On World Poetry Day

Whether it is a romantic ballad by Keats written

Or the rousing speech in “Julius Caesar” given

By Mark Antony, penned by Shakespeare the great playwright

Or Ogden Nash’s poems, humorous and light

Whether it is Amanda Gorman’s call to the nation

Or Maya Angelou’s fearless proclamation

To rise despite all odds- I am enthralled

By the work of all poets, I tend to fall

For metaphors, meters, rhymes and alliteration

Poetry is of language itself a celebration..

*

If I look at ancient literature from my land

It was written in short verses, easy to remember and understand

When stories were passed down in oral tradition

Poetry was the preferred method of rendition

Sometimes in song and sometimes in recitation

Partially remembered, partially embellished in each iteration…

When I am perturbed, solace and peace of mind

By chanting verses from Hindu scriptures I find..

*

Poetry as a form of expression attracts me such

That writing in prose does not appeal to me much

I absorb the world and in verse distill

Thus the gap between the world and my senses I fill