Getting on the expressway
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
Driving, folks, takes a bit of knowhow and a lot of control of the right foot with automatic transmission
But with manual gear shift, you need both the control of the left foot and the right foot
But alas! I don't drive any more for I don't have a driver's license
Besides, I have lost my nerves of steel and my will of iron;
The reason as to why I began this thread of thought
Is that my email does not work well
And some person is trying to get me on the rail, a transliteration, which sounds better in Kannada-English
And I begin to day dream of a journey on the VIA train
Which will get me to high places or give me a substantial bank balance at least;
Or somebody is trying to pull the wool over my eyes
And I think that it is a warm pullover that I am donning
When I end up feeling semi-cold or semi-warm and am in the semi-dark
Longing for winter warmth, warm sunshine and a warmer heater;
But these are sunny days in Canada
Under the PMship of Justin Trudeau
And that's just the way it is, on the east coast, somethings will never change
There will be winter blues and winter fun with the sunshine watching over us;
"The country was exciting: the atmosphere clear and sharp, the colours bright and "striking"
(the quote is by A.Y.Jackson, the artist who used the adjective crude; dear reader, I substituted it with striking)
If you will....and on top of all this variety there were changes of seasons such as they hardly knew in Europe
In Autumn, it was flamed with red and gold,
In Winter, (it was)wrapped in a blanket of dazzling snow and
In Springtime it roared with running waters and surged with new life
So why stick to the barnyard, why paint cows and sheep and rural tranquility? ";
Hence, I say, PM Justin Trudeau, if I compare thee to a summer's day,
I also say, Shall I compare thy time in PM's office to an autumn scenery
Or a winter landscape or a spring painting
All of which bring out the best of Canada in a surreal way, where all these unrelated images are combined
In a real way and metaphorise into the more beautiful country that it has grown into;
I only hope that he recognises the beautiful psyche in me
For the strangest thing happened last night, I accidentally drank a little bit of hand dishwashing fluid
Having forgotten it was in a mug and drinking water from the same mug
And I thought that I must thank Thanatos, the Greek God of Death, And Canaanitas, the Roman God of Death
And Yama, the Hindu God of Death,
For this is the second brush I have had with death for I, in a home experiment,
Ended up making hydrogen cyanide, a sweet smelling gas;
Dear God, would there be a calamity if Psyche or Gayathri were to be unjustly put to eternal sleep
I wish for the world to go on as it has had all these years but the sheer fact of the matter is that
Psyche according to myth, and Wikipedia, was put to sleep 3 times and all the 3 times, she was brought back to life by God and Cupid, God of Love
And in my case, I am too amorous and voluptuous and hence, death may not strike me prematurely;
I, in the course of my research for this poem, came upon a poem in William Wordsworth's Prospectus,
Which brings about the relationship between the human mind and nature:
….my voice proclaims
How exquisitely the individual Mind
(And the progressive powers perhaps no less
Of the whole species)to the external World
Is fitted: —and how exquisitely, too—
Theme this but little heard of among Men,
The external World is fitted to the Mind;
And the creation (by no lower name
Can it be called)which they with blended might
Accomplish...(Poetical Works. Oxford Standard Authors. London: Oxford U.P.1936. p.590):
From a hasty analysis, I say that this applies to both PM Justin Trudeau and me
And that is to fit the external world to the mind and the creation that can arise in my case
Is yet to be conceived
But in the case of the Prime Minister of Canada, it is Canada as it is under Justin Trudeau,
However, I say this, as a well wisher, Mr. Trudeau, there is always exalted perfection over plain superlative performance
And I hope that you exhibit exalted perfection.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem