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Tribute to a Poet

for Leonard Dabydeen, an SCP poet who passed away
on March 16, 2022. Read Leonard Dabydeen’s poetry here.

I gaze for long at star-filled skies
__To feel the crumbling fears;
I see the world through human eyes
__To feel the wrath of tears.

I come to pay my tribute here,
__In hours now stung by grief;
When Death is smiling ear to ear,
__And Life’s a wilted leaf.

We never met nor shared our dreams,
__But all was fine and fair;
We talked not much, though now it seems
__This guilt is everywhere.

O poet! Freed from mortal pain,
__You may not bloom on earth;
These songs shall find a voice again,
__Amid undying worth.

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Satyananda Sarangi is a young civil servant by profession. A graduate in electrical engineering from IGIT Sarang, his works have featured in The Society of Classical Poets, Shot Glass Journal, Snakeskin, WestWard Quarterly, Sparks of Calliope, Page & Spine, Glass: Facets of Poetry, The GreenSilk Journal and elsewhere. Currently, he resides in Odisha, India.

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22 Responses

  1. James Sale

    A very moving tribute, Satyananda. I am sad to learn he has died, for aside from his poetry, he was also a very supportive and generous critic of others’. Your poem does him proud. Thank you.

    Reply
  2. Margaret Coats

    Satyananda sir, this is a lovely elegy that reminds me of similar works by seventeenth-century English poets, while touching me with lines that could only be yours. The contrast in the first quatrain is especially fine. Looking above to the skies, your fears crumble as you hope your departed fellow poet has no more to fear. Looking at the world, you express natural human feelings of wrath and grief. Perhaps you feel anger because Leonard Dabydeen should not have died, a thought that many grieved persons rightly feel these days.
    Another striking line is “This guilt is everywhere,” speaking, it seems, of the guilt involved in satisfying yet superficial associations with others. Such guilt arises because we do not, and often cannot, take the time and effort for dream-sharing interaction with many individuals we notice favorably. Your perfect meter and rhyme polish this handsome piece.

    Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Dear Margaret ma’am, greetings!

      Much grateful of how you have shared your thoughts on this piece.

      Thank you. Best wishes.

      Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Greetings!

      Thanks a lot, A.R.
      Indeed, all those who write aspire to be remembered long after they’re gone.

      Reply
  4. Yael

    This is a very lovely tribute poem and I enjoyed reading it, thank you very much.

    Reply
  5. BDW

    Why one is moved by one news story rather than another is an enigma lost in a unknown meaning. I remember not wanting to write about the Parkland, Florida, School Shooting; and yet I did.

    Back then in February of 2018, I remember Mr. Dabydeen responding to my dilemma with advice in a tetractys:

    Keep
    your heart
    tap dancing
    to the rhythm;
    let your mind play with the good, bad, ugly.

    Mr. Sarangi has reminded me of his words.

    I
    gaze up
    at the Moon,
    remembering
    to keep tap dancing, Leonard Dabydeen.

    Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Greetings!

      Indeed he will be missed. More than a constructive critic, he always had good things to say to everyone.

      Reply
  6. Norma Pain

    When Death is smiling ear to ear,
    __And Life’s a wilted leaf.

    Beautifully sad… I love your poem Satyananda. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Greetings, Norma ma’am!

      Thank you so much for this compliment. I think I remember one poem of yours which had tremendous effect on me – Fields of Grass. Correct me if I’m wrong.

      Regards and Best wishes.

      Reply
      • Norma Pain

        So kind of you to remember one of my poems Satyananda. You have made me very happy.

  7. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Satyananda, this is a truly beautiful tribute. I didn’t know Leonard Dabydeen, but your wonderful words make me wish I had. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Thanks a lot for such a generous comment, Susan ma’am.
      Hope you’re doing well.
      Best wishes.

      Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Greetings Mr. Freeman!

      Glad to have you words here. Thanks a ton.

      Reply
  9. David Watt

    A most touching tribute Satyananda. The second stanza in particular is
    beautifully penned.

    Reply
    • Satyananda Sarangi

      Greetings David Sir.

      Much gratitude for the constant appreciation you shower on my poems here.

      Best Wishes

      Reply
  10. Satyananda Sarangi

    Norma ma’am,

    I’m glad to make you happy – perks of being a poet I guess. I will look forward to your poems.

    Best wishes.

    Reply
  11. T.S.Chandra Mouli aka Sony Dalia

    A touching tribute to a poet extraordinary. Yes, we never met. Yet our feelings were mutual. I have immense respect and love for his poems. He wrote an exceptionally admirable review of my book of poems in English translation, ‘A Bend in the Corner.’ Perhaps it was one of his last contributions that have a lasting appeal. I regret not to have shared my books of poetry with him, though we shared our creative work online.

    Reply

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