1) Alone like a lonely pilgrim yonder stood
A
tall, lean tree with crooked arms
Not a
trace of green, but dry barren wood
Many,many years sapped his leafy
charm
Like
an old wrecked vessel in raging storm
Alone it
stood from tip toe full brown
Not a
clump of green leaves adorned his crown.
2) Who cares to
see such barren dreary sight?
No western
wind approached with rustling sound
No
butterfly fluttered with pinions bright
No
graceful creeper to hug him around;
No prop to bear
his bending weight from ground
In
death-like silence like a ruined fortress grim
A dreadful hag seen in sinister dreams.
3) No bird or beast for shade
and shelter came
No
playful monkeys swing on branches bare
Marks of
stormy gale dented his weary frame
A mute witness to
many things, with none to share
His
grey-gone past who hears, no time to spare !
His seasoned strength withstood so many
storms
So many blows he bore with sturdy arms
4) His sinewy roots
searched deep into the ground
To touch
the nourishing springs beyond our sight
Still rooted
firm like a mountain sound
Struggling alone under the scorching light ;
Despite
his age, trusting in Nature’s might
His
branching arms outstretched into the sky
As if he
nursed still aspirations high.
5) Like an old man left in his
humble cot
Absorbed in woes and
joys of events past
Engulfed
in solitude and silence fraught ;
Like a
lonely sailor in windy tempests caught
And thrown like junk on
God-forsaken shore
Where no
voice heard but turbulent ocean’s roar.
6) Standing alone like a
pillar carved in sandstone
Of some dilapidated temple old
Like a
camel in dry desert alone
Exposed to
winds of blazing fire and cold
The tree
stood firm like a prophet bold ;
Cut off from worldly bonds of suffocating
hold
Steadfast
like an altar for all to behold.
**********************************************
28th August, 2018 Somaseshu Gutala
Note :
This poem is written in "Rhyme Royal " a stanzaic form with
rhyme scheme "ABAB
BCC". This verse form borrowed from the French verse was first
used in English language by Geoffrey Chaucer in his narrative poems "Troilus and Criseyde" and in "The Parlement
of Foules". William Wordsworth used this form
in his famous poem"Resolution and
Independence".
Ref : Nurse =care for ; Cot
= a simple cottage (Archaic)
Altar = A platform where sacrifices are offered; a holy place.
It
suggests the noble selfless service of the old tree.
