ETIQUETTE

 

ETIQUETTE

 

Questions heart of a human fail,

Nature resembles a soap bubble,

Myriad color-spread move transient,

Constantly changing heart is a bubble,

Who built a cement bench near the footpath,

Unknown the purpose, pedestrians bypass,

Under a tree, in shades, at the side of a street,

Cement Bench invites dogs, beggars,

Once while strolling, sit on a Bench,

Most convenient it was for me later,

On evening walks used to sit there,

Intensely observe the river of life,

Busy street, evening hours, noisy,

Flooding street lights' glare scintillating,

I thought people homebound moving,

End of a busy day, urban life faced,

Imagining quietly, sat on the bench,

Kept my walking stick near,

My retired age, walking stick helps,

The support for walking, a need,

The moving cars, vehicle traffic,

Walking sticks for commuters, I smiled,

Life passed moved in this street,

Countless busy travels well-forgotten,

That struck again me an incident,

A woman was calling at the roadside,

I stopped my car there, approached,

Enquired her pleading the reason,

An octogenarian from well to do family,

Her saree, covering her head, showed,

Bangles in colored glass, shining,

The vermilion dot on the forehead, distinct,

A bit perplexed, I got surprised,

Thought for a second curious she was sitting?

At this odd hour on the bench,

Calling people homebound desperately,

Little disturbed commuters evade,

To my inquiries, she explained,

 Her son and daughter-in-law left her,

Thrown out of her home angrily,

After a quarrel with her daughter-in-law,

She was hungry for two days,

Without food scolded her son,

She was sitting on this bench, sleeping,

Immobile pain for starving pleaded,

Give me some water and food,

Otherwise, I shall die soon, help,

From my car, I brought a water flask,

Sat near her, gave some water,

She drank all of it, quickly told,

Please give me some food to survive,

Bought some food from a nearby shop,

Gave her the food and sat quietly,

She narrated her plight sadly,

She owns a house in the city,

Retired from her job school teacher,

Getting a pension to manage life,

Her husband and son drink,

Demand her pension money every month,

They were drinking and beating her,

Her husband watched her eviction,

Looked away, silent never protested,

Socked, she collapsed in my arms,

At a loss, numb, searched etiquette,

What to do for a helpless lady, in age,

Clueless, sat, called the police, helped,

Admitted to a hospital, returned home,

It was late that evening thinking alone,

Civilized human and simple etiquette,

Could save a life, faced a cruel fate.

 

Title of Poem: Etiquette

Pen: Bijayananda Mishra

Theme: Etiquette is the human touch

Date, 29th October 2022, Cuttack, India

Language: Indian English

@ Copywrite reserved

BURNT HOUSE

 

BURNT HOUSE

 

 

Remember several decades ago,

I feared the sight of the place,

Blackened in time, broken walls,

Collapsed a portion and the roof,

Outgrowth covered the ground,

Chest high bush and wild creepers,

Feared snakes present poisonous,

It was a dangerous place, hunted,

As a child believed ghosts, present,

Never visit that place after evening,

Found birds used to chirp at night,

There was a beautiful story learned,

Grandmother told, it was beautiful,

An old couple with six sons daughter,

They were rich and living with family,

A few dozen of children women stayed,

Magnificently decorated and crowded,

Prosperous business minted gold,

The old Woman was donating gifts,

Poor people used to gather to collect,

Rice, corn, clothes, and silver coins,

Touching her feet, narrating owes,

She used to listen on a chair patiently,

Loved children were given food, dresses,

The person built a temple, worshipping,

A kind and considerate couple were famous,

People loved them the house visited,

From miles away, people knew the place,

Most favorite place for the poor to powerful,

Grew up their children big established,

Separated and consequently moved away,

Separated, built their houses in time,

Parents their daughter was staying,

A fight erupted for gold property,

Gradual but bitter quarrels to courts,

Crestfallen, the person succumbed,

Mother and daughter were sick,

Looted furniture assets by the sons,

The big mansion was empty and lonely,

Collapsing boundary wall cows grazed,

Thieves visit at odd hours for safety,

Poor and starved helpless women,

Demise was only a grace both quit,

The house was stolen to door windows,

The place had become dilapidated,

A businessman acquired the house,

Converted to a warehouse and stored,

The house was packed with jute bags,

Groceries were stored guard watched,

Fights began between brothers to sell,

Distributing equally the cost of the house,

The businessman emptied grains,

Ignited the house one night heard only,

Nobody could see the culprit desert,

It was the site of a few murders,

Rumors turned into widespread gossip,

Less truth, succulent lies, did color,

Named the big palatial house  hunted,

In our childhood feared the place,

Twilight years once visited the house,

Silently stood I was looking at the walls,

Crumbling, gradually, silence killed,

I imagined the glorious time of the past,

It was whispering families grew up,

Flowed here happiness, love, and care,

Saw greed, envy turned to jealousy,

If resulted to unfounded anger ignited,

The burnt house, time etched a storybook.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

Theme: A fiction time tested.

MOTHER

 

MOTHER

 

You believe her, introspect,

Her womb created the universe,

Life, her womb, molds in shapes,

Earth witness life forms in myriads,

Her love for creation with a purpose,

Learn what love, practice,

Caring nature helps sympathizes,

Soul essentially eternal exists,

So also truth unites life with soul,

Truth is missing in life death comes,

Anger colored her face black,

Kali is not black but bright as light,

Gouri her name means whitish,

White is the color of truth,

Angry, Mother shows her tongue,

Her teeth press her tongue,

Wide-eyed looking children,

Watch your tongue can kill,

Lips, teeth, two doors, Mother gives,

Tongue finds once opened speaks,

Weapon tongue carries the lie,

A human turns into a demon,

Life tells lies to the soul believing,

Mind molds life demonic,

That born from the womb,

Mother kills the son threatening lives,

Her face is angry, warns few to realize,

Ramakrishna saw her presence,

Talked to Her, heard replies,

Narendra saw her talk too,

You believe or not your choice,

Options truth and lie world offers,

Chose truth defeats death,

Choose the lie that born must die.

Love her, worship her,

She is the embodiment of truth,

You love her, she loves,

Then find happiness, peace,

And prosperity later realization,

Tongues bless with language.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

Theme: Kali

 

TAINTED

 

TAINTED

 

 

Impulsive human instinct acts,

An uncontrolled mind is rebellious,

Capitulates heart instantly willingly,

Life never grumbles, dares limits,

Limit is a myth, paranoid views,

Human life is precious, born to love,

Love, self-nature, innocent, decent,

Demands the community to accept,

Less prefers heart criticism  react,

Love only matters the heart imitates,

Tell frankly observed love undiluted,

The least polluted elixir is succulent,

The face to tidbits, eyes, nose, lips,

Females' hair long, to the knees, black,

Simple eye bows, accent, voice,

Word can melt heart seeks soul,

Minute the gait, gesture, demeanor,

Catches imagination, the mind trapped,

A volume of a novel to describe,

Insufficient how love is defined,

Instantly catch fire, unconscious,

Burn heart feels a missing presence,

Runs life impatiently to associate,

Fails to fathom custom prejudice,

Refuse to accept rules knows life,

Transient nature life falters loses,

This happened to my girlfriend,

High society, family if upper caste,

Fair-complexioned, intelligent, tall,

Matching my height in merit,

Rest, I missed her height in class,

Born poor caste differs between families,

A year after success  in recruitment,

The training period for administration,

We liked each other and grew intimacy,

Before joining the service separating,

Packing our luggage, catching a flight,

The direction of our destination home,

Opposite directions distinguished,

Language, state, custom, different,

Families unfamiliar, strange situations,

It dawned upon both similar feelings,

What parents will say when to listen,

How to treat the proposal sealed,

Thinking I knew backgrounds,

Widely differing, require strong effort,

The girlfriend's parent educated understood,

Evaluated positively on merit nature,

My family was illiterate, chained to caste,

Objected to when heard my decision,

Marrying in  the upper caste is not permitted,

Possibility of being outcaste foreseen,

A few days at home churned my heart,

Love never differentiates caste color,

Affect less class and status,

I left home, didn't inform my parents,

We got married in the court, joined services,

Fortunately, placed in one city,

The fact her parents got the information,

My family rejected to give consent,

They were silent, knew the caste system,

Underlined our senior officer status,

A few years later, our child grew,

Demanded to meet grandfather,

Loved meeting the grandmother,

We were in a fix, decided to visit,

Met parents later, at my home,

Stayed for a few days the matter settled,

Returned to our working place, both,

Received a letter, parents outcast,

Community banned reception meetings,

Denied water, fire, social custom,

Our love, a red rose treated tainted.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

Theme: Fiction Inter-caste Marriage

 

 

 

EMANATE

 

EMANATE

 

 

Looking at immersive thoughts,

Ecstatic at the sight of light emanates,

Moonless night darkness rules,

Resembles ignorance occupied mind,

Eons the mind travels in dark probes,

The point of light missing within,

Blind, life moves ahead fearful,

Abyss in front, sense fails to detect,

The picture is drawn to reflect humanity,

Humans today facing a catastrophe,

Of own making, less aware of misdeeds,

Boasting the blind claims as a conqueror,

Controlling people to rule ruthless,

Gun answers protest choosing silence,

Never unfortunate life could fathom,

Death waits for him to be sure,

How many dictators and aggressors died,

Countless heads rolled by time,

Never these power-hungry rulers felt,

Behind the thick cotton curtains,

Death quietly watching time to kill,

Fallen suddenly to soil the empire lost,

Lost the golden palace, emanating fear,

Dance in joy subjects is free now,

Blind could never learn repeats mistake,

Blood spills again fight starts for the chair,

Betrayer stabs behind for gold women,

A long history of the human race murkier,

Cruel heart showed envy, greed, anger,

Hatred the demon control evil mind,

The presence of evil is undetectable,

Easily procreate actions in darkness,

Conscience, reason inborn imprisoned,

The dark world envelops open eyes,

Never could know the presence of light,

Physical sensations treat pleasure,

Drinks poison believes as if nectar,

How many lives drunk die early sadly,

Untimely death, precious is human life,

Forfeited life got the rarest mission,

Little could accomplish the objective,

The poem of blind human tragic song,

The dark kingdom where death rules,

Pain, torture, and sickness lead to the end,

Truth establishes the soul deathless,

Indweller in the human body a visitor,

The world is alien for learning the truth,

Truth is the unchanging eternity light,

A point source is enough to emanate,

Emanate knowledge pervading nature,

Dispels the existing darkness totally,

Within the human mind, life can watch,

A point source, life radiate at the top,

Illumines entire inner space bright,

A human can fathom wrongdoings,

Alarmed before committing a blunder,

Save precious human life, defeat death,

Removes untimely death prospers life,

Long life, jewels, discover easy,

Peace, happiness, love, and compassion,

Unearthly treasures find within the mind,

Festival of light denotes the oil lamp lit,

Wise ignites this lamp within lighted,

Emanate wisdom, an essence of life,

Focuses transiency nature of the world,

Celebrate the emanation metaphorically,

The festival of light provides vision,

Behold, bewitched the sight of life,

Emanate truth is the only truth that exists. 

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra

      

 

IMMACULATELY

 

IMMACULATELY

 

 

Eloquently fingers shaping life,

Revolving wooden wheel below,

Rotating wet clay slowly at the top,

Amazes fingers work surprisingly,

It was making clay pottery eons ago,

Ancient civilization certifies discovery,

Clay, porcelain, bronze, and silver,

The design for millennia continues,

Society has forgotten its intricacies,

Still, the potter failed to extinction totally,

Potter wheel is a village sight beautiful,

Human progressed, I was thinking,

Unstoppable spirit achieved many things,

Wonderful creations handcrafted,

With iron machines, threads, cloth,

With fibers carpets design noticeable,

Gold, silver, platinum, and diamond,

The crafty fingers create filigree, jewelry,

People perform for generations to get rich,

Compare village iron smith weaver,

The community still is found assuring,

Poor thatched cottages less changed,

Charcoals are burning, listen to sounds,

The hammer sharpens molten iron,

The lifeline keeps village activity alive,

Poor, bare chest, loincloth, rustic,

I learned at college, educated, skilled,

These men, women less educated,

Never have gone to college to learn,

Inheritance, my country may look to,

Century-old art and craft is valuable,

It carries inherent ancient culture,

Should not be lost at any cost supported,

Stay in these communities with peasants,

Their products are still prized by females,

Clay mug for tea stalls at rail platform,

Visible when plastic is prohibited,

Provides livelihood for potters, prosper,

Rural industry takes shape for youth,

A vast range of pottery items need homes,

Replacing plastic, iron, steel utensils,

Water coolers, clay idols perennial,

Potter mint a small business nicely,

Water cooler natural method cheap,

People buy in hot summer for home,

Idol-making shows potters' artisan fingers,

Goddess idol dressed with ornaments,

Colors natural ingredients prepared,

Paper, jute, aluminum foil crown,

Decorations created by an artistic mind,

Potter's life is linked to festival seasons,

Diwali time clay lamps million are sold,

Temples, thousands oil lit lamps lighted,

The potter wheel rotates, forming lamps,

Family do good business on Diwali,

 On occasion, homes in the street are bright,

Unique sight spreads happiness, joy,

I was thinking about immersive fingers,

Skill in the blood acquires ideally,

These fingers never read books studied,

Nondescript rural men do muddy work,

Inconspicuous their social presence,

Only for an ultra-modern person educated,

Vanity acquired from books digress,

Immaculately shines Indian potteries,

Questions civilization to rethink,

Look back to the past glorious shining,

Finger with clay creates an intricate product,

Immaculately arranged at the street, sold!

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra