TELL ME NOT
[PART
TWO]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much passionate
thou art a prattler,
Come on and
display to convince
How much patient
thou art a listener. [11]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How
much dexterous thou art a pleader,
Come on and
display to convince
How much thou
dost lend as an Integrity Leader. [12]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much far-sighted
and cautious thou art a parent,
Come on and
display to convince
What a descendant
thou wert decent and obedient. [13]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How
much art thou loyal, humble and honest,
Come on and
display to convince
How well and how
often thou dost stand an ordealed test. [14]
Tell me
not, O my dear friend
How many lives
thou hast dastardly taken,
Come on
and display to convince
How benignly
hast thou saved so many forsaken. [15]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much blood
thou hast carnivorously leeched,
Come on and
display to convince
How much
thine squeezed for the wounded and stitched. [16]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How often thou dost
claim and enjoy thy own birth rights,
Come on and
display to convince
How often,
to preserve others’ thou dost confront fights. [17]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How many
precepts thou dost vigorously preach,
Come on and
display to convince
How much dost
thou learn that thou dost avidly teach. [18]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much eager thou
art to reform and transform the society,
Come on and
display to convince
How much keenly,
to rectify thyself, thou dost derive delight. [19]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How
much opulent a fellow art thou,
Come on and
display to convince
How much thou
art as useful as the dung of a cow. [20]
*prattle –
chatter
* dexterous – skillful
* opulent – wealthy
*wert - were
* ordealed test
– acid test
* dastardly – brutally/cowardly
* benignly – kindly
* carnivorously
leeched – sucked blood like a carnivore
* descendant – offspring/children
N.B
: The above poem, consisting of 30 stanzas, my longest poem so far, was written
about 10 years ago. Some where, a student approached me with an English
essay that was to be submitted for a competition, and requested me
to kindly peruse and give my opinion. To his eager query about the type of
writing, I said, “It’s Ok.” Then he felt hurt and said, “Sir, a Miss has
already checked this essay and appreciated a lot. I have so many books at home
etc.” Then, I replied to him, “Don’t tell me how many books you have at home,
or how has your Miss evaluated the essay. I told you what I felt and this is
not fit for any competition.” Then, the above poem was born. So, I concluded
the poem thanking the student for inspiring me to write such a long poem. The
last stanza is:
“Thanks a lot to thee, O my dear, inspiring friend
For exposing before me thy intolerably braggy trend,
To evoke me and ignite to ponder, portray and send
To thy akin to be wary, aware of and themselves mend.” [30]
*braggy - here, boastful
[The rest 10 stanzas [3rd part] will be posted
next. Thank you in advance for reading patiently.]
©Shankar D Mishra 31.07.2017
E-mail:
shankardmishrapoet@mail.com
Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com
[There are more than120 poems
available on my blog]
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