Poetry is the free, skillful dance on the stage
Poetry is
the free, deft touch of the brush on the page;
Poetry is
the melting flow of moonlight
Under the
magic spell of the melodious flute;
Poetry is
the shaping of stone into a figure
By the touch
of a marvelous chisel;
Poetry is
the burden of nine months
Giving birth
to an infant-poem to bear;
Poetry is
the warm caressing of the squirrel
Which tried
to resist the tidal flow
With its
soft bushy tail;
Poetry is
the sprouting of wings
To sleeping
thoughts in mind’s cradle;
Poetry is
the sunny smile on a rainy day
Lingering on
the lips of an old beggar-woman
When she
gets a morsel to quench her inner fire;
Poetry is
the flow of fresh blood into the heart;
Poetry is
the vibration of heart with tear-filled eyes;
Poetry is
the mining of gold out of the heart
Poetry is
the burning of the heart with boiling thoughts;
Words are
colored fishes that spring
From the sea
of language
Beholding
the sunshine;
Words are
the few hairs left on a bald head
Which toss
their ends in balmy breeze;
Whether
skating on ice
Or swimming
through fire
Words should
sprout as freely as the milky teeth
Or tender
growth of hair on the lips of rosy youth
With natural
spirit and zeal.
Words should open the doors
To new, unimaginable worlds
Thoughts
should not get lost amidst
The wild
growth of meaningless words
To lose
their content and be sacrificed
By the sharp
beheading stroke of pen;
The heart
should hear the essence of sound
The poet’s body
Should be all-seeing with many, many eyes
Like Indra
the God of Heaven;
Rational and
precise thoughts
Should be
born on paper
After their
struggle with doubts and questions;
That leap
out of one’s own brain;
Poetry is the dance of well-dressed thoughts
On the stage of our tongue;
Poetry is
the blossoming of diverse feelings
That shine
like the colors of a rainbow
On the sky of mind in drizzling dawn;
Poetry is
the conflagration of raging untruth
Breathing
new life into dying untruth;
Poetry is
the code of inner struggle;
Poetry is
the infinite flow of the Ganges
Leaping from
the heart of the Himalayas.
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Telugu
original: A. Surya Prakash 1st November, 2024.
(Kavitvopanishad)
Translated
by: G.Somaseshu
Surya
Prakash is the son of Sri late A.Kishan Das who served as the Chairman of
Nizamabad Municipality. His mother’s name is Smt.Radha. Surya Prakash did his
postgraduation in Public Administration from Osmania University and later did
M.A. in Telugu literature. He joined as Lecturer in Public administration on 1st
April, 1970. He organized many poetry recital sessions, workshops and lectures
by celebrated writers of Telugu literature.
Besides being himself a poet, he encouraged many of his colleagues and
students to participate actively in literary and cultural activities. Many of
his poems and essays were published in populat Telugu weeklies and journals
such as Andhra Prabha weekly, Andhra Bhoomi weekly, India Today weekly,
Chatura, Telugu, and Moosi journals. He established “Indur Bharati Association”
on 14th January and worked as Secretary and as President for many years. He won
many awards from famous literary organizations. He worked as Principal in Girraj Govt. degree
College, Nizamabad and retired on 30th April 2005.
He published more than twenty books in various literary genres such as poetry, essays, stories, criticism, film criticism etc. Some of his famous poetry books written by him are: Samspandna(1971), Nagaram Needalu(1974), Malli Suryodayam(1980), Kagitham Puvvu(1984),”Allaalku Otami ledu”(1987), “Patra harithamu(1994), “Suryuni Edo Gurramu(2013) and “Kotha Yugamu” (1985), a collection of literary essays. He also wrote books “Public Administration” and “Local Administration” published by Telugu Academy. In 1984 he was selected as national poet in Telugu and recited his poem “Tholi Keka-Thudi Swasa” at All Language Poetry Conference. This poem was translated into fourteen languages later. He also went abroad and visited U.S. Tanzania and Eastern African countries.
Even at the age of eighty years he is an avid reader and writes comments, essays and poems. As a great lover of books, he has a vast collection of books in Telugu and English language. As a poet he tried to bring to light the social conditions and attitudes of different characters in simple and precise language. He tried to reflect the living idiom of contemporary society and adopt a sarcastic approach with gentle humor to point out the foibles of people and society. At the same time, he tried to infuse an optimistic and positive thinking in the minds of his readers.
As a colleague I have been associated with him for more than three decades. I translated ten poems and with his permission I publish the translated versions of his Telugu poems. I tried to reflect the thoughts, tone and rhythm of his poems. Hope the readers will get a glimpse of his poetry and his poetic talent.
