Poetry: Laksmisree Banerjee (Tagore Special)

Laksmisree Banerjee

GURUDEV TAGORE ON HIS 161st BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

 

Dear Seer-Bard –

in the core of our being

you are the luminescent sun,

in our heaving heart

you the serene deep ocean,

in our joys and sorrows

you our pulsating humanity,

in the Dionysian tempest

you are our refuge,

in our tangled lost ways

you are the load star,

in the billows of darkness

you are our lighthouse ---

 

 

 

MY BELOVED MENTOR

 

When in this wasteland

the water eludes my yearning thirst

the shimmering silver and gold dust

reflects the dry mirage in my heart

the piercing mirror shards

a hollow balloon about to burst

you my divine bard of love

fill me then with the oasis of the dove

whiteness in flight far above ---

 

When caught in the Bacchic rage of typhoons

among demon hairy jungles

lashing me down

as I bleed on thorny grounds

I search for my lost path

amid the dark jigsaw tangles

of searing pain and mindless mirth

you my divine bard of love

fulfil my need with the endless

oasis of the blue azure

healing to blend with my soul

in a radiant birth beyond measure ---

 

When in oceanic tumult

my sails are shredded

a ravished sari lost in wind

myself frayed in misery

 

sucked into the brutal whirlpool

eddies of bewilderment

I swim in strife against undercurrents

a gasping fish caught in the perfidious net

you my divine bard of love

hold me in the cradle of your calm

saving me from this Armageddon

myself in the bliss of your balm

the unfurled flag in your arms------

Bio: Prof. Dr. Laksmisree Banerjee is an established Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic, Educationist, Humanist, International Scholar, Rotarian (a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow) & practicing Vocalist, with many National and International Awards, Assignments, Books & Publications to her credit. She is a Senior Fulbright Scholar, Commonwealth Scholar and a National Scholar in English from the Calcutta University, India. A University Professor of English, Poetry & Cultural Studies, an Ex-Vice Chancellor of Kolhan University, she has taught, lectured & recited in Universities and Literary Festivals across the globe. She has been widely anthologized with Eight Books of Poetry (the Ninth and Tenth forthcoming) One Hundred Twenty Research Publications and Several Academic Books. Of the many Awards she has received, a special few need to be mentioned viz. Sahitya Akademi’s “Avishkar” Honour for her multiple expertise, cited as “A Scholar-Artiste and Poet-Musician”, her UGC Postdoctoral Research Award for her path-breaking Literary Work on the Comparative Studies of World Women Poets, the Honour of The Connossiuer of Creative & Literary Arts by the Tunisian-Asian Poetic Society, the Kala-Ratnam Award and the Reuel International Lifetime Achievement Award 2021,among others. Dr. Banerjee happens to be the Indian Rashtrapati’s Nominee on Boards of Central Universities & believes in using her Pen and Voice for Social Justice, Transformation, Peace & International Understanding.

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Tagore Special :: Setu, May 2022