THE BARD

THE BARD

 

    There existed a bard

And when he sang, people

Stopped all they had and

Did and listened

For he could

Captivate like no other.

Th stories he told rang

In people’s heads, resounded

In their hearts

And reflected

In their deeds, and so

Great was his prowess

At telling stories, he wove

In character and fantasy and

life and what not that new worlds

would take root, and

capture people and swallow them whole.

So magical were his worlds, and

Since there were so many

He had many names and

Many faces

And many tongues and

Many more lives and all

Of them captivated

Someone or the other

And he never failed to have

An audience ever

Even in silence.

But so many were his stories,

So many were

The lives he wove into them

That no matter how

much one studied

No one knew them all

And yet they felt they did

For so tight were his stories

That no one escaped their snare

You either knew them, or didn’t

You either liked them, or didn’t

You either believed them or didn’t

You either bothered or didn’t

No one escaped his snare.

Now I am not like the bard.

For I can neither create nor captivate

And I certainly

Do not have an audience.

I write this

With the buried yearning

Of a writer Who hopes

To once be read

And understood, just once,

I don’t rhyme my words

I don’t have wit

Nor do I have depth

I have neither drama

Nor realism, nor romance

Not flighty light heartedness

No hidden meaning

Nor implied, heavy symbolism

I don’t use a meter

No established formula

That guarantees your book’s sale

I don’t even have a good story, for god’s sake

Yet I just write.

But I’m typing, right?

And as I type,

I’m also thinking

Of all those people,

Whose writings have

Become landmarks,

That no one could reach.

Why so? I wonder.

Most of them are mystifying

Perhaps that’s the

Source of their charm.

And so they captivate

And eventually are

All bits and pieces

Of the bard’s own stories

Floating around

Maybe a story less

Person like me

Is a drifting piece too…

Who knows?

I could ramble on for ever

As only a drifter can

But I think I will stop now.