ingress clearly winkling, surprised,

Grandkids  were asking me the point,

Disbelief in their eyes was socked,

Grandpa, an inch of land war broke!

Calmly I was confirmed, yes dear,

It never could ingress for millennia,

Human races much wiped out,

Again and again, Mahabharata begins,

Different time, name,  and place happens,

Same was dear time erases all,

Claimant contester all get wiped out,

Land even an inch questions humans,

Eraser the time, a fact, ingress belies.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

 

  

OBSESSED

 

OBSESSED

 

 

Remember college, life, intense,

Youth colored the time, thrilled,

Curious heart seeking searched,

Searched things in life secretly,

Friends closing heart matching,

Study obsessions, a little disturbed,

Sneaking out of class to canteens,

Girlfriend trustworthy keeps notes,

Share class notes or questions willingly,

Hidden warmth, sweet understanding,

Liking and love, youthful intrigues,

Customs, disciplines, social misery,

Laughs swallowed, looks deflected,

Touch touchy matter illicitly desired,

Messages, in small papers, in notebooks,

Exchanged hundreds of times thirsty,

How much ridicule for friends taunting,

Their smiles were so irritating, placate,

Free sweets at canteens plead to ignore,

Discovered a friend in love and caught,

Book, notebook, exchanged while walking,

How many letters  were exchanged, unknown,

Graduation being completed exam near,

Stopped friend circle, picnic, park, cinema,

Hope colored young dreams result in reality,

An age, no mobile, telephone rare,

Confined to home, colleges closed, study,

Could never dare to meet a girlfriend,

Fear of elders for both, feeling lyrical,

Lost the fun of youth result day,

Cycled to friends, homes, gathered,

Waiting for newspaper lists published,

Divisions, honors, pass roll numbers,

Minutes, results were known, life crashed,

Close friends got failed, sad consoling a lot,

Another friend excelled, never expected,

Demands for sweets grew suddenly,

Shared passing results somberly happy,

Visited, colleges opened, boys and girls,

Mixed surreptitiously with girlfriends,

Exchanged result questions hundred,

Tomorrow is electric yet unknown,

Thousand promises to meet in the future,

Lines drawn on sifting sand obliterated,

The love-soaked night, infinite letters,

Melted into mists of dawn, hope sprouted,

University, friend circle changed,

Girlfriends, now distinct of caste, class,

Distancing with community ties,

Marriage, ambitions of career swinging,

Married, within own cast and status,

Settled by now, with service, children,

Obsessed with the life of kids young,

Online-study coaching class internet,

Books, question-answer sets digital,

Teachers taking online classes to interact,

Examination-online objective pages,

Virtual world life changes mode,

Attending technical colleges is costly,

Percentile decides edge competitive,

No one is seen who passed or failed,

Girlfriends from not college or school,

Mobile, cyber links unit strangers,

Lost the decency of our generation, shy,

Bold undesirable times of day message,

Meetings at every odd possible place,

Certainty sensitivity is missing,

Obsessed with virtual human life insensitive,

Misses the delicate soft human touch,

Visible from our generation pitiably.

 

  @ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

ADIEU

 ADIEU

 

An era of world and war engulfed,

The empire over the globe shook,

God saves the queen subjects sail,

Conquered continents in her name,

Boats sailed over seven oceans best,

Monarchy fluttered her flag proudly,

The tongue covered the world stayed,

Communicates world easily understand,

Commonwealth for royal fame colony,

Island, people got rich, ships in the harbor,

Food, gold, jewelry, spices, architecture,

Brought cultures of seven continents,

Subjects of queen color brown, black,

Mongoloid oriental flavor of an island,

Asia Africa saw war, fought for war,

Honor countries regained, valiant,

Fascists bite the dust, Europe got liberated,

Devastated flourished kingdom totally,

Queen has seen hunger, death, homeless,

Under her domain, regained Treasure Island,

Tames flowed, serenity sang beautifully,

Citizens from colonies refurbished home,

Rebuilt queen’s kingdom stronger,

Her children grand kids grew taller,

British flag still exists around the globe,

Dominions kept link royal proudly,

America, Asia, Australia,  and Africa share,

British blood had spread worldwide,

English tongue, culture, faith, custom,

A billion Indians know how deeply cherish,

The prized possession of language unites,

Cement plural society, solid and united,

Raj Ma’am has gone seven decades,

My country tries its best to forget Raj,

Freedom, democracy, equality, liberty,

The gift of God to the country fared,

Still, royal flavor shines hidden,

The jewel of the crown is still nostalgic,

Loves the memory, British rule,

India undivided, one people, fought,

Tibet independent, Kashmir one,

British left this country partitioned,

Millions perished, faith divided us,

China occupied Tibet at our border,

They occupied a large territory of our land,

Brown sahibs looted for six decades,

After royal rule left our shore, happily,

Divided the sacred Bharat ancient,

Prospering in amity, cooperation,

Vanished unity, clean life, education,

The corrupt, vulgar, divisive demon rose,

Divided, still sucks the blood of the poor,

The blood of illiterate and women,

Caste, color, language, regions cripple,

Misused liberty, freedom raising fangs,

Killing people with new names tagged,

Urban-Naxalism terror militant threat,

Underworld parallel economy run,

How subjects controlled here,

Thank you, Ma’am English is the voice,

Cuttack my city, once a capital,

Ravenshaw College exists, now a university,

Stuart school is still prominent,

Raj, four centuries, remnants,

My country is free remembering,

Charming face, compassionate heart,

Your reign on the isle rebuilt, fabulous,

The world acknowledges reign majestic,

Thank you Ma’am adieus in honor.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

 

 

GOAL

 

GOAL

 

Immersive thoughts watch goals,

Strikes at goal post enter the net,

The line once crossed job done,

Hilarious people stadium loud,

The moment of ecstasy visible,

Players hug each other, smiling,

Run in the field boundary clear,

Time limit fixed whistles dictate,

The world addicted to the game,

Nations compete to win every game,

Intoxicated with a win, a people wild,

Witnessed the game, goals thrilling,

Goalkeeper the wall, imagine failed,

Striker with goal turn legend spark,

Believes people with bated breath,

Each step of striker, movement,

Detailed analysis followed by million,

They shout before the screen,

Excited, guessed, predicting clear,

The small crowd before a screen dancing,

The sight I was analyzing intensely,

The field is my country, players running,

Running farmers, industry workers,

Running labor, doctor, nurse,

Running technical brain muscles,

Running army, police, patrol,

Running scientist, research person,

Running law, leader of people,

All are moving over the land,

Predefined boundary, sea, mountain,

Running for the goalpost to strike,

The goal is desired result life to keep,

Slips out of mind catch opponent,

All move forward, law goalkeeper,

Checked every illegal strike, block,

Same side goal self-goal unfortunate,

A person achieves his own goal, equals,

The targets of a country are goals,

Every move of people is studied,

Performing quicker goal steps recorded

Goal post if the target of a country,

The target prosperity, health, security,

Merges all to lines of goal post watched,

Celebration on widescreen takes place,

Moves country ahead to score goals,

Nations fight to beat others in figures,

Literacy, income, population, lifespan,

Hundreds of such issues merge,

Leaders boast and act like strikers,

Influence movement of goal faster,

Fight against each other, shows,

Shouts, trying for tricks, to beat others,

I was thinking deeply, eyes closed,

 A smile lurked hidden visualized,

Leaders of my nation, not ten runs,

A hundred leaders are running a fight,

A game like a football, electoral battle,

Score voted capture seat with results,

The goal is the throne to rule a nation,

Entire people ran with the striker,

The bagpiper hypnotized all groups,

Striker by magic wand influenced,

Rising women’s power, peasants,

Coaching youth students guiding a light,

Glued to television nation watches,

The striker goal, eight years passed,

Goals not one hundred dimensions,

Under his leadership country scored,

Celebrating the birth of striker ecstatic,

The phenomenon, he is a striker goal.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

BRITTLE

 

BRITTLE

 

To immerse in thought past events,

That shook me uprooted from the trust,

My school friend from childhood,

Both knew very well, each other,

Knew our parents, close friends,

Family visits, we play enjoyed,

The closeness grew with age, reality,

Studying together occasionally,

Worked out school tasks problems,

Exchanged notebooks, interacted,

Gift on birthdays with greetings,

Life unknowingly crept into college,

No more walking together n advised,

She went to college with girlfriends,

Taste how soon changed, our gossip,

Attending class, enjoyable, messages,

Paper, torn drawing funny caption,

Circulated among friends a game,

Turned to comment on a teacher,

Drawing of girl students, comments,

My childhood girlfriend, classmate,

I found nasty comments on her,

School break turned into fighting,

Who wrote the comment was beaten,

I was dragged to the principal later,

I never told what was written,

Faced punishment, begged for excuses,

She asked at home about the incident,

I remained silent, and she got angry,

Till we passed college, she knew it,

I was hiding this episode, a fight,

Classmates linked both in love,

Assumed undesirable rumors,

What they discussed, known avoided,

Never knew, but my girlfriend marked,

Found to be remorse, introverted, sad,

She was worried for me, questioned,

Questions frequent met a wall,

In me, unfriendly she interpreted,

After repeated efforts, I failed,

She disconnected friendship totally,

We found the world separated,

University, then service came in life,

I just remembered her, sweet memory,

Our gossip walking to school,

Sharing gifts, chocolates, new pens,

Years, distant friends were changing,

I found the woman in life loved her,

Thought we both to get married,

Once we gossiped at a park, I told,

About my childhood friend to her,

She was surprised, told she knew,

She was her friend at university,

We got married by now, settled,

Never disclosed this incident to her,

It happened my school friend visited,

Visited her university friend only,

She got shocked to find me, curious,

Introduced my wife as my classmate,

That broke our bond little surfaced,

I knew she remembered clearly,

At departure, she enquired again,

You beat that boy black and blue,

Will you please tell me the truth?

My voice was brittle, cracking, said,

It was an obscene message on paper,

It falsely linked our deep friendship,

Old paper brittle, dust is in my heart,

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra