SANTOSH BAKAYA

 

 

The Shimmering Stars

 

I look at the expansive sky,

mystified by the magic of the stars.

I confess, I find stargazing intensely amazing.

They twinkled even during the time

of my great- great- great-great-great-grandmother.

I can imagine her chuckling over the swashbuckling,

shimmering, spectacular stars,

awestruck at their timeless mystique.

 

The wrinkled woman in the mansion still does.

So does the tiny tot in the ramshackle shack,

going into a string of joyous chortles,

talking animatedly to the stars. Star-struck!

Learning new things and yearning to trace

 the contours of those sparklers out of reach.

 

Breathtaking Grandeur

 

Nature’s bounty, the cosmic realms, and the vast spaces.

Mesmerizing.  Breathtaking in its grandeur.

What is my place in this grand cosmos?

I am just a tiny mote. A speck.

But why are my feet always off the ground?  

Why am I vain, rapacious, and megalomaniacal at times?

Why do I add my voice

to the cacophonic chorus of the world? 

Why do I turn myself into Icarus – flying high, higher,

powered by hubris?

Why can't my notes be soothing and sublime?

adding to the euphony of our transient existence?

 

The hushed snow, the crushed foe, will all go.

The gargantuan, the gangling,

the formidable and the frail

will all go.

 

We all know this, but still we flex our muscles.

Indulge in ego tussles.   

Do we think that we will never leave

the hustle and bustle of life behind?

 

 

The fragrance of the night jasmine will trail away,

but the fragrance of our good deeds?

It will never go.

People left behind will mention them

with reverential awe.

 

SANTOSH BAKAYA

 

Dr. SANTOSH BAKAYA Winner of International Reuel Award for literature -Oh Hark, 2014, The Universal Inspirational Poet Award [Pentasi B Friendship Poetry and Ghana Government, 2016,] Bharat Nirman Award for literary Excellence, 2017, Setu Award, 2018, [Pittsburgh, USA] for ‘stellar contribution to world literature.’ Keshav Malik Award, 2019, for ‘staggeringly prolific and quality conscious oeuvre’.Chankaya Award [Best Poet of the Year, 2022, Public Relations Council of India,], Eunice Dsouza Award 2023, for ‘rich and diverse contribution to poetry, literature and learning’, [WE Literary Community], poet, biographer, novelist, essayist, TEDx speaker, she has been acclaimed for, Ballad of Bapu [Vitasta, 2015]. Her poems have been translated into many languages, and her stories have been awarded. She has written thirty books across different genres Part of her column, Morning Meanderings [Learning and Creativity website], is an e-book. Her TEDxTalk on The Myth of Writers' Block is popular in creative writing classes. Trigger that creative Spark, her fortnightly column in Kashmir pen has a huge readership.