The Bernese Oberland Poem by Ananta Madhavan

You may think that stone and crystal ice
Would stand solid. Here in this valley bowl
The haze opaquely cheats the eye, the whole
Frozen tableau takes on a blank disguise
That mocks my pilgrim camera. Patience;
Lo, suddenly the apparition gels.
I hear the mountains beam their decibels:
Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni: octaves away
The pealing anthem swells in symphony
Of stone and crystal ice. What joyful ode
From what Beethoven's Tenth! The peaks explode
And jab the tight calendar-shaming sky,
Like little children in a chorus on the dais.
My snap falls dead, the music knows its place.

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I was in Berne in the early 1960's.