To Indus River

Poem by Shamik Banerjee

In Tibet, from the Kailash mount,
Along its highland vale,
You come aflow as if a fount,
Rolls down a spumy dale;
How quick about a bending stream,
You make the lissom pass;
While gilds your face the bright sunbeam,
And hails the swayful grass;
You leap over boulders and rocks,
And watch a swimming floe,
You watch the gliding seagulls' flocks,
And watch a plateau glow;
You cross Kashmir and cross the Leh,
Traverse the Pangong Lake,
Then merrily, your lengthful way,
Towards India make.

By Punjab's Mustard fields and lea
And gamuts of rice mills;
With Ghaggar, Satluj and Ravi,
Flow by the verdant hills;
The daily working Bullock carts,
The Banyan leaves that trindle,
The rustic children's jolly hearts,
And hay the farmers windle,
You greet Nanga Parbat's ranges
And touch full northern Hind,
You meet Himachal's high granges,
And advance on to Sind;
From Peshawar's ridges and cliffs
You enter Pakistan,
And through its long and wide massifs,
Meet Chenab at Multan.

Kabul River, Panjnad joins you,
Joins you the little creeks,
'Indus', 'Jhelum', this land coins you,
As you flow neath their peaks;
The nearby bucolic huts glow,
With avidness they cheer,
And all of Rawalpindi know,
Your coming course they hear;
No place to you remains a roun,
You ripple through each land,
Men laud as if a king with crown,
In great grandeur does stand;
Then eterne beautyness of you,
In Arabian Sea,
With love, mixes the waters blue,
From coast of Karachi.

Shamik Banerjee is a poet and poetry reviewer from the North-Eastern belt of India. He loves taking long strolls and spending time with his family. His deep affection with Solitude and Poetry provides him happiness.