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The Spring Music

Mar25

The earth gently opens

to show frail patterns

of leaves, green and purple, basking in their poise

before pulling back to

guard their sibling blooms.

Quails chatter in a calm

extinct birds’ language,

showing off their tanned wings to partners, hushing

at the delicious spray

of dew on their beaks.

Huge mountains and plains still

while oceans whisper,

as skies pour down, drenching tiny and huge lives

soaking the brownish sand

in colors of joy

The poem above has been written for Carrot Ranch Double Ennead Monthly Poetry Challenge. Thank you, Colleen, for the opportunity.

Unremembered

Mar4

I sit in the General Hospital, waiting for my turn when I hear a loud wailing. Expecting to see a child, I am shocked to see an elderly lady in a wheelchair, crying with her eyes tightly shut. I am deeply disturbed and could see that the other patients are uncomfortable too. This incident reminds me of an old cleaning lady in our condo whose eyes glistened as she told me how lonely she felt as her children and grandchildren lived far away. There is another instance of a man in our neighborhood who is dreadfully scared of dogs but has to walk his daughter’s dog, as she is too busy to do so. As I walk away from the hospital, I see an elderly man staring into space.

His treble

the language

of wrinkles

Touch of Life

Jan12

Cold cut through her skin,

seeped into her bones,

and clutched her shivering heart

as its icy grip spread

all over her body.



Stacked logs on the fireplace

could not warm her frosty breath

and heavy blankets failed

to comfort her chilled body.



Then it happened.

A tiny feeble hand

touched her heart

and blood gushed

into her body, filling

her with maternal warmth.

Her cold ears melted

in the soft babble

of cooing noises.

Her eyes trembled open

to soak in the warmth

of the tiny stranger and

she forced herself up

with outstretched arms.

Vague Memories

Dec20

The old lady sits in the corner of a
park bench, overlooking
her nursing home.
She laughs if spoken to,
her toothless smile as
pure as that of a baby,
a testimony to her
lost memories.

She does not remember
her husband with whom
she shared 40 years of pain nor
does she remember her children
to whom she gave 30 years of
her health. She fails to recall
her father who was never there.
She has a fleeting memory
of a young woman who birthed her,
fed and sang to her,
cried and laughed with her
and has now become a picture
in her ancient house,
never growing old.

The old lady sobs softly
disturbed by vague thoughts of
her mother, alarming her caregivers.
Then she is back to senile
laughing self as those around her
sigh in relief.

New Life

Nov19

I tried to move my ravaged limbs

when I heard arms and legs

thrashing around

in the next ward.


I rasped, trying to breathe

as incoherent screams

from the neighborhood

gave voice to my pain.


Silence found me, at last,

and I was wrapped, but

my soul wandered,

half-desolate and half-ecstatic.


Then I opened

my new eyes

to see a vague form

as motherly cooing

caressed my ears.

A Promise of Life

Nov11

I walk close to the tangled barks

and buzzing noise

where creatures of the dark

watch me unseen.

Fear battling with persistence,

I tread into the darkness.

Branches block my vision

and stones prick my feet.

I stumble,

but walk on

when a gust of breeze

sweeps over me.

I look up to see a paradise

of flowers. The buzzing noises are

that of Red Admirals,

hovering around undiscovered flowers.

The tangled barks spread to huge branches

that offer shelter to millions

of tiny creatures, crawling and flying.

Did I fear the darkness?

Doesn’t the dark ultimately

make way for light?

The light of never-ending life,

promise and vigor.