|
by Sunalie Ratnayake
(October 25,
2012, Los Angeles, Sri Lanka Guardian)
(I)
The “Okapi”
and the “Ghost-frog” took to the sky,
In a
striking ‘salmon-pink’ balloon-ship,
They took
some feathers, to shield from cold weathers,
Neatly
placed in a ‘portmanteau’.
The Okapi
looked up to the heavens above,
And sang,
playing a bronze ‘glockenspiel’,
“O lovely
‘Froggie’ ! O ‘Froggie’ my love,
What a
beautiful ‘Froggie’ you are,
You are,
You are,
What a
beautiful Froggie you are !”
(II)
Whilst
pouring cava from a carafe,
Froggie said
; “My ‘elegant giraffe’;
How
enthrallingly sweet you sing !,
O let us be
wedded ! Too long we have treaded ;
But where
shall we make it our ‘aisle’?”
They flew
away, for a month and four days,
To the realm
where the ‘Corpse-Flower’ grows,
Inside the
flower’s ‘sheathing’, stood a ‘Gnome’ gaily chortling,
The
blossom’s ‘inflorescence’, three metres or more;
A ‘spathe’
apt for an ‘aisle’ for sure,
For sure,
For sure,
A ‘spathe’
apt for an ‘aisle’ for sure.
(III)
“Dear Gnome,
are you willing,
to sell for
rupiahs ten, no more, you kidding,
this
‘sheathing’?” ~ Said the gnome, I will.
Thrilled,
they grasped it away ;
Unfolded and
married the next day,
By the
‘Angora’, disguising his face.
They dined
on green leaves, and luscious arthropods,
Making love
on a “Satinycious Davenport”;
And
hand-in-hand, on the crest of the hill,
They swayed
to the whistle of the ‘cockatiel’,
The
‘cockatiel’,
The
‘cockatiel’,
They swayed
to the whistle of the cockatiel.
Authour’s Note :
“THE
OKAPI AND THE GHOST-FROG” saw daylight, as an inspiration from Edward Lear’s
ever famous ‘Nonsense Poem’ initially published in 1871 ; “THE OWL AND THE
PUSSY-CAT”. Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl named Janet Symonds -
the daughter of Lear's friend and Poet ; John Addington Symonds, and his wife
Catherine Symonds.
In Edward Lear’s, “The
Owl and the Pussy-cat”, there were four evident creatures involved in the tale
; the OWL, the PUSSY-CAT, the PIG and the TURKEY, as it unfolds the story of
the love between the title characters (the Owl and the Pussy-cat), who enters
wedlock in the “Land where the Bong-tree grows". Moreover, the term
“RUNCIBLE SPOON” was coined for the poem.
In this poem; “The
Okapi and the Ghost-frog”, (inspired by Lear’s renowned elegy), the OKAPI, the
GHOST-FROG, the GNOME, the ANGORA RABBIT and the COCKATIEL, a total of five
characters gather during numerous moments, in forming and unfolding the tale of
the love between the title characters (the ‘Okapi’ and the ‘Ghost-frog’).
SYNOPSIS :
The
Okapi and the Ghost-frog fly away to the skies in a “Balloon-Ship” of the
salmon-pink shade. They make sure to pack in a “portmanteau” (which is a large
trunk or suitcase opening into two equal parts) some ‘feathers’ to wrap around
themselves to keep them warm, in case if the weather may turn cold, where they
may chill in the freezing skies above.
The Okapi serenades
his lover, the Ghost-frog, while gazing at the heavenly sky from the
balloon-ship, and strumming on the percussion instrument known as the
“Glockenspiel”. He describes her as ‘beautiful’.
The
Ghost-frog responds by describing the Okapi as her "elegant giraffe"
(the Okapi belongs to, and is the only other member of the Giraffe family), and
compliments him on his singing. She urges they marry, but they do not have an
“aisle” to walk down, which is customarily a distinctive occurrence in a
marriage.
They continue to fly
away, for a month and four days, to the land where the ‘Corpse Flower’ grow,
and discover a “Gnome” (a legendary dwarfish creature supposed to guard the
earth's treasures underground) living inside the Corpse Flower, merrily
laughing, jumping up and down on the flower’s “inflorescence” (a cluster of
flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch), in this case,
which is “Three Metres” or more in length, when unfolded, as the Corpse Flower
is an enormous flower.
The duo decides that
this “spathe” (the leaf-like bract that encloses a flower cluster) is ideal
(when unfolded) to be utilized as their “aisle” for the wedding. Therefore,
they buy it from the Gnome, cutting a deal for a total of “Ten Rupiahs” (the currency
utilized in Indonesia, the land famous for the Corpse Flower). And, the next
day, the duo marries by the “Angora Rabbit”, the attesting witness of the
marriage. (Angora Rabbits are a breed of domestic rabbits, of which the long
and fluffy fur covers it’s entire face, hence the verse ; “By the ‘Angora’,
disguising his face”).
They dine on leaves,
and arthropods (usually the Okapi eats leaves and buds from trees, while the
Ghost-frog eats insects, snails and other arthropods). Then the newly married
couple dances hand-in-hand on top of a hill, to the whistle of the Cockatiel (a
member of the parrot family famous for its advanced and powerful whistling and
singing ability). This is the last character involved in the poem.
Furthermore, such as
the term RUNCIBLE SPOON was coined for Edgar Lear’s poem ; “The Owl and the
Pussy-cat” ; the term “SATINYCIOUS DAVENPORT” was coined for Ratnayake’s poem ;
“The Okapi and the Ghost-frog”.
‘Satinycious
Davenport’ carries the concealed meaning of a shining davenport (a large
upholstered sofa, typically able to be converted into a bed) that is made out
of satin, with added softness and fluffiness for extra comfort to make the
magic moment of the newly-weds even more magical and memorable.
About
Author: Sunalie Ratnayake is a Sri Lankan journalist
based in USA. Though
her yearning and adoration for “poetry” from her tender years have kept her
occupied in writing her own “poetry” almost all her life, as means of pure
pleasure, thus far, she has seldom shared her “sonnets” with the public.
She
could be reached at :
 (I) The “Okapi” and the “Ghost-frog” took to the ...){kind=link}