Ho hum

A cathartic hiatus, I seek

Without jeopardizing my streak,

A workaholic by demeanor,

To keep it that way, am eager.

 

Risky propositions, I don’t undertake,

Hasty decisions, I don’t make,

A mundane existence I lead,

Pathetic, it seems to be, indeed.

Serenity, serendipity

I dream of a day,

That I can while away,

Creating my happiness,

In my serene ambience.

 

Life has other plans,

Peace and calm sans,

Racing the proverbial

Since the primordial.

 

All around fall apart,

Its own courses charted,

I shall take heart,

In the joy, chaos imparts.

Poignant Parting

I can’t say goodbye,

Don’t want to get on by,

Time doesn’t yet heal,

Life no longer appeals.

 

She wouldn’t want,

Her memories to haunt,

Farewell in peace,

Was one of her pleas.

 

Tears well up today

It happens this way,

A momentary pause,

The uneasiness gnaws.

 

Irresolute concession

Connive is what life does,

Against my apparent resolve,

Coming out top on a day,

I assume there’s success involved,

But is vehemently denied to me,

As everything begins to devolve.

 

Intrigued, I still am enough,

Challenges, as I try to solve.

One after another though,

In the downs, my life revolves.

Since I haven’t been broken yet,

Now waiting for the strength to evolve.

Perils of pusuit

A burden I carry, a cross I bear,

Unable to refuse, I do others’ share,

At deathbed, I may come to regret,

For now, as success, I tend to interpret.

 

One after another, crisis, I solve,

A race against myself and my resolve,

My life and priorities come to stall,

Slowly every day begins to appall.

 

I hold my gripe and move on,

Trying hard to keep the smile on,

Weakened, however, as the years go by,

I let go of everything with a sigh!

 

 

Sham charade

Her words and actions are hollow,

Pretense of perfection wallows,

Fluffy comments of a know-it-all,

She continues to make one appalled.

 

An pompous air of superiority,

Her endless putdowns of asperity,

She seems to be harboring within,

Some unadulterated loathing.

 

Summer, you say

 

 

The heat, I complain,

Sitting cocooned within,

Overlooked passed wintry chill

What is with this summer

I throw a resigned sigh

 

Forgotten are the beach trips,

The ice creams and vacations,

Long gone are the lazy days,

Waiting to begin anew

I just annoyingly bustle .

 

The hues of wildflowers,

Chirps of the night crickets,

The dried brown grass

And the long bright days.

Uncaring, I whirr the AC on.

 

There I go again

Today, as I rejoice in celebration,

I can’t stem the deluge of tears,

Over the lost moments of life,

And opportunities’ missed over the years.

 

My utopian ideals lets me down,

Every now and then, it appears.

I try to squelch it and move on,

But toward it, my thoughts get steered.

 

Perfect, a picture I paint,

Father who roots and cheers,

The mother, an epitome of wisdom,

The little ones, two, are dears.

 

Yanked away by stark reality,

I paddle on, trying to steer,

Yet again, I do concede,

That I have to switch gears.

 

That brings back the heavy heart,

By the time it begins to clear,

There it comes, all over again,

‘The tide in the affairs’

Just a thought

A step back, I pause and ponder,

At you, I look in wonder,

Bonding with you, in an instant,

In my life you shall be a constant.

 

Not a grumble, at your acts,

We have our own little pacts,

You twirl me around your fingers,

As you continue to toy and tinker.

 

Painless, was your transition,

Happy, your regular disposition,

With love, you shall be enveloped,

Into a fine being, as you develop.

Adorable darling

Your tears break my heart,

My whole world falls apart,

You fix yourself with a smile,

To regain myself, I take a while.

 

I follow you to every single nook,

I understand your every look,

Your incessant calls make my day,

Keeping all my doubts at bay.

 

I know one day, off you will go,

I just hope that day doesn’t show,

Interwoven, you are into my fiber,

As I hold on to you, a little tighter.

Angels hark

 

 

 

 

An invisible hand hovers,

Over my troubled head,

My thoughts then recover,

As though back from dead.

 

My sheltered existence,

Seemed to be threatened,

Required of me was penance,

For the unrest to amend.

 

PROMPT COURTESY: Poetic Asides

 

 

Let down

You are the one I call my own,

But you treated me with a frown,

Horrible days, then followed,

Your pride, you never swallowed.

 

Listlessly, dejected I went about,

Uncaringly, your day, you tout.

Moody, of me, you dismiss,

While you went on with your tryst.

 

Pieces, I picked up, one by one,

Propped or prodded, I was by none.

Alone, I decided, is the way to go,

With you, there is only sorrow.

 

 

To flourish while fading

 

 

 

 

 

I will fade away, into recognition

The seasons maybe any

I will wilt and wither here,

Possibly Thursday, the day in spring.

 

I decide on Thursday, because I was

Born on that day,

I pen these lines in fear,

In dread of diminishing,

The end is terrifying.

 

There will an emptiness

No one to recollect my days,

Truly I will vanish

Into dust, in the woods,

On a rainy sunny day.

 

PROMPT:

And now for today’s (optional, as always!) prompt. Today, let’s rewrite a famous poem, giving it our own spin. While any famous poem will do, if you haven’t already got one in mind, why not try your own version of Cesar Vallejo’s Black Stone Lying on a White Stone? If you’re not exactly sure how such a poem could be “re-written,” check out this recent poem by Stephen Burt, which riffs on Vallejo’s. Happy writing!

 

 

Lurid quietude

 

 

 

 

 

Plagued by nightmares,

My life takes a turn,

Blood and gore don’t fare,

Still makes my heart churn.

 

Waking up in cold sweat,

There are visions, that stay,

Tragedies that torment,

Life turns into gray.

 

Like dementors to my soul,

Gnawing away the calm,

Smells so acrid and foul,

Seem to all over, embalm.

 

Knee jerk tears flow,

Swaying in the anguish,

Nothing stems the throes,

In desolation, I languish.

 

Respite, there isn’t at all,

From the infinite agony,

Ordeals continue to whirl,

Dissipating all harmony.

 

PROMPT COURTESY: Poetic Asides

 

Captivated by doohickey

 

 

 

 

Not a day goes by,

When I don’t fondle you,

With all my undying love,

Your praises, I spew.

 

Your bright response,

To my first look,

Continuing from where left off,

Taken line, sinker and hook.

 

I caress your behind,

As I hold you tight,

We both settle down

Under the covers each night,

 

The lights turn off,

You grip me with your glow,

Spending hours together,

No fatigue, you seem to show.

 

As sleep plays on me,

My dear, I let you go,

Until the next time to play.

My iPad, I adore you so.

 

PROMPT COURTESY: http://www.napowrimo.net/2014/04/one-week-in/

 

Auto-pret*

 

 

 

 

I sit to paint a picture,

Of me, in my element,

Long gaping at the canvas,

No ideas seem to cement.

 

A female, I am, I conclude,

Do I owe me any props?

Is there the ideal mix,

Of the gains and the flops?

 

Successful, I decide to add,

Generous all the way,

Intangibles, I list many,

But, how do I portray?

 

A briefcase, do I depict

Or money illustrate?

Kids and husband in tow,

Joy, does it demonstrate?

 

While I ponder over these,

The blankness stares back,

In the nothingness, I settle

I am an unfinished abstract.

 

*A play on introspect

 

PROMPT

 

Note to self

 

 

I am my biggest foe,

I reap whatever I sow,

Dejected I feel at slight,

And, on it I focus my might.

 

Frustrations show me raw,

Discontents  begin to gnaw,

Discouragement, a self blow,

I am then forced to lie low.

 

With all these within me,

Who needs an enemy,

For me, I should root,

My own horn, to toot.

 

 

PROMPT COURTESY: Poetic Asides

Withering sight

 

 

Emaciated, he looked gaunt,

His past continued to haunt,

His vile deeds of the yore,

Gnawed at his innermost core.

 

Decomposing his life gone by,

He awaited his verdict with a sigh,

His few remaining days on earth,

Of love, there was a dearth.

 

Repentance, it crossed his mind,

‘Too little, too late’, he resigned,

No one else will ever come to know,

To the grave, he will take his woes.

 

PROMPT COURTESY: 3WW

 

Lost in fantasy

Like the proverbial Alice,

I have entered the mythical land,

Of Fujins and Thors, Odin too,

The Gods of Wind and Power,

I am sufficiently entranced,

Perplexed overly.

Eleves and dwarves scurry about,

While Gozu and Mezu guard,

I don’t make any sense,

I stay entrenched, deep

Escape my real world.

A realm beyond my conscious

I have descended into.

I make my own stories

History is fiction

Characters my figment

Blurry with sensory illusion.

TRUE BLUE

 

 

 

I rake my brains hard,

To name something blue,

I have been duly dared,

That it cannot be “you”

 

While on my thoughts, I chew,

And, think of the ocean,

As I try to not eschew,

The skies of the blue notion.

 

As I ponder over more,

There is the Hindu God,

Devotedly followed by scores,

Who are humbly awed.

 

I think of joyous beauty,

And the peacock comes to mind,

To spread its splendor is its duty,

Just when the gray skies descend.

 

Or it could be the Nav’i tribe,

In the mystical Avatar space,

That’s all I am able to  scribe,

Of Blues there are no other trace.

 

PROMPT COURTESY: NAPOWRIMO

Then there was the beginning

 

 

 

 

Then there was the beginning,

The fidgety wait for the day to arrive,

The apprehension made it exciting,

The nervous energy on which I thrive.

 

Then there was the beginning,

Or am I looking at it wrong,

Am I walking in circles,

And, is it to be the swan song?

 

Like the ticking time piece,

The sundial that never stops,

Or the hourglass with sand,

The incessant cuckoo’s squawks.

 

Can time be boxed in , at all?

Is there ever a finishing line?

With the incessant succession,

Life certainly got on quite fine.

 

PROMPT COURTESY

 

Open homes and hearts

 

Flying balloons and boards,

They beckon me towards,

AS I slowly open the door,

Anticipation, within soars.

 

The welcome helloes done,

And, now begins the fun,

With the crowd milling around,

There are surprises to be found.

 

“Charming, cozy and comfortable,

To afford, are you, currently able?

These are words strewn about,

When stories I begin to spout.

 

I look at some of them in awe,

In others, I find many a flaw,

There isn’t one, that’s perfect,

It is just all about the connect.

 

With the thank-yous, this ends,

I close the door, on my intends.

I wonder if this is in my fate?

Here, memories, will I create?

 

I turn back, for a last glance,

Did it sufficiently entrance?

Then, I get yanked to reality,

Finances matter, what a pity!

Delusional restitution

 

I dreamt about you yesterday,

You were weak and whittled,

I saw you unstable and tottering,

The smile on your face unbridled.

 

In the colorless hospital gown,

I saw you in a faded vision,

As we all paced around,

Bring you home, was the mission.

 

I heard the excited voices,

Conversation, I don’t catch,

I seemed to be participating,

But there was a slight detach.

 

I saw you like old times,

The eagerness in your eyes,

I quieted my worrying mind,

And joined in, in the reprise.

 

Did the events transpire such?

It blended with the facts,

I willed myself to a new hope,

But reality, remained intact.

 

 

 

Skip to spring

Magnificence in the horizon,

With many hues, emblazoned.

In silence, I soak it all in,

Everything is new within,

 

The drifting spring breeze,

Puts me at complete ease,

By the sprouting colors on trees,

My turbulent mind gets appeased.

 

Formerly frigid frozen skies of gray,

The sunny splendor drove it away,

Refresh and renew, they say,

It’s the cycle of life at play.

Mundane Romance

 

 

Unprofessional, others silently fumed,

To split up, they seemed to be doomed,

But, they moved on without a care,

Illegitimately, with their own fare.

 

Conflict of interest, another said,

Resentment toward her, it bred,

Special favors to her, were seen,

But, their fondness didn’t wean.

 

Formal action, some threatened,

But, he was a force to be reckoned,

They carried on their forbidden affair,

Of the nasty whispers, blissfully unaware.

Requests requited

As I set out to face

Another day, a week,

The crazy hurried pace,

Isn’t for the meek.

In the midst of it all,

I send up a silent look,

To hold me when I fall,

To steady me, if I shook.

His ways, I find are clever,

Invisible hands wiping my tear,

There is, I find, never,

An unanswered prayer.

Grind, the dreary kind.

A day at work, like any other,

Things continue to smother,

Productivity turns non-existent,

But, tasks growingly persistent.

 

With my little notebook, I peer,

Hoping to make the day disappear,

Like the sound of the closing bell,

I await for my time of farewell.

 

Day dawns bright and boring,

With the early alarms blaring,

Rinse and repeat, the day goes on,

While I try and stifle my yawn.

 

Monotony is the name of the game,

Breaking it, garners you fame,

Until then, bear the daily grind,

And, to this tedium, be consigned.

Often said, cliche

Her eyes, frantic, sought out,

The only one that mattered,

Fleetingly, an instance of doubt,

Her breath seemed to falter.

 

He then came into sight,

Clothed in complete perfection,

Was it, in tiny armor, her knight?

As she soaked in, her elation.

 

All of seven pounds he lay,

Swaddled in oodles of love,

Bawling his little lungs away.

Life now changes and how!

 

A runaway kite, left to fare.

 

I hold in my desires,

I reign in, my hopes,

As dreams take me astray,

And, love makes me afloat.

 

I drift away unbridled,

In the vast expanse of joy,

Flailing unrestrained,

Amidst clouds of calm.

 

Far away, I set my sights,

Leaving certainty behind,

The brave breeze of change,

Carpets me to there.

 

I soar in wild abandon,

Without looking back,

Like an arrow shot in the air,

A runaway kite, left to fare.

Growing up and growing old

Pensive, I brood the past day,

A number, that’s all, I try to say,

While decrepit, I am not,

With signs of it, I am wrought.

 

Credibly, I may still pass off,

As young, without anyone’s scoff,

But, the day isn’t far,

With wrinkles, I maybe marred.

 

I wear my grays in pride,

After all, that was to betide,

Wisdom, I await upon me,

Ripe and mellow, soon to be.

Cogently contradictory

 

I walk in anticipation,

Of the ever present beauty,

I await in apprehension,

Of the things falling apart.

 

I soar in joy, along with,

The many stories of triumph,

I shed copious tears,

At the thought of the others.

 

I breeze through in ease,

At some daily tasks,

I struggle hard and long,

With other demands at hand.

 

A big bag of paradoxes,

Is all I seem to be,

But Inimitably unique,

Is was I intend to stay.

Rocking routine

Friday arrives without much ado,

Weekends sought after are due.

A rolling list of things to do,

Serenity, elusively, I try to woo.

 

Strewn by social interaction,

Routinely are the same faction.

My tasks remain in non-completion.

As I continue on with my infractions.