Monday, December 30, 2013

Happy New Year!



Wish all a Joyous and Peaceful New Year!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Welcome 2014 - Year of the Horse



darkening twilight ~

the unicorn trail vanish
into the moon


Saturday, December 28, 2013

fine weather




fine weather 
in its stillness, the river
stops its flow, then turns


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas!



WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Monday, December 16, 2013

alone

alone have I come,
alone shall I go – a windblown

flower’s smile 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

spots


departed souls ~
sifting through the void
spots of sunlight



His Highness Uthradom Thirunal Marthandavarma who passed away today....also reminding of the others who have left us....

Atisha - I



The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest action is not conforming with the world's ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.


~ Atisha ~

Monday, December 9, 2013

John Milton - I



“A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.” 
~ John Milton 



Paradise Lost or Paradise Regained, Belated Birthday Greetings, John Milton.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Wading, wading

wading into the dark,
wild swans –rippling
waters


wading into the unknown
wild swans – the eternal
waters reflecting 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

sudden surge



after all these years 
of tedium, a sudden surge of spirit ~
watching a sunbird 
dart crisscross 
across the hedgerow

Monday, December 2, 2013

wind chill

wind chill ~
ah! the pleasure of
walking the earth
awake
through the seasons


Saturday, November 30, 2013

the core of permanence


how long can
a butterfly rest
how long can it
flutter by - finding
the core of permanence

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Mahmoud Darwish - I come from there


I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.
I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland..... 

Monday, November 25, 2013

winter solitude


winter solitude
all day
her blue dreamy eyes
follow the birds
winging the sky




* a verse from a story in process ~

Monday, November 18, 2013

dry leaves


my heart bids me
to be quiet, but,  the mind
says I am required to speak~     
dry leaves clatter
in the wind




Well, the thought....the short verse came to me on seeing that tree..It seems the bark of the tree too changes colour and sheds along with the leaves....Green in summer, turns red through autumn/before winter...sheds the red bark and turns white in winter months and then again fresh green bark and foliage in spring...into summer and so on. It is the story of the tree, but definitely carries the human story as much...


Sunday, November 17, 2013

Winter Air



"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake,
the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. 
This crisp winter air is full of it. ~
John Burroughs" - "Winter Sunshine"



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Thoreau -I


Finding yourself yoked to Matter and to Time. Not a mosquito left. Not an insect to hum. Crickets gone into winter quarters. Friends long since gone there, and you left to walk on frozen ground, with your hands in your pockets. Ah, but is not this a time for deep inward fires? - Henry David Thoreau




Monday, November 11, 2013

end of a long day

end of a long day 
far afield 
a burst of sparkling firecrackers!


a week past Diwali celebrations still on. 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

predawn quiet


the quiet of predawn 

craving for a day 
with nothing in it


first line could be "predawn quiet" as well...but guess i prefer the way it naturally flowed, than to "work" for cohesion and tightness - well, sometimes.

pallid winter sky


pallid the winter sky~ 
contemplating a splash, 
tomato red

high tide

"Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life." ~ Taneda Santōka


high tide 
the thought
of a thought

Thursday, October 31, 2013

November begins









November begins ~

memories close to my heart 
closer still


WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY DIWALI!



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

autumn light

autumn light
the leaves turn
quietly,
oh, so quietly 



Photo: Hilal Ahamed Thankamangalam 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

What is the Use of Poetry?

Question Time: What is the Use of Poetry
Meena Alexander 

Standing apart I looked at her and said –
We have poetry 

So we do not die of history. I had no idea what I meant. ~



Why do we have poetry in a time like this? For me that question folds into another: What does it mean to belong in a violent world? 

I think of the invisible archive that each of us bears within, a deeply personal ingathering of sights and sounds and 
scents and bits of the sometimes ruined materiality that memory allots—and perhaps this is another way of thinking about the coruscating flow of the inner life that gives meaning to our existence, all that comes up when we dare to say “I.” And surely this is the province of poetry.



http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2013/september/what-use-poetry-meena-alexander#.UmCoP3CBnXA

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Whisper of the thunder rolls

giving a voice
to someone else’s word –
thunder rolls
whisper through

the windy rain

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

'The Paradox of Time'


"Time goes, you say? Ah no! 

Alas, Time stays, we go;"




The Paradox Of Time, Henry Austin Dobson
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/henry-austin-dobson/the-paradox-of-time-2/

Monday, September 30, 2013

blue skies of autumn

blue skies of autumn
on this illusion of wings
souls soar
above and beyond,
the walls

within and without 

Saturday, September 21, 2013

autumn rain


autumn rain ~

washed afresh 
the fresh leaves 
rise against the skies,
how bracing! how easing...

reconnecting


reconnecting with 
the words that once 
echoed in my silence, 
here, I hear the sound 
of violets break open

another life



a life ends 
burning to ashes -
what justice can words do, 
the pen 
rests on a blank page, 
another life 
begins elsewhere

autumn moon


autumn moon
turning the other way
evening star


impermanence 
yet, as if time never was 
autumn moon


the times we spoke, 
the things we spoke 
all forgotten 
yet, 
autumn moon

Monday, September 16, 2013

autumn breeze



autumn breeze ~
leaves let go
a melody

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

in this evening's hush


in this evening's hush 
the crescent moon too, 
a luminous bird 
set on flight, 
into the darker skies

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Idle questions


idle questions rumble 
through the clouds gathering 
at sunset ~ beneath, 
the ground resounding 
with the laughter of children

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

afternoon nap


afternoon nap 

out of the blue 
a three note bird call 
fading 
into the blue

Sunday, August 25, 2013

drops of light


drops of light 
falling on rain-washed leaves, 
thoughts settle 
leaving ink-marks 
on a blank page

Some leaves aren't as "rain-washed" as I thought they were...marks of dust...so are the thoughts on a page...marks of ink.  

Thursday, August 22, 2013

sidewalk


sidewalk verdant, 
fresh with the scent of 
newly opened flowers ~
in the wind,
songs of autumn

Sunday, August 18, 2013

too deep


too deep, the nectar 
the sunbird slides 
dew-bathing

Thursday, August 15, 2013

morning rain


morning rain 
through the window ~
this urge 
to lean back 
and

August moon


August moon
through the drifting 
clouds 
a thought returns 
to its source