The Maundering Moon Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

The Maundering Moon

Rating: 5.0


Like every child
I used to follow the moon
Maundering in the sky
And wonder what he's doing
All through the lonely nights
all alone in the skies
With all those fireflies
Winking around.

When I grew up
And left my home
And my loved ones
In search of a livelihood,
I started to sing
With Jagjit Singh,
"I have left my home,
But, in my place
The moon would have risen;
In his nightly abode
How lonely would he be feeling!
(Without me to keep him company) ! "

In the school
We had learned that
The moon would be
Older by over a second
By the time I see him.
But in the case of sun
It is eight minutes.
For, light travels at
three hundred thousand
Kilometres a second.

If only I could ride light!

My bus to the school
Traveled at forty kilometres an hour.
Very fast for those days
And the roads we had.
I wondered, if the bus were
To take us to the moon,
How long would it take?
We made the calculations:
It takes four hundred days!

Then came Luna Nine and Luna Ten
The unmanned Russian satellites
That softlanded on the moon
and sent us its photographs.

More news - newspapers
Suddenly were in high demand.
At home, we sat around the radio
With our ears glued to it.
Pele and Billie Jean King
Were pushed to the back seats.
In the school,
the science teacher
Gave us more information
On the Apollo lunar expeditions.
I had just turned twelve
When Apollo Eleven
Blasted off from Florida
Kennedy Space Center.
And four days later
Neil Armstrong set
His foot on the moon.

World was not the same
Thereafter. Nor was the moon.

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Poet's Note:
1. fireflies winking: stars
2. Jagjit Singh: With his wife Chitra Singh, he is remembered for a number of best ghazals. The ghazal I have referred to is
"Hum to gayen pardesh, mere
Desh mein nikala hoga chand..", one of his best.
3. Pele: The greatest footballer ever graced the earth. In June 1969, he was very close to his one thousandth goal in professional football. At this point every football fan anywhere in the world, followed every match he played with anxiety. Finally, on November 19,1969 he scored his 1000th goal.
4. Billie Jean King: One of the greatest woman tennis players of yesteryears. She had won the Wimbledon singles title three consecutive years,1966,1967 and 1968. In Wimbledon 1969, she lost to Anne Jones in the finals. That was during early June. Her fans world over were disappointed as she could not win any of the Grand Slam events in the year.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Susan Williams 05 January 2020

This is the loveliest poem I have ever read on PH. I join you in your childhood thoughts, I too grew up and wondered about the moon and its science yet longed for its fantasies And oh how that last couplet touched my heart and soul, dear poet! A trillion billion starry-eyed 10's and onto my fav poem list@

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Unnikrishnan E S 05 January 2020

Thank you Susie. Thank you so much for the wonderful observations. When I started to pen this poem, I remembered my love for Pele and his thousandth goal, Billy Jean King, Bobby Fischer and dozens of their contemporary sportspersons. And some details I could muster from my old treasured diaries. And then google helped me with more details.

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Unnikrishnan E S 05 January 2020

And so happy I am to see you often on ph.

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Susan Williams 08 January 2020

my computer doesn't like PH or PH doesn't like me- -the site flips so much it takes 2 hours to write two comments and rate two poems- - so I spend a lot more time on writing on my books! but I do miss my friends so I am trying to find a time the computer works better!

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Susan Williams 04 November 2020

A lovely poem that I have read before but you left a comment on my poem and I thought that meant you were back but I don't see a new poem. Where are you, my friend? We need your wise voice here.

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Jazib Kamalvi 31 July 2020

Such a nice poem, U. E. S. You may like to read my poem, Love And Iust. Thank you.

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Bharati Nayak 22 July 2020

Moon holds a special significance in our hearts.From a child to our adulthood, in every stage our perspective changes vis-a-vis Moon. Moon is very dear to us like a close family member or a lover.When we leave a place we may feel how lonely would be moon without me! Now after man's landing on moon, the mystery, the dreamy fairy tale feelings we may miss. 'Neil Armstrong set His foot on the moon. World was not the same Thereafter. Nor was the moon.'

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Bharati Nayak 22 July 2020

I started to sing With Jagjit Singh, " I have left my home, But, in my place The moon would have risen; In his nightly abode How lonely would he be feeling! (Without me to keep him company) ! " - - -What a wonderful poem ! (Part-1)

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Unnikrishnan E S 05 November 2020

My apologies for delay in responding to your post. Much obliged for the second visit to this poem. And all the nice words, very good analysis. Loved it.

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Unnikrishnan E S 13 July 2020

Thanks to Susie and Geeta for their words of appreciation. My apologies to both of them for the delay in responding

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READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

PUTHENCHIRA, KERALA, INDIA
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