RENEGED

 

RENEGED

 

Immersive procession of Goddess,

Clay idol got life during worship,

The devotion, pleasant time unique,

Noisy drums rhythmic, people dance,

Oil lamps hundreds burned, prayed,

Scented sticks lit fumes fragrant,

Decorated stalls auspicious event,

Visitors showed obligation belief,

Mother assuages broken amity,

Graces people, health and prosperity,

Peace, happiness ushered, visible,

Communal harmony maintained,

Trust of people is enormous, evident,

Mass follows with a band party song,

Atmosphere sober for idol immersion,

Onlookers praying, a few tearful,

Silently wishing to wait patiently,

To celebrate next year wait arrival,

Her emblem matches to housewife,

Little confused, her dress, posture,

Hypothetical ten hands, three eyes,

Indian housewife performs likewise,

Her couple of hand cooks life long,

Feeds baby children family together,

Keep utensils, cleaned dresses too,

Cleans from dust furniture shining,

Pair of hands move in a shopping mall,

Groceries, vegetables,  consumer items,

Balances monthly budget thread walking,

Rising costs, electric bills, water scarcity,

Price rise of domestic need skyrocket,

Females still run their homes great,

Just two hands, I surmised disbelieve,

 In this era, notice a housewife employed,

Nine months leave for pregnancy given,

No leave for house works till delivery,

Office work, field job, teacher's life,

Housewife but laborer in the sun,

Carry bricks, sand, and cement,

Sleeping baby in the shed on a jute bag,

Socked for their stamina feeding baby,

Return home starts cooking for male,

She is the center of happiness pointed,

Compared to Goddess, she performs,

Homes plenty with Durga, Parvati,

A thousand names of Goddess carry girls,

Grew after marriage service tenfold,

Best her image school teacher,

I love my mother, treat her like Goddess,

Knew childhood events situation,

Remember clearly when sick, bedridden,

Vomit, she collects vomits unflinchingly,

For nights never slept watched me,

Alert, put wet clothes on the forehead,

Intermittently measured temperature,

Medicines timely unfailingly deed,

Attended the office, cooked at home,

Consulted a doctor for my fever,

Keep medicines, herself on time,

Seen her pair of five hands serving,

Dealt sick periods, difficult times,

Satisfied husband, in-law parents,

Check children, school bags arranged,

Dress washed, ironed, boot polished,

Waits at door arrival time every day,

Feeds hungry children in the evening,

Cooks for dinner helps in studying,

Goddess's immersion triggered me,

Line of thoughts about a housewife,

Streams ended my mother so similar,

If we reneged on our duty, honestly,

Housewife embodied Goddess Durga.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

 

RELICS

 

RELICS

 

Immersive devotees praying,

Divine mother Durga worshipped,

Picture perfect Indian woman,

Extraordinary beauty portrayed,

Fare complexions, long nose,

Red lips and black eyebrows,

Dark eyes, third on the  forehead,

Ornaments painted golden,

The crown on the head, ten hands,

Hands wearing weapons to fight,

Indian silk saree design fabric,

Feet small, one on a lion standing,

Another foot on a demon's chest,

A trident pierced oh his chest, killed,

Portraying an Indian village woman,

A fair-complexioned young woman,

Saree covered her head face white,

Dark hairs in the back, up to knees,

The bracelets, anklets, and earrings,

A necklace, nose ring in chains,

Glass bangles in color sparkling,

Ornaments, gold, silver or bronze,

But surprised as Mother is wearing,

Dark, loosen hair, wavy behind her back,

Starkly matches with Mother,

Neither ten hands nor crown golden,

Works hard in grain fields day long,

Maintains clay house thatched roof,

Polished cow dung floor walls clean,

Decorated with chalk white and red,

The art can fascinate the  artist's heart,

Cows in the back yard in a shed,

A balcony with an earthen oven,

Her life deals with earthen pots,

Cooks rice, keep drinking water,

In summer, ponds, village-well, dries,

She walks for miles to collect water,

The river provides water as her source,

Drew picture thus a village woman,

Divine Mother, how similar to her,

Children from her village prosper,

Today's baby tomorrow, youth,

Thousand years of generation tilling,

Village farmers feed the country,

Strong presence impresses females,

Wonderfully beautiful like a wildflower,

Relics of an ancient tradition of females,

Service equivalent to ten hands,

Instead of weapons, domestic tools,

Accomplishes victory kills poverty,

Poverty is as if the demon is killed,

Overwhelmed me the comparison,

The wrinkled face of aged women,

Still covered her head with a saree,

Revered as mother or grandmother,

Children take care of her duly respect,

Her advice is obeyed by her family,

Respect her much like a divine mother,

I was standing before the idol of Mother,

Owed to the face of an Indian woman,

She was a reality in cities, villages,

Hindu customs still live in homes,

Hindus worship Mother, believe,

She is the procreator, signs prosperity,

Matches with Hindu family females,

Worship senior women, their advice,

Relics to Hindu culture are perfectly seen,

Unchanged little through millennia.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

LIGHTNNG

 

LIGHTNING

Ever caught dark clouds engulf quickly,

Bright sunlight changes to evening,

Alarmingly midday sun vanishes soon,

Horizon to horizon, dark cloud fearful,

Witness lightning branching out dazzles,

Blinding intensity illuminated seconds,

Dispels darkness resembles sunlight,

This sight watched in life speechless,

Female beauty, if that lightning matches,

Dark long hairs surround a bright face,

Felt this dazzling white luster for seconds,

Blinding for not eyes but mind thinking,

Disbelieves the radiating energy subtle,

Match eyes with eyes magnetic defeats,

Male ego, false strength, arrogant melts,

A pair of eyes compared to the lighting,

Felt the potential to kill spirit strongest,

Evaluated fatal weapon eyes radiating,

Radiating lust having powers to kill, truly,

Lusts changed a monk reason a pair of eyes,

Molded thousand years meditating sage,

Cunningly destroyed celibacy to win life,

Feminine spark equal to lightening acts,

An easy sufferer man for weakness,

Mahabharata depicts disrobing a woman,

War started on this point, a race wiped out,

Because disrobing brother's wife in lust,

It was his cause of death for a beastly act,

Ramayana tells a demon king wise ruled,

The learned, mighty conqueror of worlds,

He saw this pair of eyes, kidnapped her,

Unthinkable by the king wise committed,

This lust captured him, decided to marry,

Felt an entire family got killed but wished,

Perished; only because he failed to realize

His wife, son, and brothers advised, failed,

Noticed all died one by one, eyes captivated,

Think captured the mighty king slave,

Another pair of eyes a demon saw,

He was mighty heaven feared the most,

The moment he saw her eyes matched,

Lightning irrupted from skies resembled,

Black lose hairs long like dark clouds,

White like electric spark face dazzled,

Pair of eyes sighted, magically acted,

Male vigor cementing celibacy cracked,

Got weak fragile from demonic buffalo,

Strength of bull stolen by pair of eyes,

Killed easily that heavenly gods failed,

Read but thinking on feminine power,

These pair of eyes women acquire,

Got the procreative power only exists,

Grew in the womb, born her milk-fed,

Knew great emperors, conqueror history,

Fell for lust, pair of eyes, got weak killed,

History is a bloodstained empire wiped out,

Still, education fails to teach about power,

Power of a lightning a female hires,

Endless inhuman torture of women,

It devastates society and people.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

CLAY IDOL

 

CLAY IDOL

 

Mesmerizing moments of spring,

Arrives unknown thrill, happiness,

Grain fields meeting horizon golden,

Swaying in the gentle breeze in waves,

Resemble happiness in waves visible,

Intoxicated rural panorama festive,

Fragrant village road shopping malls,

Crowded here, busy on a buying spree,

Hypothetical Mother descends to earth,

Grain ripe at this time shine prosperity,

Worth watching fruit gardens ripen,

Birds mean nesting time chirping,

Dews in the morning, flowers bristle,

Nature witness period blossoms,

Nature colorful invites visitors,

Exciting trips, a vocational season,

Road, rail,  and air travel early booked,

Planning city life to escape in time,

Children got holidays school allowed,

College and university student tour,

Time for a picnic for teachers,  students,

Memories freeze by clicks of cameras,

Videos of sight, classmates do perform,

Parents buy new dresses for children,

Busy internet, phenomenal traffic,

Mindboggling concession mad buyers,

Business soars crop output forecasted,

Every street cross-section, a stall,

Mother Goddess being worshipped,

The decorations are competitive, lighting,

Music, orchestra, public ceremony,

Spray vermilions dancing wildly,

Human forgets all for a short time,

Mother has arrived, stay till Dussehra,

 The eighth day is treated as auspicious,

Dussehra Diwali festive happy times,

Time to visit parental home holiday,

All family members united once,

Time erases tension, worries, fear,

Urban life dominated troubles,

For days divine mother to be prayed,

Trust Hindu community graced,

Removes misery can breathe a while,

Yearlong people wait for Mother,

Bidding adieu equally pomp splendor,

Processions drum music louder,

Dancing all the way to the river or sea,

Immersion is a human duty, gratitude,

Belief Mother kills negativity, evil,

Establish love, care, prosperity, plenty,

Clay Goddess painted with colors,

Eyes are given by brush to worship,

Emersion time brush redo erase,

Mother lives from clay Goddess,

Anything raised from the ground merges,

Clay idol quickly dissipates in water,

How similar human life matching,

Raised from soil clay is human,

 A mother's womb takes nine months,

Reshapes Human limb from tissue,

Instills life, then given birth,

At shed of pottery molds clay,

Colors give limbs real ornate,

Myth instilled life worship,

Mother's home, not earth to return,

Return humans in time to an unknown,

Immersion is the same as cremation,

Not water but fire dissipate body,

Elements clay, water, fire, air merged,

Clay idol life worships Mother in clay.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

 

 

 

WALKING STICK

 

WALKING STICK

 

Lonely road evening is silent,

Semi-dark lane narrow in the front,

Windows of houses lighted screened,

Doors closed, balcony lighted,

No sign of children, busy life,

Life reties after time hectic, job,

A tired human settles on a sofa, hot tea,

Wife busy preparing for dinner,

School-going children studying,

Siblings in college, absent at home,

An aged man walks down the road,

Stealing a glance through windows,

He enters his home double-storied,

The dark front door he unlocked,

Switched light on the front balcony,

Entered his home, lighted rooms,

Lone in the world children at far,

The wife with her son sick gets treated,

Prepared a cup of tea, reclined on a chair,

The walking stick inclined to the chair,

Cooling over the plate, he sips tea,

Looked at his walking stick and thought,

Once he trotted over the globe young,

Never he thought, a day will visit him,

A walking stick only supports walking,

Prevents him from falling down,

How essential in life surprising kit,

He roasted bread in an electric roaster,

Fried cabbage, vegetables on a stove,

Add spices, chili, and tomato sauce,

His dinner plate got ready quickly,

Drawing room polished, he lighted,

Incline to the sofa to watch television,

When sleep encroached not known,

It was midnight got awake hungry,

Brought dining plate to a sofa relished,

He is crying, did not know tears trickle,

Once the home was noisy, now silent,

His busy life got sleepy how soon,

Birds from the nest fled wings spread,

Not required to beg for a living,

Retired for years, no salary bill,

No bonus, incentive, extra money,

The pension from government arrives,

Deposited in bank monthly handsome,

 The only source of sustenance for him,

Never he asked children for money monthly,

He buys his medicine preventive a cost,

Pays his electric telephone bill monthly,

Annual House tax, water bill, income tax,

Walking stick only means to visit,

Clears all the payments to buy groceries,

He was looking at the walking stick,

How similar the pension  performs,

Surprise assured pension life in age,

A walking stick for passing old age,

Essential for men aged as a pensioner,

Not that lucky most aged people,

Pension missing lost the walking stick,

Falling every now n then immobile,

The man caresses his walking stick,

Deposited pension monthly, till death,

Essential for his survival, he realized.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

DESTINATION

 

DESTINATION

 Born on this soil destined to die,

Till death to live happily, in peace,

There, our understanding differs,

Some say good food life gets happy,

Sleep comfortably at night,

Some find conjugal life blissful,

Many children visible happiness,

Man fears death in a dark corner,

Security, the ultimate factor, ensures,

Happiness;  from the cave to a mansion,

Secured life at home life happy,

Never laugh at me inks different,

Happiness;  a beast enjoys likewise,

Is it human equals with animals,

A child ever meant to be a cub,

Growing like an animal then dies,

Alas, humanity understands the same,

Food, clothe, shelter, parental care,

The civilized world offers the same,

But education is a must for all ages,

Communities natives lack these,

Children lack education illiterate,

At center theological read scriptures,

Mug up holy books grows soon,

Holy-book describes God's existence,

The divine rules were written, ancient,

A path is indicated to follow strictly,

Meet objectives of human life n quit,

Destination missed totally by a kid,

A seer's presence needed to explain,

Those travel on this path realize,

Can share ably explain a holy book,

Hijacking children's life duly happens,

Memorizing lines a child realizes least,

Wasted early childhood, time to learn,

Book, the school, college, are waiting,

Knowledge is the beach near the ocean,

Pearls are strewn left by the learned,

A life passed probing universal truth,

Written in his book, lying as a pearl,

The university stands tall, glorifies,

Art, literature, science, medicine,

A plethora of technology research open,

Panorama matches landscape nicely,

Endless shores beach near the  ocean,

The ocean's vastness portrays knowledge,

Depth unknown, human life probes,

Thus, a child is not a cub to eat n sleep,

Not a robot to obey blind orders,

Stinking with human prejudices,

Society calls these practices holy,

Root reading for a lifetime, if realized?

Illiterate without education, blind,

A robot army is bred by misguided,

Mother is the first teacher to help,

The child starts to speak, read, and write,

Language is the first step toward a destination,

Book is not holy book teaches child,

School teaches history, geography,

Mathematics, science, other branches,

A child starts walking on the beach,

Collects gravel like a pearl of wisdom,

Excels in merit honor duly accorded,

I mean to say human the destination.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra