Poetry, an effervescent wave, like a burst of rain on a sunny day.

No clash of clouds, no claps of thunder, no play of the blinding pink streaks of light. Yet manifesting a marvellous, bewitching rainbow.

Breezing in like a stranger, unheralded

Dissipating in equal haste

Gone before you catch a (handful) mindful.

Million raindrops flow not to etch streams,

But soak up mother earth, they do.

Spraying forth whiffs of that earthy fragrance of the Terra. (The poet’s mind enriched and ecstatic)

Dripping wet, barks of trees and their leaves

Glistening and swaying shorn of dust and debris;

Flapping wings, shaking rain-drops off their plumes, the birds

Basking in the liquid sunshine from heaven, the animals;

Young and old splashing around………

Sublime poetry is all this, to a poet’s mind. To the rest, well……it is just Rain !

An attempt at transcreating another of my father, N H Katgeri‘s poems from his collection ‘Pratijnegalu‘. From Kannada to English.

Kannada is a regional language of South India, from the beautiful state of Karnataka. The poet hails from Dharwad, a city of seven hills in the state. The pen is a social activist’s strongest tool alright, but only a few have used poetry to sow the seeds of change in the readers’ minds. This one above is one of his lighter poems though, penned probably in an evening of reminiscences.

The Poet Muses About The Rainbow Moment

The poet here likens those moments when inspiration imbues his mind, to sudden intense rain on a sunny day, painting a magical rainbow. Words and thoughts take flight on a journey of imagination, with no preparation and no cue of whats to come. The mind just travels. And if poets are to be quoted, the inspiration is not their guest too long.

Just like the unexpected short burst of rain makes no big puddles, but soaks up the earth leaving behind the earthy fragrance that we all savour, the hundreds of thoughts, words and visuals that cross the poet’s mind and eye, leave behind the joy of having created a work of art, like the rainbow.

The philosophical take of the poet is that while every experience is most often physical to the common man, to the poet it transcends into metaphysics and aesthetics.

My dear fellow bloggers, I would love to hear from you all, your thoughts on my transcreated work. Have written a blog post in the Contemplations category after ages; most have been on products and fitness. I am hoping I will do more in this area more often.