The Beatles in India

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

The Beatles in India

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 13 May 2023, 22:39

The Beatles in India


Overlooking the Ganges,
and rising from the jungle
was the ashram.

While George vanished into meditation
John and Paul often
spent their time

fiddling with new songs,
and singing at night
on a bungalow's roof.

Reporters waiting in London for the band
were as thick as mosquitoes
in a jungle.

In San Francisco
I fingered love beads,
took up Transcendental Meditation,

chanting and spiritual breathing
as suddenly important
as the Beatles’ next album.

The man with the Maharishi beard
instructed us to sit on mats.
"Empty your minds,"

he said softly. "Close your eyes."
I did, but my mind was as busy
as a gymnast doing a floor routine.

Still, I was surprised to hear
a mere six weeks in
that John was bailing Rishikesh

faster than he'd bail
a limousine on fire.

Did he feel betrayed
by the Maharishi's sales pitch?
What did he think

as a film crew
helicoptered into the jungle
to shoot the lads?

Or maybe meditation
lacked the allure
of an afternoon nap?

Either way, John raced home
into the arms of Yoko,
temple bells adrift in the hills...

Still, could George be wrong?
I tried harder, took up yoga.
But meditation?

"Empty your minds," was the theme.
But my mind proved as always
to be a monkey

grabbing branch after branch
in a dizzying climb.

My daily meditation over,
Mr. Mantra clapping his hands
like a hypnotist,

I'd wake, thankful
to return to the world
again.


note: This is an old poem that I keep reworking...modified again

CalebMurdock
Posts: 185
Joined: 10 Dec 2023, 14:59

Re: The Beatles in India

#2 Post by CalebMurdock » 31 Jan 2024, 07:03

I've been looking back at posts that didn't get any answers.

Reading this poem had a warm comfort for me, since I lived through the Beatles phenomenon, and they were very important and real to me. However, I find myself wondering a few things. Is everything in the poem true to history? Who is the N -- Ringo? How would the N know what was happening in London? Ah, then there is a jump to San Francisco. The N seems to have a kind of omnipotence, or is this hindsight? In other places, the poem seems to be a third-person N. So, understanding who the N is, is important to me in order to understand the poem.

Overall, this seems to be a slice-of-life type poem, but the details conveyed in it don't seem remarkable, and I continue to wonder if they are factual/historical.

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: The Beatles in India

#3 Post by BobBradshaw » 31 Jan 2024, 22:28

Thx

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