Nissim Ezekiel As I Knew Him Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

The Bombayan Bene-Israeli,
The poster boy of modernism
Suffered he from identity crisis,
The quest for identity,
How far Indian is Indian English poetry?

The poetry of the common man wrote he
Of modern and modernity,
Manners and etiquette,
Please, thank you, ta-ta, goodbye
Drew he from
Elizabethan lyric and song-writer.

A poet of love marriage, birthday party,
Picnic party, tips, farewells,
Joke, caricature and irony,
He giggles not, chuckles
And grins holding his cheek,
A comment-passer is he.

A poet of Bombay, Nissim is a city poet,
Of the history and growth of the island
Into a commercial hub,
Of urban values and nomenclature,
Wanting to be a rabbi, but is not.

A visit to art galleries, teaching of literature,
Reading and writing of poetry
His job, how to hone in,
Trying to creep out at snail's pace,
Writing poetry for knowledge sake.

A faded romantic he fails as a love-poet
Even though he aspires to be
But irony, modernity leave him not,
Allegory and metaphysics keep him
Haunting unto with hymns in darkness,
Platform beggar music.