SHADOW SONNETS
IN MEMORY OF KEATS
In
a dream one day I found myself walking
Through
a garden of sonnets each like a bush
Of
flowers of every hue and aroma swaying
Merrily
in a singing wind, as the buds blush.
Treading
the garden path, many statues I come across
Of
Wyatt and Surrey, Sidney and Spenser and Donne,
Keats,
Shelley - all bowing to Shakespeare as the boss,
Standing
in majesty in the centre as the greatest one.
I
pluck a rose near the bard’s statue, soft and pink,
And
a few others nearby to make my vibrant bouquet
Of
three quatrains, a couplet and seven rimes, I think,
With
the fragrance of love, and radiance of sun’s ray.
My bouquet of sonnets, culled from this verdant garden
Will pleasure all, I hope, who care to value my pen.
2
The Sonnet Stealer
With
a stick in his hand Shakespeare chases me
For
chastising, as I write my shadow sonnets, or
Filch
pollen from his poetic flowers like a bee,
To
create honeyed verses in lines ten and four.
And
his patented rhymes with a couplet at the end
After
a sequence of three quatrains superbly knit
For
his dark lady or his young lover boyfriend
Whose
identities have never been known to wit.
Though
I only steal the opening line, spinning out
The
thirteen more from my own wooden-head.
Yet
for finding the correct rhymes I run about
Among
the lexicons or thesauruses instead.
This
never ending chase of the bard will go on
Till my mischief ends or the bard’s woebegone.
3.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s
day?
Thou art more lovely, more sultry in
your looks,
With winking eyes, and lips burning
like May,
Singing a love-song in murmur like the
brooks.
The summer in your being mixes
memories of the spring
With autumn filling all fruits with ‘ripeness
to the core’
The splendor of all seasons in your
person unveiling
The full lyricism of love in bouts of
passion more.
The summer’s blazing sun shall hide
behind the hills,
And the spring shall shut its shop of
flowers soon
As autumn with its ‘twittering
swallows’ the skies fills
While your radiant beauty walks past
the luminous moon.
It will flourish and glow in these
verses of mine
Eternally, as the bard said, it will continue to shine.
4.
. How to pray
Tell me how to pray, or what to pray for -
O God, Who gave me all when You sent me
Into this world, the manifestation of Your
Glory infinite, with a lighted soul to see
And experience Your Lovingkindness
And Your Grace with every breath I take
But slowly I became aware of the harness
Tying me in desires prompting me to make
Entreaties for their fulfilment through prayers
Without knowing how or what to pray for
Save me, O God, from the intriguing snares
Of desires, and only let me remember You
more.
Rid me of all want and ‘repining restlessness’
Only grant me rest and peace in Your
Holiness.
5..
Let’s kiss and part
Since there’s no help, come,
let’s kiss and part;
The most delicious kiss ever
our lips savoured.
This short separation can
never keep us apart,
Through twenty springs our
love’s persevered.
Separation only makes love
deeper and sweeter
Unseen the bees keep the
honeycomb enriching
Bringing the nectar of
memories from far and near
To add to the liquid love
ripening and mellowing.
Longing love at both ends,
pining for an ultimate union
A candle burning at both ends
melting to come closer
Till the two passionate souls
find their communion
Defying all worldly
impediments, heeding love’s prayer.
Against all obstacles
invincible your love has ever been
Indeed, our short separation makes
our love evermore keen.
This is just a small bouquet. The stealer would never reveal what or how much or from where he has stolen his flowers. It's for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, or, perhaps, Dupin to discover the 'Purloined Flowers'!
(C) Dr BSM Murty
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