Vatsala Radhakeesoon has been writing poems for 30 years and she is the author of numerous poetry books. She is also an abstract artist and likes to experiment various possibilities that bless Art. Vatsala is a literary translator and currently lives at Rose-Hill, Mauritius.

Poet’s blog link related to her books:
https://booksbyvatsalaradhakeesoon.wordpress.com

Where is Puck ?
(An immortal love-story in verse)

In the land of Magic- Green
embellishing the continent, Big Craze,
the sky was constantly orange-yellow
during the day
and at night it turned reddish-brown
with streaks of fine black lines
intersected on one firm star – the biggest, the brightest golden one
creating suspended roots ,
amusing the sky-gaze – lovers and kids’ entertaining games,
The inhabitants of this place were unanimously called Chrubbies,
They were like chubby chocolate-coat chipmunks,
described by Historians as descendants of the cutest Chip N Dale characters,
Thousands of them were artistic – Literature, Painting, Music and Dance
dominated their social gatherings.
To alleviate the lifestyle of the Chrubbies,
there were also the square-faced, spiky haired apothecary – Chuck,
the diamond-kite brilliant silvery eyed lawyer – Decorum ,
two twin sisters fly-walking around in sea-green gowns, the teachers –
Parsley-Sparkle and Parsley-Gouache,
ten ellipse-eared muscular, colossal police officers cherishing the group –
Law-Order Arrow (No Escape Bow).
On a bright sunny morning kissing
the arrival of hot-furnace summer,
a huge dragon as purplish as a huge aubergine
flew -landed to Magic-Green,
The earth shook like earthquake- jerks
for a while,
colliding some heaps of Chrubbies’ kids.
He wore a pink glossy coat glittering
with golden sophisticated buttons
and a pair of brilliant -rectangular magenta sun-goggles.

He was too big for that land

and at first glance made everyone perplexed,
However, as he introduced himself as Smoky Pink-Metallic,
the rock star and fine-tuned his shiny , eyes-dazzling cerulean blue guitar,
babies to elderly, all giggled-relaxed and welcomed his
manicured-claws’ softy hugs.

Well settled at last in his surroundings,
the dragon ate all kinds of fruits and fishes,
and mesmerised the country with his
spectacular unbeatable , latest technology’s
fluorescent lights and sounds blessed musical shows.

One night as he laid his coat after hard work,
sleepless moon caught his eyes,
He tossed and turned in bed battling Insomnia,
then got bored , woke up and went for a night-walk
illuminated by lotuses and tulips lamps.
He walked and walked
letting his adventurous, brave spirit
take a grip;
Under some violet stars that shone
that night in the peculiar Magic -Green’s sky,
he inquisitively entered the garden labelled in Bold –
Solace -Dreams – Riddle- Chuckles!
At the entrance itself
laser light fuchsia , green, yellow, blue
all blend -shower upon him,
As he stepped deeper and deeper,
a multitude of roses elegantly
monochromatic red, pink, white , yellow
and others blending duo and trio colour-blessed songs
all bowed at him.
From the centre of the circle of flowers,
echoed louder and louder some girlish giggles,
Then a tall, slender rose neatly in her salmon
and vermillion dress,
straightened as if to touch the lower-limit sky.
Smoky felt Cupid’s arrow hastily hitting his heart,
His fiery eyes glowed brighter
“You are so beautiful Lady-Rose”

he whispered to her,
The rose blushed,
Then went on.
“My name is Bindi- glee”;
“I’m Smoky…Metallic-Pink”
the dragon proudly said.
“I know you” said Bindi -glee,
“ you are a Rock-star, I’m quite your fan”
“Sing me a song?” requested the Master
“Earth, Earth Earth , Drip the sky,
Stain my glass, I’m the saint-un-brand
Hey! Hey! Hey!” Hiss Baby, Hiss.”.
“Oh ! That’s my song!” he confirmed,
“You sing marvellously.”
“Aww! Thank you, Singer !”
Kneeling- knightly, Smoky asked,
“My sweet rose, I love you
Would you marry me?”
“ But don’t you know love at first sight
can be blind, and dangerous?”
she asked ;
“Yes, I know” he answered,
“But that’s what love is all about, isn’t it, my dear?”
“Oh ,No!” Bindi yelled ,
then gave in as if swallowing her true words,
“But I do like you so much, much, much…”
From that day Smoky and Bindi were seen
in various restaurants, hotels,
close to the beaches, by the lakes,
forests-adventurous and everything
pleasing lovers;
Their teasing, laughing, holding hands,
kissing , hugging, and protectiveness
were heart-melting , breathtaking
to everyone crossing their paths,
They were the perfect couple
artistically-made for each other.
On the approval of Queen Rose , Eye Shadow-Dary
the eldest rose, with flowing silver hair silky,
their wedding was fixed for next month
under Mountain-Hook-Witness, son of Rocky-Tabby.
mother sunken within waves, but still watching all mystically.

However ,on the eve of the glorious ceremony
awaited by so many,
the rain poured incessantly,
calling the rage of winds
and thunder-noisy, heavy -scary;
A cyclone flooded cars, and muddied
the decorated event- lieu .
The roses shook under the whips of water
and crazy tree-shakers;
Helpless, the Chrubbies had to amend
the mess meekly ,patiently.
In the meantime, with the help of Thunder-King,
Timotheus, Smoky’s reactive brother had swirl-signed
in the sky,
and pulled his brother to the Dragon -Castle;
“Mummy – Our Queen is dying !”he yelled.
Smoky, submissively followed his elder brother,
eyes-welling confusedly;
No means was left to inform his beloved courteously!

Months passed by,
Bindi-glee and no Chrubbie
got any news of the lively dragon,
They missed him,
Bindi was devastated,
her smiles lost in oblivion,
her B.P going high,
her moods -sunken,
her petals-rough, withered pitilessly;
She was battling the dark -pit
of depression.
“Bring the apothecary!” her mother, wisdom-White
beg to the Elderly Queen one night.

Chuck visited Bindi,
The rose feebly waved and smiled,
Some dark brown potion and sandy-grey
tablets he compassionately prescribed,
but all were of no avail within 14 days.

The Chrubbies and Rose community
requested Chuck to try again some better remedy
and daily they all united in Holy Shrubby Hall
to pray and send the vibes of healing
towards the young rose.
“ Go and Find Puck!!”he prescribed at last,
hesitantly
on a piece of approved paper , medically-smooth.
“How ?”asked Bindi-Glee
“How?” asked her mother
“Tell us the plan!” asked Queen Rose.
“First , get a copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
still readable,
no yellowing page,
all black shinning on white!”
the apothecary replied.
Instantly,
Bindi’s mother, Queen Rose and some Chrubbies
drove, flew, rushed to prestigious bookshops and libraries,
Lux Shelves, Copy Green, Waltz-books, Pen-Flow,
Magic-Green National Library, Ink-Crow library, Captain Chrubbie
Intellect - Food library –
Amidst the best, they did search,
They also sought help from the twin-sister teachers
but everywhere a single answer was mind -captured
“ No , We don’t have this play.”
Disappointed, the well-wishers
met over some cups of coffee
at Dragon-Waves Bottled
staring at the sea, philosophizing too.

Suddenly, A Chrubbie- established writer
exclaimed as if winning a football match,
“Odd Rivers Bookshop and Library – our last resort!”
“Oh No !” The others exclaimed in disgust,
“ Where cobwebs and spiders cheer-walk,
run by that old professor !”

“We will go” affirmed simultaneously
Mrs Glee and the eldest rose,
and off they set to Fish Freeze land.”

Pete the English professor and philosopher,
wearing a long beard and long chestnut hair ,
quite unkempt
greeted them,
“Welcome! Welcome , Ladies!
First have some healthy brewed tea !”
“Good morning, Professor! Thank you!”
They sipped the hot tea
and narrated the sad issues they were facing.
“Oh Come!” said the kind professor
leading them to a larger room ,
“This is my library, on the other way you see is the bookshop;
Here are all editions, oldest to latest
of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The two ladies smiled in relief,
Queen Rose chose the edition oldest,
Bindi’s mum chose the latest,
Astonishingly, both had pages white-new,
No traces of yellow stains
commonly settling in centuries’ old books.
Pete gifted them both,
“No cost to save a young lady-rose !
May God give her the joy of healthiness back!”
He sympathetically exclaimed.

Back to Magic -Green,
the ladies laid the books
on the desk ebony black’.

“Open it, go to the page
where Puck sprinkled the potion!”
requested Chuck
They did so.

“Now! Just leave and come back to my lab
in 30 minutes!”
Queen Rose and Bindi’s mum just
did as ordered by the apothecary
and later punctually they joined him
enthusiastically.
Chuck held a flask of wild-pansy’s
purple potion,
With a dropper,
he accurately let go
of 2 drops in each eye of Bindi;
She fell asleep , smiling like Sleeping-Beauty.
Her petals delicately displayed the merry- glow again
At dawn when some clouds all- pink caressed the sky,
The earth shook unusually again,
Smoky Pink -Metallic was back,
He rushed to his beloved bedside,
Blurred by the stress of parting-involuntarily ,
he didn’t notice Chuck’s solemn presence.
As soon as Bindi woke up,
her eyes rested of the huge dragon’s face –
her only lover;
She fell for him again,
All bitterness of heartbreak evaporated in a flash.

Their wedding -ceremony was finally
ritually-performed on the following day,
Rainbow coloured-dresses, delicacies, fine music,
perfect waltz rounds and laughter all filled the air.

Love , undeniably true – no cheat-adulterated
has justifiably won at last.

Vatsala Radhakeesoon, Rose- Lavender Elixir, Ukiyoto, India, 2024