Unheard Melodies, Emmenay [best ereader manga txt] 📗

people are always busy;
Lost in a quest of making the most,
Of everything that means money,
Luxuries have become necessity!
I want to breathe unpolluted air,
And spend some time with sweet jasmine,
I want to adore chrysanthemums,
And walk among cherry blossoms,
But nobody here happens to care!
Not long ago, when I was much younger,
Under the mango tree would I sit,
That tree marked a big park here:
And when it was noon, a form fairest,
Would come and spread her rippling laughter.
Now that park is not to be seen,
Someone has chopped down the mango tree;
And man's craze for worldly allures,
Has deprived many of sanity:
My fairest no longer endears the scene.
How can I soar into the sky's caress,
Far and above this modern world?
I have no magic carpet to fly,
Nor Pegasus to rescue me...
Is there any way out of this strange duress?
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(15) ANYTHING

What has got this sea to hide?
Or to give?
When I can't be with the one,
For whom I live?
Take the waves and dry it up,
This sound and fury makes me laugh,
I hate this sorry scheme of things,
At the tides I scoff…
****

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(16) AS MY EYES SEE

Walking down the dark streets,
Cats dart with ferocity,
Where does my purpose hide?
Cars with couples and families come,
Time to relax with burgers, snacks,
Am I a stranger to this town?
My friend and I talked for a week,
About life, death and eternity,
Now it is so quiet, where is she?
The daily circle of the stars,
Orion leads the entire team,
On earth it is only me.
Everybody has a hidden sword,
Conspirators abound in this town,
I am used and then they flee?
O Kuku, if this is living,
Let me find peace near graves,
Even the mosques are no more free.
Yesterday a great man turned sixty,
Today -- another's death anniversary,
Scattered sand shines near the sea.
My wife talks about Fred Flintstones,
Says our life is also like theirs,
Tears are waves of a swelling sea.
Who will ever understand,
What needs to be understood,
Or will it be only me?
****************

(17) AUTUMN

The brown leaves fall,
The time of spring is over,
My heart waits,
When will its hope thus wither!
Come hither says the poet,
Go where, asks the soul,
Where is the greenwood tree?
Why is everything quiet?
Ambition? This heart had some,
Everything has died as the sun,
descends to cast long shadows,
All around me there is autumn.
********

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(18) BAD OMEN

Light, life, dreams,
Desert scenes,
Darkening mind's patches of green.
Windy dawn,
lurking storm,
Steals away my peace and calm.
Troy's Helen,
Stood depressed,
Wasn't that a bad omen?
*****

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(19) BE MY REALITY

O that you could be not just a dream!
Not just a vision!
Of what may be my imagination…
Do not encircle me with lights and rays,
Appear before me in real.
And whatever one says,
Give reason to my action...
O my beloved of the other world!
Come here and be mine, or,
Make me yours in your world.
******

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(20) BEAR WITH ME

You want me to respond to your kisses,
And smother you in my arms,
I want to be the way you want me,
But I am on guard for the storms.
The storms that threaten to destroy us,
They lurk unseen I know,
So please bear with me my dearest,
I will not spoil your show.
****

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(21) BLEEDING HEART

Wild winds blow,
Ocean swells,
My heart bleeds.

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(22) CANNOT FORGET

When you do not leave me alone even for a second,
How then does the world ask if I remember you;
Awake or asleep, thinking or in a stupor,
Your thought does not allow me to bid you adieu.

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(23) CARRYING ON

Fading night
Takes with it all hope
Of meeting those whom I miss.
Dry brown leaves
Come falling slowly
I hate to trample any.
In schooldays
There was Daphne John
Who still tugs at my heartbeats.
Some people
Are irreplaceable
Like Daphne and my father.
I don't know
How to forget them
Or how to carry on more.
Let dull time
Waltz to its own tune
I don't care how it goes by.
Busy friends
Have little to spare
All - struggling for survival.
Graveyard shift
Is my share of work
And I too have to toil hard.
So it is
Be quiet O heart
Don't seek what cannot be found.
***********************

*******

(24) COLERIDGE AND ME

"Flowers are lovely, love is flower-like,
And friendship is a sheltering tree;
Where no hope is, life is but thought,
That only serves to make us grieve
When we are old..."
- S.T. Coleridge

O wise Coleridge, may I, with due reverence,
Urge you to come from your state of disappearance.
If not, pray listen, up there in the heavens:
I came not into this world of my own desire,
To go away from here I cannot conspire.
Flowers are lovely, I completely agree,
Love is not flower-like, at times it's ugly.
Friendship is a shelter only when it's spring,
In seasons of deception, no hope does it bring.
Where there's no hope, there's no life at all,
When the soul's free, what's left, to grieve?
**************

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(25) CONFLICT

The sky is overcast,
Smog and smoke in air,
The phone keeps ringing,
You never bothered,
To patch up or talk,
The call for prayer blares,
Where are you?
Where must I go?
****

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(26) COPING, COPING, COPING!

It is yet another half-hearted moonlit night,
Another bout of agonising thoughts of yore,
Who would have wanted all this to happen,
Ah, who will understand why I am awake all night?
The breeze is gentle and laden with the fragrance,
Of Jasmine, just like it used to be once,
But now I don't see the sweet smelling flowers,
Nor do I see her, who was my being's essence.
So what else should I be found doing,
Apart from puffing cigars and inhaling,
A dreaded poison wondering why I am immune,
Why doesn't the stuff set fire to my being?
Let the talk about prayers remain with the faithful,
Let me not be wracked with the discourse on beliefs,
Let me be in the state of the forgetful,
And let the night be kind not cruel or vengeful.
Soon, just like the ones I loved and have lost,
I too will join the list of the doleful,
A spot and a stone will indicate where I may be,
Some tears will be shed without a why or a what.
And high up on the hill where I once used to go,
A friend will gather the others and show,
How I used to laugh and sing in the hope,
That the one I loved would be waiting below.
And he would also tell all about how I spent nights,
Talking about her who ruled my heart,
For hours and hours till the sun rose and shone,
How my beloved eclipsed my thoughts on the heights.
How I never came close to the cigar or the pipe,
How I shunned liquor and all avarice,
How her happiness only meant to me most,
He will explain why I smoke and laugh at the wise.
He will also tell why I liked Marilyn Monroe,
And why I adored Madhubala so much,
Why I started believing that fate can't be changed,
Why I live for today and not for tomorrow.
After having listened to whatever he will say,
Some people may reflect and pause on the way,
Some may even think I was but a fool,
But I don't care because this is my way.

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(27) CUCKOO AND THE PILGRIM: A RENGA ON LOVE

Deborah Russell the Cuckoo (C) - begins stanzas,
Emmenay the Pilgrim (P) - responds.

Cuckoo
Along garden path
Many blossoms fade and bloom
Pressed in mind’s pages

Pilgrim
Sudden gust shakes flowers
A quirk of fate
Where do we go now?

C
Visions of beauty
Hibiscus and star lilies
The Eden of friends
P
Thorns blind eyes
World turns dark
Only your voice I hear

C
Leaves cast shadow
Light dims the long garden path
Soft wind soothes my ears

P
Petals caress
Soft hush of love
What do I have to fear?

C
Temptation of man
Tree of life, forbidden fruits
Is wisdom knowledge?

P
Purity shines
Serpent may hiss
Aren't you my saviour?

C
Grapes await sun
And the vineyard harvest
Who will sip the wine?

P
Gentle season holds
Tender touch
Wine and beloved divine

C
Weeds strangle garden
The flowers wither and die
Is this divine?

P
The cuckoo sings
Life's rebirth
Love's miraculous sign

C
Smooth mossy stones
Perfume of dewy flowers
Is the path hidden?

P
Silky steps dance
Stream chortles
For me your incense shines

C
Trees shadow the path
Nightfall is long deep and dark
Still distant star glows

P
Darkness blooms
New stars are born
Let us be sublime

C
Even in darkest night
Tiny white blossoms are seen
How is this sublime?

P
Long, black tresses
Symphony ecstatic
Isn't this the end of time?

C
There’s no end in sight
And time has no beginning,
...To time eternal

P
Moon rises late
Moments don't stay
Blend your song with mine

C
Living water sings
Warm winds and birds harmonise
The psalms beloved.

(Deborah Russell is a well known American poetess).

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(28) DECEIT: RENGA WITH DEBORAH RUSSELL

Deborah Russell (D) begins and Emmenay (E) responds

D
Nothing can hide
Beneath deceit
Not even a mouse

E
Smiles are a mirage
Water shines in plenty
Heart a parched desert

D
Many tears flow
From dry alibis
Deception’s well-spring

E
Dry twigs snap
Sandstorms are sudden
Rain clouds melt away

D
All men are guilty
Under each new sun
Each face is a shade

E
Deceived soul seeks
Tree-shade invisible
Companion cuts limbs

D
Branches are scattered
New buds upshoot
Spring waits for blossoms

E
Sun climbs up
Feet soles burn
Lovingly she stabbed me


D
Broken wings
Cannot fly or soar
Neither can the sun

E
Heat scorches deep
Unable to find trust
What caused treachery?

D
Desert is parched
Yet it does not thirst
Without truth - lies

E
Sand dunes mock
Dried bones want comfort
Truth holds no meaning

D
Bedouin's journey
Reveals long shadows
In tiny tent of trust

E
Bedouin looks
Camel has been stolen
Darkness creeps stealthily

D
A feather of light
Reveals white dunes
Truth knows the way

E
The light ray dies
How to reach white dunes?
Serpent lurks with sharp fangs

D
Light is eternal
Serpent recoils
Dunes vision clear


E
Serpent changes not
Nor does nature
Traveller prays to God

D
Is God not the Light?
The creator of nature
Then yes, traveller prays…
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(29) DÉJÀ