London Bridge In A Stranger's Eye Poem by Ratnakar Rout

Ratnakar Rout

Ratnakar Rout

Village-Boita, District-Balasore, State-Orissa, Country-India

London Bridge In A Stranger's Eye



Three and half decades past
a boy in far East at the shore of Bay of Bengal
when heard the London Bridge is falling down, falling down
he plunged in to utter remorse
why such a catastrophe is befallen
on the tormentors or the entire world is
on the threshold of annihilation.
Though he had a lot of anguish
against the perpetrators
who brought misfortune to the soil
he belongs to for centuries
and caused shedding tears from the eyes
of thousands and thousands of innocent mothers.
He wandered to decipher the reasons there of.
He had a childhood promise then
to remind the children of today of that far-off land
the misdeeds some of their fellow countrymen
committed for not less than three centuries
and took advantage of the innocence
of the aborigines there and across the globe.
But what a great surprise he encountered
to his dismay today when he watched the sight
in his unbelievable eyes as a mute onlooker,
London bridge has not fallen down till date,
instead is still going solid and as appears
it will remain still unyielding and firm as it is for centuries
and centuries to come to bridge the gaps
that exist between the East and the West.
The unknown child of the East is bemused
and taken aback with the marvellous preservation
of the antiquities and the reverence for the past.
The respect for the traditions and resurgence again and again
from the jaws of the debacle surprise the lonely spectator
who with inquisitive eyes visualize each of the items
which are preserved magnificently here and there.
Past teaches and enriches the knowledge to go further
and learn to rectify. The foundation for the citadel of
knowledge that was laid many centuries ago
has played an incredible role to bridge the relation
firmly time and again. Dynasties after dynasties
will come and go but the temple of knowledge
built beyond the dynasties in the divine soil will go on
bridging the gap among the nations and between
the East and the West in particular that the beholder envisages.

(This poem has been written in the hostel room(west) no.16 of Somerville College, Oxford University on 05.01.2014 night while undergoing training from 4th to10th January,2014)

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
During my childhood I had read in a poem, London bridge is falling down, falling down, with that memory when I saw the London bridge I wrote this poem.
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Ratnakar Rout

Ratnakar Rout

Village-Boita, District-Balasore, State-Orissa, Country-India
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