Friday, September 23, 2011

The Sapera

Mag 83

The Snake Charmer, Henri Rousseau, 1907

Photograph courtesy of Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales 

The far pavilions
Shrouded in a swirling mist
The dawn seeps through
The steam from
The River Ganga

On the banks
A figure stands alone
A been held in hand
Ready to charm
With magical rhythms

Nomad of Sapera
Playing notes that mesmerize
Bring forth the
Serpents from within
Sleepy lazily slithering



Barbara M Lake  ©
Trinidad WI
September 2011


A footnote:  

I saw my fist snake charmer when I was a six year old in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka which was then Ceylon. 


13 comments:

  1. oh nicely done! I've been so busy this summer I lost track of all my blogger buddies- good to hear from you and to read your fine poetry!

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  2. I am so behind this week on my poetry reading. Yours is the first. Got to get busy.

    Very good as usual.

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  3. Lovely reading; your memory come to life.

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  4. Interesting view of a snake charmer. The River Ganga presumably is the Ganges? So this Charmer is not the one you remembered as a 6 year old?
    Thanks for sharing.

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  5. This has such an exotic feel and is perfect for the photo. It must have been fascinating to see a snake charmer at such a young age.

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  6. Nice to see you here Kath W - welcome back!

    Me too Jacqui - thank you.

    Thank you Annie

    Ganga is the Hindi for Ganges and no this snake charmer (Sapera) is not the one of my childhood. That was on a street in Colombo when our ship (SS Chusan) docked on its way to Singapore. In fact I had just turned 5.

    Thank you LadyCat - I do remember the scene vividly and think that was the start of my fascination of all things pertaining to that part of the world. I'm not as enthralled now as I once was.

    Thank you Suz - nice to see you too

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  7. i remember seeing my first and fidning it fascinating...a bit of magic...you capture a bit of that in your words...nicely done..

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  8. Evocative write, Bee...slithers...shivers!

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  9. I wish I had seen a snake charmer as a kid, although, it's still pretty fascinating to see.

    A terrific write.

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  10. Never seen one myself but can imagine it after reading your mesmerizing poem.

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  11. Lovely poem, Bee! Very evocative and I like the Indian slant you have given the picture.

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  12. Thank you Brian - I think seeing your first stays with one forever.

    Tess, shivers always from me when I think of snakes

    Thank you thingy - had you seen one the memory would have stayed with you for life

    I hope so Betsy

    lolamouse so nice of you to say so

    Thank you Nicholas - I wanted to bring out the Indian side and feel I could have made more of it had I spent more time on it

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