“Viewless wings”
On a windy day in broad day light
we checked in to board an Indigo flight
flying to Kashmir is pure delight
where the skies are blue and hills are white.
I fly higher on wings of imagination
I can’t wait reaching my destination
to stand n stare at nature’s relaxation
to live the dream without cessation.
Topic: Flight
It was early evening in late September,
when I finally embarked on the last train.
The journey home through hills I did remember,
as a wave of nostalgia hit me with joy and pain.
My mind flew to those vistas of solitary beauty
Where men were few and greenery was more.
I intimately knew each tree I climbed for booty,
each flower and its fragrance that made me soar.
What a difference it made when the city lured me
with its tall buildings and glittering sights at night!
The stifling space, the concrete fields made me see
what I left behind running after the mirage of light.
I paid my price for leaving my valley home.
Ready-made food, dust and smoke, cut throat
competition, were no match for me to roam,
an unknown citizen with no friends, I took note.
Before the shackles of attraction and addiction
to city life snapped on my body and soul thank God,
I settled my dues, cleared my desk, shook off affliction,
went home to my people who my decision did applaud.
In this life of short span,
a fistful of heart holds
a sea full of sorrows.
Some true, some not.
A hurtful word, a gesture
cold or a stance slighting
stay with me etched clear
on my unforgiving mind.
Every time I cross paths with
the enemy, my heart compresses
with cold and bitter memories.
I lose my peace till a plan emerges
to wreak revenge. A vengeful
heart hurts me too, blinds me to
the insidious outcome. My blood
races and depression follows.
So I try to listen to my inner voice,
the divinity that tells me to forget
the wrong deed, to forgive the doer,
and I sleep on it to let it sync.
I wake up from a restful sleep,
I feel the calm within myself.
I know I am free, for, the dense,
drab, and disgusting darkness
disappears with the dawning light
of soothing forgiveness; the desert
of depression dissolves, and brings
me closer to the world, to my Maker.
The lavender blue button
of my grey and white sweater
is lost somewhere sudden
and I scoured every single corner.
The button is shiny like a star,
when I find it I will sew it back
so their number is even and exact
with my lost little button sewn in place.
Topic: Sew on a button
Tea workers
Toiling on the tough terrain of Darjeeling
tea plantation, in sun and wind,
they earn a pittance for a hard day’s
labour, live in perennial penury.
The tea workers smile through
the endless monotony with a song
that echoes in the hills, in rhythm
with deft hands picking fragrant leaves.
Topic: IMPECUNIOUS
https://media.istockphoto.com/id/165874768/photo/indian-pickers-plucking-tea-lea…
The world looks like a haven of peace
from the pinnacle of this misty mountain.
I’d love to stay here surrounded by calm
losing myself in the pristine premises.
The picture of an untouched spectacle
and the soft ringing bells of a monastery
will stay on my mind and in my ears
even as I am drawn into the bustle of a city.
Topic: Write A Pinnacle Poem
At sea and in life we’ve been thro’ rites of passage. Difficult it was to navigate through the narrow canals of the Panama and the Suez. Excellent was the sync betwixt the bridge and the engines, gliding gingerly. Topic: WRITE A NAVIGATION POEM. The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.https://t2.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDplK-QB2XKZjOJf-WS_wATPigTesd… The Suez Canal The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1138476240/photo/ship-transiting-through-suez-c… My connection? My husband was the chief engineer on both these voyages on cargo ships. My kids and I were with him, luckily. |
Sailing under the bridge of sighs
with a moon shining like ardor in their eyes,
A Venetian romance in the scented air
The tall, dark Italiano with his Labelle, fair.
White-clad gondolier sings a sweet sad song
reaching into the depths of night far and long.
The promise of a kiss and of love eternal
who’d ever miss it with a passion, perpetual.
Topic: Under the bridge
| Clamor in my cabeza for a visit to a country a couple of oceans away. Signatures and statements from banks and taxes god knows what else. All the way to destination can’t nap, can’t keep awake. Topic: Clamor |
I see people pause under the shade
of a huge well spread mango tree
stop and stare till fatigue fades,
till brains cooled and minds freed
to travel to destinations less wearied,
for the cool branches fanned them well.
Thanks to the planter and the cheery
birdies, tensions too are quelled.
Prompt: “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone
planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett
Jayalakshmi V. 