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World Poetry Month: Day Thirteen
Today’s poetry is ‘A River’ a poem by A.K. Ramanujan. A River is a poem about the different ways in which rivers can be viewed, from dry riverbeds to deep, flowing bodies of water.
A river in Madurai has been romanticized by poets of the past and present. According to the speaker, every year, each poet sings the same songs about the sometimes flooded, sometimes empty riverbed.
Its hidden items become visible when it is empty. The poets have always sung about this period and the other when the flood occurs. But they don’t go into detail about who is affected.
In the next stanzas, the speaker relays the words of the citizens of this area as they describe what happened this year.
Houses were washed away, as were two cows and a woman who thought she was pregnant with twins.
The speaker derides the old and new poets for not caring enough to look deeper into their environments.
The river is not so much the subject of the poem as it is the attitude of some people who favor sensationalism over humanism.
As a result of the flood, old and new poets are shown to be indifferent to human suffering, misery, and loss.
In both old and new poetry, there is a lack of human concern. In this poem, the poet mocks the poets who choose to write about petty matters.
Their concealment of human reality is condemned by the poet. Ironically, the river is described as having a devastating power.
Although this poem contains serious incidents, it contains humorous touches as well. It is amusing to observe that the watergates of the river are choked with women’s hair and the cows are named Gopi and Brinda.
Humor can also be found in a child’s or children’s kicking against the blank walls of their mother’s womb, asking to be free to live in the world:
“straw and women’s hair
clogging the watergates
at the rusty bars.”
“…… of the pregnant woman
drowned, with perhaps twins in her,
kicking at blank walls
even before birth.”
The concrete imagery makes the poem quite realistic and interesting. The imagery is suggestive and picturesque. The cameo-like picture of the dried-up river reveals a poetic eye for minute details. The dryness of the river, described in the following lines, also suggests the emotional sterility and want of human concern of poets :
“a river dries to a trickle
in the sand,
baring the sand – ribs,
straw and women’s hair
clogging the watergates
at the rusty bars. “
‘A River’ by A.K. Ramanujan ▶️
In Madurai,
city of temples and poets,
who sang of cities and temples,
every summer
a river dries to a trickle
in the sand,
baring the sand ribs,
straw and women’s hair
clogging the watergates
at the rusty bars
under the bridges with patches
of repair all over them
the wet stones glistening like sleepy
crocodiles, the dry ones
shaven water-buffaloes lounging in the sun
The poets only sang of the floods.He was there for a day
when they had the floods.
People everywhere talked
of the inches rising,
of the precise number of cobbled steps
run over by the water, rising
on the bathing places,
and the way it carried off three village houses,
one pregnant woman
and a couple of cows
named Gopi and Brinda as usual.The new poets still quoted
the old poets, but no one spoke
in verse
of the pregnant woman
drowned, with perhaps twins in her,
kicking at blank walls
even before birth.He said:
the river has water enough
to be poetic
about only once a year
and then
it carries away
in the first half-hour
three village houses,
a couple of cows
named Gopi and Brinda
and one pregnant woman
expecting identical twins
with no moles on their bodies,
with different coloured diapers
to tell them apart.
Best Poetry Of The Day
Welcome to the realm of enchanting words and heartfelt emotions – the Best Poetry of the Day!
Here, we curate the most exquisite and soul-stirring verses from renowned poets and emerging voices, carefully handpicked to ignite your imagination and awaken your senses.
Immerse yourself in the beauty of language, the power of metaphors, and the magic of poetic expression.
You May Like To Check Out
- World Poetry Month: Day One
- World Poetry Month: Day Two
- World Poetry Month: Day Three
- World Poetry Month: Day Four
- World Poetry Month: Day Five
- World Poetry Month: Day Six
- World Poetry Month: Day Seven
- World Poetry Month: Day Eight
- World Poetry Month: Day Nine
- World Poetry Month: Day Ten
- World Poetry Month: Day Eleven
- World Poetry Month: Day Twelve
#rntalks
#RNtalkspoetrychallenge
Aaj taareef bohot hui
Mehfil mein humaari..
Kyunki saari mehengi aur
Gehene beshkimti the.
Par kissi ne na puchaa
Haal humaraa…
Jab hum saade kapdon aur
Bindi mein milte the.
Aaj hath milaate hein
Gale milte hein…
Na chodte hein pehlu humara.
Par koi muskuraahat bhi na
Deta tha humein…
Jab zindagi mein nahi tha
Koi Auda humaara.
Sochte the bohot hai
Seedha aur sacha hona humara..
Par aaj jaan paaye
Ye duniya hai pyaare
Yahaan sach ko chupaado
Seedhe ko ghumaado
Tod do kayiyon ke sapne..
Rond do kamzoron ko
Kadmo mein apne..
Chamko baahar se chahe ander
Khokhlaa ho tumharaa..
Jab tak tan pe heere aur mehenge hein shaunk tumhaare..
Tab tak iss duniya mein
In Rishton mein
Bolbala hai tumhara.
#rntalks
#RNTPoetrychallenge
#RNTnapowrimo
#day13
जमाना उड़ान देखता है
जमाना उड़ान देखता है
वो हमारी ऊँची पहचान देखता है
हमारा नये फैशन के पहनावे से ही
जमाना हमारा स्तर नापता है
सादगी और सरलता को
कम ही लोग आंकते हैं
नहीं समझ पाते , इन दोनों गुणों में ही
जाने कितने ही अद्भुत रंग समाए हैं
नहीं समझते लोग
अनपढ़ , गंवार भी कहीं ज्यादा समझदार होते हैं
होगा उनके लिए काला अक्षर भैंस बराबर
लेकिन उनके पास सोच का कमाल होता है
ऊँचे ओहदे वाले ऊँची उड़ान का दावा रखते हैं
लेकिन लोग भूल जाते हैं जिगर नहीं होता उनके पास
किसी अनपढ़ – गंवार से बतिया कर तो देखो
सुख कम हैं लेकिन ऊँची उड़ान का ताकत रखते हैं
जरूरत है हमें अपने नयन चक्षु खोलने की
उड़ान की परिभाषा समझने की
ऊँची सोच ही सच्चे ज्ञान का परिचायक है
यही ऊँची उड़ान का सच्चा मापदण्ड है।।
ज़माना उड़ान देखता है
ज़माना उड़ान देखता है
उसी में अपना सम्मान खोजता हैl
धरती पर जन्म लिया,
पले, बढ़े और काम किया l
पारिवारिक बंधनों में बंधकर,
संस्कारों के साए में ढलकर,
जो भी राह पकड़ता है ,
सकून महसूस भी करता है l
ज़मीन से जुड़ा रहने की खातिर
जी जान वो एक करता है l
पर ज़माने को इससे नहीं होती संतुष्टि ,
इन सबसे नहीं मिलती तुष्टि l
शादी हो या कोई व्यवसाय,
महंगी गाड़ी, महंगे फ्लैट,
ऊँची पोस्ट, लाखों की तनख्वाह,
ऊँचा है पद, तो ऊँचा है कद
इसी चकाचौंध में हैं आज सब l
यह सब नहीं मिल जाता जब,
इसी उड़ान में उड़ गए आपने,
पीछे रह जाते अधूरे सपने l
‘क्योंकि ज़माना उड़ान देखता है ‘
इसी में ही अपना ज़हाँन देखता है l