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The Playland

Once in a playland caked with fresh-born mud,
I saw a league of book-freed children smile
collectively like petals of a bud
in varied forms, yet similar all the while.
Palms latched, they capered; every tooth a pearl;
all independent like the wandering clouds.
No hands to throw them in the worldly whirl
nor cares to mute their laughter spread aloud.
Unmoving, as I stood to soak my eye
in childhood’s jolliness that flittered free
like countless godwits soaring through the sky,
I saw my youth resuscitate in me
and gained a lot beneath that April’s sun—
this sight whose wealth can be compared to none.

.

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Shamik Banerjee is a poet from Assam, India, where he resides with his parents. His poems have been published by Sparks of Calliope, The Hypertexts, Snakeskin, Ink Sweat & Tears, Autumn Sky Daily, Ekstasis, among others. He received second place in the Southern Shakespeare Company Sonnet Contest, 2024.

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6 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    This is a moving reminder of what it is like to be young and free, to share good times with friends, and to feel unbridled joy. Wonderful reminder, Shamik.

    Reply
  2. Cheryl A Corey

    Shamik, there’s much to like in your sonnet: “fresh-born mud”; “every tooth a pearl”; and godwit birds. As it closes with the memory of youthful carefree days, the poem retains a lively freshness throughout. Very nice.

    Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    This is a solid, creditable Shakespearean sonnet by a poet who may very well have English as a second language. This shows the universality of English in the world today — just as in the ancient word, Syrians like Philodemus could write excellent poetry in classical Greek, and North African Berbers like Fronto could write immaculate Latin prose. A master craftsman like Shamik puts many of our native speakers and poets to shame.

    I note two things: the poem begins with a trochaic (or as I like to say, choriambic) start. The word “Once” takes the first stress. And in the fourth line, the word “similar” needs an elision of the medial /i/ to fit the meter. Not a glaring elision, but a small and barely noticeable one.

    The ideologues who push for “perfect, unvaried, unsubstituted meter” will no doubt look upon these two things as “errors” or “defects.” But in fact they are signs of Shamik’s professional skill as a true traditional poet.

    Reply
  4. Warren Bonham

    We should all do as you have done and find ways to resuscitate youth. I grew up when we were allowed to roam free without any adult supervision, and long before video games. Those were the days.

    Reply
  5. Cynthia L Erlandson

    What a lovely sonnet, with so many really original phrases. “Book-freed children” is such a concise and attention-grabbing way of saying a thing. Describing the children as “like petals of a bud” — each unique yet similar — is also so far from being trite that it really engages the reader’s imagination. “Worldly whirl” is a wonderful alliteration. And the narrator soaking his eye in childhood’s jolliness is an expression that I’m guessing (I’m making the assumption that, as Joseph theorized above, you may not be a native English speaker) probably wouldn’t have been thought of by a native English speaker.

    Reply
    • Priscilla King

      Or not English only? Is it one of those expressions, like “lotus eyes” or “long eyes” for prettiness or “still struggling” for keeping the faith, that are familiar in some bilingual areas but seem fresh in the US?

      Reply

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