The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon

PRESENTATIONS: BAM DEV SHARMA

A Serene Muse

A muse entered
my heart's chamber
to speak to me.
I was baffled.

It tried to uncover my veil
of perennial illusion
and wanted to prick me
into finding a path.
I was heedless.

It shone like a lamp
an enigmatic phantom
dispelling the perseverance
of darkness, heading
toward a blissful journey.
I was lost in indecision.

Then it asked me
to be a star in the galaxy
beyond mind and body
but I shook my head "No."

Soon the muse flew away
leaving me in the delusive
valley of fate
with a pang.

The muse comes and goes.
Some clasp the muse
and some clasp the pang!

Blissful Rain

After the rainy rancour
silence and peace enthrall
and there is a gestation
of summer waltz
when the sky anoints hills
like celestial nymphs
illuminate
orchards of wavering faith.

Golden breezes of prosperity
begin to sniff
dozing leaves of repose
as if veritable muses
flying in the atmosphere
as vigilant and illustrious
as colorful birds.

Then the heartfelt rhymes of life
become chanting and hymns
of auspicious good will
perpetuated by soulful choirs
and the world resounds
in peace and love
for blissful rain!

Bam Dev Sharma is a university teacher from Nepal with twenty years of experience teaching English and poetry. He started writing at seventeen, but it wasn't until after he completed his education in 1993 that he began to write poems in English. Among his previous publications are two collections of poems, The Bunyan and the Alder published in the United States, and The Duet of Rivers published in Japan. Bam Dev Sharma also writes research articles for the university and reviews poetry books and writes children's fiction. One of his books, The Foolish Lizard, is highly acclaimed in Nepal. Bam Dev Sharma is an active member of national and international poetry groups, and a number of his poems have been showcased in publications such as Tintota, Events Quarterly, Jelly Fish, and Literary Herald. (Bio material adapted from back of book cover for The Shepherd in the Sky.)

His book The Shepherd in the Sky is a collection of children's tales inspired by stories he heard as a child from his mother, yet they seem to be written for our time. The first one, " A Journey to Wonder Space," begins "Many, many years ago, Earth was a very beautiful place. All the creatures living on the planet were able to live in harmony ...." He goes on to describe how humans depleted and destroyed the Earth because they felt superior. " ... But ... Mother Nature was watching, and she was not amused. Nature rebelled ...." What happens in this story and others is both amusing and inspiring as it gives high value to living in harmony with nature.