Birds fruitless trees forsake,
Swans and cranes leave dried lake,
Courtesans scarce to wealth-less cling,
Counsellors leave a corrupt king,
Honey bees flee from lifeless flower,
Beasts forsake a forest on fire,
Motive-dunk men in self are sunk,
In this world, who to whom is dear?
__________________________
Translation |17.08.2024| free verse, love, self-interest
The Sanskrit verse:
vrksham ksheena-phalam tyajanti vihagaah, shushkam sarah saarasaah
nir-dravyam purushham tyajanti ganikaah, bhrashtam nrpam mantrinah |
pushpam paryushhitam tyajanti madhupaah, dagdham vana-antam mrgaah
sarvah kaarya-vashaat-janah abhi-ramate, tat kasya Kah vallabhah ||
Categories:
courtesans, love, self, world,
Form: Free verse
He plays by ear the courtesans whispered through the hall.
The wizard was astounded, he thought he had heard it all.
That bird is actually playing Beethoven’s Fifth? Asked Wiz McGall.
Yes, and he is doing it rather well, said a weird man way too tall.
How do you know it’s not a recording? McGall whispered in the hall.
I brought him here myself, he is a maestro said the man too tall.
The bird stopped playing and tweeted a bird melody down the hall.
You are upsetting him! Two women said. You too have too much gall!
Categories:
courtesans, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Monorhyme
Courtesans and concubines
pristine ladies on neon signs
performing with pink panache
indulging in pleasures of the flesh
a rose-scented soft temptation
invoking desires and infatuation
crimson lights and skin like satin
inviting to a realm of forbidden passion
where sirens and succubae
sing songs that satisfy
docile demons and superficial saints
peculiar clients with specific tastes
no judgements in our den of delights
only leisure and unforgettable nights
Categories:
courtesans, desire,
Form: Sonnet
The lament of an evil man on the eve of death:
“It is twilight in paradise
And the end of my idle life
Of lavish pleasure is nigh.
My dreams benighted,
Crumbling before my eyes,
I sorely regret frittering away
Those calm prosperous days
Of youth, wealth and peace
On plunder and wicked deeds,
Wrathful violence and conspiracies,
On fraud, libel and charlatanry,
And slender courtesans who steal
Lascivious glances and feelings.
Now I stand before the abyss,
Old, withered and ready to slip
From my blissful mortal coil,
And into the infernal boiling oil.
Alas! I now rue my failure to do
Even a single upright deed!”
Poem released into Public Domain
First published on my blog (with image):
https://purelandsutras.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/memento-mori-twilight-in-paradise/
Categories:
courtesans, allusion, anxiety, character, introspection,
Form: Rhyme
The Land Of Royal Monarchs
from the plains we see
the land of royal monarchs
perched on a hilltop
its architecture
draws us to the heritage
of the blue blooded
secret lives of kings
unveiled flamboyancy with
queens and courtesans
heirs of dynasties
dreamed treacheries and murders
as game for the throne
princely monument
in prime was bereft of love
now gardens tourists
April 20, 2015
For Nayda Ivette Negron
Categories:
courtesans, allusion, betrayal, garden, murder,
Form: Senryu
The battlefield, never a place of beauty
Flowers grow, where blood did flow
And souls were taken, by sword and arrow
All in the name of a god, we shall meet too soon
Battle cries, as eagles sore
Hunting for dinner, their final score
Symphonies compose the battle plans,
Marching bands play their scores
Evil lurks, in palace courts
As Royals sit, courtesans in tow
Plotting riches, on bloody conquests
The serfs indentured to a fate unknown
Row on row of unmarked graves
Be they soldiers or be they slaves
All died for Noble desires
To burn in hell, among King and Queen
The forests are filled with past glories
The soil beneath, filled with blood and gore
Muskets and cannon answer to histories lore
We lie in fields bleeding, hearts torn
We died for nothing
Our children weep
Graves have no flags
We sing as ghosts
Battle no more
Categories:
courtesans, history, war, wisdom, world,
Form: Light Verse
Forgive my love for antique things.
But ancient visions light my mind.
Imagination spreads strong, spacious wings
And soars me backward where I find
Myself alive—in other lives behind.
I was a troubadour for kings,
And at their sumptuous tables, dined.
I donned their silks and wore their sapphire rings,
And with their courtesans, I wined.
Three thousand years ago, soft hands were kind.
Contrast it with corrupt “Today.”
The Present is a haggard whore,
A foetid vampire sucking dreams away.
I’ve lived a hundred, better lives before.
Their memory’s my golden door.
Categories:
courtesans, fantasy
Form: Verse
the courtesans on the corner called him baby blue,
though he cavorted around with a candid ecstasy
seldom seen under the streetlights or above the sewers of town
though he bought rounds for all the bastards at the bar at 2 a.m.
and bellowed drinking ballads to no one in particular
though he had a colossal crocodile smile
wider than the sea, the sky, or any of the tiny bits in between
the courtesans on the corner called him baby blue,
because on the navy nights when he would lay with them,
which was now and again, it was always with silent tears
and they flowed like the deepest sorrow untold.
Categories:
courtesans, peoplebaby, baby,
Form: Free verse
Li Po, the Wanderer
Was appointed Court Poet
Yet left again in haste,
Preferring the bright noise of a waterfall
To the white noise of courtesans and kings.
Categories:
courtesans, history, life, philosophy,
Form: Free verse