Best Nostalgiariver Poems
NEW GANGA
[Written after the sad demise of Kalpana Chawla & her 6
co-astronauts in a space crash on Feb 1,2003]
The sky is the limit...
Nay, I must travel beyond ;
My name is Kalpana ,
I'm the sprite of imagination.
With the boom of Columbia
Myself kindled to glow like a star
Unfortunately you search me
In Texas debris.
No bones, No blood, No cells
No sign of corporeal remnants
Why do you mourn and condole
When I'm away from funeral pyres??
Amidst the stars, planets and satellites
I live in the breath
Of a New Born Bear*
In the sky stretching from
Karnal*** to Florida.
Fetch if you can
I must descend like the Ganges;**
I would be your New Ganga.
*Refers to great bear constellation
**Refers to the holy river.There is a religious belief in India River Ganga was brought
from heaven by Bhagirathi . River Ganga is regarded as Goddess .
***Refers to birth place of kALPANA in India
The brown raging river flows fast
Along the southing flooded shores
Where once a younger I had passed
Those many long lost years of yore.
I am reminded of August
Of fifty-five: the great deluge
When the river was its deepest
And residents fled to refuge
From the continuous rising
Water. I remember houses
Afloat and animals clinging
To life with their frenzy faces.
I remember…just standing here
Gazing at this mighty Delaware.