TAJ MAHAL
The Taj Mahal from Persian and Arabic, “crown of palaces”, is a white marble mausoleum located on the southern bank of Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and is widely recognized as “the jewel of Muslim art in India”. It is one of the world’s most celebrated structures and a symbol of India’s rich history.
Today, we ask you to use the magnificent Taj Mahal as inspiration for your poems. They could be about someone’s final resting place written in maybe an Elegy, or you could incorporate an Indian form of poetry (Naani, comes to mind). Any adventure you can muster based on this stop on our itinerary is most welcome!
Remember
Did the emperor
who commissioned
the Taj Mahal
to be built to entomb
and memorialize his wife
give her nice things
when she was alive?
Why do we wait
until one’s dead
to say nice things
and send flowers?
I ask the Lord this favor,
May I attend
my own funeral?
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[…] PHOENIX RISING – DESTINATION: POETRY – THE TAJ MAHAL […]
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Tried a little Naani…thank you!
https://wordrustling.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/crown-of-palaces/
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I’ll add this Ghazal…
TOMB OF TRUEST LOVE
Oh, dearest sapphire of the night sky,
I sit here and grieve outside of your tomb.
Your passing leaves me without a purpose
and so I remain outside of your tomb.
There is a chasm here deep in my heart,
I am a fissure outside of you tomb.
Who knew that you would come to spell my doom,
I, a broken man outside of your tomb.
All the riches in the world cannot buy
your release from inside of your tomb.
So I will wait in silence for my death,
an un-cast statue outside of your tomb.
Love will guide me across this great divide,
reincarnated inside of your tomb!
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LESSON: Sumati Satakamu Poems
Sumati (also spell as sumathi), like Naani, is one of the famous poetic forms in Telugu. In the last line of sumathi poem has sumathi!, that is called “Makutam”. Hence, Every poem has Makutam. This is the moral of the poem as written. These poems are educational tools to improve moral values in the children in Telugu schools. In these poems are common Telugu words and limited samskrutam (sankrit) words. Sathakamu mean 100 poems.
EXAMPLES:
Bad person has poison in his entire body.
If compare with poison in snake head
and poison in scorpion tail,
these are better than bad person.
***
If friendship is going fine,
there are no mistakes to find out.
If mistake occurred in friendship,
there are so many mistakes to find out in friendship.
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Death is a thief in the night,
come to take life as his valued prize.
Spend all good assets while alive,
death will leave unfulfilled.
(C) Walter J. Wojtanik, 2015
My first attempt at a Sumathi poem.
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Here’s my offering for today
http://rhymeswithbug.wordpress.com/2015/07/Stardust
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Thanks for the information, Walt. From a time long ago and from a land far away, we learn that sorrow for the loss of a loved one is universal and that the arts – music, sculpture and poetry can offer comfort.
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On a Lesser Scale
Nothing as titanic as
the Taj Mahal, besides
it is taken. My essence
needs freedom of ocean.
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July 9 – Taj Mahal
Self-Immortalized
The only certain thing in life is death
But letting go can be quite difficult
So we build monuments and shrines
That are all but fancy expensive tombs
Man’s attempt at self-immortalization
Man’s attempt to keep memories alive
But the entombed have passed away
And the builders will soon follow suit
The bones will decay and the flesh rot
And one day the monument will fall
As does everything that man constructs
For only God can create immortality
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