aashitaK, abiM, Alan.fly, anthonyF,
boscoR, carlSa, chandniC,
deepaSom, dorothyT,
emicaN, fayannD,
gargiM, gordonD,
kanicaS, karenMont, keomiDS, kesavanN, kimberlyR, kshitiSV,
leahU, maherraK, manasiB, maneeshaP, manishP, mayuriU,
namitaF, nandaS, natashaSuv, niyantaP, niyatiJ, , noorV,
parthviM, putliP,
reemaPra, rennyG, ,rheaC, roshna,
sharonDan, sharonSing, siddhiA,
tasneemF, utshaM,
yaminiJ, yvetteG, zenV, zomieI,
My dear
Nothing special so I thought I would ramble a bit…
I so clearly remember the day and place I wrote my first poem. It was in the year 1952
I was in the third standard in St. Aloysius’ school in Vishakapatnam (Vizag). It was a class in English. After reading some poems from a book, the teacher then turned to the class and asked us to write out a poem ourselves.
Pen and paper in hand I screwed my eyes in deep thought and started writing out something I thought would be exquisite. I wanted to be the first to do it.
I was beaten to it by the boy sitting next to me on my left. His name was Joseph Gaiten. He handed the paper to the teacher and in shy embarrassment dropped his head on the desk, covered it with his hands and listened while the teacher read out the poem to the class. I remember the poem so clearly.
I saw a little boy running
But I was very cunning
He caught me by my shirt
But he was badly hurt.
There was a happy smile on the teacher’s face as she handed the poem back to the boy.
I managed to write my own poem soon after and handed it to the teacher. I repeated what I had seen Joseph Gaiten do and I too dropped my head on the desk and covered my face with shy embarrassment. The teacher smiled and I listened proudly as the she read out my poem to the class.
That was about 63 years ago. All through these years I have tried and tried but I have not been able to recollect the words of that first poem. I do remember that it was much like the poem of Joseph Gaiten but I cannot for the life of me remember the words. All I remember is the front desk I was sitting on, the teacher’s face, Joseph Gaiten’s face and the words of the lovely little poem Joseph Gaiten wrote.
I have come quite a long way since then and I am quite happy about what I write now. And I remember it too!
I do not know whether you like long poems or short poems …but I am talking a chance on that…
I shall write a short poem in this mail to you.
There was this boy
His mother’s joy
One day he lied
His mother cried.
There is a moral to the poem but you will have to figure it out for yourself.
Hope all is otherwise well and wonderful for all of you too.
Here’s another short poem I wrote a long time ago for a special friend of mine…
the restaurant
a table for two
and on the menu
nothing else
just me and you.
Take care. Stay well. Enjoy short poems. Write poems… short or long!
love you,
Terry