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A young man's "Cry"rielle
All round me much drama and romance,
Not a girl for me with whom to dance!
No love, no danger, no song, no strife-
Why can't something happen in my life?

Whither the dragons, whither damsels?
Whither the witches of fairy tales?
Whither the magic sword, staff or knife?
Why can't something happen in my life?

At long last I meet a fair maiden
And think something might now happen,
But in no time she becomes my wife-
Why can't something happen in my life?

Triolet for a Violet

In the coolest nook of the glade
Bloomed a modest violet,
Happy to be in the elm's shade;
In the coolest nook of the glade,
For a day has it been made,
To dance on the mossy velvet!
In the coolest nook of the glade
Bloomed a modest violet...

Footnotes:
The triolet is one of those old French forms, the oldest and simplest of them
all, going back at least to the thirteenth century. It is an 8-lined poem. Its
name comes from the repetition of the key line three times (French "tri")Of the
triolet's eight lines, the first line is used three times and the second line is
repeated once.

Sestina of Indian Seasons

(Vasantha)
Spring is here and Nature's rejoicing,
For buds and blooms the time has come;
For love and romance these are the days,
For the young, light-hearted and gay;
Throughout the year it'll be remembered
As the time when hearts start singing.

(Greeshma)
Summer is here, the blue bird is singing;
All creation is bright and rejoicing;
Mangoes and jasmines, smells remembered
from the last season, again have come;
Blue skies, warm winds, hearts so gay!
The time goes by like just one long day!

(Varsha)
Monsoons are here bringing rains everyday,
Cool winds in the eaves are singing;
Water drops stud every little nosegay,
The romantic souls are rejoicing!
Season of swings and songs has come,
Myrtle leaves a fragrance to be remembered!

(Sharada)
Bringing forth memories of first love remembered,
Of dreams dreamt by night and day,
The moonlight season soothingly has come;
And as drowsy breezes on treetops are singing,
Hearts under the full moon are rejoicing!
All is light and pure and white but gay!

(Shishira)
Like a bride clad in red and gold, sad but gay,
Not wanting to leave the homestead remembered;
But the future beckoning, she goes rejoicing,
Wary yet welcoming her wedding day;
At once tunes of separation and union a-singing,
The mellow, yellow Autumn has come!

(Hemantha)
Finally the year's ended, Winter has come
Bringing forth sprays of chrysanthemums gay;
It's cold but mild, like a mountain breeze singing,
A snowflake's song much remembered;
Chill starry nights, short misty days-
Each in each rejoicing!

(Ruthuchakra)
Six seasons come and go, a cycle well remembered,
Gay and grey days forming a faithful pattern;
The Earth singing and rejoicing its journey round the Sun!

Footnotes:
The sestina is a 39-line form, constructed of six sestets (six-line stanzas) and
a final three-line envoi bringing the poem to a close. The words that end each
of the lines within the sestet are the same for each of the poem's stanzas, and
they repeat in a very particular pattern, as follows:
123456 615243 364125 532614 451362 246531 + envoi(25/43/61)
In the above poem 123456 are, respectively,
1.rejoicing 2.come 3.day/s 4.gay 5.remembered 6.singing

Aparna Raghunath

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