The cowherd’s gift

 

 

In meadows green, above the hills,

I heard the cowherd play –

His flute divine, it healed the world

And took my pains away

 

‘Where did you learn these godly notes?

That from your flute unfurled?’

‘The magic lies inside,’ he said,

‘For this flute can change your world.’

 

‘You play this flute and make your wish,

And your wish will then come true

The world, the wind, the waves and all

Will bow, listen to you.’

 

The selfish trader inside me,

Then tried to make a deal,

I threw a heap of gold at him,

That magic flute to steal

 

That simple cowherd overjoyed

To touch ingots of gold,

While I walked away with a magic flute

For new days to unfold

 

I ran at once to the village square,

I had to usher change,

I played the flute and felt its vibes

Though the notes were twisted, strange

 

And one by one, my hamlet changed

Exactly as my crave,

I was the ruler new, at once

Almighty, noble, brave

 

The temple got covered in stones,

Rubies, diamonds, jade

The villagers gathered ‘round myself,

And I was the headman made

 

My kin and kith got richer still,

Their houses made a fort,

While I received a palace large,

A souk, a bank, a port

 

Why stop at measures small, I asked,

Why stop at just a king?

I played the flute now stronger still,

And a God in me did spring

 

I wished the sun to be pink and cream

The moon had to be green,

The world was daubed and made enriched

In new colours unseen

 

I changed the world, I changed it all

The tenth incarnated god?

The men around me sang in praise

I was their overlord

 

‘Hear ye all, and hear ye one,

Let there be no dispute,

You are to serve me, until as long,

As I play this golden flute.’

 

The men at once, stopped their revelry,

They looked at me in doubt

Where is this flute, they seemed to ask

Where is his source of clout?

 

How impudent, I raged aloud,

But then I looked at me,

No cowherd flute did grace my hands,

Wherever did it flee?

 

And all at once, my glory world

Changed bit by bit and back,

My coloured world was all awashed

In grey and white and black

 

I was back at once at my village square

No subject around me,

Another dusky day and myself

Back to where I’d be

 

Angry, enraged, I screamed out loud,

Some illusion it was all,

While far above in the meadows stood,

The cowherd blue and small

And I heard his flute, once more again

Was it all his wily ruse?

Or was his flute then too divine

For us mortals to abuse?

Or was it all a part of that,

Illusion He had drawn,

One real king, the rest of us,

A jack, a knave, a pawn

The flute played on, I stood ashamed

Humbled by the herder,

He seemed to smile, then disappeared

Though the music sounded louder….

 

17^th January’2022