Poetry and Prose Under the Lyre Tree

Wednesday afternoon following tea, three authors read from their writings under the Lyre Tree. They were introduced by David Anderson, Senior School Head, who compared prose and poetry to walking and dancing, an enchanting image.

Eunice DeSouza is a poet who lives in Mumbai. She read from her recent collection, "Necklace of Skulls." Her poems were short and very humorous. Her topics ranged from parakeets in her flat to her Catholic mother.

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was the only repeat reader from last year. He has translated the "Songs of Kabir," a well-known 15th-century Indian poet. The New York Times reviewed it last May. He is an excellent reader and is a poet in his own right as well as editor of a number of books. A quote that stayed with me:  "The mind is a knot that is difficult to untie."

The third reader was Alan Lightman. He is the author of the well-known book "Einstein's Dreams," an imagining of Einstein's many dreams about the nature time as he worked on his theory of relativity. Mr. Lightman is both an astrophysicist and a writer, and teaches writing to scientists at MIT in Boston. He read from his new novel (to be published in early 2012), "Mr. g." He believes and is an excellent example of the idea that rational and intuitive thought can co-exist. "Mr. g" explores the creation of the universe in unlimited possibilities -- and in a humorous way.