Monday 31 July 2017

TELL ME NOT [PART TWO]

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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