Albert Einstein At Princeton Poem by Ravi Panamanna

As he locked the door
Of their Berlin home
And descended the steps,
To his wife Einstein said:
'Take a very good look at it,
You will never see it again'.

The writing was on the wall
Fumes were in the air.
In his travel diary he scribbled:
'I am a bird of passage
And shall be flying...
flying for the rest of my life'.

The Nazi were crazy,
In a short while the Caputh cottage-
His Berlin home was ransacked.
His account was frozen
His papers were burnt.

He was then in States,
Life proved very fluid, mysterious.
Where appeared the end of cleavage?
Where were the dales void of gales?

After a cycle of life,
From Southampton on October 7 1933
He boarded 'Westmoreland'
'Auf Wiedersehen' he bade Europe
Never to see those shores again.

Wearing a wide brimmed black hat,
Carrying his violin case,
In ten days he landed the New York docks,
Liberty greeted him with her lofty torch.

Princeton he soon arrived,
A lease of life he now really enjoyed.
Arrived the Peacock Inn there
'Baltimore' offered him an ice-cream.

A new venture at the Princeton University-
The Institute for Advanced Study.
As one of her founding fathers,
He served there decades, illustrious.

While his office was set,
To the queries that followed,
His reply was an offbeat-
'A desk or table, a chair, pen and papers,
Also a waste basket to throw the mistakes'

First a few months at 2 Library Place,
Then at 112 Mercer Street-
For two decades very wholesome life,
Simple, peaceful, eventful, and historic.

Upon her walls hung the following four:
Faraday, Maxwell, Newton, and, Gandhiji.
Here, his wife Elsa breathed her last,
Here, his sister Maja spent her final days,
Finally, he too.... he too....

Among the Princeton streets
Often he lost his ways back home!
Driving was beyond his levels,
He preferred long walks.

A mountaineer across the Alpine range,
Once he had a miraculous escape.
Providence to life him brought,
Our world needed a genius, so bright.

Einstein desired no monuments,
Museums and landmarks.
Princeton preserves no trails,
Barring a few, hidden from searching eyes.

In the rear corner of a shop 'Landau'
His memorabilia is on display.
In a corner of the municipal complex
Almost unnoticeable his bust is displayed.

He led a simple life,
In a higher order of power he believed.
For disarmament he fought,
For science and peace he stood.

His home, now a private property,
Only a few can now locate.
For the world he is a figure iconic,
But beyond that, a true humanist classic.



19082017.