Wednesday, April 12, 2017

ON KILLING A COCKROACH





        















                           
       


                                         ON KILLING A COCKROACH

                   1)          Each night like a thief she comes unseen
                                 With sensing feelers so long and keen
                                 With her defiling touch our food she spoils
                                 As if mocking at our kitchen care and toil.
      
                   2)            Her nightly visits upset our rest
                                  Determined to exterminate this pest
                                  A strategic position I cautiously took
                                  Waiting for her to come out of her nook.

                   3)            My heart is full of fire for this crafty cockroach
                                  Sensing my presence she did not approach
                                  A piece of candy I kept as bait
                                  Till she arrives I have to wait and wait.

                  4)             With nimble pace she crawled so fast
                                   Her dark brown back in a trice I lost
                                   I threw my broom at her though fast
                                   She leapt like a nymph beyond my thought.

                  5)             Let me destroy this petty devil
                                  So haughty, reckless and uncivil
                                  My bosom whispered “Are you not
                                  A worm in past ? Have you so soon forgot ?

       
                  6)           “The same spirit dwells in her and in your heart 
                                 Give up your worthless and cruel thoughts ;
                                 Is she a  crocodile to catch you with her jaws
                                 Is she a tiger to tear you with her claws ?
                               
                  7)            Is she a viper or scorpion with a deadly sting
                                 A miserable end for you to bring?
                                Your wretched broom how can you fling
                                To kill such a harmless pretty thing?

                   8)          Her origins too old beyond your trace
                                Her species will outlive your human race ;
                                Nature’s purpose you find in their existence
                                Be not in haste ; use your intelligence.
  
                   9)          Be not a savage who mercilessly kills
                                To show his rugged strength and hunting skills ;
                                Neat and tidy your surroundings maintain
                                No fleas will come then, you need not complain.
                                      
                   10)        To kill or not to kill my mind began to swing
                                Like a bat in gloom groping on wing
                                She slipped from my finger tips at once
                                AS I stood rattled, a philosophizing dunce.

                                

 Note :  In this poem written in a lighter vein, it is suggestive of need for cleanliness of surroundings. Just going on a killing spree will not put an end to our common problems.

           The cockroach is one of the most ancient species born 320 million years ago on this earth. There are nearly 4,500 kinds of species called Blattodea. They are the most adaptive creatures to climate changes. They can survive in Arctic cold and in hottest regions as well. They can survive without food for one month and without breathing air for 45 minutes. Some scientists say that in the event of nuclear war , the only surviving creatures will be cockroaches.


       Ref : nymph = a mythlogical spirit residing in water, and forests.     

                   = a young immature insect with undeveloped wings. 

           Philosophising = think about abstract ideals

                       

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         12th April, 2017                           Somaseshu Gutala



Friday, April 7, 2017

Poems written to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday


                                                                                                                           
                     With passing years wisdom ripened in you
                You treated each and every moment with cheer
                With balanced mind and vision clear ;
                With earnest efforts and attention due ;
                Your bonds of love you ever tried to renew
                Encouraging young minds with guidance clear;
                Motivating them to act without any fear;
                With positive thoughts and humane views;
                Though Time flies fast you never felt too old
                Ever energetic you spend your days
                Updating knowledge in ways manifold;
                With changing trends you ever kept your pace;
                No trace of envy and greed entered your heart;
             We wish you happy time, good health and noble thoughts.

(Wishing you many more happy and peaceful years of life) 

   1st April, 2017                                                      Somaseshu Gutala
            
                                                                                                                                     







                                                  












           You are our strength and main support

           Maintaining with all good rapport;

           You help all in every hour of need

           In giving good guidance you always lead

           To be happy and see others happy, your creed

           You are a noble and lovable person indeed;

     We wish you long life with good health and peace

           Our humble regards to you, accept please.
                   
          (Wishing you many happy returns of the day)






         1st April, 2017                  Valli  Sarada Gutala


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Friday, March 24, 2017

ODE ON SILENCE




                                                                                             
















  
                                   
                   


   


                                             



           1 )                Silence, so-called sweet spring of joy

                                 Turns often, alas! A bitter cup of pain

                                 When Beauty slights and mocks with disdain

                                 The fawning heart with youthful pride;

                                 Silence erects an insurmountable chasm wide.



           2)                   Silence kills a lonely, languishing heart

                                  More grievous than a poisoned dart ;

                                  Unseen, eating into vitals, inch by inch

                                  Cut off for ever from one’s own dear mate

                                  Withering to roots, an unimaginable state.



           3)                  Hearts blocked by stubborn barriers of doubts

                                  Reel under parched feelings of drought

                                  Silence creeps in with Satanic fang

                                  Evil thoughts crowd upon, a gang

                                  To bombard Love and cast a Promethean suffering spell.


          4)                   A cutting edge Silence suddenly reveals

                                 When one’s own dear depart for realms

                                 Unknown, unseen, unheard, too far to feel

                                 For earthly senses to perceive

                                 Irreparable loss for us, in vain to grieve.



       5)                     The widening gap of time, of course

                                 Silences one when youth boasts of their glorious prime ;

                                 An alien uprooted from one’s own space and time

                                 Rhymes not well with changing modern trends

                                 To Time’s unconquerable will, old age bends.



     6)                       Silence looms large in dreadful nights

                                When one bemoans one’s sinful fate

                                None to console, a dismal sullen state

                                Sleepless hours like dire furies seem

                                Like whipping devils, past acts roar within and scream.



    7)                        Misunderstandings with one’s own friends dear

                                Erect a hellish growing hurdle steep

                                What loud eloquence dares to convince and clear

                                The pall of doubt and perverse mistrust?

                                Silence smolders one's bosom slowly to dust.



   8)                        Silence, a tricky language of mysterious fate

                               Our questions stay unanswered with an uncertain swing 

                               Man’s keen intellect can’t unfold every mysterious thing;

                               Unseen forces play around --- beyond his grip;

                               His rocketing frolic, a mere sophisticated slip.

 

   9)                        Silence shadows even golden empires

                               Leaving their glories ruined entire ;

                               Wrecked and mangled by timeless fate

                               Mute witnesses, those memorials great

                               No use of egoistic talk can conquer silent state.


 10)                      Silence of godly heights immense

                              Seems not to relent upon our woes

                              Society shaken by violent throes

                              Of destructive vandalistic acts;

                              Silence reigns grim –a final concluding fact.



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       Note:  1) The ode is a Greek poetic form with a complicated rhyme scheme and complex structure written in a lofty style. In regular ode the stanzas have equal number of lines with a fixed rhyme pattern. In an irregular ode, the stanzas have unequal number of lines and the rhyme pattern is also irregular. In this ode I have followed equal number of lines but with variation in rhyme scheme like abbcc,aabbc,and abacc . The last line is longer in length having 11 or 12 syllables.


              2)  Silence is the language of gods; silence is the language of a spiritual seeker; silence leads us to explore our inner self. 

But silence on worldly level also has many shades of meaning and feeling.The silence of a rejected lover, the silence of a deserted person from one’s own people, the silence of a jealous, scheming person filled with doubts, the silence of a guilty sinner, the silence of a person deceived by his untrustworthy friends, the silence of a person whose near and dear left this world, the silence of a person with uncertain future,the silence of an old man who is out of tune with modern trends and the silence that rules after the glorious kingdoms have disappeared from this earth etc. I have described some of these aspects in my poem. The whole creation has emerged from silence and ultimately dissolves in silence. Even the holy sound “OM” has evolved from silence.In brief silence is more eloquent and more mysterious than most incomprehensible discourses.


 Ref : Promethean Suffering = A demi-god who stole fire from Mt. Olympus and gave it to men for the benefit of mankind. He was chained to a mountain cliff and made to suffer for many, many years as he rebelled against Zeus, the Lord of all Greek Gods.

       Furies = Three female spirits with snaky hair who punish doers of heinous crimes.

       Satanic fang = refers to the deceitful act of Satan who tempted Eve in the guise of a serpent.

       A sophisticated slip = Mistakes done by physicists who explore galaxies.Even their rockets cannot reach the numberless galaxies of this ever expanding universe and their knowledge is not infallible.

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25th March, 2017                                                             Somaseshu Gutala