The composer of verse

There are some themes that are so predominant in the female life, that one woman's story is every woman's story. Women often have to make a choice between home and family on the one hand and career on the other. It can so happen that despite trying their best, it is just not possible to do justice to both. And career is the part, that suffers more often than not.

This poem by Jayshree Misra Tripathi is an example of exactly that. Her husband's job entailed changing geographies, and as a result, she was constantly moving with him. In  the poem, she wonders what it would have been like to have her feet planted firmly in one place and witnessed far greater professional progression.  

*******************************************************************

And now, as the night hawk sounds our signal to begin,

I breathe in the dusk from the comfort of the easy chair

Still warm, but those who came before me are now strangers

To the needs of my soul, the low peent call beckons, be aware.

And now, it is MY time to seek words in concise measures

To bait my eccentric fancies, perhaps nudge my Muse

From her stubborn stupor, fill blank pages with literary treasures,

To be acclaimed by global academia, proclaimed by the media, all hail, sudden fame.

And now, as all the nocturnal sounds vie for first place with my tinnitus

My fingers tremble as I type, poets have sung preludes, so how may I even begin?

Once feted scholar turned housewife by circumstances, not choice,

The decades have swept by, yet I remain yoked to family, their needs, complaints.

And now, afterthoughts , shards of wistfulness not despair,

My last memories, as Dawn breaks, I must sleep, dare to dream,

She eludes me, so I lie awake, listen to the lark, creating masterpieces in the air,

 

De novo! Ephemeral epigraph, my quill has now shattered in two!
 

The strength in my fingers, not the hopes in my breast.

Jayshree Misra Tripathi is an 'arranger of words' and a nomadic teacher since 1983. She has a Master of Arts Degree in English Literature from Delhi University (1978) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law (2001) from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. As the spouse of a  Foreign Service officer (now retired) in India's civil services, she has lived and taught across three continents, in diverse cultures - where vacancies existed and were permissible. Her published works include: "The Sorrow of Unanswered Questions" (2001 International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka); Dilemmas and Scattered Weaves: Musings in Narrative Verse, Flash Vignettes of Travels through the Diaspora" (2014 Quills Publishing); “Tales in Verse from India for Children Everywhere" Vols. 1&2 ( 2014 , Pothi ; Book Baby).