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Open Poetry #9
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Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium

0 posted 2000-09-05 10:54 AM


A crestfallen downcast fiddler
in a fiddle-some riddle,
With criss-crossed fingers
and jaws open forming an O -
disturbed in pitiful plight
jarring as a miserable sight --
nightmare-like, seemingly affected
by vagrant overtures of emotion.

A pagan belonging to nowhere
listless as an autumn leaf
in an aimless withered fall
trying to cling on in vain
to the last branch of hope
in a desperate lunge
for dear life in final gasps!

Dressed like Fagin,
seeking Oliver as a crutch -
his soil-smeared palms
hanging in an outward stretch
resting hope upon each penny --
Gifted with or without pity--
as the shine from each coins
reflect sun's shimmer off him.

Was he waiting for money?
Or was he in the wait for the end?
Was it for food that he stood?
Or was it a test of humanity?
Was he as soiled as he looked?
Or was the dirt only a thin skin?
Was that disgust on people's faces?
Or was it pitiless human nature?

With such questions floating
in my haplessly twisted mind,
I walked, and kept walking away,
humming my own indifferent beat.
Then, a car crashed into a side wall
and there where stood the fiddler,
now rested shapeless broken glass -
smeared with crimson blood.

In my walking steps,
I was stopped on my tracks,
benumbed mind still popping asks--
one ask asked if he was happy
to have met his end - a swift one too!
Another ask asked if he had children,
who would bereave at the mourning hour?
Were they bothered, should they be?

Another ask asked did it matter at all?
He's left for another Kingdom,
where he needn't beg, borrow or steal
where his hands needn't pull themselves
in that perennially sorry outward stretch
in the summer heat feeling autumn chill--
he's taken a flight with wings of hope!
Did he? Did he really fly? Did he?

A new tear dropped on the
freshly metalled black road,
upon which the afternoon sun
shone its sad gloomy face.
The pale sky was soon
shrouded in bursting clouds
and it started to rain --
Everybody ran for cover.

---


[This message has been edited by Sudhir Iyer (edited 09-05-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 Sudhir Iyer - All Rights Reserved
Bill Charles
Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619
highways, & byways, for now
1 posted 2000-09-05 10:58 AM


Good morning Sudhir,
I just loved your writing, you are so very talented. You posted, as I was leaving, and I'm glad that I stayed a while to pay a visit.

Sunnyone
Member Ascendant
since 2000-07-06
Posts 5334
Staffordshire, England
2 posted 2000-09-05 11:16 AM


Hello Sudhir...
              What a story this is......I guess I was once again touched by your observance of human nature....you, like I, are a people-watcher!!  That leaves you with a never ending supply of topics. eh?  Loved this one, even in all of its sadness!!!


Today is a gift....
That is why they call it
'the Present'!



Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
3 posted 2000-09-05 12:31 PM


Bill, Thank you so much for coming by...

Sunny1, Thank you a huge bunch.... glad you liked....

regards,
sudhir

Butterflies_dont_cry
Member Elite
since 2000-03-06
Posts 3733
Michigan
4 posted 2000-09-05 12:36 PM



The pale sky was soon
shrouded in bursting clouds
and it started to rain --
Everybody ran for cover.


Ohhhhhh Sudhir...no one writes like you my
friend...I shall run for cover in poetry and
you shall be there with the umbrella of
weave~

Gemini
Senior Member
since 1999-12-15
Posts 1203
Wisconsin, USA
5 posted 2000-09-05 01:17 PM


Sudhir-I remember beggars in the streets of Ireland and Mexico when I visited a while ago and how these people struck me too, but couldn't capture the words as well as you did, very poignant writing.
Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
6 posted 2000-09-05 03:51 PM


butterflies~ you are being so kind... thanks, my friend, a huge lot....

Gemini, thank you for the "poignant" response... and for coming by to read of course...

regards to all,
sudhir

Meadowmuse
Member Elite
since 1999-12-27
Posts 3263

7 posted 2000-09-05 05:55 PM


Sudhir, the mesmerizing detail of this story poem brings the scene and the keen questioning observations of the teller to sudden life. You've done it again, my friend, in classic style. This is grand!

~ Claire

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?......Henry David Thoreau



Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
8 posted 2000-09-05 06:01 PM


Wonderfully descriptive Sudhir ... you walked me right there beside as you pondered this sorrowful man's plight. I too am reminded of many I saw in the streets of the Dominican Republic ... an undeniable impression this sight leaves on your soul ... you've expressed this well Sudhir!  

Best wishes,
/Kit

Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
9 posted 2000-09-06 05:17 AM


Claire,
I am so glad that you felt that way and these words from you make me gloat... Thanks...

Kit,
your response is so lovely... I am touched... Thank you...

My regards,
sudhir

JulieAnn
Senior Member
since 2000-06-12
Posts 754
Earth 3rd Rock from the sun!!
10 posted 2000-09-06 05:49 AM


wow....this is great....i see beggars everywhere where i live i mean they are everywhere right? anyway i could never put it into words the way you did you have described a bizarre but thought provoking "possible happening"...i liked it....

Julie :)



JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
11 posted 2000-09-06 06:17 AM


Enjoyed reading this but what really topped it off was the ending..."everybody ran for cover"...love that kind of action stuff...umbrella's opening and water dripping and people running...James
Marge Tindal
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores
12 posted 2000-09-06 07:03 AM


Sudhir~
In a shower of emotional thoughts
you have covered this reader with
an umbrella of ponder.

What a gift you hold.
I'm so very glad you share with us.
~*Marge*~


~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~
noles1@totcon.com



Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
13 posted 2000-09-06 11:57 AM


JulieAnn, Thanks for coming by to read and to take the time to respond... glad you liked it...

James, I am glad that you enjoyed... Thank you, my friend

Marge, What a lovely response... Thanks a lot, my friend...

regards,
sudhir

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