She showed us mountains
Purple and clouds cirrus
That crowned their peaks.
Through her we learned to breathe
And serenading Life
We began interpreting
The language of birds
And realized that Donkeys
As also Pigs are creatures of God
Children would rush out
Of homes, abandoning
Toys, trinkets and televisions
When she began playing
In the park
And lilacs would shedding
Perfume and inhibition, sway
Though breeze there was none
Lain on wrought-iron benches
Couples had their Fingers entwined;
Their hearts beating as one
Priests forsook Sunday Sermons
Instead leading congregations
To an invocation nearer God
So divine her rendition
That Divinity would rest
From work to appreciate
No doubt thundershowers
Would have drenched deserts
Had she on their sands
Even practiced; just as
Angry seas would have
Retracted themselves forever
Had they heard her notes
Her preludes would lead us
Through meadows and springs;
Through pastures where sheep
Would pause from grazing
Then nod, their bells
Applauding; and then taste
Grass sweeter than before
I swear I once saw
A raging fire freeze
Unmoved
When she began her movement
She played for fifty-two minutes
Till the screaming fire-engines
Drowned her ….
We had doctors sucking thumbs
Chemists drowning shutters
Nurses nursing boredom
Her melody banished illness
We joyfully treated her bow
The rosin more sacred to us
Than a rosary to a devotee
Her music transformed
The muted, mundane lives
Of us bumpkins
Into a seductive symphony
The strains from her violin
Serving to obliterate
Furrows from tender brows
The town total did thrill
To her transporting trill
Till Thursday last
When the lord did
Suddenly her recall
To selfishly hear her melodies
Or perhaps to grant her sight
Which he had
Denied to her from start
Lord, please return her to us
That we dead may awaken
Poet’s Bio;
Satish Pendharkar lives in Mumbai. His Poems and Short Stories have appeared in Savvy, Agave Magazine, Dotdotdash, New Asian Writing etc.
Illustration by Alan Van Every (Featured image on the front page)