RENEGADE

 

RENEGADE

 

 

Searching humans  who dedicate,

A lifetime for regenerating nature,

Less personal benefit fame sought,

Little self-interest milking reputation,

Deserted professional career higher,

Left luxury, comfort, compensate gold,

Student career bright awarded capped,

Skilled, professional experience gained,

Remunerative salary lucrative offered,

Such a person rejected the job in a million,

Understood truly,  education an insight,

He can guide people to preserve race,

Today stands, the biggest dam proudly,

A huge water reservoir artificial lake,

Tomorrow it will be a dry bed reality,

People can hardly believe it, to be soon,

Positively climate devastates rapidly,

Catchment-area of rivers are barren,

Depleted forest, green cover, mudslide,

Scrapped fertile soil, bare rocky bed,

Industries mining earth for decades,

Vanished tropical forest long ago,

Huge pits, inhospitable or lifeless,

Eroded pristine nature totally extinct,

Gone with forest animals birds sadly,

Huge lakes got dried up as a result,

To add salt to injury highways run,

Expanding metros hunt vacant space,

Building concrete jungles require,

Clay for bricks, sand, granite chips,

Humans need astronomical eating,

Eating river bed, fertile soil, hills,

Mile-long metal road, bridge, flyover,

Earth is blasted for rock and soil,

Granite marble rocks for flooring,

Dredging machines collect stones,

Crushers running continuously,

Halt this process of destruction,

Who would believe a pleading voice,

Mafia strong gun loving will target,

Eliminate this voice of a person quickly,

Educated this human challenged,

Begged for arms of the law fruitless,

Still, villagers cutting wood hunt,

Killing tiger elephants for profit,

Rare birds animals are stolen, sold,

The person failed to advise people,

Know village women walk a mile,

Bring polluted water from a river,

Famine will be a prophetic reality,

Errant climate change rain failing,

Parched grain fields are empty cracked,

Not a blade of grass is visible, arid,

Hungry, weak, even sick in a crowd,

Listening to this human attentively,

Dig earth, build embankments more,

Conservation of water during rain perfect,

Build ponds to preserve water more,

Plant trees in forest areas mass effort,

Planting trees on the hillside voluntarily,

Helped villagers breed cows, cattle,

Develop milk production ways taught,

Fish culture, creating hybrid plants,

Got cooperation villagers are busy,

Neighboring villages learn quickly,

Big water bodies plantation growing,

Quadrupled animal population,

The renegade becoming famous,

Far-flung villagers inviting him,

Rural life becomes a renegade.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

 

  

 

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