Series No: 1
Encounters
By Kumar Gunawardane
A sweet memory,
of a monsoon morn,
set in stone .
The rain pelts,
now in fat blobs,
then in sharp slivers.
The gawky youth
slides to the shopfront,
shaking.
She joins,
wet dress clinging
to her slender form,
spellbound,
he gapes,
she turns towards him
sheepishly, he says,
can I carry your books.
No, you are wet too.
The rain fades
she walks away
the stealthy glance, the faint smile
pierces, his heavy heart
why did the rain go away
so soon
It was a lovely surprise when I received this beautiful poem from Kumar with his apologies for being recently absent from the blog for very good reasons. Welcome back Kumar and I hope you approve the image I chose to go with your poem.
ReplyDeleteDear Mahen,
DeleteThank you for posting my poem and the evocative image. I have never had the gumption to kneel before idols .
You have sustained and enhanced the blog along with ND, Zita, Chira , Rohini Ana, Srianee and many others.
We , too must do our mite.
In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words.
Though,
We are now not that strength,
Which in old days,
Moved Earth and Heaven,
That which we are, we are .
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate,
But strong in will,
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.
I told our dear friend Rohini Ana, that this poem and others to follow are based on real life incidents.She said they should be posted as addenda to the poems.
In my early teens , I travelled in two buses to school. While running for the second , one day a deluge set in . Soaked, cold and shivering I sought shelter in a narrow shopfront. The misery was forgotten when an Aphrodite appeared. Sadly the rapture was short lived.
Kumar
Dear Kumar
ReplyDeleteWhere have you been all this time hiding your superb talents from our batch blog. I love your poem as it takes us to that wonderful romantic world we left behind. It takes me back to those days of wine and roses and of bashfulness and warmth.
Even in retirement we live complex lives. Finding time and making the effort to do a multitude of tasks is not easy. To contribute and comment on the blog is not easy for some with its many quirks.
You have always been a friend to us all. Do stay in touch in whatever way you can as we move along in this journey of life.
Dear ND, Thank you for kind words. You have always been generous with praise and encouragement. To my everlasting regret I have not been able to respond promptly to your splendid posts.
DeleteYour agony and ecstasy of the drink of the Gods was outstanding.
It was a deja vu for me. I will write my own recollections which you will empathise with. That is a promise I will keep, before I go to sleep !!!
I regretted too that I couldn’t respond to your tribute to Zita , and also to her poems.
China’s paintings too were out of this world.
Thank you too for enhancing and sustaining the blog , which rejuvenated our year of 1962.
The hour is late Down Under.
But we will meet again.
Kumar
Hi Kumar, this is beautiful and so romantic!! We've all had such fleeting encounters from time to time. It is OK to savor them and reminisce. Nihal, why do you say "it takes us back to that wonderful romantic world we left behind?" It is still alive, even if it is only in our imagination!
ReplyDeleteKumar, thank you for sparking a little activity on the blog. Lovely to hear from you.
Romance is not dead!
Dear Srianee,
DeleteThank you for your kind words , which are much cherished. I was always a bit of a romantic and a day dreamer, and not an Action Man!!!. The world needs all types.You have a keen appreciation of literature and and your opinion is much valued.
I hope my poems to follow will meet with your approval.
Kumar
Dear Kumar,
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely that you have returned to rescue the blog with your enchanting poems in spite of your difficulties. Knowing they are true life experiences you have openly shared makes them all the more fascinating. You are a true romantic as it has been evident even in your prose from the past.
I know you have many more memories tucked away !
Hope you will share them too with us in your beautiful style.
Thank you and best wishes
Rohini
Thank you Rohini. I treasure your advice and opinion on all matters , not only literary.
DeleteThese are probably , poems of love ; perhaps unfulfilled love.
As Omar Khayam says
How sad is a heart that does not know how to love,
That does not know what it is to be drunk with love,
If you are not in love ,how can you enjoy,
The blinding light of the sun,
The soft light of the moon.
I will forward more poems to Mahen.
Lots of love from Kanthi and me
Kumar
There you are Kumar, clear evidence of how many of us enjoy your poetic and literary talents. I look forward to receieving more poems.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mahen.
DeleteWill forward more poems to you and look forward to your choice of images.
Kumar
Srianee
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to hear from you after a long pause. Love and romance are ever present in our lives. In our teenage years and later in the faculty there was a certain enchantment and magic in romance which seemed to evaporate with the passage of years. Be it an illusion, infatuation or something real it did cast a spell.
Just a comment in passing as a personal feeling and observation. On looking back the lyrics of that famous Beatle's song of our time "all you need is love" says it all.