Thursday, November 9, 2017

To a Rose (Blank Verse)



         



                             
Flora, Godess of Flowers

                                                                    ( I )

                                                                               

                       Though we know not thy whispers cool
                   We feel thy breath with sensuous zeal;
                   Thou, blushing Flora, May’s beloved child!
                   Shining like a ruby in diamond crown
                   I can’t capture thy dew-decked joy profound
                   How dost thou survive enthroned on thorny seat
                   Untouched by pain without a bleeding heart ?
                   Better there to remain caressed by gentle air
                   Than fade away crushed by our sinful hands ;
                   Thy pretty spirit will never fade but bloom again
                   Thy fragrance remains embalmed within our hearts
                   Like a star emerging from this earthly gloom
                   Like an angel soaring skywards with scented wings
                   Thy presence we ever feel in crimson light of dawn.


                                                 ( I I )

   
                 Let me touch thy vermilion visage pure
                 And sense thy wondrous beauty of God-gifted charm ;
                 Gently smelling thy sweet inspiring breath ;
                 Like a saint’s crown entwined with pricking thorns
                 Thy state remains above our destructive gaze
                 Vain fantasies won’t cheat thy sacred state ;
                 No earthly sin can spoil thee, thou offspring of God !
                 When thou fadest smiling with heavenly ease 
                 A happy dirge I sing to thy departing soul
                 As summer flies away with cuckoo’s farewell song .
                 As night spreads her dark, silent, dusky shroud
                 Ever I recall thy rosy memories of thy happy state
                 In unfading joys sparkling like thy radiant soul
                 Like rising Phoebus spreading daylight warm.

                  ________________________________


              11th November, 2017                                Somaseshu Gutala


          Note :     1)    Flora = Goddess of flowers and spring  


                           2)    happy dirge =  A funeral song with joy
                                   as the flower is the symbol of immortal love.

                           3)    Phoebus  = Sun God (Apollo)

                           4)    shroud   =  a cloth used for wrapping a dead body. 



                          
   
                          
                             

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

To a Jasmine (Blank Verse)


                                                             





            1 )       Amid the green slender bunch of leaves
                      Hanging with a shy drooping face
                      Like a pearl of snow with sweet incense
                      With a bounteous white swelling bosom
                      For bees to sip nectar with humming praise.


        2)          Thy elfin beauty adds beauty to beauty with grace
                      Humbly shining through maiden’s curls
                      With tipsy sighs you spy the lovely couples
                      Thrilling their hearts with spontaneous love
                      Like Venus rising from moon-lit silver seas
                      A tiny blossom dropped from heavenly peaks
                      Beauty commingled with love and bliss
                      God whispers gently through thy lovely form
                      Gleaming purity through thy dew-washed face.


        3)          So virtue shines in simple lives though short
                      May all men follow thee and live in peace
                      With simple grace chastened with joy and love
                      Let all our lives be as pure and sweet as thine
                      Thou, virgin of selfless sacrifice divine

                    Shining like a star, Thou, queen of Summer’s domain.

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


     1st November, 2017                               Somaseshu Gutala                  



        Note : Venus = Goddess of beauty and love born from sea near the island of Cyprus.
                  
                  Virgin of selfless sacrifice = Mother Mary



              " In small proportions we just beauties see,
            And in short measures life may perfect be."
                                                                     Ben Jonson



                             

                 

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

WHERE AND WHEN ? (Blank Verse)


   


                     
                                                         WHERE AND WHEN ?


                                                                      (  I  )

                                     " You took your birth in south western zone
                                      You are not a part of our land:
                                      You were bred in eastern hamlets far
                                      You are not the son of our soil;
                                      You did grow up in suburban towns
                                      You speak with a different accent and tone;
                                      How can we make you a part of us?
                                      Your figure is quite different from ours
                                      Your manners and methods quite different too;
                                      Your ancestors not known, your traditions quite strange;
                                      You are an inhabitant beyond our range."
                                      They said and treated me as an intruder
                                      Their voice unfriendly with a burning touch;
                                      I felt embarrassed in this so called modern age
                                      Still we tilt  with so many dividing lines and isms :
                                      Still we have not regained our cherished vision.

                                      
                                                                           ( I  I  )

                                     The land where I was born now looks quite strange and new
                                     The language they use not much known to me;
                                     The whole town metamorphosed into a new and vast city
                                     Not a face or mansion can I notice now
                                     Even not a plant or bush to testify my place of birth;
                                     The place where I grew up too turned unknown
                                     All sites and scenes dissolved in dreamy fog;
                                     Where are my ancestors and their long withered roots?
                                     Not a trace of their history remains on sands of time ;
                                     Their estates burnt, their lands sold away long ago ;
                                     Even their names not known—a forgotten myth or dream ;
                                     I felt myself, a denizen of bygone ages dropped at once
                                     On a new planet, unrecognized and unnoticed;
                                     What am I? Dislodged, displaced like wandering gypsies
                                     I move like a struggling soul in purgatory
                                     Uncertain of its final destination and goal. 

                               
                                                  
                                                                           ( I I I )


                                     Time has transformed each and every corner
                                     New mansions and new highways with hi-tech malls
                                     My place almost now strange as strange as myself ;
                                     A new group of residents came up
                                     With new fashions, idioms and usage
                                     Ours, an old bygone disappearing stage ;
                                    Like a stranger roaming in a remote unknown land
                                    Like a shattered boat caught in the stormy ocean
                                    Like a stray animal chased by wild beasts
                                    I felt in my own land that changed in all aspects;
                                   A great sea-change in our attitudes and perspectives too –
                                   The eternal question persists “Where and When?”
                                   So many races, cultures and creeds vanished
                                   Still doubting Thomases go on with changing queries;
                                   Perhaps we may face the same question in hell or heaven
                                   Our origin, a mystery beyond our mortal vision.

                                                              ????????????????????????????  

                     24th october, 2017                                           Somaseshu Gutala                   

Monday, October 16, 2017

Ode to a Beautiful Bust







                           


                1.                   A beautiful bust cut in marble white
                                      With life-like features and beauteous brow
                                      In artistic shape with an angelic glow
                                      My bosom warmed with feelings bright.

               2.                   A beautiful bust with lips of rose
                                      In graceful curves with a bashful smile
                                     With innocent looks far from guile
                                      With a delicate well-proportioned nose.

               3.                  A beautiful bust with bright snowy curls
                                     Like Cynthia or Juno with dimpled cheeks
                                     So soft and white like roses sleek
                                     Beauty’s natural charms her smiles unfurl.

              4.                  A beautiful bust above our swift-winged change
                                    With a snowy neck in simple garlands worn
                                    Gleams like white moon in early morn
                                    Beyond our earthly fancy, beyond human range.

              5.                  A beautiful bust without crude pompous show
                                   Who carved it in such proper shape sublime?
                                   Perhaps an ancient goddess of ancient times
                                   With a crown of leaves adorning her brow.
        
              6.                A beautiful bust with no waxen dreams
                                  To struggle and strain with throbbing pain
                                  But to smile and smile with happy beams
                                  Fringed with angels in pretty design.

              7.                A beautiful bust in deathless domain
                                 Where body and soul in bliss combine
                                 Harmony carved in spiritual shine
                                 That peaceful ecstasy can I attain?

              8.              A beautiful bust with a saintly face
                                With a halo star-like glowing light
                                With silken curls and visage bright
                                A true goddess in marble form I trace.

             9.               A beautiful bust with perpetual smiles
                               Unperturbed by tides of wayward time
                               In festive mood forever in youthful prime
                               Inspiring all with cute features agile.

          10.             A beautiful bust reflecting feelings pure
                             A soul-created symphony fine
                             Pure love deified to such beauty divine
                             Inspired by true art will forever endure.


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

                
                          Cynthia =  Greek goddess of the moon

                         Juno        =  Queen of the Olympian gods.

   Note :  This poem was composed by me long ago when I visited a museum. I have revised it with a few alterations here and there. This ode has a faint influence of the famous ode of Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn" where the poet finds 'Beauty in Truth and Truth in Beauty." The poet contrasts the ephemeral beauty of human world with permanent and aesthetic beauty of art where nothing changes and is above worldly worries and troubles. Art inspires people of all times with its timeless message and makes us forget our problems and gives us a new message of joy and hope to withstand the passing changes.

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


                             16th October, 2017                                  Soma Seshu Gutala



     

                              

Sunday, October 8, 2017

ODE TO A CLOUD



                   











                                                               

             1.              Like tender thoughts of love nourished and grown
                              Away from worldly woes with care-free heart
                              After stormy blustering blast of passions blown
                              You glide like a lovely song of poetic thought
                              On effortless wings through cool and crystal air
                              With graceful ease on blue sky surface fair.

                  2.         The colors of bashful youth still linger light
                              On thy cheeks with diaphanous delicate hues
                              As thou glidest free through horizons bright
                              With gentle tread scattering pearl-white dew
                              Over grey hills, white mansions and green palms
                              Hanging like a pendant on welkin’s charms;

                  3.        Where is thy goal? Why wanderest thou and where
                             You look in vain with deep blue crazy eyes?
                             Have you forgot your home? How can you fare?
                             No easy path with well-mapped response  lies :
                             How can you cross this endless mysterious maze?
                             This trackless expanse beyond one’s gaze!
  
                4.         This misty domain through which you pass reveals
                            Queer changing shapes of airy shapes in vain;
                            Not only thou, but numberless souls feel
                            Their aimless wandering through this azure plain
                            Like faded leaves driven by stormy gale
                            Looking for clues with anguished faces pale;

               5.          Look, who invites you with endearing charms
                            Thy mother from whose womb thou took thy birth;
                            Who gave thee life and suckled thee in her arms
                            Who filled thy heart with tender love and mirth
                            Who gave thee precious life from her touch divine
                            Look, see her bosom heaves for thee; a sacred shrine.

             6.            O’er mossy lawns, o’er dappled hillocks brown
                            O’er thin-bellied rippling gentle streams
                            You float on arched wings of iris fresh-born
                            Scattering tinted shades through rain-bow gleams
                            Your pace slows down and dissolves thy airy breath
                            Into pattering drops to kiss the earth beneath.
   

       7.                Assuming various shapes through sunny beams
                          Quenching the thirst of trees and growing corn
                          Giving fresh lease of life to dried up streams
                          You travel unwearied at night till morn
                          Flashing lightning smiles and thundering roar
                          As blithesome drops of rain incessantly pour.

        8.               Thy visit kindles warm light of hope and love
                          Thou, messenger of God’s precious mercy
                          Our bosoms dance as thou decked with rain-bow
                          Dissolve thyself in thrilling ecstasy
                          Touch this earth with thy rapturous sounds.
                          The rush of swishing winds leaps out of bounds.                      

                   
      9.                 Thou, blue bird of heaven, come swift and soon
                          Thou, glory of God! Angel of generous grace
                          Throwing thy silver veil over the moon
                          Gladden our eyes with thy cool refreshing pace
                          Dissolve thyself  from thy heavenly spires
                          In glistening hues of pearls and shining sapphires.
                                                                               
      10.              Descend slowly like a light snow-white swan
                         Descend, Oh cloud, in scintillating tears!
                        Tinged with rosy tints of awakening dawn
                        To kiss mother earth with devotion clear
                        Shed thy long-journey’s burden and recline
                        Settling thyself in peaceful cool weather fine.
    

     Note : This poem is a revised and improved version of the poem composed in 1971. It was very crude and not well-organized and was composed on the spur of the moment. Now I re-organized the poem and added some more thoughts to bring it to the present shape. In this poem the influence of Shelley's famous odes "To the cloud" and "West Wind" is seen. The cloud represents the journey of the soul in this world searching for its original home. Ultimately it finds its source in Mother nature from where it is sprung. The cloud also represents God's mercy and kindness towards creation. The cloud is the 'Angel of generous grace' and is 'the blue bird of heaven". It floats on arched wings of rainbow and showers rain "in glistening hues of pearls and shining sapphires."The cloud gives life to dried up streams and makes all happy with its rapturous dance and lightning smiles. The cloud is like a soul freed from raging passions and obsessions and finally settles itself in peaceful state of love and joy.

                          ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


     Ref :                   Iris = Greek goddess of "Rainbow"
                                Diaphanous  = thin and airy; very fine
                                Dappled       =  marked with patches
                                scintillating = shining or exciting



          6th october, 2017                                             Somaseshu Gutala
                        






                                
          

Monday, October 2, 2017

At Komala Vilas, Sunnyvale, California




                                             

During our 30-day stay in U.S. we did not often visit restaurants . But we made more than one visit to this restaurant which is quite nearby and which suited our tastes. In California as there are many Indians and Asians, we find many Indian restaurants offering many types of food and refreshments. We felt more at home in this place as we got very tasty and nice typical South Indian tiffins and meals. My friend, who is very critical about judging the quality of food, preferred this restaurant which offers the best South Indian dishes. So he often frequented this restaurant and recommended this place to many of his friends and relatives.












 This restaurant is located in a busy area where you will find so many other shops and restaurants as well. Though it is not that spacious it is neat and tidy. Of course there seems to be a heavy rush during evening hours. You have to go to the counter and order your items and wait till your name is called. So you have to wait with patience till your turn comes. Amidst South Indian dishes items like Idli, Vada, Dosa, Uttappam and Pongal are often ordered. There are nearly twenty types of dosas from which you can select your option. In the combo plate you will get three items like idli, vada, upuma, pongal with chutney. For meals you will have a plate with dal, two curries, sambar, rasam, two chutneys,  papad,sweet and curd. W e preferred Idli and vada which are very delicious and crispy given with green and red chutneys and sambar.







 Many customers ordered various types of Dosas where as one of my friends who had superb testing skills judged that he had eaten the best pongal here and was beyond compare . The steaming coffee given in steel tumblers in South Indian style is also very refreshing and stimulating. But it would be better if more space is given for customers to avoid congestion. Cleanliness should be also improved. Tables should not be seen with leftovers and empty plates littered on the table. Though service is good, it can be improved further by prompt and quick delivery of items ordered. On the whole Komala Vilas is the best restaurant if you wish to a have pure vegetarian South Indian type of food with good taste and flavor. This restaurant is closed on Tuesday and is open on all other days of the week. The working hours are from 8.30 am to 2.30 and from 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm. From Friday to Sunday the restaurant is kept open from 8.30 to 3.00 pm and from 5.30 pm to 10.00 pm.

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

   


Dated :2nd october, 2017

      Somaseshu Gutala