(In memory of poet and teacher, Professor Kashinath Roy. Recalling how Dante Alighieri in his ‘Divine Comedy’ describes Aristotle as ‘The Master of Those Who Know’, and alluding also to Roy’s Bangla verse play which is also titled ‘Divine Comedy’)
“We can only clear away the dust,” he softly said,
“Masters only teach what’s already in your heart:
Bonfires, my friend, can be both a grim watershed
And signal someone waiting at Egdon’s outskirt.
Iago only brings out the darkness which exists
In some form, in all of us, so easy to be found;
Hapless Lear should have realized fate’s twists,
In turning what goes around to come around.
“Walk with them who make you a shining whole,
If you can, bring Eurydice out of her mists –
Stand tall, don’t wait ever for the drums to roll:
Never forget Opu’s dream in this thankless trek.
No matter how far the falcon flies from the falconer
It will still hear him, the bonds Chronos cannot break.”
5 February, 2021
