Kopai

KOPAI
In spoken tongue sweet as shondesh
song of a land with rivers fresh
where kash phool fans in waves along the way

Amader Choto Nodi hums
vibrations rise from Baul plucked drums
Lovers of love succumb to Kopai’s sway

Winding swells like The Poet’s mind
in hues of prayer and peace sublime
muse of muses, resplendence on display

(written for the 30/30 Project in support of Tupelo Press)

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NOTES–
Tripadi: a Bengali poetic form that follows a pattern of syllabic and rhymed tercets
sandesh (pronounced in English as shondesh): a traditional dessert made of milk and sugar
kash phool: tall, native grasses with white, feathery plumes in early fall
Amader Choto Nodi (Our Little River):written by the famous Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore
Baul: a group of minstrel mystics who play with stringed drums like the khamak and ektara
Kopai: a small river in the Birbhum district of West Bengal where Tagore penned many pieces and ultimately named the nearby region Shantiniketan (abode of peace)