Bewitching Beauty,
Whence hast come this unique skill--
Shooting darts at will--
Thy skill O to hit man’s heart
By sheer merit, not with dart!
___________________________
Translation (Tanka) | 28.08.2025 | beauty, heart, arrow
Note: Here is a verse (in Anushtubh meter) from Bhartrihari’s Shringaara Shatakam (hundred verses on love and romance). Here the poet wonders from where has she learnt the skill to hit man’s heart, without ever releasing any arrow. Here is the transliteration:
Mugdhe dhanushkata keyam
Apurva tvayi drshyate |
Yaya vidhyasi chetamsi
Gunaih eva na sayakaih || 3 ||
Dr. Yaya has the whole town in his pocket
Apart from being a strong member of the ruling cabinet
He's a super merchant in oil and fine gold
Sadly he's never being the people's stronghold
In his sixty years of being in politics
He's being a negative influence and a merchant of tricks
He's the force the government uses to direct a blow
Because he's always being the people's foe
This principality has his mansion built on a hilltop
Where the youths in the hill town can't have a problem and stop
The day he became ailing because he fell in his bathroom
Marked the beginning of his doom
Because his condition became his enemies tool
They took his stool and cornered him like a village fool
Who in want of wisdom threw his shoes in a well
His barefootedness will surely make people marvel
Charity they say begins at home
When you go to farm remember that you'll return home
The merchant of crude behaviours
Died without any honors
Even the members of his family
Didn't bury him delightfully
And after burying their unguided relative
No one could resist the people as they dance on his grave.
She thinks she completely invisible..
Truth be told, I've always known.
Always lurking in the background..
Live your own life and leave me alone..
Kindly mind your own business..
Every dog shall have its day.
Rivals we will always be..
Tanya do you want to play?
And as you slandered me last year..
Now the table has greatly turned.
You will never know me through my poetry..
And its obvious you have never learned.
May I choose your lips so my kiss can be subject to you, may I feel your touch so we can strum through our problems like tuned instruments and ballet dance through the broken rules. May I hear your voice to melody my soul feeling the awe of silence your passion and presence brings when you walk into a room, oh how I'd love to see you soon.
La La La,
Ya Ya Ya,
Ga Ga Ga.
Awesome like totally Awesome.
Cool Like I was and she was like Waaah
And I was like "YaYa" and she was like "Ye Ye".
Welcome everyone to my little soiree.
I have fish from France and caviar from the sea.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Mrs Goldfish you have a baby tadpole.
Now Son I want you to make me proud.
Never spit first. Wait until they spit at you then
return fire. Make me proud.
Actually my son painted it. He clearly shows
a tendency for Monetesque brush strokes.
Although if you look carefully you can just
detect the Da Da influence.
Mother I hate you. I always have.
I'm going to drown myself in a bath full of honey.
I will just slowly sink away thinking of bees.
I tried so hard with that boy. I gave him everything
But I guess the Artist doesn't fit in a Scientific world.
And the Scientist doesn't fit in an Artist world.
Mrs Goldfish you have 17 different cancers. Some
are lymphomas others are organ cancers. Lung and
pancreatic cancer.
Perhaps you should sit down dear.
I don't feel well. Goodnight all.
Plaiting, twisting, weaving
It always seemed as though I was
being thatched
Her skill was to fix what was matching
But did she ever bother, to know what
inside my head hatched?
Waxing, locking, braiding
She had to follow what I desired
I wondered if God approved all that
transpired
Nor did I have to go through it all
As I changed my look from time to
time, like a rolling ball.
Pony Yaya, Pony Tail, Haiyaki
Were all these for pleasing my
Waiyaki?
But he never wore more than his clean
shave!
And I never wished he had a Mohawk
wave
Neither the locks that were dreaded
That had made Moha's reputation in
the village shredded!
Treating, combing, straightening
I felt her soft fingers glide through
my scalp
Then I realized it was her source of
livelihood
To prove her motherhood.
For her three lovely lasses
It did not matter whose scalp she
encountered.
Because she adored and did this, even
for their eyeglasses
Their joy and success was all she lived
for
For, he, who she had given herself to
Had left, for her,
A 'trendy' woman next door.
A smile that lights the world
With joyful eyes
Tiny fingers pulling on my hand
And a happy "Lets go!"
Shes adorable
Shes my whole world
Until I have my own
She lets me do her hair
And wants her nails painted like my own
She opens up her heart
And fills mine with her love
My Boo, my Boo
Aunt Yaya loves you
Warm
My heart swells with joy
She erases everything bad from my mind
With just one word
Just one hug
Just one smile
I love her like I would love my own daughter
She has so much fun
Driving Aunt Yaya crazy
But I wouldnt change a thing
My Booboo
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