Month: April 2026

On First Hearing Haydn’s “Creation”

St George’s Hall

21 March 2026

Enfolded in the golden glittering glow of the concert hall,

we sat entranced by softly sweeping orchestral chords.

Then, chorale, tenor, soprano, baritone

swept us away in soaring sounds,

proclaiming Light and the birth of creation.

Scriptural song blended with Milton’s verse

as joyful, haunting harmonies rang clarion clear 

in the early spring evening.

 Choir, orchestra and soloists  created the dazzling vision.

While Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel sang,

aerial war was waging in the Middle East

cradle of creation.

Weapons, not angels, winging their way,

drones of destruction bringing devastation and death, 

mutilating creation so lovingly lauded in angelic song.

What help is there for the bereaved and bereft?

Only the wounded healers

limping among them, 

lamps lit with the flickering Light of hope

I have been experimenting with writing poetry since I joined the Creative writing class a couple of years ago. This poem is a memory of a wonderful week on the river Karma, Russia

he Poet and the Painter

Five sun warmed lazy days,

the river mirroring the blue haze above.

On deck kids play.  Mayakovsky gazes

silently

while in the lounge, bathed in blue,

the piano murmurs softly-

French sonatas 

on a Russian afternoon.

We are cruising  towards 

Kazan, Tatarstan.

On the way we pause at

Yelabuga,

small town, nestling on Kama’s bank.

Here Shishkin was born,

the wanderer who celebrated far flung forests in paint.

For Tsvetaeva the town meant

exile.

Her poems tore open her tortured heart.

Then, bereft of family and friends,

deep in despair,

she took her own life.

Ivan and Marina-

birth and death

In that little town.

We go back to the boat, the 

Mayakovsky

and make our lazy leisurely way 

to where the Kama meets the Volga,

to

Kazan, Tatarstan