A study of Rama Rao’s thirty-seven short poems evinces his fine creativity and one is enamoured of the values, which presently seem to have been lost in the mire of materialism. The poet sings about the loss of human ethics. The very first poem, ‘A Sigh and Relief’, is a satire on the political power. The politicians, these days, are mad with power and seem to have lost their ability to judge gold from dross. He, very aptly, argues that “Vice has limits / Death is not the only end”: human vices aren’t infinite and the most frightening death is not the end of life. Those who fail to learn this truth must know that “Bangs may not sound” but “can be doused”. Power and beauty are short lived. One should remember that “Waves that surge retreat too”
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Memory to the poet, when old, “flashes for no reason at all” like “A whiff of a thing forgotten long ago / From the distant insignificant past”. Old memory sparkles suddenly to the protagonist of the poem and reminds things and persons forgotten long ago. Sometimes, these memories are senseless. In this poem, the protagonist remembers about his youth when he walked, in a fashionable T-shirt with sun-glasses on his eyes, flaunting his ego. Now, he realizes that it was all useless. Memories do stealthily stalk ‘Joys of Living’, which enumerates what makes old people delighted: looking at grand-children playing before them and showering their affection on them by “Offering candy and frisking [their] hair”. A wife requesting her husband to take tea first gives joy to both of them. At this spectacle, the old couple feels complete and thanks God for this bliss that results from filial company. The poet infers that “Life is for living in joy /With a satisfied feeling of well being”. Joyful living with children and grand-children inflates their hearts with family pride.
‘My Son My Father’ is a paradoxical poem. Though the title of this poem appears illogical, yet the persona in the poem tries to justify it: when he was young and his son—an infant, he used to help him; now, when he has grown old—in his sixties or seventies—his son helps
Memory to the poet, when old, “flashes for no reason at all” like “A whiff of a thing forgotten long ago / From the distant insignificant past”. Old memory sparkles suddenly to the protagonist of the poem and reminds things and persons forgotten long ago. Sometimes, these memories are senseless. In this poem, the protagonist remembers about his youth when he walked, in a fashionable T-shirt with sun-glasses on his eyes, flaunting his ego. Now, he realizes that it was all useless. Memories do stealthily stalk ‘Joys of Living’, which enumerates what makes old people delighted: looking at grand-children playing before them and showering their affection on them by “Offering candy and frisking [their] hair”. A wife requesting her husband to take tea first gives joy to both of them. At this spectacle, the old couple feels complete and thanks God for this bliss that results from filial company. The poet infers that “Life is for living in joy /With a satisfied feeling of well being”. Joyful living with children and grand-children inflates their hearts with family pride.
‘My Son My Father’ is a paradoxical poem. Though the title of this poem appears illogical, yet the persona in the poem tries to justify it: when he was young and his son—an infant, he used to help him; now, when he has grown old—in his sixties or seventies—his son helps