TELL ME
NOT
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much diet
thou dost devour,
Come on and
display to convince
How much canst
thou exert labour. [1]
Tell me not, O my
dear friend
How much moor
thou dost cultivate,
Come on and
display to convince
How much thy
yield changes thy fate. [2]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How many books
thou dost peruse up to date,
Come on and
display to convince
How much they
infuse in you to recuperate. [3]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much
cosmetics, what costumes thou dost wear,
Come on and
display to convince
How many adore
thee and chant thy Inner Beauty’s prayer. [4]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much time
thou dost devote to strife,
Come on
and display to convince
How much successful
is thy kaleidoscopic life. [5]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much shrewd
and sagacious thou art,
Come on and
display to convince
How much
pivotal a play thou dost part. [6]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much art
thou sensibly compassionate,
Come on and
display to convince
How many
needy’s pang thou dost dissipate. [7]
Tell me not, O my dear friend
How much
skilled and adept a doctor art thou,
Come on and
display to convince
How much
illness at thy feet at length bow. [8[
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much enlightened
thou art a teacher,
Come on and
display to convince
How much
ignorance thou dictate to scamper. [9]
Tell me not, O
my dear friend
How much
brilliant and scholar thou at a student,
Come on and
display to convince
How
much thy scholastic fruit is edible and prudent. [10]
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]
[The rest 20
stanzas will be posted in another two phases. Thank you in advance for reading
patiently.]
*braggy - here, boastful
©Shankar D Mishra 30.07.2017
E-mail: shankardmishrapoet@mail.com
Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com
[There are more than120 poems
available on my blog]
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