Morning In Shillong Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

The very name recalls to me
My sitting on Ward Lake
With my box-camera alone
And the photo I took
With half real, half reflection in water
Full forty years ago.

In fact, I thought then it was
‘Word Lake’ and as student of Literature
Was thrilled with that name too:
So much for life and reality!

A great hill-station where
Roads wind, and wind up and down,
And we enjoy sunshine on houses.
Pinewood forests all around is great.

Noise and dust of traffic
Have now invaded theplace
And traffic holdups are encountered
Like terrorists all over the world.

Morning walk I did with Ajay
With whom I am staying
And he took me to the house
Where Tagore in 1923 stayed
And wrote one play, and some poems.

I didn’t tell him that Tagore
For me has been a little distant
And sometimes too airy for present:
When he wrote them maybe it was different.

We walked fast, and up and down,
Round and near Circuit House,
And I fell paces behind him
Result of irregular exercise.

Properly for the last few weeks,
Considering I have a stent in heart,
Fitted four years ago, and a diabetic,
I should take care of diet, and be trimmer.

I was happy to have been taken
For this walk in the pure morning air
Of Shillong, surrounded by hills
And located within the bowl of valleys.