Elegy on Professor T. V. Reddy

 Elegy on Professor T V Reddy

K. V. Dominic

Lord Venkateswara,

why have you called back

your dear bard so soon?

The spiritual epic, his masterpiece

turned out to be his swan song

It came out of the press just a few months back

Couldn’t you grant him some more time

to get feedback of this sublime book?

Gentle breeze would have brought to your feet

more rhapsodies from his lips

Renowned poet Professor T V Reddy,

you were our dearest President

Elder brother and mentor

Your departure without any notice

drowned us in the ocean of grief

Time can’t fill the chasm

Irreplaceable is your absence

Started your career as Lecturer of English

Proved eminent Professor, Principal, Emeritus Fellow

Author of 21 books--poet, novelist,

short story writer, critic, grammarian

Your distinct poetic style

meeting point of past and present

Combination of beautiful structured rhymed

poetry and well crafted unrhymed free verse

Rhythm as musical as ripples of brook

A rural muse of Tirupati, portrayed

beauties of landscapes, flora, fauna,

poor people, animals and birds

Sorrows and tragedies of people around

brimmed your eyes and flowed to paper

Exploitation and corruption of politicians

hurt your mind and composed

excellent lampoons and satires

Spiritual and pious to the core

superb philosophical, metaphysical

poems flowed from your pen

Professor Reddy, how humble and simple you were

Never showy, preferred to be mute in assemblies

Gentle and loving to anyone who meets

Inspired and guided younger poets and critics

Your talk on English poetry enlightened the audience

Lord Venkateswara,

don’t you see your bard

shooting rays on you like a star?

Still your bard is yet to be

prescribed in universities’ syllabuses

Don’t you want to spread your message

every nook and corner of the world?

Professor Reddy glitters like a gem

among sparkling poets of the world

As sun can’t be hidden by moon

we are sure, Professor Reddy

can’t be ignored by universities for long