“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”
Rabindra Nath Tagore
Time was when I was very young
and the world an unrolled carpet. A runner
to infinity, just as all the long straight roads
reveal themselves with every tread.
Yet I desired the sinuous course
beguiled by every half seen thing
beyond each baited bend. And year by year
went wandering, a wayward, windblown,
tumbleweed thing, stumbling midlife
upon you there, in a Central London square. 1
Just your head on a marble plinth, a bearded bronze
besides a beech. Copper-leaved with mammoth trunk
so smooth, and grey as elephant. Pachyderms of course
you knew and this square too, and English enough
to take Bengali from your tongue
to let us hear your poetry:-
“Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure.
This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again,
and fillest it ever with fresh life”…2
You're still filled with infinite gifts
I'm now brushed by butterfly wings
- Gordon Square is close to the faculty of law at University College London, where Tagore was a student in 1878. ↩︎
- from Gitanjali ↩︎
For Open Link Night at dVerse where anything goes as long as it’s poetry. Punam has given us an optional prompt from Rabindra Nath Tagore but I’ve opted for one from his ‘Poems on Time’ as epigraph.
PoetryPix 
I love the alliteration and internal rhyme in these wistful lines, Laura:
‘went wandering, a wayward, windblown,
tumbleweed thing, stumbling midlife
upon you there, in a Central London square’.
many thanks Kim – it was what was needed to hold the poem together otherwise it felt too fragmented
You’re most welcome, Laura.
Oh how lovely, Laura! Coming upon him, even his bronzed head, in such a way as to stumble onto his words: what a beautiful image of discovery!
yes I lived close by so visited him often and have always enjoyed his poetry
A gorgeous poem, Laura. I especially love that second stanza.
many thanks Sunra
A beautiful metaphor for life, Laura. We see the straight road ahead and yet we take the twisted and the winding one instead! I guess it keeps life interesting! Well done.
metaphorical and actual 😉
Yes, you are right!
Such a clever way to use the optional prompt. I actually can tell from reading it that you liked his poems too.
lovely poem.
I used a different prompt but the same poet as his lines are so inspiring
This is a hole in my poetry knowledge which I clearly need to explore, Laura…
I would imagine this is a poet ideal for your way of the world outlook Andrew
Laura, I am blown away by how those beautiful lines by Tagore inspired such an incredible verse. That second stanza is such a gem and I deeply felt each line. I found the rhythm quite lilting. ❤️
thank you Punam and for reacquainting me with this poet in your prompt- I must have often walked in his footsteps since he was in this stomping ground of London long before me and so I tried to emulate his lines though obviously something is always lost in translation
What a brilliant end to a fascinating poem – Jae
thank you Jae
A beautiful poem, Laura. I was hooked by your opening metaphor.
thank you for noticing that especially Merril
You’re welcome, Laura!
So lovely Laura. We are all butterflies. Why want more of what we cannot have? Why waste what we have in front of us?
Thank you.
indeed 🦋
“wandering, a wayward, windblown, tumbleweed thing, stumbling”
That has such a luscious sound, and such poignant ground.
love the comment with its rhyme – thank you
thanks
Beautiful, like an old photograph of a loved one
very nice observation John – many thanks
I love your world as an unrolled carpet.. Wonderful image.
A metaphor for the young – thank you Judy