Literary Pursuit (Poem)
Three masked
men
Came to the
fore
They leaped
and pranced,
They hopped
more and more
Their joyous
smiley faces
Had said it
all
Each rode a
bicycle
Atop a ball
What fine
balance,
What acrobatic
skills!
Are they only
midgets?
Or magicians
all feel!
They juggled
and giggled,
They rolled on
the floor
They tried out
every trick in the book
They never
intended to bore
Scratching
their heads,
They looked at
the clock
Time was
speeding away
To signal
silence and no more talks
Scooting to
the side-wings,
They pulled
the string hard
Up went the
velvet curtain
To unveil the
statue of a bard
Carved in
stark white
The sculpture
stood tall at the centre stage
The poet had
composed this musical
In a different
age,
So
melancholic, beautiful and lyrical
The play is
laced with a heartwarming message
Must appeal to
everyone
From the
layman to a sage
It is about
longing and love
Full of
emotions on every page
A saga of two
star-crossed birds
Two wonderful
souls
A duo of
innocent doves
A romantic
tragedy on the whole
Estranged in
life,
The partners
pined for union in death
Their
separation on earth will lead to a bonding in heaven
Such was their
unswerving faith
The jokers
vanished in a jiffy,
They retreated
to a shell
The piano
chords now altered notes
To assume a
sweet, melodic scale
A young lady
was seen
Painting an
amazing portrait
Of a handsome
man
Quite
admirable and a dreamboat, one might bet
She bent low
to dip her brush
In a colour
palette of her choice
She stroked
her curly chestnut-brown tresses,
When suddenly
came a voice
From the door
behind
In a jovial
manly tone
With a spring
in his step
And a style of
his own,
The spirited
lover waltzed in to say
"I love
you to the moon and back," to his beloved
Gifting her
red orchids pinned in a spray
And serenaded her, singing paeans
Outside the windows with curtained pelmets
One could hear the sound of rains
They danced
and sang,
Celebrating to
their heart’s content
Blindly
detached from the world of woes
And its evil
intent
He saw his
delineated face,
Mounted on the
easel
And
appreciated his woman’s efforts
Looking
stunned and absolutely dazzled
Leaning over
her work of art, he thought
This is the
best token of love,
She could ever
shower on him
That he has
always sought
Reading her
mind, imbibing her feelings
True love he
fathomed, can seldom one get
Then in a mood
to tease his lady love
The guy
fetched a purse from his pocket
With a dash of
good humour
He ogled at a
picture
Pretending to
have an amour
A secret
affair that he managed to conceal so far
Giving an
impression that it’s already very late
He is now a
different man from what she knew to date
The maiden was
visibly upset
Was it envy or
a simple concern?
In love, they
say, jealousy and insecurity
Are but
natural symptoms of heartaches and ‘heartburn’
He lured her
nearer
With a
stranger’s photograph in hand
She grew
anxious, she was desperate
To know the
person and understand
Why has he
been such a bother!
Why vex her so
much?
When he knows
she is his
Her trust lies
in his clutch
Then she came
in close proximity
And the
distance diminished with his warm breath
He immediately
turned the image towards her
To draw her
sunny smile and keep alive her faith
At first, she
blushed
And fiddled
with her fingers
Then she
lowered her eyes
Before they
met his and lingered
She laughed
and swayed
With
uninhibited pleasure and exhilaration
In his arms’
embrace
With complete
satisfaction
He held her as if she, a merry pretty flower and he, a swinging branching tree
She gave him a
nudge of affection
On a playful
jesting spree
Yes, it was
she whose photo
He always
carried in his wallet
It’s but
obvious that she is his queen
Who reigned
supreme on his heart’s throne at his love estate
The scene
ended with a sprinkle of pink petals
And a chunk of
multi-coloured confetti
The ecstatic
couple scripted a tale of sweet tryst
And lifelong
unity
The maroon
drapery came down
With
pint-sized clowns, back in the business
They appeared
amply glad
With the
lovey-dovey pair’s happiness
They blessed
and wished
All bliss for
the duo
They prayed
for their stability
And their
labour of love’s status quo
Again they
frog-leaped
And they
somersaulted
Again they
walked a tightrope
And in between
they halted
Going back to
entertainment
They bounced,
frolicked and drank a goblet of water to rest
Like an
elastic spring, they rebounded
To wind up
this touching drama of tragic taste
Anticipating
the game wasn’t yet over
They
disappeared once more
Cavorting and
jumping
They drifted
apart to the shore
Now the
curtain rolled up
In a slight
slow-motion
A shadowy
figure entered a dark set
To lend an
obscure notion
A bereaved
woman plodded
In a black
satin gown,
Her face, shrouded in a gauzy veil
Is the damsel
in distress, is she down?
None could
gauge
What went
wrong!
Why the strong-blowing
breeze
Sang a wistful
song?
The ambience
was sombre,
The canvas
grew pale
Was the
cheery-bubbly girl
Doomed to
hell!
She had a
wreath in hand
And a bouquet
of white lilies
She brought
out a handwritten note
Stapled with a
rose and perfumed with fond memories
Both
poignantly haunting and rapturous
As they always
are
Time flowed by
as usual,
While nothing
seemed on par
With what was
before
And what’s
gone forever
Old is after
all gold
You can never
reap it back in your favour
Having suffered
a fatal mishap,
His life was
cut short
The lover was
destined to kiss death
And the lass
sobbed a lot
He left behind
his would-be better half
He left behind
his Lina
Yeah, that’s
what he called his dear fairy
Her name is
Carolina
Like a winged
angel,
He was her
saviour from all agony
He was Arthur,
brave as a soldier,
Who once presented
her with a cutie pony
The bonny
bride-to-be
Wore a
beautiful wedding dress from her trousseau
Waited all day
at the church
For her man to
arrive at four or so
To fetch the ring
and glide it on her finger
And exchange
vows of conjugal glory
When all hell
broke loose with the news
Of his
accident and that’s a tragic story
Down on the
road in a pool of blood,
The would-be
groom lay alone on the spot
The car brakes
failed and skidded on the asphalt stretch
It was moist,
slippery and hot
Smoky fumes
issued off the bonnet’s engine
The soot
blackened his face
In his last
minutes too, he remembered her
And pined for
her charm and grace
His life was snuffed
out
He flew to the
sky to glitter and twinkle as a star
He found
himself a cosy place
To stare at
his Juliet’s balcony like Romeo from afar
She stood at
his grave,
Right in front
of the epitaph which read,
"He who
made others happy in life,
Lived happily
ever after in heaven’s bed."
So true of
this man,
Who had never
let a tear escape her eyes,
Now wrested of
her realm,
He is settled
in peace in God’s paradise
She leaned
over the tomb
To put the
letter on his burial
The ground was
serene yet gloomy,
She thought if
this was something surreal
Spent a few
more moments of privacy
With the man
of her life
Had God been
more merciful,
Today he could
be her hubby and she, his wife
She wept and
gently caressed
The ornate
rims of his grave
It felt like
an ebbing tide,
It felt like a
retreating wave
She pulled
herself up,
Unable to
leave him so early
The cemetery
clock struck five
To tell that
hours melted quickly
Placing the
wreath ring on top
And the
charming blossoms on the side,
She made a
sign of the cross
And slowly
moved aside
Trudging away
in dreary silence
The gaunt gal
reached the gate
The guard
proceeded to open it for her
And soon after
she left, he locked it straight
The churchyard
slipped into darkness
As dusk
fell all over
The three
dwarf clowns closed the curtain
Like weary
ramblers and rovers
The perky friskiness
was missing this time
The alacrity
of their nimble feet gone
The expression
turned forlorn and sad
Sans the
brightness with which once it had shone
Now the dyed
countenances seemed dejected
All filled
with sorrow
With teary
drops rolling down their cheeks
As if there’s
no tomorrow
They paced
about tardily
And removed
their hats before exiting
One by one,
the buffoons departed from the stage
With a whistle
of lament, marching
The spectators
were captivated
And remained
mute at first
The auditorium
was quiet as the onlookers were tongue-tied
With their
increasing thirst
Asking for
more pathos, more nostalgia and fantasy
Begged for
more drama and more action and frenzy
Then after a
pregnant pause, the hands gave a thunderous applause
And heads
nodded in appreciation
All cried as
well as smiled,
They gave a
standing ovation!
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