LIFE IS WHAT ONE’S CHOICE IS!

LIFE IS WHAT ONE’S CHOICE IS!

How meticulously and carefully, from water, does pick,

The ever alert, sensible and sane, Swan only the useful milk,

Leaving, at the bottom, untouched, the redundant former,

Relishing, to the hilt, to be hale and hearty, and prosper!

How unbelievably and rationally, only the iron particles, chooses,

From among the varied matters, mixed, adulterated and trifling,

The most infallible Magnet with its wit serves, teaches and amuses,

And does arrest all hearts, and rule unrivalled as the Metal King!

Let me thus be a learned Swan to see through the Right and the Wrong,

Let me, like a sweet Swan croon life’s glittering and glorifying song!

Let me, like a meaningful Magnet, cling to the vital Virtue Metal,

Let me leave the worthless and trivial clinkers to make life Celestial!

Let me, thus, realize and remember that “Lo! Life is what one’s Choice is!”

“A pertinent Choice enriches life; an impertinent one does ruin and pulverize!”

Glossary:

Meticulously – carefully

Sensible and sane - reasonable and wise

Redundant - unnecessary

Former – earlier (here, water)

Relishing - taking pleasure in

To the hilt - fully

Hale and hearty - healthy

Rationally - logically

Adulterated – mixed/ impure

Trifling – insignificant

Infallible – perfect

Unrivalled - unchallenged

Croon - sing

Glittering – sparkling

Trivial - unimportant

Clinkers – waste materials or refuses from mines

Celestial – heavenly

Pertinent - significant

Impertinent – insignificant

 Pulverize – grind/ crush

©Shankar D Mishra, 31.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 235 poems till date.

E-mails:

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TO THE MARTYRS

HAPPY KARGIL VIJAY DIVAS

TO THE MARTYRS

Indeed, you live for the utmost happiness of the common masses,

You fight for the people’s safety till you are mingled with the ashes!

You wear the dearest and most unaffordable attires of Supreme Sacrifice,

You devotedly feed on the invaluable Virtue; and excrete the vilest Vice!

Indeed, you take the whole Nation as your own loving and adoring family,

You face the dreadful, destructive and advancing enemies unhesitatingly!

You confront the formidable opponents’ fatal bullets bravely and smilingly,

Yes, you alone beat the unconquerable Death till eternity very courageously!

Indeed, the holiness of the holiest Ganga flows forever in your pious Veins,

Ah! To your rare, peerless and enthroned hearts willingly Heaven descends!

Your selfless loyalty and dedication ever invoke torrential, patriotic rains,

You alone transcend, in the long run, the insurmountable ‘Mortality Fence’!

Never can any mundane laurels equal your feats; to you, no tribute matters,

That is why, you are so fondly and thankfully called the ever living Martyrs!

N.B: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn India, there are several days declared as Martyrs' Day (at national level also known as Sarvodaya day). They are named in honour of those who are recognised as martyrs for the nation.

30 January : 30 January is the date observed at the national level. The date was chosen as it marks the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1948, by Nathuram Godse.^[1] On Martyr’s Day the president, the vice president, the prime minister, the defence minister, and the three Service Chiefs gather at the samadhi at Raj Ghat memorial and lay wreaths decorated with multi-colour flowers. The armed forces personnel blow bugles sounding the Last Post. The inter-services contingent reverse arms as a mark of respect. A two-minute silence in memory of Indian martyrs is observed throughout the country at 11 AM. Participants hold all-religion prayers and sing tributes.^[2]

23 March: The anniversary of the deaths of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru on 23 March, 1931, is declared to be Martyr's Day.^[3]

21 October: India observes 21 October, the Police Commemoration Day,^[4]

17 November: Orissa observes 17 November, the death anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai (1865–1928), the "Lion of Punjab", a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj.^[5]

19 November: The birthday of Rani Lakshmibai, 19 November,1828, queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, is observed as Martyrs' Day in the region, and honours those who gave their lives in the rebellion of 1857, of which she was a leading figure.^[6]

Glossary:

Martyrs – persons who are put to death, or who endure great sufferings on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause

Mingled with - mixed with

Dearest – most expensive

Attires – dresses

Excrete - emits

Adoring – loving

Unhesitatingly – readily/willingly

Formidable – frightening

Peerless - matchless

Torrential – pouring heavily

Transcend - rise above

In the long run – finally/at last

Insurmountable - undefeatable

Mundane laurels – worldly rewards

Feats – achievements

Tribute – a mark of respect

Fondly – lovingly

©Shankar D Mishra, 30.03.2018

O GOD! LET ALL MY EARNEST WISHES BE GRANTED.

O GOD! LET ALL MY EARNEST WISHES BE GRANTED.

Let me never see anyone in painful and insufferable tears,

Let my words of compassion spring, in everyone, springs of cheers!

Let my generous actions bear, for all, the fruits of contentment pears,

Let my honest endeavours ever rain peace, removing all uneasy fears!

Let no one ever awkwardly feel being at my miserly and meagre Mercy,

Let my life be a unique emblem of loyalty, patriotism and transparency!

Let me not be a hollow preacher, but a paragon of modesty and courtesy,

Let me ever aim at everyone’s abundant health, wealth and eternal ecstasy!

Let me never overawe anyone or ever, as a savage, callous beast, frighten,

Let me everyone’s distress lighten, and every inquisitive mind enlighten!

Let me do the least that I can so that a universal bliss may exist and reign,

Let my presence turn the common Earth forever into an uncommon Heaven!

Thus, let none be a hapless prey to hunger, disease, injustice and poverty,

Let all my earnest Wishes be kindly granted, O the ever Merciful Almighty!

 Glossary:

Earnest – sincere/ solemn

Insufferable - unbearable

Compassion - kindness

Spring - come out of

Endeavours – efforts

Awkwardly - uncomfortably

Miserly - ungenerous

Meagre – insufficient/inadequate

Emblem – symbol

Paragon – model/ shining example

Abundant - plentiful

Ecstasy – happiness

Overawe - scare

Savage - wild

Callous – heartless/ unfeeling

Lighten - lessen

Inquisitive - inquiring

Enlighten - make clear to/inform

Hapless prey - ill fated victim

©Shankar D Mishra, 26.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 234 poems till date.

E-mails:

shankarmishra314@gmail.com

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WhatsApp no. 08270604524

LET’S UNFURL OUR NATIONAL FLAG!

LET’S UNFURL OUR NATIONAL FLAG!

Let’s unfurl our National Flag with a sense of buoyancy and pride,

Let’s enrich and embellish our Mother like a newly- married Bride,

Let our Mother’s honour and dignity take a giant and inimitable stride,

Let the swift pace of our Mother’s progress smoothly and steadily glide!

Let’s all forget the rankling and immaterial differences that ever divide us,

Let’s, beneath wise covers, bury our bitter past that does ever pinch and pierce!

Let’s bid a goodbye to the factors detrimental to our National integrity and glory,

Let’s all unite for the safety, sovereignty and  longevity of our Mother’s territory!

Let’s remember the selfless and priceless sacrifices of our immortal Martyrs,

Let’s dog their praiseworthy steps so that our Mother leaps ahead and betters!

Let’s honour the Martyrs most by keeping their torch of Freedom forever burning,

Let’s salute them by abiding by their gifted largest Democracy's sound functioning!

Let’s observe our National Festivals in this feisty, enthusiastic and enviable way,

That Mother smiles to see Her kids sway themselves keeping ever the invaders at bay!

Glossary:

Unfurl - open out/hoist

Buoyancy – enthusiasm/ cheerfulness

Embellish – beautify

Rankling – irritating/annoying

Detrimental - harmful

Feisty - lively

©Shankar D Mishra, 26.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 234 poems till date.

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YES, BIRTH AND DEATH ARE INEVITABLE!

YES, BIRTH AND DEATH ARE INEVITABLE!

Alas! When a near and dear one does die,

The bereaved hearts do helplessly cry!

They uncontrollably bleed with no drip of blood till they die,

If anyone claims to be an exception, one definitely does lie.

The vacuum left by the deceased, lies vacant till eternity,

Alas! The loss remains irreparable for the ensuing posterity!

All sad and sore sobs, and painful pangs, finally, end in smoke,

No matter, whether grief does mercilessly suffocate you, or choke!

All, however stout, seem ineffective and powerless before Time,

But, is He not often accused and denounced with no culpable crime?

Thus, He inaudibly  hums, “Do you ever praise Me when you are alive?

Why do you then blindly, insensibly and, in vain, reproach Me and jibe?”

Hark! “Birth and Death are inevitable parts in the scheme of Time’s Creation,

Without the indispensable Death, how can one attain, at last, a sweet Salvation?”

Glossary:

Vacuum – emptiness/empty space

Posterity – all future generations

Denounced – condemned

Culpable – blameworthy

Reproach - blame

Jibe – taunt

©Shankar D Mishra, 25.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 233 poems till date.

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TO THE NORTH WINDS!

TO THE NORTH WINDS!

From the Northern heavens to the snow-capped brows of the mountains,

You hop as hares; leap as the lambs and bound as the falling fountains!

And, en route the pools, brooks, creeks, lakes, rivers, seas and oceans,

You, at length, reach out to the silent meadows, still moors and deserted plains!

You carry with you both the waves of sweet laughters and sour tears,

Somewhere, you cause nagging diseases, somewhere, ecstatic cures!

Some old and frail flowers and ripe fruits leave forever the stage of Nature,

Paving the way for their waiting counterparts to play with joy and rapture!

You batter the soft and sensitive skins with your acute, shivering Off-spins,

You pamper hungers with cabbages, cauli-flowers, beans and myriad greens!

Air conditioners, coolers, fans and cold drinks depart for a temporary rest,

Woollen blankets, furry jackets, pakodas and hot soups are the substitutes best!

You bring with you, to enjoy the merry, joyous tastes of varied winter festivals,

Alas! In the never changing lives of the poor, there never descend happy intervals!

The unprivileged and deprived are born to brave in rags the Sun, Rain and Cold,

Alas! No Channels play their pangs; no viewers watch their sad tales manifold!

©Shankar D Mishra, 31.03.2018

A BIRTHDAY GIFT TO SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

A BIRTHDAY GIFT TO SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

Yes, you were an extraordinary persona of a rare breed;

For whom Patriotism was above any Caste, colour, Religion or Creed,

Who did, meticulously and mercurially, his  Ajad Hind Fauj lead,

Who was a charismatic Captain whom Mother India will ever surely need!

Yes, yours was a blessed brain adorned with Maa Saraswati’s Grace,

Who, being an IAS, disdainfully turned down a job in British Bureaucracy,

For, who, from the service of the Mother Land derived more nectaric Solace,

For whom, spilling one’s blood for Mother’s Freedom was a supreme ecstasy!

Yes, yours had a desire, as Lord Buddha said, that was never a cause for sorrow,

For, your desire was never infested with any petty and ignoble personal gain,

It was not infected by any despicable, disgraceful and mundane vested interest-stain,

For, you desired to die blissfully today that She could live peacefully tomorrow!

On your auspicious birthday, the Nation bows before you with an indebted heart,

The whole of India feels proud of you, and your ever inimitable and indomitable part!

May all the countries in the world be favoured with a never setting Son like you,

Who, like the brightest noon Sun, will ever remain radiant, alive and spanking new!

N.B: Today is the 121^st birth anniversary of one of the greatest Freedom Fighters of India.

Glossary:

Persona – personality

Breed – type/ kind

Charismatically – adorably/elegantly

Mercurially – quick-wittedly/lively

Adorned - ornamented

Disdainfully – disrespectfully

Turned down – not accepted

Nectaric – like nectar

Solace - comfort

Ecstasy – extreme joy

Infested with - infected with

Despicable - contemptible

Disgraceful - dishonorable

Mundane – ordinary/worldly

Vested interest – a strong personal interest in something because you could get an advantage from it

Indebted - thankful

Inimitable - one and only

Indomitable – unconquerable

Radiant – bright

Spanking new - brand new

©Shankar D Mishra, 23.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 231 poems till date.

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TO MAA SARASWATI, THE ROOT OF ALL THE ROOTS!

TO MAA SARASWATI, THE ROOT OF ALL THE ROOTS!

 You are, irrefutably, the eternal source of Art, Music and Speech,

To be bestowed by You, with the gifts of language, all humbly beseech!

None can, without Your phenomenal and generous Grace, perfection reach,

Who can dream to preach, as Sir Oracle, until You miraculously any wit teach?

May Your Light of Knowledge dispel, from the globe, all the glooms of ignorance,

May the whole world, to the sweet tune of Your sensible Symphony, ever dance,

May Love and Peace grow in abundance with Your beautiful benevolence,

May, at Your sacred and celestial Glance, flee violence,  poverty and indolence!

May Your benediction of enlightenment illuminate the dark and dim world,

May the Panacea of Your Favour, cure all maladies; health and wealth herald,

May all learn, with Your blessings, to cultivate the crops of refined culture,

May all plant the saplings of happiness to end sorrows, and relish infinite rapture!

O Maa Saraswati! May the stems of my wishes be laden with Elysian Success-Fruits,

May they be poured upon the desired nourishment from You, the Root of all the roots!

Glossary:

Irrefutably - without a doubt

Bestowed - granted

Beseech - request

Phenomenal – unusual

Grace - mercy

Miraculously – unbelievably

Wit - intelligence

Dispel - drive away

Benevolence – generosity/ kindness

In abundance - in great quantity

Celestial – heavenly

Indolence - idleness

Benediction – blessing

Illuminate - light up

Herald – announce/open the way for

Rapture – delight

Laden with - loaded with

Elysian – heavenly

©Shankar D Mishra, 10.02.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

shankarmishra314@gmail.com

 WhatsAppno. +918270604524

MAN IS BORN TO MAKE, NOT MAR, OTHERS’ DAYS!

MAN IS BORN TO MAKE, NOT MAR, OTHERS’ DAYS!

In the sordid and suffocating Sojourn of my life’s battered bivouac,

I have ever been at the mercy of misfortune like a Japanese Quake,

Under the constant threat of an unexpectedly calamitous quiver;

Who knows when the disastrous jolt will again compel me to shiver?

Yes, I have been compelled to smile with a million fake Façades,

Though I have been shaken and slashed mercilessly for four odd decades!

I have been using the Balms of Divine Grace on my bleeding hurts hidden,

That have been torturing and tormenting under my thick, tolerant Rhino’s skin!

But, opening up the ever raw, fresh wounds for public Pity won’t serve to heal them,

That will only attract an unwelcome, unwholesome and universal Shame,

That will too contribute to making me an easily reachable and conquerable Game,

Adding again more lubricants of wretchedness, to my ever seething adversity Flame!

Still, let me never think in life to shake anyone’s happiness like a Japanese quake,

For, man is born to make, not to mar, others’ days, for his own perishable gain’s sake!

Glossary:

Sojourn - a short stay/halt

Bivouac - an open temporary shelter for soldiers

Façades - faces/appearances

Slashed - slices

Seething - boiling

Make others’ days – make others happy

• ©Shankar D Mishra, 23.04.2018

LET’S BUILD HEAVENLY HOMES!

LET’S BUILD HEAVENLY HOMES!

Say, what is the sweetest place on Earth? Undoubtedly, a Home,

Where reigns unconditional and eternal Love in its fullest form;

May it be a poor and pitiable cottage, or a dazzling, imperial Dome,

May it stand in a dry and dreary desert, or in a rich, resplendent Rome!

Trust and Home are naturally as inseparable as the skin and the flesh,

Where mutual Co-operation is certainly indispensably part and parcel!

It becomes a Heaven when Selfless Sacrifice like a high tide does swell,

Where it hardly ever takes long to shower generously Divine Grace!

Today, infinite mushrooming royal mansions are built with utmost care,

Alas! Finding a Peaceful and Heavenly Home is really too tough and rare!

Lust has expelled Love, and Avarice has overtaken Sacrifice everywhere,

Oh! The ambience of the so-called homes is like that of a unreliable Lair!

A speedy restoration of the heavenly Homes is the prime priority of the hour,

For the revival and survival of heavenly Homes, let’s recite a Universal Prayer!

Then only can be fulfilled the principal Aim of the Almighty God’s Creation,

And the so called Morden Civilizations can relish the real taste of Evolution!

Glossary:

Pitiable – pathetic/that which arouses pity

Dazzling – glittering

Imperial - grand

Dome – a semi- circular building

Resplendent – glittering

Mushrooming - rapidly increasing

Indispensably - very usefully

Ambience – surroundings

Unreliable - untrustworthy

Lair – home of wild animals

Evolution – development/ progress

©Shankar D Mishra,  09.01.2021

LET THE KITE OF MY LIFE REACH THE SUMMIT!

LET THE KITE OF MY LIFE REACH THE SUMMIT!

Let the Kite of my life unflaggingly soar ever to the Summit high,

Crossing sagaciously all the sprawling barriers, those on its path often lie,

Dodging meticulously the ever dampening and hampering obstacles,

Diffusing, with ease, the fiery, buffeting Bombs of hostilities, it tackles!

Let not the adverse impediments ever ebb and diminish my steady pace,

Let not the calamitous hurdles ever intercept like a stumbling block my Race!

Let me ever, with a fortified and fertile fortitude, all the fiercest winds face,

Lest, I should be shamefully and deplorably deprived of a sure, sweet Success!

Let me strengthen and toughen the string of Scruple never ever to be snapped,

Let me not lose concentration being, by distracting temptations, trapped,

Let the wings of my perpetual endeavour and manoeuvre ever be flapped,

Let my reaching the ultimate Altitude ever be warmly cheered and gladly clapped!

Thus, let no sense of complacency or respite ever creep into me to look down,

Lest, anyone else in my place, should be adorned with the Salvation Crown!

N.B: WISHING U ALL A VERY HAPPY LORY AND MAKAR SANKTRANTI!

Glossary:

Summit – peak

Unflaggingly – untiringly

Sagaciously - wisely

Sprawling – spreading extensively

Dodging - escaping

Meticulously – carefully

Dampening – diminishing

Hampering - obstructing

Diffusing – turning inactive

With ease - easily

Fiery - burning

Buffeting - beating

Hostilities – unfriendliness/oppositions

Tackles - deals with

Impediments - obstructions

Ebb - diminish

Diminish – reduce

Calamitous – disastrous/ dreadful

Intercept - interrupt

Fortitude – moral and physical courage

Fiercest – severest

Deplorably – unforgivably

Scruple – a moral or ethical consideration that acts as a restraining force or opposes certain actions

Snapped – cut/broken

Perpetual - continuous

Endeavour– attempt

Manoeuvre – a movement or set of movement needing skill or care

Flapped – waved/ moved up and down as wings

Complacency - over self-satisfaction

Respite – break/ relief

©Shankar D Mishra, 14.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 227 poems till date.

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IS IT REALLY TOO NEGLIGIBLE A PUZZLE?

IS IT REALLY TOO NEGLIGIBLE A PUZZLE?

 Why does a regal, cozy and Majestic Cradle eagerly await,

Before one Royal Infant, under much care and servicing, is born?

Why does come Another, impoverished, neglected and emaciated with an Ill-Fate,

In the privation Furnace, by the adversity Fuel, all through its life, to haplessly burn?

Is it an ever enigmatic coincidence,

A meticulous planning of the ever Judicious Providence,

An outcome of the very Infant’s past inexcusable Incidents,

Or, the corresponding and apposite actions of its Parents?

It is really a hard, hazy and mazy Riddle-nut to crack!

It may rekindle many an introspective mind to spark,

It may arise a silvery Moon from the ever inscrutable Dark,

It may also drive some others to chuckle, deduce and conclude:

“The poet is indubitably a weird man with a bizarre Pen, hark!”

However, is it really too negligible a Puzzle to ignore and ridicule?

Glossary:

Regal – royal

Majestic – grand

Royal – majestic/related to king

Impoverished – poor

Emaciated – thin

Privation - hardship

Haplessly – unfortunately

Enigmatic - mysterious

Coincidence – accidental concurrence/ twist of fate

Meticulous – careful/ scrupulous

Judicious - sensible

Providence – the Almighty

Corresponding – matching/ related

Apposite - appropriate

Hazy – unclear

Mazy – like a mess/puzzle

Rekindle - reawaken

Introspective – thoughtful

Inscrutable - hard to make out

Chuckle - laugh quietly

Deduce – assume

Indubitably - without a doubt

Weird – odd

Bizarre – strange

Hark - listen

Negligible - unimportant

Ridicule - laugh at

©Shankar D Mishra, 13.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 226 poems till date.

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DO TELL, MY DEAR!

DO TELL, MY DEAR!

Do tell dear, what can one do?

If one is destined to drink the blistering waves of the scorching Loo,

If one is poked and pierced to bleed by one’s own Protective Shoe,

Ah! If one’s own Pet Cat does furiously and disdainfully at one Mew!

Do tell dear, whom to appeal and whom to complain,

Against one’s gagged atrocity, and one’s unprovoked and agonizing pain!

Do tell dear, if the faithful life saving Healers turn wild, irrational Killers,

If the relied Trust-cement rusts the firm iron bars to topple the Hope-Pillars!

Do tell dear, how to put up with, and how to cope:

If one’s confidant treacherously cuts and snaps one’s Reliance-Rope,

If unexpectedly turns steep and precipitous one’s Assurance- Slope,

If one is perfidiously abandoned at one’s Life’s noon to haplessly grope!

Thus, one must helplessly murmur: “What cannot be cured must be endured,

One’s Fate, under all circumstances, must be hugged embraced ad endeared!

Loo – Wikipedia: The Loo (Hindi: लू, Urdu: لُو‎, Punjabi Gurmukhi: ਲੂ) is a strong, gusty, hot and dry summer wind from the west which blows over the western Indo-Gangetic Plain region of North India and Pakistan.^[1] It is especially strong in the months of May and June. Due to its very high temperatures (45 °C–50 °C or 115 °F–120 °F), exposure to it often leads to fatal heatstrokes.

Glossary:

Blistering – burning

Scorching – roasting

Pierced – pricked/cut

Furiously - angrily

Disdainfylly – scornfully/hatefully

Mew – a cry or sound made by a cat

Gagged - forceful

Atrocity - act of violence

Unprovoked - uncalled-for/without reason

Agonizing - unbearable

Healers – those who treat and cure

Irrational – unreasonable

Topple – collapse/ bring down

Put up with - bear

Cope – manage

Confidant - best friend

Treacherously – unfaithfully

Snaps – breaks

Steep – vertical/which is tough to climb

Precipitous – steep

Perfidiously – disloyally

Abandoned - left alone

Haplessly - unfortunately

Grope – search blindly or uncertainly/feel for

Murmur - speak softly

Endured – tolerated

Endeared – made dear/beloved

©Shankar D Mishra, 12.01.2018

Blog: sdmpoetry.blogspot.com

My blog contains 225 poems till date.

E-mails:

shankarmishra314@gmail.com

shankardmishrapoet@mail.com

WhatsApp no. 08270604524