Wednesday, February 8, 2023

After Many Years

             



         

   


                                     

 1.           The town looked same with same old squalid scenes

   The roads pitted with worn-out rough surface;  

   Like an aging lady devoid of vital sheen

   All greenery vanished like youthful grace;

   Roads more congested with wayside shops and stalls

   Noisy tumultuous place with crowded malls.

 

2.       The pristine silence polluted with raucous sounds.

   The black-topped roads turned rough and rude.

   The swelling population went out of bounds.

   The town expanded with corruption crude.

   With outer trappings feigned with tempting eyes

   No sanitation and no proper precautions wise.

 

3.      Swirling clouds of dust choked our breath

   Waters from narrow gutters gushed onto the streets;

   So many vehicles spouting fumes hazardous to health;

   Flouting rules raced as if engaged in intricate feats;

   For old, weak people, a risky challenge to walk

   Drivers, with tilted heads, through mobiles talk. 

 

4.      The bulky trees with dense leaves no more cheer

   A shelter for squirrels to leap and for birds to sing

   No chirping sounds and rustle of breezes we hear

   No leaping mirth of monkeys with merry swing;

   Small smoky stalls with wooden benches greet

   No place to rest with ease in fresh air sweet.

 

5.      The town seemed new, so suddenly grown

   No friendly faces seen; myself a stranger unknown;

   No old friend met, no response, I wandered all alone;

   I felt myself out of time; Nothing I felt my own.

   My quest for past turned out a wild goose chase

   We can’t get back the glories that time did erase.

 

6.       My fancy to re-capture the joyous past

    Like sunny domes of Xanadu dissolved at last;

    Time changes men and places too, I thought.

    Driven by greed Nature’s charms are forever lost.

    I glanced wistfully at places where I went.

    Recalling the days, and friends with whom I spent.


                     ***********************


The sunny domes of Xanadu -- A mythical place in Mongolia where Kubla Khan built a beautiful palace with a pleasure-garden. Here it means an idyllic enchanting scenic spot. Samuel Coleridge wrote a poem "Kubla Khan" based on his dream experience in 1797 and published it in 1816.

     8th February 2023                         Somaseshu Gutala              

    

   

 

   

 

   

   

  

   

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