wordsmith : Oh, my swan queen!

When I saw a wild flower beautiful and gay I enjoyed its bouncy smile and toss, bob and sway� I didn't desire to pluck it or suck its honey any way!

When I looked at the moon maid idyllic and fay � I didn't fancy to soar and kiss her far away Or transform her into the cool soft bed-light of my chalet!

When I was blithe with the Michigan Lake breezy Surveying its liquid splendour blue and wavy � I craved not to carry it into my backyard so vasty!

Eyeing the Niagara Maid of Mist with zing And its gorgeous and giggling gurgles cascading I didn't dream of it as my bath shower snazzy and sparkling.

When from over the dense and serene sylvan coves The sweet notes of a warbler I heard without move � I didn't long to catch the yellow bird to teach me songs of love.

Then when I spotted a deer springing and sprinting With its fast fleeting glances so very charming � I didn't wish to capture it to be my model of racing.

But whee, as I sight you, sail across like a swan queen enchanting With your rustling spell into my den every morn onto my lap I can't but touch you all o'er and devour, unfolding you and folding!

[Hey presto! Who's this swan queen, anyway? Yeah, who else but aidni snah eht? Just reverse it, folks, to crack the riddle.]

U Atreya Sarma, Editor (Fiction & Reviews) of the e-journal Muse India is from Hyderabad. He has written around 250 poems and 150 writings (articles, editorials, reviews, forewords) mostly in English and a sprinkling in Telugu that have appeared in various print and online media. He also works as a freelance editor. In addition to Lung Care by Dr Shyam Sunder Raj, and Memoirs & Musings of an IAS Officer by KV Natarajan, he is currently editing, a revised fictional autobiography by Gian Singh Shatir (a Sahitya Akademi Awardee, Urdu), and IAS to Sai by KV Natarajan. He has also rendered 16 short stories by prominent writer Dr Mallemala Venugopala Reddy under the title Salt of the Earth & Other Stories (being launched on June 30).