‘’Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.’’
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.’’
That was my first taste of Robert Frost. In 5th grade, I took part in the recitation contest and this is what our not-at-all-serious-girls-team chose to recite… I was too young to appreciate about the poetic freedom or iambus, but I thoroughly enjoyed reciting it. Must mention, this has got to be among the best-known-most often-misunderstood poems on the planet. Several generations of unmindful readers have turned it into a piece of Hallmark happy-graduation-son, seize-the-future hype. Anyways, that was my first titbit in poetry; needless to say, I fell in love with poetry! Keats, Blake (tiger tiger burning bright), Wordsworth (who can forget Daffodils), Angelou (Phenomenal Woman), E. E. Cummings (my favorite- I carry your heart with me)…I read them all. Only thing I self-disgust though-could not fix in the mind every line I ever read.
It’s stunning how some people (poets) can see ordinary things & make it poetry! Believe it or not, I’ve too have tried my hand at it –the less said about it the better folks! Flop is an understatement! Disaster is more the word.See, you have to be Frost to write about a road-honestly when I see a road, I just see -an identifiable route between two places which may or may not be available for use by the public! I know, I know, I’m horrifying! It’s hopeless, I tell you. Poets are born, not made-at least that’s what I tell myself to feel better about my non-success. True, if you’re not born a poet, 10,000 creative writing courses won’t turn you into one.
I also tried doing limericks. Here goes my first one ever, I wrote it when I was in my 12th grade-(no comments on this please-I know what you’re going to say, so save it!)
I once knew a person named Bob
Whose looks would make you lob
He was a man from Tibet
Who couldn’t find a cigarette
Guess what? He was a vet.
There. Laugh. It’s ok, I completely understand. But one thing. At least I had the guts to put it on my blog. So, I’m not that vile after all.
Enough. I’ll end this with my favorite lines(don’t worry, not mine.)-
Let me exist within my own,
I have appeased myself with my reality.
That which has stayed unfinished,
Let it stay that way,
Surpluses mar sanity…
(Amaake amaar moto thaakte daao,
Aami nijeke nijer moto guchhiye niyechhi…
Jeta chhilona, chhilona, sheta na pawaii thaak,
Shob pele noshto jibon…)
P.S: Yes,going on with my tendency of translating songs that manage to become my fixation, I have translated the song ‘Amaake amaar moto thaakte daao’ from the soundtrack of the Bangla-film ‘Autograph’, into English. I have adjusted a few words here and there for the sake of poesy.
