Friends, while composing the ‘Story of Italian Renaissance in Verse’, I read about the history of Mona Lisa, and had composed this poem on the 30th Dec 2010, posting it on various poetry
sites where it was liked. Hope you like it too, – Raj.

A TRIBUTE TO DA VINCI’S MONA LISA

BACKGROUND :
Unlike the legendary Helen of Troy, Mona Lisa’s
enigmatic smile,
Never launched a thousand ships as 'Dr. Faustus'
had said;
Yet she continues to inspire artists, poets, and
viewers alike till this day,
Even though five intervening centuries have passed
our way!
Leonardo Da Vinci who had left many of his paintings
incomplete;
Commenced painting 'Mona Lisa' in 1503 AD, taking
four long years to complete!
He had carried the portrait with him for sixteen
long years,
While seeking work in Milan, Rome, and during his
exile in France!
But after Leonardo's death in 1519, the portrait became
the possession of Francis the First, the French King.
But later, Louis the XIV had moved 'Mona Lisa' to his
Royal Palace at Versailles!
It had also adorned Napoleon’s bedroom, who hung
it over the mantelpiece for some time.
We learn from Art Historian George Varsi, that the
portrait belonged to one Lisa Gherardini.
She was the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant,
Who had commissioned Leonardo to paint his
wife’s portrait.

AESTHETIC VALUE OF 'MONA LISA' :
Leonardo here creates an innovative painting style,
Using oil instead of tempera on poplar wood panel,
which was unique in his time!
The three quarter pose with a wide pyramidal base,
A ‘stumato’ blending of translucent colours with
light and shade ,
Creating depth, volume, and form, with a timeless
expression on Mona Lisa’s countenance!
Here, Leonardo’s passion and pre-occupation of a
life time came together,
As he waved his magic brush to create 'Mona Lisa'!
Lisa’s mystic smile with its play of light and shade,
Appears and disappear when viewed from different
sides,
Creating an optical illusion before the viewer's eyes!
Mona’s mystic smile and her gaze, creates a mixed
emotion on her countenance,
Mesmerizing the viewers as they stand before it to
admire and gaze!
Insurance Companies have declared that this portrait
is beyond Insurance, -
Since its value remains priceless!

SECURITY MEASURES ADOPTED :
In 1911, during broad daylight from Louvre in Paris,
The painting was stolen by an employee!
He hid it for two years in an attic, before smuggling
it to Florence in Italy;
And was apprehended trying to sell it to an art
dealer clandestinely!
Later in 1956, a mad man named Ugo Ungaza,
Threw a rock creating a patch near the left eye
of 'Mona Lisa'!
The Art Curators at Louvre now toil ceaselessly,
To preserve this fabulous painting for posterity!
Today the priceless 'Mona Lisa' is housed in a
dehumidified, air-conditioned container,
Protected in a triple bullet-proof glass chamber;
With six million tourists visiting her every year!
“It is the ultimate symbol of Human Civilization ”
  - exclaimed President Kennedy!
And with this I pay my tribute to Mona Lisa of
Leonardo da Vinci,
Thanks for reading patiently, from Raj Nandy of
New Delhi.

Friends, for a long time I wanted to compose a poem about FIRE in
which all things begin and end! Fire also consumes our mortal body but purifies our eternal soul to burn as a lamp in the Temple of God, provided we begin to sincerely act & also pray for the same, - Raj
                                                                                        
GOD’s MAGICAL FIERY TOUCHSTONE!
The flickering tongue of fire’s flame
rises up like liquid gold,
And through this fire God recreates
the new, -
From the ashes of the old!

A contained and controlled fire
benefits humanity.
But raging wild fires destroys and
consumes totally!
The small little fire burning as a lamp
in a poor man’s hut,
Brings forth light and hope by expelling
the dark.
The crackling fire of the hearth during
cold winter nights,
Brings warmth and comfort to all the
folks living inside.
The bonfire, the camp fire, and the
twinkling of the Diwali sparklers,
Brings forth joy and happiness to
all festive makers!

Now the flames of the Funeral Pyre
for me is of a spiritual kind,
It’s very thoughts touches my heart,
Making my poetic mind sublime!
Let the purging touch of God’s Fiery
Touch Stone purify me and make me
whole.
By burning all that is dross and evil
in my mortal body, and purify my
eternal soul!
Let my soul burn as a lamp in HIS
heavenly abode as an eternal light.
And let this verse remain as an
everlasting thanksgiving to my
Creator, -
From a Poet’s humble heart and
mind!
                                  -Raj Nandy, New Delhi
                                    composed 07 Sep 2020

Friends, when I had composed this short poem in September 2009, almost eleven years ago, few people thought I was harboring Leftist and Revolutionary thoughts. They forgot that a Poet’s thoughts can embrace the entire Universe! Hope you like it, -Raj
      
          TEARS IN HEAVEN
When the rain drops fell on my parched
lips,
I liked them up with great speed and
haste,
But it had a funny salty taste!
It made me to pause and wonder and
think,
Was heaven crying like human beings?

Perhaps the sorrowing salty tears of our
suffering destitute,
And also from our pain stricken multitudes,
Evaporates and is embraced by the sky,
Transforming them into clouds that fly up
high.
And when the sky’s ***** gets heavily
laden, -
It showers down as salty rain from Heaven!
This also enables the sky to once again,
Present to us its pristine azure blue state!
While the suffering humans on Earth down
below,
Look up with hopes and aspirations once
more,
With dreams of a better destiny waiting
beyond Heaven’s pearly door!
                                           -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
                                            composed 28 Sep 2009

Friends, this is an old poem of mine from ‘Poemhunter.com’, which has been re-written for my readers here. Hope you like it, - Raj.

IN THE  WINDMILL  OF MY  MIND
As in the poem ‘The Brook’, by the English
poet Rupert Brooke,
Our mind keeps chattering all the time,
Like the flowing chattering Brook!
As one thought flows into another right
till our bed time.
Even during sleep the chattering continues,
nor does it get left behind.
For dreams appear and disappear, even
though our body is at rest.
Only a sedative can truly put our mind, -
To a complete peaceful rest!

Now in the silent chattering of the mind,
many thoughts come and go.
Some get realized with time, while others
simply flow.
A few thoughts stagnate, and some thoughts
get lost.
But the chatter continues all the time, at any
cost.
What I know not, I know not, it should not
bother me at all.
Yet the quest for the unknown and unseen,
In some of us remain pretty strong.
As search for that philosophic truth, continues
all our life long!

The Autumn brings brittleness, with whitening
of my hair,
Yet I like to dream those dreams, and also to
dare!
As the withered leaves of Autumn, keep
dancing in the whirlpool of time.
My thoughts keep churning, in the windmill
of my mind!
                                    - Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Friend, this reflective poem was composed way back in Feb 2008,
and posted in ‘Poemhunter.com’. Hope you like the same, - Raj

               THE  ECHO
Standing on the edges of the Western
Ghats of India,
I marveled at the panoramic beauty
of the majestic scene,
And inhaled the pure ether within.
Next, like many others who had
preceded me, I shouted out my name;
And my voice resounded through the
corridors of time,
As those hills echoed and re-echoed
my name!
Here I was alive and breathing, on top
of the world.
I played this game again and again, -
Lost in this child-like fun!

For one day I too shall become a distant
echo but without a voice.
A transparent negative of a positive self.
Perhaps waiting in God’s darkroom to
become visible once again in a positive  
form, -
After several centuries and many eons!
Though I have prayed for ‘moksha’ always,
With no desire to be Reborn!

Our succeeding generations will continue
to view the Western Ghats in wonder
and amazement,
And also loudly shout out their name.
While those mountains would faithfully
echo back the same,
Time and again, all playing the same
old game!
                                          -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,

Friend, abbreviation BC is used to show that a year or century comes before the year in which Jesus Christ is said to have been born. But now BC acquires an additional connotation as ‘Before Corona/Covid’  year, with 2020 becoming our unfortunate
landmark year! - Raj

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PRESENT TIMES
The abbreviation of BC has acquired a fresh
new meaning these days,
Since BC henceforth will also refer to as
‘Before Covid’ days!
The year 2020 shall go down in History as
the commencement of the Covid Era,
Which engulfed mankind due to the
nefarious activities of expansionist CHINA!
China which was once reputed to be the
‘Cradle of Ancient Civilization’,
Has now become the cause for it progressive
destruction!
Jing Ping’s crime against Humanity has overtaken
that of Adolf ****** as we now get to see!
But the World leaders are impotent to unite
against China, - most unfortunately!

The Covid Era with its hygienic taboos and
Social distancing,
Has made us more introverted and dependent
on Computers and ‘WhatsApp’, - for our daily
living!
Smiles are hidden behind masks these days,
And people refrain from greeting with a hug
or a handshake, even for old time’s sake!
Under the present uncertainties of life,
We have become more selfish and self-centered,
following our innate desire to survive!
Though the Insurance Companies and Private
Medical Institutions are minting money these
days,
While the common man struggles to survive
every single day!

But as an optimist, I do hope that Humans will
develop antibodies against this virus soon.
But those antibodies should not wash away our
Human and Humane qualities, -
Along with the deluge of the Monsoon!
                                               -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
                                                composed 21 Aug 2020.

A BIRD IN HAND  &  ‘CARPE DIEM’*
It has been wisely observed and said,
That a bird in hand is worth two in the
bush always.
Therefore, let us grab this day before it
begins to slip away my friends!

The Afghans are perhaps the only people
in the world who pray after their meal!
Since they are more concerned about the
outcome, -
Than the intentions the behind things!
Just as the proof of the pudding always
remains in its eating!

Now the Latin phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ meaning
‘seize the day’, - has been a popular theme of
English poetry even to this day!
It was first used by the Roman poet Horace in
his ‘Odes’ during 23 BC,
Which spoke of enjoying the day before it
ceases to exist!
This theme is also found in Shakespeare’s sonnets;
In Robert Herrick’s lines ‘To the Virgins to Make
Much of Time’; in Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric ‘To His Coy Mistress’; and also in poems of
AE Houseman, and Robert Frost, - among many
other poets.
Here are few lines from Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric - ‘To His Coy Mistress’:-

“But at my back I always hear
  Time’s wingéd chariot hurrying near:
  And yonder all before us lie
  Deserts of vast eternity.
  Thy beauty shall no more be found;            
  Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
  My echoing song: then worms shall try
  That long-preserved virginity!
  And your quaint honor turn to dust,
  And into ashes all my lust.                  
  The grave’s a fine and private place,
  But none, I think, do there embrace!”

Now I conclude with few lines from my
favorite Henry Wordsworth Longfellow’s
poem - ‘The Psalm of Life’:

“.…Trust no future however pleasant!
       Let the dead Past bury its dead!
       Act, act, in the living Present.
       Heart within, and God overhead!
       Lives of great men all remind us,
       We can make our lives sublime,
       And departing leave behind us,
       Footprints on the sands of time!…”
                                               -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
                                                composed on 03 JULY 2020.