Leaves of Autumn and Other Poems by Vasudha Pansare

 

“But after sixty,

She lived her dreams, Forgot her tensions,

Her life got a new dimension,

She felt young,

And ready to begin

A new adventure.”

(Always Thoughtful)

The cover image is one of autumn leaves strewn around, and the image continues in the first poem in Vasudha Pansare’s book titled ‘Leaves of Autumn and Other Poems’ (Authors Press). She begins with the words

“I imagine my poems,

Scattered like colorful, bright leaves,

Fallen everywhere,

Delighting each eye…”

From the first line onwards, Vasudha draws her reader in with such evocative lines, as she goes on to continue

“My poetry blooms like

A beautiful lotus

On the pond of my mind…”

There is no doubt that many of her poems brim over with optimism and honesty. ‘Looking Through the Window’ describes the delights to be found outside – a canopy of green leaves, birds and squirrels, happy children and a gurgling stream, ending with the memorable lines,

“However beautiful and comfortable

The house, what you really need is a window.”

Joy seems a common theme in several poems like ‘The Eternal Summer’ which reminds one of Tennyson's ‘The Brook’.

“I flow, I gurgle, I trip happily like a stream,

My waves dancing and gleaming with ecstasy…”

‘Rhapsody’ carries on this theme of joy as it waxes eloquent about children eating ice cream, teenagers falling in love, mothers with babies and artists and poets creating a rhapsody with colours and words.

Love is also a motif that runs through certain poems – ‘The Courtship Days’, the beautiful ‘Sunshine on Her Face’, (“Oh the sunshine on her face,/ Bestows a golden brightness/ Upon my imagination.”) ‘The First Touch’, ‘Intoxication of Love’ and ‘My Heart Belongs to You’, ‘Waiting For you’ – none of which are in a sequence as above, revealing the free-spirited and untrammeled mind that the poet displays.

Vasudha Pansare’s words are as effortless as a stream that runs clear. She uses words that are familiar and memorable, preferring to paint word pictures of simplicity rather than beguile the reader with elaborate artifice. She leaves much of herself in her poetry.

“I live in the moment,

Without the burden of the past.” (A New Beginning)

Another poem that evokes nostalgia and the poet’s own past goes thus.

“I remember when I was a girl,

Waking up to the soothing tunes.

Of Marathi bhajans and songs…” (Radio)

The poem goes on to describe how the lyrics of old film songs reminded her of her mother’s passing away, after which she could never “listen to those lyrics/ Without tears in my eyes.” ‘A Tribute to My Father’ reveals how much the poet was influenced by her broad-minded father.

Certain poems hint at a sense of disillusionment and anger at the prevailing state of affairs. ‘New India’ is a short lament on how students, journalists, citizens and farmers protest, but to no avail.

In the poem, ‘Justice’, Vasudha questions injustice, inequality and a decline of morals, ending her diatribe with the words “Where is Justice?” So many things in her country make her angry, she expounds in ‘Anger’ - abused women, police brutality, farmer suicides, mob lynching…

“The greed of the rich

Who don’t share their wealth…” followed by

“The corruption and callousness of

Leaders who don’t care for the common people.”    

However, hope and optimism return in ‘The Shooting Star’, as she wishes fervently for the eradication of the virus, the end of the suffering of the poor and luck and good fortune to all nations, a poem which reads like an anthem for these times. In this context, she also talks about the exemplary work done by doctors and the medical fraternity in ‘A Tribute to Doctors’

Vasudha Pansare’s poems can be read by people of all age groups because they talk of issues that affect people everywhere and exalt virtues that could bring harmony to the world and “end conflict and wars”. Two poems touch in their poignancy, speaking of the hardships that soldiers go through (‘Soldier’) and how glorious it is when he comes back, having endured untold hardships. (‘Homecoming’)

“Who can understand the worth of home and family

More than a soldier?”

One can also catch glimpses of Vasudha’s love of English Literature in poems like ‘Nature’s Symphony’, reminiscent of the Romantic poets, ‘The Golden Lady’ which was inspired by a painting of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ‘What is Death?’ which spoke of death as an immortal carriage, reminding one of Emily Dickinson, and of course ‘Awakening’ which seemed inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Seven Ages of Man’.

One of my favourite poems in this collection is ‘The Lighthouse’, maybe because it suggests that teachers and leaders should be like lighthouses, guiding children and people in times of crisis. She also adds -

“We need lighthouses of healing,

To get rid of the pandemic,

And bring back the light of happiness.”

‘The Child Within Me’, ‘Chasing the Wind’, ‘Leave Her Alone’, ‘Behind Closed Doors’, ‘The Unfinished Story’… these and many of the poems within this wonderful volume strike a chord in the heart. 125 poems that encompass a whole world within them and leave the reader with a feeling of fulfillment at the end, and apt illustrations by the extremely talented eight-year-old, Mihika Gupta, make this book a keepsake. The fluidity of the poet’s language makes this a delightful and easy read.

One poem which tickled my fancy is ‘The Making of a Poem’ which visualized the poem as childlike, impish, twinkle-toed, a mischief- maker and absolutely delightful.

And to end with a final quote from ‘The Artist Within Me’…

“Words swirl in my mind,

Images brighten and fade away,

There is a constant rhythm and music,

The cauldron of poetry

Is always bubbling

Imagination works overtime.

The artist within me is mostly

Alive and kicking.”

 

                                          Image Credits: The Wonder Women World