RIP Sr. Marcos Gomes-Catao. He would personally share his poems and articles about Goa since 2016. Here is one on Calangute: Ode to CalanguteOf the 40’s The shimmering landscape of BAGA far awayAlmost lost in the curve of the baySo recalls a picturesque MONET tableau
HAIL! Brightest Belle of all GOAN shores.Manifold the variety of your folks:That old lady seeking solace for her rheumatismRubs shoulders with the matron eyeing lasses for her lad,And yonder comely damsel in seeming distressVain looks for the philanderer faithlessTo whom last year her heart she pledgedWhereas the svelte demoiselle from KarachiBanters her beaux with coquetish repartee. HAIL! Fairest of all GOAN shoresIn the quiet of your serene eveningsThe soft caressing whisper of the windRustling through your swaying palmsWorks like a potent, soothing balmAs dulcet sounds float in the air:“Crying Suzanna” or “Darling Clementine”,“Coming down the mountains” or othersWhich the virtuoso coaxes from his guitarTo the accompanying bystanders' delight. HAIL!B rlightest Belle of all GOAN shoresBehind trellised screens in the balconyOf the palm-thatched hoary innThe loud tittle-tattle of jaunty ramblersDowning “St.PAULI” 2 or a swig of “MACIEIRA” 3,With Africanders clinging to their Scotcha,Rises into the depths of the eveningAs raucous voices join in with 'mando'To the accords of violin and 'gumot'4 HAIL! Fairest of all GOAN shores.Time passes taking with it all we love.Is it alright to have a moment's regretThat the magnificent old pageantIs now subdued by monstrous cement boxesAnd the old graciousness replaced by obnoxiousnessOf gauche 'outsider “nouveau riches”And jobless dregs of Western society? HAIL! Brightest Belle of all GOAN shores.How they have killed the core of your soulBringing to mind those oracular wordsOf the song we sang not too long ago:“Bye, beauteous, gracious shoresAdieu, land of my loveWhat aching nostalgia thou leavestIn the deepest recesses of my heart”.5 BC ======================= Long-time Goanetter Marcos Gomes-Catao passed in the past week, and as a tribute to him, we carry one of his charming articles he had shared earlier. MG-C's prominent family home, now replaced by a building that houses many medical and other facilities in Mapusa, still carries the family name. He is the brother of the prominent Jesuit educationist in Poona and Goa, late Vincent Gomes-Catao SJ. I*****************************
