In a grey bubble

Image credits: Tess@Magpie Tales (with some editing by me)

I heard your voice
fade into a lingering shadow
of a hoarse whisper

I felt your presence
melt into a stagnant puddle
of diluted memories

I watched you
slip into the recesses
of a pale obscurity

Wells have run dry
Trails have gone cold
Your teacup lay untouched
Your chair by the window rocked…
- empty -

And yet today,
when every sign of you
is ready to evaporate,
There awakens a sleeping candle
in a guarded corner of my heart
And I see your name
dancing in the flame
Teasing me
Nudging me
Telling me you aren’t
too far from my staccato thoughts
Telling me you are
wherever I choose you to be

I’m vacillating hopelessly between
an eclipse of the forgotten
and a penumbra of potent tomorrows…

---

*** Posted for Week HUNDRED of Magpie Tales at the Willow Manor, and for this week’s Open Link Night at d’Verse Poets Pub! These are 2 of my favorite haunts, and they ought to be yours too!! ***

** Oh, and heartiest CONGRATULATIONS to Tess on a CLASSIC CENTURY of Magpies!!! YOU ROCK!!!! Wooohoooo…**

Stranger in the house

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

I have seen you
precariously follow me
on treacherous dark nights,
tugging at my skirt
on chirpy sun-soaked days

I have heard you
bouncing right off
the tree-lined scape of a valley,
call out my name
from the belly of an alarm clock

I have noticed you
curiously peer at me
from the other side of a mirror,
poke faces at me
from ‘neath ripples in my fluvial teacup

I have felt your presence
nudge me lightly
in my deepest hours of slumber,
cuddle me tightly
under the coldest sheets of winter

You seem to stay by my side
through thick and thin
I know you do…
I seem to think of you
as my closest ever friend
I know I do…
And yet you remain
~ the forever stranger in my house… ~

---

**I wrote this poem as an ode to “Reflection”… After writing it, when I went on to visit Tess’s Magpie for this week, I saw this image for this week and thought to myself, “what better picture could go with my poem than THIS one!!” So, here’s my offering for Magpie Tales (week 98)!  And oh, this also happens to me my first poem for 2012! Yaaaayyyy!!! A very happy 2012 to alllllll of you!!**

***Am also posting this poem for week 25 of  OpenLinkNight at d’VersePoets Pub – the place where poets meet and have a gala time! Have a look yourself, and avail of all the poetic wonder here! ***

Silent desperation

Image credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

A stormy eve it was
when they had to part
She leaving him
by the deserted shore
He leaving her
by the raging waves
She making her headway
into the open arms
of a welcoming world
He heading back
to his clumsy shackles
which he called home
She promising to return
to his modest love
He vowing to receive her
with undying warmth

A stormy eve it is today
with a thousand waves lapping
against every moment that passed
between then and now
And once again he stands
by the deserted shore
still waiting
still modest
still shackled
still loving her
-Only, she is yet to keep her promise-

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 95. It’s been over two months since I’ve published anything on my blog, but today, the image at the Willow Manor totally inspired me!! Yaaaaaaaayy!! Thanks, Tess!! And yes… I’m sooooo glad to be back! **

Atlas meets Eos

Image credits - Google images

For a long time now
I have been lugging
your dead weight around
It lies there
crippling my mind
rending my gut
cramping my style
weighing me down

And yet
I cannot leave it behind
Although
I cannot move ahead

I wish you’d just
Disintegrate
Incinerate
Evaporate
over the mountains
into grey dust
beneath the riverbed

I wish you’d just
bid me a tearless adieu
show me a weightless ray
and let me be

Cuz for a long time now
I have been lugging
your dead weight around…

**Posting this poem for Week 13 of Open Link Night at d’Verse Poets Pub – the favorite hangout for poets and artists! Check it out… NOW… for now is the best time! **
***Also wanted to let you know that is a poem which Vayavya has kindly featured on their wonderful blog… A huge thanks from me to the Vayavya team for featuring this poem… Luv y’all!! ***

Smoked pearls

Image shot by me at an Italian trattoria in Key West

You dance on a glazed iris
like a frozen flame
eager to burn
the very air
that breathes life into it

You pacify a rigid mind
like a cool breeze
ready to salve
a tense volcano
on the verge of explosion

You leap into action
like a snoozing engine
eager to roll
at the slightest touch
of rekindled embers

You make the blood rush
like a devious joy ride
one moment in the sky
the next, rolling down
with a thundering force

They say you are a tease
waiting to appease
a morose king
a jubilant beggar
a broken heart
a mended soul

They say you lure
They say you cure
Yet I know
you are but a liquid genie
trapped in an amber bottle
- no more -
– no less -
Sometimes kind
Sometimes vile
but always looking
at the world outside
with a resigned smirk

**After 2 weeks of inaction (no thanks to my own laziness and to the dreadful writer’s block), this week I decided to break those chains by writing a poem – and I dedicate it to the awesome poets at d’VersePoets Pub – OpenLinkNight… Cheers, peeps!! This round’s on me… alright?! **

Pixelated memory

I had recently clicked this in Key West... ofcourse I Gimp'd it a bit so it "suited" this poem

Gestures flashed
like ominous streaks
of steely lightning

Words rolled
like metal beads
off a snapped nylon cord

Emotions flowed
like molten lava
from a furious volcano

Sparks flew
like limpid feathers
on a still Autumn eve

Silence pervaded
like an eerie calm
after a brutal raging storm

…. Then you were gone….
With the stars in my eyes
silently exploding
into a monotony
of nothingness
And all I could do
was stand there
looking at you
ashen faced
while you
blurred
into an
urn of
dots
:::
:

---

**Posted for Week 9 of OpenLinkNight @ d’VersePoets Pub… this is ONE place you ought to check out! You are bound to love it! **

***This poem has been featured in The River - an ever so artistic journal, you are bound to simply LOVE it! ***

Unspoken message

Image credits: str4y@DeviantArt

His raspy voice
beckoned me to turn
- to get a fleeting glimpse -
of the dead smile
that uncouthly flaunted
his broken incisor

His void eyes
stole my attention
- made me wince -
at the ashen skin
that gaily hung
from his sallow face

His limp gait
made me follow him
- down the deserted alley -
with eerie streetlights
that proudly emboldened
his gaping sore

And yet somehow,

His gaunt fingers
held my breath
- between the tuned strings -
of his greying guitar
that completed a scrawny image
of his receding silhouette…

---

**Posted for Week 8 of OpenLinkNight at d’VersePoets Pub – the coolest place to be! Check it out! I can bet you won’t regret it! **

World at odds

Image credits: VanthMithra @ DeviantArt

Abort violence
Nip the weed
at its very root
so it never grows
into a symbol of vile

Decapitate terrorism
with a heavy axe
so it doesn’t dare
to raise its ugly head
against humanity

Make a promise
to honor the martyrs
with a handmade wreath
of bone and deceit
interlaced with perfection

Rally for peace
by tossing a grenade
and razing all
that obstruct the march
towards a bloody calm…

Guard with spears
Flood with tears
Barricade with fears
this winding path
 ~ to  that dreamed of Utopia ~

---

**Posted for Week 7 of OpenLinkNight @ d’VersePoets Pub… It’s my fave poetic hangout!! So you might (should) wanna check it out yourself! **

Permeating mist

Image credits: Mr.Rat @ DeviantArt

By the pier
I watch the ripples move me
I hear them laugh
- at my naïveté -

I scoop the teacup in my hands
I smell its vapors rise
- towards my judgement -

I witness the boats sway
I listen to them complain
- about my obliviousness -

I devour the vista
while it frets
- over a faraway storm -

---

**Posted for G-Man’s fantastic Friday Flash 55… Mr. G, sorry about not posting a 55 in weeks! My inspiration barometer has been showing an all time low for a while now.. But today, I was just thinking about you, and then I see your comment on my previous post, and what with the storm and all, I simply HAD TO put up a 55er!! Love you tons, my friend!!! **

Indelibly stained

Image Credits: sketchonme@DeviantArt

You were once
that faithful friend
with a wooden shoulder
to cry on

You could have been
so much more…

Yet you chose
to be just a fistful
of dead leaves
picked and rolled,
coaxed and cajoled
into a chamber
Of suffocation,
Of humiliation
waiting to be smelt
- to be consumed -
by a lustful mouth
that holds the power
to set you free
into an irreversible swirl
- of smoke -

Now here you lie
Used
Abused
on a deserted crossroad
of grey ashes,
charred
scarred,
trying to choose
between the void of uncertainty
and the certain path to hell

You could have been
so much more…

---

**Posted for Week 6 of OpenLinkNight @ D’VersePoets Pub… Oh yea, it’s this cool new hangout with a fabulous poetic patronage! Check it out, link in your work, read on, and say Cheers!! **

Arms wide open…

Image credits: This beautiful painting is by LeonidaFremov.. and I saw it @ DeviantArt.com...

Shush not your footfalls
I can hear them move
behind the curtain
of a timid zephyr

Dampen not your warmth
I can taste its fullness
from the urn
of a melting sun

Efface not your smile
I can see it arc
upon the froth
of crashing waves

Withdraw not your presence
I can feel its weight
midst the rustle
of amber leaves

Bury not your fragrance
I can smell its richness
in the birth
of autumnal showers

Tease me not
with your impish ways
While I lie in wait
beyond all summers
for your coveted kiss
…yet another time…
While I herald
the chirruping harbingers
of your crisp arrival
…yet another time…

---

**Posted for the fifth week of OpenLinkNight @ d’VersePoets… this is one pub you all ye poets would wanna make your home.. Link in your poem here, read on, and have fun! Cheers!! **

Brine and Vinegar

Image clicked by me in an atypical New York cafe

Where smiles flew and teardrops streamed
Emotions stood still, pickled in a jar

Wars were fought and blood was drained
But souls remained, pickled in a jar

Words had charmed few shallow minds
Yet fear prevailed, pickled in a jar

Bounds were crossed, and sanctums snatched
But secrets lived, pickled in a jar

The sands of time kept rolling on
With shimmering waves pickled in a jar

An endless night gave a nervous laugh
But the morning sun sat pickled in a jar

Like a forlorn poem, Kavita sighed
Her void thoughts lying pickled in a jar…

---

**Posted for FormForAll @ d’VersePoets… and when I saw that the form for this week is Ghazals, I simply had to try it myself!! I loved it… and I hope you too take the time to explore this beautiful form of poetry, and while at it, have fun!! **

Confoundedly simple…

Image Credits: RomanticFae@DeviantArt

Obscured
by laced veils
of broken thought
I wonder if I want
to really be seen

Tethered
to these pillars
of unyielding resolve
I suspect the strength
of my pliant will

Shadowed
by a shroud
of crystal emotions
I search the depths
of my hardened heart

Strangled
by tentacles
of unwelcome dreams
I gasp for a breath
of some noxious chance

And yet
Here I am…

Enamored
by the aura
of a glowing spirit
Ready to soar
into the vastness
of unending skies

---

**Posted for OpenLinkNight (week 4) at  d’VersePoets Pub… Check out the yummy stuff offered here… you will be glad you did!! **

An uncalibrated shift

Image Credits: wb_skinner@DeviantArt

First a few driblets
Scattered
like a misty spray of fate
Across hopeful faces
in the midst of a drought

Then a fragile stream
Meandering
through mystic woods
Gurgling
in baby bursts of elation

Then a splendid waterfall
Cascading
with an unstoppable force
As strong as
the thirst for life

Then a determined river
Flowing…
Sometimes narrow for thought
Sometimes broad as the horizon
Its tributaries creeping quietly
Until the ultimate merge

Then a magnificent ocean
Struck by passing storms
But housing
islands of unperturbed sanctity
Yet raging
for attention at the shores

Finally a seething tide
Trying to adhere
to sands of a glassy promise
Yet ebbing
into realms of a briny embrace

---

**Posted for the third week of OpenLinkNight @ dVersePoets Pub – the most interesting pace in town, for the artistically oriented! Link in your poem here, enjoy the critique & attention and simply ENJOY!! **

Reverse progression

Image credits: Joane@DeviantArt

A stray notion
that once wandered freely
Now wrought
Heavily fraught
by the gravity of ennui

A zealous nerve
that once was a messenger
Now slain
With disdain
into an untraversed groove

A living cell
that once housed purity
Now stranded
Brutally branded
as a chamber of disgrace

A solemn mind
that once was a monastery
Now invaded
Slowly pervaded
by a flood of toxic nihility

---

**Posted for the second week of OpenLinkNight at d’VersePoets Pub! Check it out, link in your poem, and have fun!! **

Tilted over…

Image credits: liuanta @ Deviant Art

Drawn by a torque into
the immense whirlpool
of unfrozen memories
I observe them drip
timidly slip
into
a
pale
translucence
on the other side
Until one pink morn
a faint realization dawns
while eternity has set in

---

**Posted for the grand opening of dVersePoets – a place for poets, poems and their friends **

On sacred grounds…

Image credits: X_psyco_thingy_X@DeviantArt

A
heap
of hued
notion in
the trough
of my hand,
A pitcher of
fluid mystique
never to run dry,
I build my fortress
over a serene shore
of midnight dreams
Its base sitting cosy
in an earthy passion
Its defined contours
luring hungry waves
into leaping up to its
demure, elegant lines
Its acme bowing to the
stars smiling at its beauty
Its very existence, a beacon
of radiant hope to all mortals
stranded on the seas of tedium

---

**Posted for the Welcome “construction” theme at dVersePoets… Cheers to new beginnings!! **

Mushroom cloud of disgust

Image credits:Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

Together they watch
while their sweat is charred
but not by toil,
while theirs hearts are crushed
but not by an angry lover,
while their clothes are smeared
but not by the spilt pigments

Together they’re drowning
in a man-made reservoir of hate,
Secretly praying for a raft
that’ll carry them to safety
as they throw their fears overboard,
While constantly listening
to their own silent cries
- their subdued sighs -
fall on deaf ears
with thorny walls of greed

Yet together some day,
their silent cries will reincarnate
as a thundering bellow
and resurface
on calmer waters
of mango smelling summers
and warm rains
of unadulterated love

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales (week 73) – where a picture definitely worth more than a thousand words…**

*** Posted as a humble tribute to all those affected in any way by the recent terrible blasts in Mumbai (Bombay)… A life taken with force is not just another statistic or a means to prove anything… it still is a life taken with force, a life ended brutally, a life that didn’t deserve what it got! :’( ***

DE-myth-FIED

Image credits: Butterfly image by Iviforever@DA; Eggs image by punkcheerleader@DA; superimposition and other editing by me

Under the old bridge
where broken dreams hibernate
with moss growing over
and a drying river limping by,
is a dragon being spawned
- ready to spew fire
at the first foot
that tries to trample it-
It feeds on
the same broken dreams,
growing stronger
with every passing moment
waiting to unleash itself
on the vacant eyes
that saw through it
and refused to believe
in its fiery existence

Once a laughing-stock,
it’ll now bemock the fatuous vanity,
thrash the crazed absurdity
and mark its territory
under the same old bridge
of a stereotypical world…

---

**Posted for the amazing One Shot Wednesday (Week 54) – a place where poets find comfort… Check it out, relax.. and have fun! **

Forbidden landscapes

The original painting is a Vincent Van Gogh creation, and it's titled "Wheat field with rising sun". The credits for this digitized image here go to Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

She watched
as honeyed rays
dripped with warmth,
spilling their zest
all over town,
painting it gold

She smiled
as downy soft spores
absently brushed against
another pollen shoulder (or two)
while on their hurried paths
to a yearning flower

She sighed
like the gentle breeze
that in its achromaticity,
seemed to carry
a colorful tune
to every ear that cared to pause

She thought
with a hint of wistfulness
how all seemed
so beautiful there
- from this side of a rigid fence -

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales (week 72) – get inspired, and see how the others were inspired by this prompt **

Chaser of reminiscences

I saw this artwork on a sidewalk in West Village, NYC.. I loved it and simply HAD TO click it!

Wading in marshy shallow pools
of misery
Like a lotus with baby skin petals
of white
He tries to hold colored droplets
of memory
In the craving soft hollow
of his palm
While they slip into dark chambers
of fate
And he’s left by himself in deserts
of time…

In billowy gusts that erased his castles
of sand
He thought he’d seen the flushing greens
of an oasis
While they were only the fading blurs
of a mirage…

---

**Posted for the Onederful Shot Wednesday (Week 53) – it’s the ONE place for amazing poetry!! So link in, read along, and have some great time!! **

Singularly enigmatic

Image credits: riamali@DeviantArt

Sometimes a mercurial drop
In an ebony ocean of fireflies
Sometimes a saucerful of cream
Waiting to be tasted by lovers’ eyes

Sometimes invisible
Too tired to acquiesce to a whim
Sometimes in full glory
With dazzle flowing over the brim

Sometimes a silver streak
Shying behind a greyzed veil
Sometimes a paper lantern
Throwing off glances yellowy pale

Sometimes a mystery
Abyssal.. in whom we willingly sink
Sometimes an open book
Written with clear magnetic ink

Sometimes an old friend
Guiding you when darkness surrounds
Sometimes a deadly foe
Invoking iniquity in sleeping hounds

Sometimes unreachable
Farthest from every known land
Sometimes in close proximity
Like fire in the cup of my hand

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday - the altar for poets! Offer your poems here… and feel blessed!!  This week, the team @ One Stop Poetry celebrate their FIRST birthday… yes, it’s 52 weeks since the first OSW.. yaaaaaaaaaaayyy! Happy Birthday y’all… and please accept this poem as a little gift from me… Love y’all loads!!**

Under the influence

Goblet@Google Images; Heart by Zueuk@DeviantArt; Superimposition done by me

Seep into my skin
Feel your presence
thrive
in every pore of me

Flow alongside my blood
Sense it in my veins
gush
with every glance at you

Plunge into my heart
Hear it wildly
thump
with your name splashed across

Gnaw at my soul
Read deliberately
while the indelible ink
reveals nothing
- but you -

---

**Thanks to the immensely dark poems I have been writing of late, I felt the NEED to write something a little tangential to “dark”.. and  this is what I came up with, in just about 5.5 minutes.. … I dedicate it to my awesome husband, and am posting it for G-Man’s Super Fun Friday Flash 55… For stories/poems/all other stuff in EXACTLY 55 words, this is THE place to be, folks! **

Restricted release

The entire background image by kiarawphotography@DeviantArt; The hand image by FragileW@DeviantArt... The superimposition and other color editing by me!!

From the murky cellars
of my punitive mind
have escaped thoughts
breaking loose from every clutch
- unhinged and unchained -

I desperately attempt
to arrest once again
managing only to restrain
their muffled cries
as they pierce through
the insides of my brain
only to resurface
on the waters of reality
and swim hurriedly
to the brink of certainty

All I know is
the harder I try
the louder is their silent cry

In protest as I disown
the jarring effect
of a story gone awry,
it comes back with force
to affect the same cellars
that have now run dry

---

**Posted for the 51st week of the EVER-STUNNING One Shot Wednesday – the shrine for poets!! Link in your poem, read some, and simply have a gala time!! **

Armed with poise

Image credits: Photograph by thrumyeye @DeviantArt; Selective coloring by me

His majestic self
perched on the edge
of life’s roof
in the lull of moonless nights

Unperturbed
He watches
the odd squirrel
wiggle its way up a tree
He wonders
if the deadly snake
will lunge for the sitting duck
He knows
it’s now time to announce himself

Feared
Revered
Is he, the silent observer

---

**Posted for the amazing Mr. G-Man’s Superb Friday Flash 55… Spin a tale in 55 words, and link in here!! Read on.. and ENJOY!!!
See Mr. G?? I did it this time!! Yaaayyy !! **

Spiraling psyche

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

When it began
She felt her fingers
just one twitch away
from a gripping harness
of her unabated restlessness

She saw herself
just one turn away
from a fast gyrating life
split with a double-edged knife

She felt her pulse
just one thump away
from being cast with treachery
into that bottomless lake of misery

And yet
She hoped to be
just one thought away
from the safe reviving arms
mustering force to drown her qualms

She fixed her gaze
just one focus away
from matters of the past
that had dark shadows cast

Until finally
She knew she was
just one conch away
from the soothing aria
of a deep sea-green panacea

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 69! Here, check out what the other amazing writers had to say when prompted with the above image… **

Combustible glory…

Image credits: qazinahin@DeviantArt

Your dancing flicker
is like some shrill laugh
Echoing
in the pitted caverns within my mind

Your faint glow
is like a moaning ghost
Mocking
me at my accomplishments now dead

Your intoxicating aroma
is a buttermilk dream
Cascading
down unexplored gorges of my heart

Your seared wick
is that unreachable goal
Taunting
me to feel it while it’s red-hot

Your waxen smoothness
is my warm desire
Evaporating
slowly into a grey nothingness

Your annealed remnants
are my silenced dreams
Struggling
desperately for another vain life

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (Golden Jubilee week… yaaayyy)!! Seriously, if you are craving for some terrific poetry form the heart, you GOTTA check this place out! You are destined to love it! **

‘Politeness’ for dummies

Image Credits:moon_shaped@DeviantArt

When you came to me
Asking if I could aid
I felt a sense of pride
That in me you saw an aide
And with no second thought
I jumped in on your blade

When I followed rules
That were made to terrorize
I kept saying to myself
It’s only to harmonize
Not once did I suspect
Your intent to dramatize

When I cleaned the mess
That you had left behind
I sure did not expect
For you to pay in kind
Neither did I have
Your ‘thank you’ in my mind

But when I offer you
A piece of my advice
You may like it; you may not
That’s a roll of dice
But assume some good manners
And just be a little nice

---

**Posted for Poetry Potluck (Week 39 – Theme: Dictatorship, Autocracy and Despotism) – the coolest place for some fantastic poetry! Link in, read on, and simply ENJOY!!! **

Picture-perfect pair..

Image credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

He, of a tanned face
She, with olive grace
Together, making pulses race

He, with his vitreous glare
She, with brazen flair
Together, had a bold affair

He, of knightly renown
She, in her flowing gown
Together, were talk of the town

He, waxed into time
She, unable to mime
Together, displayed for a dime

---

**Posted for G-Man’s FANTASTIC Friday Flash 55 AND for the awesome Magpie Tales (week 68) !! Take a peek at both of these super cool sites, and have a truck load of fun!! Cheerioz… **

***Don’t ask me how this WOW image Tess picked inspired me to write this poem! All I know is, the moment I saw the image, I was totally tempted to write something EXACTLY like this… hehhe ***

Fists of Frenzy

Image credits: tioandria@DeviantArt

Quiet madness
reeking of havoc
created all sadness
in his monitored mind
now bereft of any gladness

Brutally hacked
by a throng of lips
hissing and cracked,
he tunneled out his way
with a soul now ransacked

In fits of sanity
he dived straight
into a well of reality
but soon rebounded off
fixed high walls of banality

Hit by realization
he churned in a smile
encrusted with adoration
letting out inaudible groans
while faking sugary adulation

Defeated by odds
he evened his pride
and thanking the Gods
he straightened his spine
and on manic paths, he trod

---

~~ Posted for One Shot Wednesday (week 49) – a place where poets are God, and poetry is worshipped! Check it out, and sink into that state of bliss… ~~

Plagued cogitation

Image Credits: videinfradesign@DeviantArt

I
Am
locked
within chambers
of your brilliant mind
I
Am
docked
into the gravel
of a tumultuous kind

I
Feel
paralyzed
by the numbness
of a thoughtless storm
I
Feel
catalyzed
by the inertia
of an unquestioned norm

I
Need
sweet release
from the dungeons
risky and none too porous
I
Need
to appease
the vast greed
of your ways omnivorous

---

**Posted for this week’s One Shot Wednesday – Week 48… It’s the place where any poet should be!! Check it out and ENJOY!! **

Modern sculpture

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

Chiseled away
from the inside out
Until all that remained
Were vacuous statues
with puttied smiles,
voluptuous beauty
carved pride,
plastered perfection
and measured intention

… while what lay
on the ground below
Was a muddied pile
of discarded emotions,
charred heartbeats,
shattered desires,
powdered sensitivity
and smithereens of humility

---

**Despite the “sculpted” nature of this poem, I somehow felt that it fitted in with Tess’s Magpie prompt this week… I mean this was too much of a coincidence for me! So here I am, posting this poem for Magpie Tales (Week 67)… I urge you all to check it out and see what the other writers/poets responded to this prompt! You will be amazed! **

Droplets of Crystal Ink

Image credits: heart_sc @ DeviantArt

A syllable calm
Like oceans in your palm
Spelling tranquil
From life’s chaotic quill

It left in immense fury
in tiny beads of bold red

Spraying peace
Like a blanket of fleece
Quiet splatter
On soul’s bronzed platter

It hung low in mid-air
as if in deep grey thought

A serene blot
In an awkward spot
Resting placid
On brown papered acid

It fell on a wall of hope
purple in its efforts to cling

Soothed again
From a tortuous rain
Absorbed in lull
By mind’s robust hull

It gave in to its own will
now sitting proud in navy blue

---

**Posting this poem at One Shot Wednesday (week 47)… This is THE place for some amazing poetry, peeps! Take a peek, and stay stunned!! **

What the child saw…

Little Teddie – Edward Parker – was the nicest kid a mother could have. But little Teddie’s mind had refused to grow beyond that of a seven year old. Hence the ‘little’ in his name had stayed even when he was twenty-seven, 6’1″ and 180 pounds. His mommy, Linnette Parker, had the patience of a saint. So despite a mentally challenged boy and a drunk wife-beating husband, she had managed to keep her nerve and her job intact.

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

Every morning, on her way to work, Linnette would drop Little Teddie off at her sister Clara’s, where he would play with his Aunt Clara’s seven and nine year old grandchildren. She would later pick him up from Clara’s on her way home. And during all of this, Seth – Teddie’s dad – would hang out with his no-good cronies boozing, jumping jobs or gambling. He loved Teddie, oh he loved him a lot. But when under the influence, all he knew was how to beat up his Lin, slamming all kinds of harsh accusations at her whenever he felt like. This behavior of Seth’s had begun after he was laid off from work four years ago. Seth had been unable to cope with this, and had taken to booze, and subsequently, abuse. And over the years, Lin had learnt not to retaliate. After all, Seth was too strong for her. She would take some of the beating and later manage to calm Seth down with either more liquor, food, some gentle coaxing or sometimes, even an unpleasant quickie. But whatever it was, she made sure that her Little Teddy never witnessed any of the beating… EVER! This she managed by making him watch television in the living room with the door shut, and placing before him a bucket of caramel popcorn and a quart of his favorite cookies-n-cream. Occasionally, after a beating, Teddie would ask her what caused the boo-boo on her face, and she would give him a tired but fake-sheepish grin and say, “The door just rammed into my face.. how stupid of me!” or “Can you imagine I accidentally hit myself with the rolling-pin today?!” or some such thing. And of course, little Teddie would take every word that came out of his mommy’s mouth at face value. He always did, like when she would read those wonderful books to him and tell him how Santa Claus was for real, and what a hero Spiderman was and that this world was full of wonderful people. She would even teach him how to read those great books. And sometimes, when an odd fruitfly would bother her while she was reading to him, she would absently swing the book at it, make sure it went away, and then smile her sweetest smile at him. Oh how he loved his mommy. And his daddy too. He had never even dreamt that his daddy would hurt mommy.

The evening of June 12th was no different…well, most of it. After being at the receiving end of a long monologue from Clara about Seth and his horrid ways and the possibility of a divorce, Lin returned home with little Teddie just after seven. Seth was already home, and the scattered cushions and toppled chairs suggested that he was drunk – again – and was in some fit too. Digesting the situation, Lin involuntarily switched on the television, raised its volume, pulled the living room door behind her and hurried into the kitchen, where Seth was seething in rage. She asked him what’s wrong. He said nothing, and just glared at her. She was debating with herself whether or not to move towards him, when all of a sudden he rose and flung a punch at her. She barely managed to deflect the blow, but Seth caught her by her ponytail and began to strangle her with his bare hands – his strong hairy hands.

But at that very moment, something else had happened too. In the living room, Little Teddy, after having waited infinitely for his mommy to bring him his caramel popcorn and ice cream, had stepped into the kitchen to get some himself. And there, what he saw made him stand rooted to the ground! All he could see was a fly – a VERY LARGE HAIRY fly – causing a lot of pain to his mommy… his sweet mommy. And then he remembered what mommy used to do to get the fly to go away. So he went into the study, got the fattest book he could find and started swatting this big hairy fly. He swatted and swatted till the fly started to bleed, and finally fell to the floor… motionless. It would trouble his mommy no more…

Little Teddy seemed very pleased at himself for having saved his mommy from this hairy fly. And all Lin could do was snatch the book from Teddy’s hands, heave a sigh of relief, hug him tight, and close her eyes and see herself in the witness stand telling the jury, “It was all in self-defense”. She knew they would understand. She knew this world was full of wonderful people… She knew she had her Little Teddie by her side…

---

**Written for Magpie Tales (Week 66). Check out how the others were inspired by this beautiful picture prompt… and ENJOY!!! **

***Umm.. This is my first attempt at short fiction – prose… Kindly tolerate me if I have stretched it a little beyond “short” … I am pretty darned sure there’ll be tons of errors here, as I don’t quite have the same patience like Linnette does So please excuse me for that as well… And need I even mention, your comments and feedback are most welcome and will be greatly appreciated!! ***

Eternity of a moment

Image credits: amiens@DeviantArt

Ten aeons
Nine dreams
Eight notes
Seven seas
Six degrees
Five senses
Four knocks
Three sighs
Two hearts
But only one breath
To say I love you…

And while a shy moonbeam
caresses my windowsill,
I am still lying in wait
for that one breath
from your lips
meant only
for my
skin

---

**Written for One Shot Wednesday (week 46)… Check out this wonderland of poetry… and ENJOY!!! **

***Oh, and only a few minutes back, I realized that this happens to be my 200th poem posted here … yaaayy!! And in an odd sorta way, this poem seems kinda appropriate for the “occasion”… lolz  ***

Blushing Blue

Image credits: turtle_rn@DeviantArt

Where tall doorways open to
a plethora of unspoken powers
Where winding stairs lead to
a patio of the wildest flowers

Where chandeliers of tears
hang from arched high ceilings
Where closed chests hold
a treasure of hidden feelings

Where impenetrable ramparts
guard all chambers of integrity
Where refined tastes coexist
with a fine dose of alacrity

Where portraits of memories
carefully adorn long corridors
Where mysteries wait to be
unearthed from marbled floors

Where fountains of thought
flow beside the bravest knights
Where the moon spares a beam
on the most darkest of nights

This is my body
- my armed fortress -
This is my soul
- my whimsical mansion -
This
…is I…

---

**Written for Poetry Potluck (Week 35 – Theme: Fortresses, Castles, Palaces and Royal houses).. Check it out, and enjoy this tour de royalty!! You will be amazed at the treasures you’ll find here… **

Her fierce stride

Image credits: chichaboo@DeviantArt

Playful
That whip flying from her feet
lashing at strange empty faces,
She moved on
undaunted
by the impending dark cloud

Unpretentious
The mahogany dyed odd strands
tickling at her naked smooth nape ,
She moved on
swaying
to the muted symphony in the air

Relentless
Those torrential bursts of rain
pounding against the tip of her nose,
She moved on
accompanied
by a quaint umbrella of hope

Frivolous
That soaked little paisley dress
clinging to her sun kissed skin,
She moved on
mesmerized
by her sapphire lined horizons

She’s still marching
Free-spirited
and free…

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (week 45)! Check out this amazing galaxy of wonderful poetry, link in your poem…and simply relish it all! **

Absorbing it all

Image credits: Lilyas @ DeviantArt

sweet scents titillate
electric hued butterflies
flirtatious blooms call

lingering crisp chills
from a fading winter night
dew perches on blades

young birds awaken
whistling harmless gentle tunes
a lazy oak yawns

fresh moments blossom
into days of springy joy
eyes hungry for more

pollen’s in the air
time for allergic despair
aacchhooo!!!! Scusi please…

---

**Haiku set posted for Poetry Potluck (week 34 – theme: Color, Spring and Rainbow)… Check it out, folks… and be prepared to revel in sheer awesomeness! **

Tough weakeners

Image credits: "My Favorite Things" by ashesoffire00, and "Favorite Things" by phoenix_karenee @ DeviantArt... Superimposition of the images and the cloud effect was later done by yours truly...

White butter clouds
hanging oh so playfully
From silver chords
wound ’round sky’s own old pulley
Azure heavens
crisp and pure as can be
Kissed and nudged
by weightless zephyrs on sea

Caramel swirls
of a sweet salted delight
Set off alarms,
sizzle and make me feel light
Milk chocolate layers
that melt on my tongue
From moody
dungeons back now I have sprung

Voice so rich
like deep bass amidst clamor
Eyes that pierce
right through my heart’s hard armor
Dense shadows
of lashes dark, curled and long
And trembling
transparent like some frail song

If I can do
I sure will do
All that’s in my power…
To blow a few bubbles and indulge myself
In this warm sinful shower…

---

**I had originally written this poem a couple of weeks back, but had never gotten around to posting it… But today, I happened to see Lynda’s (aka Echostains) fantastic Poetry Challenge @ Bookstains, and I simply HAD to post it in response to the challenge (with a lil bit of editing so as to fit the challenge theme/criteria)… Gosh!! This was a whole lot of fun!!! Check out the challenge yourself, and play along… I bet you’ll LOVE it!! Oh… and try “singing” this poem to the tune of “These are a few of my favorite things” from Sound Of Music … **

***And what better place to put up this poem than One Shot Wednesday (week 44)! Maaaannn…. I REALLY missed y’all, my favorite One-Shot-Stars! Well well… now I am back… and all set to read too!! See y’all soooon!!***

****And I am now adding this to Poetry Potluck (week 38) as well since I could not come up with anything more suited for the theme (Inspired by a song) ****

Nineteen days of…

Image credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

… highways pot-holed and dusty
… memories, some faintly rusty

… clutch, gear, honk and brake
… Pandus ever ready to take

… fresh whiffs of a salty breeze
… dense smog lending many a sneeze

… batter fried fish and rice
… lilting scents and tastes of spice

… shops filled with wares I love
… trinkets sent from Gods above

… Chikoo shakes, masala teas
… Pav bhaji loaded with cheese

… coconut palms spread like fires
… stone temples and carved spires

… family, friends, food and fun
… giggles, gifts and hugs-a-ton

… Chromatic tones of a peopled maze
… Eden drenched in sweltered daze

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

(all pictures here – except Tess’s Magpie prompt and Jingle’s Perfect Poet Award – were clicked by meee… )

---

**The above poem and pictures are an attempt to describe my recent and awesome visit to India… And coincidentally, this week’s colorful Magpie prompt was a perfect stimulant for me to make you “see and feel” this trip the way I did… I hope you enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed my visit! **

*** Quite obviously, I am also submitting this poem as a response to this week’s Magpie Tales…Thank you, Tess, for this super lovely prompt!! And folks, if you haven’t already checked out Magpie Tales, you should… RIGHT NOW!! ***

****Also submitting this for Thursday Poets Rally – Week 42 ****

And here, I would also like to thank Jingle and all poets at the Poets’ Rally for giving me for this lovely award… and with pleasure, I nominate Blaga for next week’s Perfect Poet…

blushing in warm glee
like flowers swaying in Spring
clear bursts of fresh joy

Diamond-dusted strands

Image credits: myambeon@DeviantArt

Padlocked doors
Unbolted
Treasure chests
Unlocked
Jeweled timeframes
Unchained
Candied moments
Unwrapped
Torrential floods
Unleashed
Into chasms
Of a frozen now

---

**Posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160 and Poetry Potluck (Week 29 – Photographs, Memories and Nostalgia)**

***And here, I just wanted to let you all know that I am having an awesome time in India… Yes, I am still jet lagged, and even after a week into my trip, I am living on New York time … but it’s alright, cuz my parents are really impressed that I wake up so early… LOLZ ! Anyway, I have a looooong day ahead of me today, I am really hoping that I don’t fall asleep in the car while my hubby’s driving… I hate dozing off in the car! Can’t afford to miss the lush greenery around me this time… the coconut groves are BREATHTAKINGLY beautiful! Yes yes, I WILL put up some pictures soon!! I promise! Take care, you awesome peeps! Love you all.. And am missing you like crazy… booohooohoo***

Winged Trail

Image credits: maine18-d2ze229@DeviantArt

They had told me
I would find you in the woods
Under a moonlit sky
Making love to nature

They had told me
I would see you in person
Soaking in the sun
While dancing in wild ecstasy

I wanted to find you
I wanted to see you
To feel you

And when the butterfly glided by…

In its wings
I saw the color of your smile
In its pause
I heard the music of your touch
In its flight
I felt the span of your love

So I madly ran after it
While it knew nothing of me
I knew it would bring me to you
And I would catch you
…red-handed…

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (Week 39)… Check it out, and indulge in some amazing Poetry! **

***CONGRATULATIONS, One Stop Poetry Team on winning the Shorty Award (Art)… You guys TOTALLY DESERVE IT!! Yaaaaayyyy!!! Hope y’all had an awesome time in NYC!! I wish I could meet y’all… ***

****Just wanted to let you know that I am in Bombay, and trying to “absorb” the change in tempertaure…it’s 90F here… LOLZ!! Will be putting up some pictures soooonnn… ****

Skies, Lands and Seas

Image Credits: laucish@DeviantArt

Suitcases
Set for air
Cab races
Raising hair
Long queues
Frisky check
Delay blues
What the heck!
But yon,the smiles
Tis no mirage
Making dull miles
A bon voyage

---

**Posted for Poetry Potluck(week 28) and for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160**

***Sitting with bags stuffed and packed, I’m all ready for my 3-week trip to India… So, for the next 3 weeks, in case you don’t find me visiting you regularly, please be a little patient with me… I promise to haunt your blogs AS SOON AS I am back… In the meanwhile, I hope to be able to put up some fun pictures from my trip along with as many poems as I possibly can!! With this, I wish you all a lovely time… C y’all sooooon!! ***

Perennial waste!

Image Credits: Google images

Tall trees
sawed and axed
chopped and felled
Nature choked,
uprooted and quelled
trampled and then flattened
Only to fill a few empty handbags
sitting new and pretty in stores
Where’s the justice?
Someone is too
vexed
about
a bag
being
taken
as one
wilted
jewel,
useless
if it does not
hold a thing inside

---

*I am posting this poem for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55 and for Theme Thursday*

**The idea for this was inspired the theme (paper) at this week’s Theme Thursday, and how it seemed to fit in perfectly with my recent packing activities for my upcoming India trip… I bought a few handbags for friends, and while packing them in, this was what I had observed!! Infuriating, really!!! **

*** The shape of the poem was inspired by a Sunday 160 poem called Roots of my poet-tree written by Brian Miller a few months back … I remember that particular poem by him because it was the first shape poem I had EVER read or seen.. and I was simply awestruck by it! Some poems just STAY with you… don’t they? ***

Unwavering valiance

Image credits: Willow Manor@MagpieTales

A paragon of hope,
A knight of the first order
He eyed his prized trophies
hanging limp from crusty walls

The assortment of knives
that swore by so many lives
The swords and the shield
that told him never to yield

He dreamt of past victories
Of lands he conquered
Of the people he ruled
Of the force he radiated

But he now silently smiled
Wistful, yet so wild
As he lay on a creaking bed
Alone, forgotten and unfed

With a hazed look in his eye
Proud
Ashamed
Baffled
He breathed his last…

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales (week 58)… Check it out and see what the other amazing poets/writers here had to say about this prompt.. **

Cohesive nebulae

Image Credits: birthstone@Deviant Art... And coloring of bubbles by me

Each in their own sphere
Some of conscience
Some of defiance
Some of a fear
Some of vain pride
Some of dull bromide

Encased in a pellucid crust
Of shiny crystal shards
Of watchful guards
Of gathered dust
Of a rainbowy blur
Of shades of overt pallor

Claiming a bill of singularity
On processes of thought
On the battles fought
On a dais of parity
On brinks of going insane
On matters so often mundane

Bumping into one another
In empty open spaces
In concealed faces
In hued smother
In edifices of love or hate
In a concrete sidewalk of fate

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (week 38) – Splash into a pool of amazing poetry here, and enjoy!! **

Outbreak of deceit

Image credits:chickloveslotr@DeviantArt

 

Born into
a life abrupt
of some volcano
gurgling to erupt
With its molten lava
flowing only to disrupt
the soothing peace around
with its ways cruel and corrupt

 

---

**Posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160 and for Poetry Potluck (week 27)**

One DROP more…

Image credits: lorency-d3b@DeviantArt... clover leaves added by me

Many a calamity
Until now has befallen
The land of the rising sun

Lands were erased
By piercing calm’s shroud
With an atomic mushroom cloud

Terrains absorbed
Into titanic angry tide
To be spit out and cast aside

But now I hope we can
In this shaken angsty hour
Release on it, a four-leaf clover

---

**Written in honor of the beautiful land of the rising sun (Japan), for Theme Thursday (prompt: Luck) and for G-Man’s awesome Friday Flash 55**

Tendrils too frail

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

Despite all the promises made
Of never leaving the other
To him a farewell she bade
For her, he was just another

With his desire torn and ground
And a heart like crusted earth
He chose to listen to the sound
Of his whims for what it’s worth

Beside a blooming clover’s toe
Now patiently he waits
Eyes full of jilted lover’s woe
And fenced in memories’ gates

With purplish oceans of belief
A flower he softly holds
Hoping to heave sighs of relief
As love in time unfolds

But as the tides of seasons ebb
And strength begins to fray
In his mind, grows a thin cobweb
Of dreams and faces gray

---

**Posted for the wonderful Magpie Tales (week 57), hosted by Willow Manor.. Check it out for other lovely takes on this prompt.. **

Infinitude of ennui

Image credits: therob70@DeviantArt

Drained
Of the last drop of moisture
Strained
Devoid of any psychic fixture
Constrained
By an invisible boundary
Restrained
By an intangible quandary
Arid
Till my pores ooze dust
Turbid
By the viscosity of disgust
Pallid
By the fading act of clues
Languid
As some fatigued recluse

Such is my mind
When it’s full of vacuum,
Tearing at wordless carcasses
That it attempts to exhume
While hoping to catch a whiff
Of an idea’s faint perfume

Oh dear sweet words,
I beg you to quit your rage
And like gently soaring birds
Sweep into my mind’s cage
I promise to free you in herds
While your depth I try to gauge

---

*I wanted to write something… anything!! But somehow, nothing seemed to move my thinking fingers… So I figured I should leverage this nothingness… and eventually ended up writing my thought on thoughtlessness and those most dreaded days ruled by lack of imagination/inspiration .. *

**Posted for the amazing One Shot Wednesday(Week 37)… Check out the wonderful poets/poetry there.. link in, and ENJOY!**

Letter from a temptress

Image credits: zweeZwyy@DeviantArt

Come
Melt your senses
On my smooth skin
Delve
Into my creamy waves
I’ll give you a spin
Soak
In my umber richness
Don’t call it a sin

Irresistibly yours,
Cocoa

---

**Posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160, and for Poetry Potluck (Week 26)**

Cosmic connection

Image credits: Theme Thursday

For aeons I’ve waited
Only for you
My feelings unabated
In this inky blue

I’ve seen your eyes
Look towards me
Scouring night skies
Amid a starry sea

Your earthy tether
I accept with grace
So we’re together
On spatial face

Finally here you are
On wings of hope
Unseeing my scar
Embracing my scope

---

**This is my version of what our lovely Luna might have told Neil Armstrong when he first touched her **

***Posted for Theme Thursday and G-Man’s ULTIMATE Friday Flash 55!!! Check ‘em out, perhaps even link in a poem or two… AND ENJOY!!! ***

Crazy li’l bulb

Image: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

You may be good for
my bloated aching heart
But you tend to leave behind
a breath that’ll make my senses part

You know to add a tinge
of lilting flavor to my life
But it is quite a daunting task
to skin you alive with my blunt knife

You’re okay being sliced,
shredded or diced with my ire
And despite it all, you hang around
defending me from the most horrid vampire

You may have your quirks
Oh layered faceted condiment
And yet it is for who you really are
that I owe you an affectionate sentiment

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales (week 56)..  Check it out for more tales on this delicious prompt… **

My my.. I’m Versatile!

A treasure...

Very recently, I was awarded this Versatile Blogger Award by my lovely friends Morganna, Mia, Sonam, LadyNimue, ColdDeadHeart, JP Leddy, DragonKatet, Dhaami and Uma... Thank you, my dears, for honoring me with this beautiful award (a graceful bow)..

Now, according to the Rules for award acceptance, I need to:
Thank the person who awarded me and link back to them in my post.
Tell 7 Random facts about myself.
Pass the award on to 15 new-found (or known) bloggers.
Contact each blogger I want to pass the award on to and let them know that I’ve done so, and let the giver of my award know that I accepted it.

So here are 7even random things about me…
1. I have hated/still hate/will continue to hate waking up early! Besides, I’m not really into worms anyway
2. I love city life… the buzz, lights and the contrasting Moon above keep me motivated!! But when it comes to vacations, misty hill tops and stream-guided mountains work wonders for me…
3. I have a thing for birthdays.. I can remember people’s birthdays like it’s nobody’s business… even if I’ve spoken to the person only once (or even not met at all)! Some of my friends call me their walking-talking birthday diary!
4. I can’t swim for nuts!! I think I am afraid of water (in extremely large quantities – like in floods and oceans).. I mean I like cruises, rain, showers et al.. But I prefer imagining my shower as a waterfall over actually going and standing beneath a REAL waterfall…
5. I am CRAZY about eyes and eyelashes (natural ones ofcourse)… I have an affinity for people with beautiful eyes and lashes (eg. my awesome husband)
6. Earthy tones and shades of black and gray have a HUGE place in my wardrobe (and senses as well)!
7. I DIG Pink Floyd and Enigma! Well, any music appeals to me really… but I have this tendency to pay more attention to the music than to the lyrics. I have started learning to play the keyboard (for very obvious reasons)

So… that’s a bit about me for you…

Now, my nominations!! I got this award on Women’s Day… So I thought I’ll maintain the trend and pass it to my women-blogger-friends.. (no offence, guys… Please know that I ADORE your work just as much)… Without further ado, here’s my list (in no particular order):

Sonam

ColdDeadHeart

Suzicate

Olivia

Nandini

Christine

Janna

Lady Nimue

Ruth

Meghana

Heartspell

April

Annie

Thingy

Dani

Well well… While I’m off letting them know how much I appreciate their work, I hope YOU enjoy reading these lovely blogs by these lovely women… Trust me, you will thank me for it!!!

Adieu from me, for now… Catch ya soon, in a new poem!!
<3 <3 <3

Vulnerable visage

Image credits: Mon artifice@DeviantArt

I stood there
Screaming
Dreaming
Trapped in my own reflection
Or was I the mirror instead?
Was I to get some response?
Or was this just a sconce?

I felt surrounded
Alone
Forlorn
Waiting for a reaction
From any “one” distorted figure
But all they did was stare
Their all-mercurial glare

I punched hard
Wildly
Blindly
So hard, my shadowed arm hurt
But the glass didn’t shatter
Nor could I step over my bound
Or beyond…

I am still gazing
Wide-eyed
Mystified
At the form that made me
But all I see is a void
A void that hears nothing
Feels nothing…Is nothing…

A void
To avoid…

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (week 36) – THE place for poetry! Check it out, and indulge in the sublime bliss… **

PS: I have no idea why my fictional pieces are turning out so dark these days (maybe it’s due to excess watching of Criminal Minds – the TV series )… I hope my writing lightens up… soon!

Placed high

Image: ahermin@DeviantArt

I
an
iota
a truth
inside your
wildly fertile
and lucid imagination
not just a hazy hallucination
but a soft sensation
hardly tactile
the demure
dainty
muse
am
I

---

**Written and posted for:
Monkey Man’s Sunday 160 – for stories/poem in 160 characters or less
Poetry Potluck (Week 25)**

Square feet of roofing

Image Credits: Lynda@Echostains

He: Change is a good thing
when it is for the better
She: What use is this quiet
if it becomes another fetter

He: Our boring lives will now
take on a brand new color
She: If blue turns to grey,
things can only get duller

He: Wind plays many tricks
on creaky wooden stairways
She: There’s more than just wind
in the deceptive empty hallways

He: For my safety, I have
a pitchfork turned candle holder
She: But it’s always safe
to look behind your shoulder

He: It is now all ours;
this giant old house
She: But here’s known to live
the ghost of a vicious mouse

---

**Written in response to the Bookstains American-Gothic Poetry Challenge**
***Also posted for Thursday Poets Rally (Week 39) ***

---

I would also like to thank everyone at Thursday Poets Rally for your votes and participation, and for honoring me with this lovely award…

rays of brilliant sun
with hints of a fading moon
signs of lovely day

Muted recital

Image credits: titiavanbeugen@DeviantArt

Fractals of breath
So carefully measured
Glazed with time
Cherished and treasured

Released with poise
Cosmically sublime
In rolling spasms
Of a soundless chime

Distilled and pure
Like aqueous glory
Untouched and safe
From a misquoted story

Caught in space
Aloof and withdrawn
Amorphous in form
Like scattered dawn

The uncelebrated magic of a sigh…

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55… Check it out and see what others had to say in EXACTLY 55 words!! The variety is amazing!! **

Blasphem-ade

She’d wished for a guy,
the best under the sun
But what she got instead
was a diseased rotting lemon

She had yearned to live
with him in a seaside crib
But she soon found herself
within hollow walls of a fib

She’d once dreamt a dream
of being tended to with care
Instead, she saw herself
Living a dark nightmare

She had envisioned
For herself a life of peace
Somehow she ended up
Disjointed, in more than a piece

She’d truly hoped for
Her own heaven on this land
And yet here now she sits
with Hells’s bloodied fork in hand

---

**This piece of PURE FICTION has been written and submitted for Tess’s amazing picture prompt at Magpie Tales (week 55)… Go check it out, link in, AND ENJOY!!! **

High stakes

Image credits: Roulette by Yoane@DeviantArt

And as it rolls…
This green-and-red sly wheel
Spinning crazily, making you spin along
Racing thoughts scattered all around the place
Now c’mon! Pick your number… place your bets
Was it a guess? Some mess? Or signs of deep distress?
Eyes dart to and fro, beads of sweat forming your crown
“Higher!” A voice screams. Was it you? You have a doubt
Impatiently, you throw in all your chips! It’s all or none!!
Now the wait. When will the wheel stop rotating? When?
Did it just pause at eighteen? No. Maybe. Oh yes it did
Now if only life had been all that straightforward
And the ball would always find the right stop
On those numbers you chose to wager on
But alas that’s not how it works
(sigh) Oh damn!!

---

**I had written this a few weeks back, after watching Ocean’s 12 (or was it 13? Not too sure which one)… And sharing with One Shot Wednesday today… Do check ‘em out, and savor the lovely poetry there…and if you have a poem you want to share, do it!! NOW! **

Solemn Plea

My favorite!!!

And my fave!

If Calvin can be
Spaceman Spiff
And dodge aliens rough
Then I wish to fight
My aqua fiends
By being Ms. SeaBuff

If Tweety tan be
In a little tage
Yet have the big tat twapped
Then I wish to be
A butterfly
With skies and wind unwrapped

Wanna be my Hobbes today?
Or my colored wings, if you may?

---

**Posted for Poetry Potluck (week 24).. Check it out, link in yours…and ENJOY!!!! **

Vicious ways

Image credits: Elanorellewood@DeviantArt

Once upon a time
There lived a wooden heart
He beat on with a thump
Tough as a stalwart

But time became his foe
Rings revealed his age
His splinters went their way
Brimmed with rampant rage

After many wars
When mildew he had earned,
A match of spite was struck
And heart-o-wood was burned

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55… If you’ve got a story to tell in EXACTLY 55 words, I suggest you pay him a visit! **

Her quilted quandary

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

She stood witness
To her own demise
Her dead dazzle
Like pirate‘s loot
She watched the world
With stifled cries
What was once Earth
Now shrunk to soot

Clogged within
And dismembered
Her fragments strewn
Now fills your urn
All greens and blooms
Stay outnumbered
By ashes grey
Left from a burn

Ripped and torn
Then made to fit
To you maybe
It’s just a game
But hearts and souls
Rent bit by bit
When patched together
Are not the same…

---

**Submitted for Magpie Tales (Week 54)… Please do visit it and be amazed by the amazing takes on this inspiring picture… When I saw the image, I could only think of Mother Earth getting slowing getting poisoned with all the plastic waste and war-damage… **

Amber drizzle

Image Credits: Miss-Deathwish@DeviantArt

Umpteen shades of red and yellow
Floating in the dusky air
Like a pungent love affair
Sometimes hot, sometimes mellow

Maple leaves kept flying by
Crossing hills and giggling streams
Pushed ahead by muffled screams
Of winds rushing low and high

One little leaf painted red
Along with his soaring friend
Singing songs in soft ascent
Danced along, moving ahead

Together climbing tall mountains
And kissing peaks rising high
They waved greetings to the sky
And played by gushing fountains

They chased pretty butterflies
And floated by river banks
Cooing to the breeze their thanks
With trees waving their high-fives

Finally, they came to rest
Upon a tomb small but calm
And shedding a tear like a psalm
Hoping that they lived their best

 

---

**Had drafted this poem in the Fall of 2010, but finally posting it today for One Shot Wednesday … THE place for poetic awesomeness! **

Zone of placidity

pillowing in peace
in lulls of a humming mind
no chaotic grunge

inhaled and infused
cool scents of blooming freshness
tepid seclusion

sans confines, I glide..

---

Written for:
Sunday 160 (stories in 160 characters or less),
Poetry Potluck (poetry with a theme)
The Haiku Challenge (a haiku a day)

---

Thank you, Leo & Dakshi, for nominating me for as the Perfect Poet for this week… I am honored!! Here’s my little Haiku for you…

bringing summer smiles
drizzled with springing freshness
joys knowing no bounds

And with this, I would like to nominate DeadPoet88 for as the Perfect Poet for week 39…

Quiet withdrawal

Image credits: robot-soup@DeviantArt, with some Photoshop editing done by me

Frozen icicles
Hanging upside down
Clinging to roof’s edge
Of houses in Gloomstowne

Menacing they seemed
Set to stab and kill
Ready for ambush
In the dead midnight chill

Then sunny rays were strewn
In the pink of morn
And when no one had looked
The knives of ice were gone

Thawing into nothingness,
Trampled…

 

---

**Written for Friday Flash 55! Visit the awesome G-Man to check out what the others had to say in 55 words! You’ll be amazed!! **

Preciously preserved…

Image by Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

A
tear
a wee drop
one too many
shed for some joy
or even some sorrow
sheepishly evaporating
only to now leave behind
a few coarse grains of salt
inside a shiny crystal jar
waiting to be emptied
into a vast ocean
of time

---

**Inspired by and written for this lovely image at Magpie Tales (Week 53).. Check it out for more amazing takes on this prompt, and if you are inspired by it, link one yourself!! Enjoy… **

Grim promenade

Image Credits: thegirlinthebigbox@DeviantArt.com

Ready to crumble
Yet never a grumble
She greets passers-by
That cast at her a sigh
Vacant smile on her face
Chewing on a patch of lace
She strays yet another mile
Love to her is now just bile

Heart crushed
Emotions slushed
Her spirit battered
And misery splattered
Feelings bottled inside
In vain she tries to hide
And courses empty streets
Playing at weathered pleats

Under a happy veil
Lies her skin too pale
The eyes mascara caked
Cheeks and forehead raked
Long gashes running through
Whose depth in time just grew
Her silken hair turned to matte
Flat and limp like some soiled mat

She now awaits a change in trend
Where the road ahead’ll say ‘Dead End’

---

**Written for One Shot Wednesday… A place where poets meet and share… check it out and indulge in the awesomeness! **

Caressing by…

Captured by Sean McCormick

Image by SiS

like zephyrs that spill
moist kisses of sweet Spring
soaked by porous walls

like leaves that rustle
in the midst of amber Fall
tasted by blind eyes

love swims

-&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&–&-
Posted for:
One Shoot Sunday (where pictures talk…)
Sunday 160 (for stories in 160 characters or less…hosted by Monkey Man )
Poetry Potluck (a melting pot of thematic goodies… hosted by Aleza and moi!)
& The Haiku Challenge (a Haiku a day, hosted by our Someone is Special)

Click, read…and enjoy!!!!

Mind over matter

 

Image Credits: Zatren6@DeviantArt.com

Dancing to quick beats
Chancing on tough feats
Skiing down those treacherous dips
Freeing from the tightest of all grips
Despite numerous scars very meticulously hidden
Respite and self pity here are stringently forbidden
Such is the undying strength of human determination and grit
Worthy of stupefied awe, admiration and praise on life’s pulpit

---

**Posted for the AMAZING G-Man‘s AWESOME Friday Flash 55!!! Check it out and see what stories in 55 words can tell… **

Hidden Scapes

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

What the trees so strong
Could not feel
Was a touch so wrong
That made her keel

What the breeze that blew
Could not know
Was a chill that grew
Behind that door

What the birds that chirped
Could not hear
Was a soul usurped
By bouts of fear

What the sunlit yard
Could not smell
Was a heart too charred
To lose or sell

What the tongues of cold
Could not taste
Was the bitter mold
On hatred’s waste

What the whites outside
Could not see
Was the red inside
Spilt by her tea

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 52… Check it out for more magic made with this prompt… **

Behind a screen

Image credits: Daemon GFXvoid@DeviantArt.com

A small ‘hi’
popped on a window
Set my heart racing
skipping a few beats
every now and then
Melted all worries
Sent me into space
…and back too…
Got my head spinning
(not the space ride,
but that ‘hi’)
Formed a glazed sheet
over my round eyes
Made my fingers go numb
So numb… that…
“You there?”
almost went unnoticed

But it didn’t!
And I jumped back
to reality…
to being me..
to the blinking cursor…
to that glowing screen…
to him…
And feverishly,
with mock sternness,
I fumbled,
“Yup.. right here..
Wassup?”

Maybe he sensed my madness
Or maybe he didn’t…
Time will tell
Meanwhile,
I’ll just smile…
(sigh)
And dream about him,
his tall dark silhouette
smiling back at me
from the other side
of virtual reality…

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday! Do check this out and indulge in the awesome world of poetry…**

Crusted with fulfillment

Image Credits - Sean McCormick

I
high
in the sky
never to deny
any of my aspirations,
inspirations,
preparations
lying in wait,
rewriting fate
with instincts innate
knowing it’s ne’r too late

---

**Posted for:
Monday Poetry Potluck
Sunday 160 (hosted by Monkey Man)
One Shoot Sunday**

Naked reality

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid@Magpie Tales

Ms. Purity was her name
In honeyed milk she bathed
And in gold, was swathed
Much far reached her fame
Joyful was this youth…

Then came a horrid storm
And snatched her near and dear
Thus left with a mind unclear
She strayed from every norm
Then nothing was the same…

What was once soft and clean
Soon was wrought and shaped
Only to be tossed and raped
By hands too rough and mean
Amorphous was her form…

Shattered from this fall
Mildewed in nasty truth
She now stood sans all ruth
A hardened brick in the wall
At living death, she gaped…

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 51… Please check it our for other amazing takes on this image prompt! **

This cursed boon

Image Credits: butterfly36rs@DeviantArt.com

What good is a novel idea
pregnant with bright promises,
if it fails to unravel
on reality’s premisses?

What good is a wakeful mind
open to dreams and possibility,
if it’s stomped on and crammed
with waste and every triviality?

What good is all of richness
material or not so tangible,
if it denies its owner
a smile which is indelible

What good is our life
abundant with bits of substance,
if we cannot add an iota
of meaning to our existence?

After all…

What good is a resealable bag
pledging to lock in flavor,
if it is zipped tight shut
with foul air hard to savor?

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday… You must check it out to indulge in the amazing world of poetry and art… **

Leading to self…

Image Credits: Iquanyin Moon

Clutched in hand
Yet engraved in sand
Ever under scrutiny
Is a stated destiny
But on mind’s shore
Where thoughts score
I find this estuary
My very own sanctuary

---

**Posted for One Shoot Sunday, Poetry Potluck as well as for Monkey Man’s amazing Sunday 160!! **

The inevitable detour

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

Scattered
Are the leaves
Like random stray thoughts
From mind’s sheaves
Battered

Howling
Are the gusts
Piercing serene lands
Like wild locusts
Scowling

Thunderous
Are these beads
Pounding against windows
Their vile needs
Murderous

Blazing
Is the fiery snow
Turning emotions to ice
With its ashen glow
Grazing

And yet…

Unlittered
Are the horizons
Beyond prevailing chaos,
With bright suns
Unfettered

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 50… For more amazing takes on the picture prompt, you’ve got to check this out!**

Surrender: A self-fulfilling prophecy

Image Credits: 54ka@DeviantArt.com

The fear of rejection
Keeps him from loving
So he goes on shoving
Aside care and affection

Only to further char
The depth of his burning scar

The fear of a downfall
Keeps him from soaring
Flying or exploring
E’er leaving him to crawl

Only to further slide
Into dungeons where souls died

The fear of shadows dark
Keeps him from the lights
And much away from nights
Lest ghosts on him embark

Only to further walk
Down paths of tumult and shock

The fear of chaos dense
Keeps him from life’s fun
He’s always on the run
Forever foul and tense

Only to further scurry
Towards fields of pain and worry

The fear of all his fears
Keeps him from trying
For he’s too busy denying
The reason for his tears

Only to further flee
And sink in his own enraged sea

 

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday – Week 30… To open a chest of poetic treasures, do check this out! **

Fib-woven!

Image Credits: Wishmistress@DeviantArt.com

With facts obliterated,
Truth dissipated
Into frosty air
And Hell’s lair
What is now left
In a world bereft
Is this string of lies
As some coveted prize

This shroud of mistrust
Eyed with disgust
Keen to be lifted
And shifted
Lies unmoved
Firmly grooved
Whose soul is to sell
This, only time shall tell

 

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55!! Go check it out for more stories/poems in 55 words!!! **

On the road to…

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

Was it two centuries past
Or just few moments ago
When did I first let go
Seems like a memory lost

Caught in rusty sepia hues
Grainy and slightly scratched
Tears and grins here are etched
Without remorse or rues

Preserved in frames of wood
Behind thin sheets of glass
Or on paper cheap and crass
Or stashed under the hood

It could just be a picture
A still fragment of time
Or condensed into a rhyme
It could be sacred scripture

And so, as I sit and stare
I reflect on where it began
Two hundred strokes I swam
And yet I’m hardly there…

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 49… Please do check it out and indulge in other amazing takes on this picture prompt.. This prompt has a special meaning in it for me.. You’ll see why…**

***This also marks my 200th post in this amazing world of blogging.. (and hence the reference to ‘two hundred’ & ‘two centuries’ in the poem ) A huge and sincere THANK YOU to all my readers and supporters… Without your love and encouragement, I could have never made it to this point…I hope to continue this beautiful journey with you as my fellow travelers… Will you?***

A flurry affair…

Image Credits: le_mags@DeviantArt.com

T’was just another eve
A shadowy mesh grew on this sieve
The sun now eased its glow
And it soon began to snow

Then on a cobblestone street
As I walked my lazy feet…

With your platinum shine
Oh so crystalline
You drifted up to me
Just so I could see
You glided on my lash
Swung, then made a dash
And pecked me on my nose
I turned an icy rose
As if to say I love you
A soft kiss to me you blew
Very soon my heart you felt
In its warmth, you had to melt

And in the blink of an eye
I watched you dissolve and drip by
But your spirit still stays alive
And in it, I hope to dive

This evening that made me heave
Was certainly not just another eve

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday (Week 29)… For some phenomenal poetry, you’ve GOTTA visit them!! **

***I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that one of my short poems (Manic) has been featured in the January 2011 issue of Four and Twenty Poetry.. Yaaayyy!! I am very excited about this, and I would LOVE for you to visit the site (and open the pdf file and read my poem )! Thanks for your love and support… I truly appreciate it!! ***

Not another one please…

Image Credits: Google images

They say
The change is astronomical
I say
Just plain comical

They say
It’s named Ophiuchus
I say
Hmm… Hocus pocus

They say
Twelve + one
I say
Whatever, hun!

 

---

**Posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160 (stories/poems in 160 characters) and also for Monday Poetry Potluck! Check ‘em out… and ENJOY!!! **

Clarity in blur

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com (and some digital rework by me)

Frozen and suspended
Gingerly in midair

Soft and breezy
Caught between hair

Waiting and ready
To burst into motion

Winged and nimble
In fluid emotion

Colorful and vibrant
As buds that unfurl

Tasted and savored
In a honeyed swirl

Vivid and animated
As an expressed wish

Compressed and evaporated
From slumber’s shallow dish

Are dreams…

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55… For more stories/poems in exactly 55 words, please do visit his page…**

Euphonically yours…

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

Every syllable
That escapes your lips
Is a note intangible
That rises and then dips
Making ripples in the air
In which it resounds
Gently ruffling my hair
And grazing fluid grounds
Before it ricochets
Off the highest wall
And staggers and sways
But prevents its fall
Only to find a place
In my heart’s realms nigh
Where it’s kept with grace
On a pedestal so high
…that of love…

And while you’re not here
Like a lilting tune
These notes, they still adhere
Spelling out a rune
That you will soon return
This vow they make to me
So I wait for you and yearn
As these floating chords I see
Urging me to dance
They hold my hands and smile
And slowly I advance
Into a musical mile

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 48… Please visit this site to read and enjoy the fantastic takes on the above visual prompt**

Rhetorically possessive…

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

Can I say
My God is mine
When all I see
Is me being jostled
To the end of his line?

Can I say
Your religion is mine
When here I am
Sitting cooped and closed
Building my own mental shrine?

Can I say
My land is mine
When I know too well
That I have to renew the lease
When it ages beyond ninety-nine?

Can I say
Your heart is mine
When it safely resides
In the deepest nook of me
And yet I long for it and pine?

Can I say
My soul is mine
When I look for it
And find, instead of me,
Your face stare back and whine?

Can I… ?

---

**Posted for this week’s One Shot Wednesday (week 28)… Do check out this amazing place full of very fine poetry!!! **

Encore…

Image shot by me

Another night so clear
Gently drifting by
I wipe her parting tear
And bid her goodbye

A fresh day now here
Waits with arms outstretched
I slowly daub and smear
A past that was etched

All that I most revere
I hold closest to me
And dust off every fear
A new horizon I see

 

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55… Do check the amazing stories/poems written in EXACTLY 55 words…**

Modeled to dead perfection

Image Credits: Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

Fused in stone
Sometimes ceramic
Cold to the bone
And a touch metallic
Suppressing a groan
In manners emphatic
Our sins we condone
In an air too static

Frozen in embrace
Under a thorny tomb
Like a tepid womb
For muted disgrace

Like in a locked fortress
That is set on fire
We essay to digress
From a surging desire
While in this process
As events transpire
We’re thrown in a recess
Of life’s quagmire

Yet, silently we hope
To some day break free
To emerge and see
And no longer grope

---

** Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 47… Do check it out for the other amazing takes on this picture prompt… **

Mooniacal

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

Hiding and showing
While craftily glowing
‘Tween soft mists blowing
You’ve a smile all too knowing
~*~
Humble and coy
Making souls buoy
With an impish decoy
You bestow a mystic joy
~*~
Alluring and urging
And well-timed emerging
You have our pulses surging
In love you leave us submerging
~*~
Glossy and divine
In the sky you shine
Making us yen and pine
With a million stars in line
~*~
Rising and dancing
While slowly advancing
With your looks entrancing
You seize two hearts romancing
~*~
Lucid and bright
In an inky skylight
You are a sure delight
On a dark mirthless night
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

---

**This moonie poem is posted for One Shot Wednesday, (coincidentally) hosted this week by our lovely  Moondustwriter… Do check out this week’s OSW and indulge in all the poetic goodness!!! **

Unearthed!

Image Credits - Tess Kincaid @ Magpie Tales

Frenzied, I dug
Till I felt smug
Hearing a clank
My anxiety sank

‘Neath muddy fear
Sat a new year
Waiting to be found
Unwrapped, unwound

He smiled at me
With eyes heavenly
I forgot my woes
And turned rose

Immersed in love
I took off my glove
Extended an arm
And felt his palm

 

---

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55, and for Magpie Tales – Week 46… Do check these out for some amazing stories/poems…**

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!!!

Caution: Anguish ahead!

Image Credits: CrackBag @ DeviantArt.com

Please stay away from me
I can hurt your feelings
…real bad…
I can play with your mind
like it were a yo-yo
I can make you do things
that’ll make you plead and cry
I can crumple you like paper
and toss you aeons away

Please don’t come any closer
I am a ball of fire
ready to scorch you down
at the slightest fuel you provide
I am a billowing storm
of clouds you can’t see through
no matter how hard you try
I am a wall of ice
stinging, biting into your skin
and refusing to melt
I am an ocean of darkness
abysmal in its form
whose end you cannot reach

Please maintain your distance
I did what I could
in your best interest
to keep you from me
I tried all I could
to coerce you into
building hatred for me
I managed all I could
in burning all bridges
ever built between you and me

If now you get burned
or destroyed or drowned
Please don’t ever dare
to tell me I didn’t warn

I’ll just laugh my wildest laughs
Cast at you my flaming look
Lift you by your stringy throat
Watch you blink your bulgy eyes
And say, “I told you so…“
Then… I’ll just let you go…

---

**Submitted for One Shot Wednesday (the last one for the year 2010)… Do check out the stunning collection of poems here… **

The mood’s set…

Image Credits: Alli Rae @ DeviantArt.com

Chronic
Ebullience
Lilting appeal
Enamored awe
Begs music’s throb
Rise in an ecstatic fever
Assuaging pain like a sonata
Triumph over each win and defeat
Illuminations all around extended radii
Over and above, where one sees a magic halo
New year’s ’round the corner. Enjoy and have fun
Sing to the times ahead. Soak up some joy, partake in bliss

---

*This Double acrostic posted for Poetry Potluck (Celebrations and Festivities) and Nimue’s Months Of The Year Challenge (December)!! *

**I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers and Jingle for these lovely awards at the Thursday Poets Rally! Without you, none of this would ever be possible… **

A drop into vacuum

Image Credits: Iardacil @ DeviantArt.com

Gaunt shadows lurking all about
With hollowed eyes, they sought me out
I drank my fear, drifting afloat
Time and again, I clutched my throat
Their silent whispers filled my ears
Louder than shrieks, they seemed to pierce

I found myself submerged beneath the surface,
Unable to breathe in the midst of this race.
The voices echoed through the pools of silence,
Darkness fell, bringing solace in the midst of violence.
For there was only chaos running through this mind,
As the shadows grew bolder, so cruel and unkind.

Amid dark souls, I lost my way
Soon began to stagger and sway
Drapes of doom had started to fall
And no one here answered my call
Buried in dread, and drenched in pain
I groped for hope, but all in vain

The shadows loomed over the will of my mind,
Kneeling down to fears my heart could never find.
Dread hung heavy in the sweetened air,
I found myself drawn to the Devil’s lair.
For darkness had found and corrupted my heart,
Taking with it all that the shadows could tear apart.

My mind went numb, and senses failed
All life now drained, my skin had paled
The spark had gone from my eyes gray
As if dark clouds stole light from day
I walked towards that gaping hole
Without a care, without a soul

Down, down the rabbit hole, I found myself falling,
Far in the distance, I could hear dark voices calling.
Unanswered questions raced through the fathoms of my head,
Ringing through the silence, all these answers that I dread.
These shadows always lurking in the corners of space and time,
Bringing back distant memories of the basest of my crimes.

Slowly drowning in floods of hate
Longing for salvation though it’s too late
I step into this cold abyss
I know not why I feel such bliss
A happy tear, a sated smile
As I walk with open hands to embrace my exile

---

**This is a poem which I wrote in collaboration with DeadPoet88… We built upon each others’ stanzas (me the first, she the second, and so on). We wrote the 7th (last) stanza one line at a time (alternately). And somehow, at the end of the poem, we felt as if we had written the entire poem ourselves! It was a whole lot of fun and a great experience writing it with her… Thanks a ton, DeadPoet88, for agreeing to write this poem with me… xoxox**

***Posted for One Shot Wednesday!! Please check it out to read the fantastic offerings made here… ***

Faint blur

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

faint shadows dancing
behind smooth flimsy curtain
ghoulish puppetry

thunder and flashes
whizzing past turbid waters
ripples created

Images of precious past..

---

**This haiku set has been posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160!! For more tales written in 160 characters or less, please visit his blog… **

*** Also posted for our lovely Monday Poetry Potluck!!! ***

Someplace covert

Image Credits: DeviantArt.com

It was right here
Till some time back
I kept on toying with it
But it cut me some slack
Yet I’m certain it was scared
When I was set for attack
And so must have fled
Ne’er to come back
My mind’s lost!

Now here I am, searching
Hoping it’d cut me more slack…

---

***Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55! For more 55-word stories/poems, I would seriously suggest you visit his page.. ***

From within a cradle…

Image Credits: Magpie Tales

Sing me a lullaby
With your sweet voice
And drown down all echoes
Of even the most thundery noise

Weave me a blanket
Of your soothing arms
And hold me close to you
Far from world’s grave harms

Breathe me a kiss
Of your tender care
And save me from dying
From an attack of despair

Recite me a story
From your soul’s page
And lightly open my mind
To the wonders of a new age

Build me a home
With your affection
And watch my eyes shine
While I look in your direction

---

*~*Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 45… For other lovely takes on the above picture prompt, please do click on this link here…*~*

That state of oblivion…

Image Credits: Pulchra @ DeviantArt.com

I dream of days gone by
When moments would just fly
Its charm I won’t deny
And gravity I can’t defy
From the corner of your eye
You’d watch me touch the sky
I’d raise a hue and cry
But you wouldn’t breathe a sigh
There was no need to lie
We were so young and shy
You loved me… My oh my!
And on this, I was high…

In chill airs, you I smell
And all my fears I quell
From quandaries, I rebel
Cuz in my hopes you dwell
Soft chimes of a doorbell
I break out of my shell
In your arms, I revel
Clinging to you like gel
Enchanted by your spell
I hear my insides yell
You love me now as well
From your eyes, I can tell

My mind runs wild and free
And swims about in glee
While buzzing like a bee
And hugging an odd tree
There’s no reason to flee
For in love’s the way to be
I’m on this frenzied spree
And it doesn’t cost a fee
Sweet you are to me
Like candy or honey
In your deep eyes I see
You’ll still keep loving me

---

**Posted for this week’s One Shot Wednesday hosted by Claudia… Please do check out the lovely poetic offerings made here… It’s a certain delight! **

Sewn together…

Credits: Our wedding clicker.. Model: Me!

One day in January
None too ordinary
Down came a fairy
And got us to marry

We began to worry
Oh it seemed so scary
But now we’re merry
With another anniversary

---

*~*Posted for Monkey Man’s Sunday 160, : Stories/poems in 160 characters!!
Also posted for Lady Nimue’s Month Challenge (for January, which also happens to be my birthday month.. yaay!!): A challenge where you write a poem for each month of the year!

Do check these out… You LOVE what you’ll find here… *~*

Shaped to disfigure

Image credits - DeviantArt.com

Harmless and tender
Malleable as putty
Innocent victims
Molded to imperfection
Driven into a spitfire

A march towards doom
Rousing the vilest vengeance
Values forsaken
Furious contempt pouring
Froth of hate over the earth

Worshiped with fervor
Like a god too hard to please
In mind’s skeptic eye
Gingerly treading rough paths
Follower or fanatic?

---

**This Tanka triplet posted for the amazing G-Man’s Friday Flash 55… For more stories in 55 words or less, please do visit him…**

*** Oh, and by the way, A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, GALEN!!!!!! ***

Definitely not rusty!

Image Credits - Magpie Tales

An afternoon of white
Mountains wrapped in snow
We had nowhere to go
It left us in a plight

But that wasn’t a reason
To hate this lovely season
So armed in winter gear
We stepped out without a fear

Grunting, huffing, panting
We got up to the peak
Our legs feeling too weak
By now, we were ranting

But just one look below
No sooner did we know
Color and strength regained
And happily we sailed…

DOWN

DOWN

DOWN

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 44… Do check out the other amazing takes on this picture prompt!! **

Disparate parallelism

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

Where minds escape
Into a picturesque scape
Of waterfalls and butterflies
Touching rivers and skies
And ripples of reflection
Stream into a collection
Of clouds of reality
Or vast oceans of duality

Where hearts descend
Into a treacherous bend
Unfolding into an abyss
Emitting a cry and a hiss
While constantly falling
Deaf to the voices calling
Crashing into bare trees
Succumbing to the numb freeze

Where faces change
Into forms too strange
And bodies divide
Like petals untied
And souls are fused
From flames confused
And scenes are replaced
With memories displaced

This is where I drift
When sleep gives me a lift
This is where I head
When my eyes feel like lead

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday, and for Poetry Potluck… You will find some AWESOME poetic treasures here… Please PUHHLEEZE check ‘em out!**

Perfect Poet Award - Week 34

Also, a word of thanks to Chris G. for nominating me as a Perfect Poet at Jingle’s  Thursday Poets Rally… Thanks a ton, Chris!! And thank you, Jingle, for letting me be part of this superb community! Here’s my award acceptance Haiku..
words of gratitude
never quite reflect the thoughts
even so, I try…

I would like to nominate Pinklady-Bing for next week’s Perfect Poet!

Almond drops…

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

A fluid pearl
Whipped in a whirl
Formed in the oyster of an eye
Expelled with a sigh
At first signs of a mere whim
Rolling in a stream slim
Salty… unstoppable

---

**Posted for Sunday 160, hosted by Monkey Man… For more stories/poems written in 160 characters or less, you REALLY MUST check this out!! **

Permanence (in)variance

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

Seasons change
Even friends estrange

Mysteries unravel
To places we travel

Paths make a bend
Mistakes we amend

Cells mutate
In circles, we rotate

Rise in demands
Heck, even Universe expands

A different breath
From life to death

In these winds blowing fast
Does anything retain worth?
Your parents, your past,
Your very date of birth

---

** Posted for Friday Flash 55, hosted by the ultimate G-Man! Go pay him a visit, and also check out the other amazing stories written in 55 words or less… **

Early retirement

Image Credits - Magpie Tales

It’s 5pm now…
The City’s already lit in her full glory
It’s 5pm now…
A new start to another night’s story
It’s 5pm now…
Color’s been stripped off a short day
It’s 5pm now…
Bright yellow’s turned to somber gray
It’s 5pm now…
A sweet cool has transformed to a freeze
It’s 5pm now…
Muffs and mitts protect from the breeze
It’s 5pm now…
A myriad feet are hurrying back home
It’s 5pm now…
Frightened faces ‘neath masks of chrome
It’s 5pm now…
Those safe inside go crank up the heat
It’s 5pm now…
The once flakes now a slippery sheet
It’s 5pm now…
There are sounds of doors banging shut
It’s 5pm now…
All has settled into a mundane rut

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 43… I earnestly request you to read the other offerings here… you shall not regret doing so!! Enjoy a great week ahead… **

Under Arrest

Image Credits - DeviantArt.com

Ensnared
In your eyes
Letting out sighs
Suppressing my cries
Love, I dared
:
Slave
To your whim
For peace interim
Chances are too slim
Odd I behave
:
Jailed
In your grasp
Tight as a clasp
I can but only gasp
Senses derailed
:
Detained
By your passion
In a marked fashion
Mind knowing no ration
Nirvana attained
:
Captured
By your kiss
Heartbeats amiss
Set afloat in mild bliss
Soul enraptured
:
Locked
Between your lips
Those frozen fingertips
While savored in small sips
My world rocked
:
Trapped
In your heart
No knife or no dart
Shall now tear us apart
Snugly wrapped
~~*~~*~~

---

** Posted for One Shot Wednesday anchored by Adam this week, and for Leo’s Z to A Challenge (letter A).. Please do check out these sites… You will definitely love ‘em!! **

Bronzed, Burnt and Broken

Image Credits - Willow Manor @ Magpie Tales

He strode
Sassy and smart
But rode
Aloof and apart

He ascended
Golden and great
Later descended
Insignificant and irate

He drank
Hearty and hale
Then sank
Pathetic and pale

He remains
Frigid and forgotten
With pains
Rancid and rotten

Like the dying chalice
In the nook of the room
With its look of malice
Shrouded in hate and gloom

---

**Posted for Willow’s Magpie Tales – Week 42, and for Leo’s Z to A Challenge – letter B… Please make sure to check these out… You are guaranteed to have a great time reading!! **

Fading Fall…

Image credits: Deviantart.com

Amber red leaves drifted
Over graves unmarked
As they gently lifted
Unsung spirits parked

Tranquil zephyr blowing
Softly hummed a tune
Showered kisses glowing
Up towards the moon

Days and nights went flying
With sweet scented hues
There is no denying
Autumn’s wild-eyed muse

Now the shades are leaving
Towards some new place
Whilst the Gods are weaving
Blankets of white lace

Midst of milky patches
Naked trees stand tall
As a note despatches
To Winter, from Fall

Ghosts rising from slumber
Greet a snowy day
Starry flakes of wonder
Drizzle down the way

---

*~*Posted for the 21st week of One Shot Wednesday, hosted by Pete. Please do check it out! It’s consistently amazing!!*~*

*** Also posted for Leo’s Z to A Challenge – letter F (for Fall and for Fading)… Again, a MUST VISIT !!***

Illusion – In Reality!

Image credits: Magpie Tales

Late into the night it was
Well beyond midnight I thought
In chaos, some peace I sought
But feared it was a lost cause

So I scampered and scurried
Of fleeting time, I worried

This was my only big chance
Just a few hours until dawn
Then I would be dead and gone
And from a noose, I would dance

So I dug, fast as I could
‘Neath the floor right where I stood

Tired and torn, I sat to rest
Staring at the looming clock
What I saw gave me a shock
Thought it was some crazy test

The hour hand now moved behind
And mode was set to “Rewind”

On this magic, I relied
Cast away dread, and burrowed
Soon I was on open road
With a new time on my side

There, a man waited for me
In my ear, he hissed “you’re free”…

---

** Posted for:
Willow Manor’s Magpie Tales – Week 41
Leo’s Z to A Challenge – Letter I (for Illusion and In reality)
Monday Poetry Potluck – Magic & Miracles, Wonder & Wizardry
Folks, please do check these out!! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!!! **

Housekeeping!!!

Image credits: Google images

Scattered and discarded
On weathered cranial floor
Lie memories unguarded
Behind a broken door

A stench daring to rise
Is filling up my room
This I sense and realize
It’s time for mop and broom

I sweep and swab and preen
Do away with litter
Now my mind is sparkling clean
I’m my best janitor

**Posted for G-Man’s Friday Flash 55, and for Leo’s Z to A Challenge – Letter J (for Janitor)… Check out these sites and read the stuff there.. You will LOVE it! **

Kiss n tell

Image credits: Google

Image credits: Google

A
li’l
treat as
the symbol of
pure creamy love
as sweet as rich honey
soft on lips, melts to touch
leaving traces in the heart
of desire for some more
tender lusciousness

 

---

 

**Posted for Leo’s Z-A Challenge (letter K)… You’ve GOTTA check this out!! **

Lifetimes away…

Image credits - Photobucket.com

This wee passing boat
Paints a lacy trail
Leaving me to think
Of a moment frail…
If only I’d seen
what that did entail

Birds are soaring high
Crying with delight
Taking me way back
To a glorious night…
If only I’d heard
My own sighs of fright

Forceful roaring waves
Lash out like a whip
My sweet memories
Left at sea to strip…
If only I’d felt
Tightness of its grip

Fragrances surround
Of a scented rose
Cause a smile to form
On my lips morose…
If only I’d sensed
Toxic overdose

This reflected light
Bouncing off the side
Causing me to squint
Into a recess wide…
If only I’d stayed
Untouched as a bride

---

*~*Posted for One Shot Wednesday, hosted this week by Pete Marshal… And while you are here, please do check out the amazing poems by other poets as well… You will not be disappointed!! Enjoy… *~*

*** Also posted for Leo’s Z-A Challenge – letter L( for Lifetime)… This is quite a fun challenge… trust me!!! ***

Meandering paths

Image credits: Photobucket.com

Ecstatic with clean joy
Singing some happy tune
Light heart ready to buoy
Up to a smiling moon

This sudden pang of love
Drives me madly frantic
With warm rainbows above
I’m on trips romantic

But somewhere down the road
A fear of loss set in
It built a fine abode
Put my mind to chagrin

A wicked fury raw
Now boils, just to fester
This low volcanic gnaw
Makes peace hard to muster

Eruptions of stale bile
Stark nauseating green
Make way for feelings vile
Invoke desires mean

After some moments dark
Dejection found its way
It’s no walk in the park
On this cold gloomy day

---

**Posted for Monday Poetry Potluck hosted by Amanda and yours truly, and for the Z-A Challenge (letter M) hosted by Leo… Please do check out the lovely creative takes by the other poets at these poetic hubs!! You’ll love them all!! **

A girl named “Anon”

Bookstains Challenge - Picasso Weeping Woman

Reflecting as I cry
While pressing to deny
All charges slumped on me
That scare and horrify
I strain to nullify

Inside a glacial tear
Safe is the gnawing fear
‘Cause I’d want none to see
Those lies I buried here
Incisive as the spear

Without a rue, I preyed
Away from paths, I strayed
Ne’er pausing for some breath
I sinned and then I prayed
As smoothly, I betrayed

Here I’m feeling faint
Drenched in hues of paint
As you draw me on your sheet
And spit on me this taint
To you I’m not a saint

So now I swim in shame
Where I’d wished for fame
Breathe out a frozen whimper
With no thought or no aim
Failing to make a name

---

***I posted this for the amazing Poetry Challenge at Bookstains! You’ve GOT TO check it out!!! ***

Far from sanity

Image credits - DeviantArt.com

Oh.. your gaze
Has me in a daze
Sets senses ablaze
In a perplexing maze

Oh.. your smile
Leaving me senile
Of no intention vile
Making me feel servile

Oh.. your touch
It’s just too much
Racing heart I clutch
It invokes feelings such

Oh.. your dream
Like a fluid stream
Musical it may seem
Making tired eyes gleam

Oh.. your devotion
It arouses my emotion
Leaves me with no notion
And works like magic potion

Oh.. your openness
Serves like a harness
On my willing awareness
Towards this togetherness

Oh.. your intensity
The ferocious audacity
Drives my keen propensity
Towards your endless capacity

Oh.. your expression
It allows no digression
Makes a strong impression
Now has me in its possession

Oh.. your persistence
This impactful insistence
Questions my very existence
And it shatters all my resistance

---

**Written for One Shot Wednesday, hosted this week by Brian Miller… Do check out the other creative outpourings here… **

Brightened up!

Image credits: Photobucket.com

Festive is the mood
Crackers bursting, smiles floating
Not the time to brood

Aromas adrift
Tastebuds tickled by sweet treats
All senses too swift

Celebrating life
Joys and cheers spread across
Forgotten is strife

Earthen lamps flicker
Lining doors and windows tall
Stars indoors glitter

Glowing completely
Homes, bodies and hearts alike
Happy Diwali!

---

**A 55-word (Haiku’d up!) late entry for Thursday Poets Rally!! **

*** For those absolutely clueless on what Diwali is all about, well, it is THE festival for Hindus, as far as I know! It’s also called the Festival of Lights. It is a 5-day festival, each day having its own significance ofcourse. It has a whole lot of mythological/historical background to it. But when I think of Diwali, I can think of extensive house cleaning (ugghh), decorating the entire house with ornate teensy mud lamps (Diwa of Diwali = a row of lights), buying and wearing new clothes (yaayy!), and distributing AND consuming lots of sweets/goodies (yummyy)! And last but definitely not the least, to those insensitive to smoke and noise (count me out!), Diwali is ALL about bursting crackers (tons of ‘em)! ***

“In your face, mister!!”

Image Credits: Willow Manor @ Magpie Tales

I was snoozing like a child
Picking up berries wild
I then turned to my side
Letting slumber take a slide

Now half asleep and groggy
It appeared all too foggy
Yet I saw him standing there
Sir Rooster, in mid-air

A broken crown he wore
No no! This was no lore
I rubbed my eyes and gawked
Right past me, he had walked

How he made it to my window
Till now, I do not know
I thought it was a dream
And choked back on my scream

He strutted, but didn’t crow
Way east, sun did not glow
I guessed it still ain’t dawn
Snuggled and gave a yawn

I soon forgot the bird
It was now but just a word
I was back in wonder space
Weaving reveries in lace…

 

---

**Written for Magpie Tales, hosted by Willow! Do take a peek at the other creative writes as well… **

Yikes… it’s creepy!

Image credits - Google images

Yon are masks that terrify
Yellings loud that petrify
You try so hard to pacify
Yet don’t seem to mollify

Yaks and beasts big and hairy
Yanked and pulled by fiends scary
Yokels and clowns not too wary
Yearn to see a sweet fairy

Yellowed eyes one can’t deny
Yowling into midnight sky
Yielding to the savage cry
Yawing with the winds awry

Yearly rites ere All Saints’ Day
Yards adorned with cobwebs grey
Yin’s allowed to have her say
Yang leaps forth, he has to stay

Yeasty folk, some bold some shy
Young and old with smiles too wry
Yirding corpses while witches fly
Yen for this year to go by

Happy (belated) Halloween to all!

---

**Posted for Poetry Potluck (theme – Halloween) at Jingle Poetry! You’ve GOT TO read what the others have posted here**

*** Also posted for the Z to A Challenge (letter Y) at Leonnyes‘s blog! This is super interesting! Check it out… ***

Slowly and surely

Image Credits: Google Images

Relentlessly abiding
By rules guiding
Sometimes chiding
The ones presiding
Always riding
Along waves tiding
Mind deciding
Between thoughts colliding
Unsteady striding
Despite passion subsiding
Falsely priding
Whilst shamefully hiding
Casually avoiding
One’s self blindsiding
Snidely siding
These rulers deriding
Albeit providing
One’s attention undividing
Slowly sliding
Down paths dividing
Unwillingly residing
In societal backsliding

---

***Posted for Friday Flash 55 hosted by G-Man!! Do check out what the other creative writers had to say in 55 words here… ***

Game for one

Image credits - Google Images

It started with just some pride
And vanity on the side
Then arose the lust to grow
In whose name began this show

Right ahead, envy emerged
Clouds of green billowed and surged
Joined hands with greed for more
And made the mind numb yet sore

Weapons were now used and blunt
Anger assumed the bleeding front
Took whatever came to view
Usurped it all, glutton anew

Finally, when all was done
This war lost, down came the gun
Sloth took over, killed the charm
This sinful life ended in calm

---

***After a hiatus that seemed like forever, I AM BACK with this teensy contribution towards Poetry Potluck!!! No sloth for me please… I am off to read the sinfully yummy stuff posted here!! ***

****A HUGE THANK YOU for all your kind wishes that you’ve been leaving on my site all this while during my absence from Blogosphere… I shall be replying to all my well-wishers, and visiting and commenting too… CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER…. YESSS!!! Maybe they should add “impatience” as the eight sin… ****

School for the brave

Groping about in dungeons dark
Crowded by tears, I found no spark
Tornadoes swept across my face
From muck and dirt, I had to race

I wish I had my lantern here
The tunnel’s end would then seem near
I knew it hung against the air
While I just sank in deep despair

Hands clasped together, wet and cold
I felt a jut within some fold
My eyes shone at what I had found
This match had made my world go round

A tiny flame then cleared my view
The breeze now smelt so fresh and new
This tide had ebbed, my fears had gone
And Earth now faced a glowing dawn

Reflective thoughts then flowed like blood
Fire may burn, water may flood
Gravel may slide, and air may whine
Despite it all, we rise and shine

---

 

** I wrote this for Magpie Tales and Poetry Potluck… Please do check out the other amazing creative writes at both these places… There is abundant talent here!!! **

Stoically yours

Image credits: Google images, with a little bit of rework done by me

Planting
As roots
Are my feet
Into the ground.
Branching
As shoots
Are my limbs
Across the span.
Growing
As moss
Is my dress
Over my trunk.
Flowing
As wind
Is my hair
Across my face.
Teeming
As bees
Are thoughts
Across my mind.

Burning
As fire
Is my soul
For us to meet.
Spilling
As blood
Are emotions
Through my eyes.
Breaking
As glass
Is my being
By your deeds.
Hurting
As cuts
Are your words
Played in my ears.
Scabbing
As sores
Is my heart
Enclosed within.

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday, hosted this week by Moondustwriter… And while you are here, please do check out the other creative offerings as well… **

Necessary or Accessory?

Image Credits: Willow Manor

The soldier with his grit of lead
And armor made of pride
When faced with wars of pure hatred
He simply cannot hide

And marching on, he roars in vain
Cries not, despite the pain

The prince with all his swords and knives
Can’t ward away this harm
When dark angels reign over lives
And lure him with their charm

He lays himself before their eyes
Smile on his lips, he sighs

This fragrance that the princess wears
Can’t drown the putrid smell
Her sunken soul no longer dares
The Reaper’s evil spell

And yet she holds hope as her light
Against a long black night

Mighty canons, and perfumes sweet
These piles of wealth and fame
Betray their lords and bear defeat
When death plays her own game

And in the end, Earth comes to aid
Where all else seems to fade

---

**Submitted for Magpie Tales (by Willow Manor), and Monday Poetry Potluck at Jingle Poetry. Please do check out these sites for more creative treats… 100% fun and awe guaranteed! **

Ever after…

Image Credits: Photobucket.com

Oh Soul of Radiance
Friend of the stars
You fill the dark sky
Oh light of my life
Fight your wars with your head held high
May your renown spread upwards to the sky
I call to you
Please come to me
To hold me close
Your voice in a chant
Raise your sword to those cruel and vile
Slay the monsters, go employ your guile
I will sing this song
To your loving soul
For to lift your heart
And keep you from fear
Lift your bow and may the arrow release
Manoeuver your dagger with deft and ease
There is no danger
A lantern to steer
To show you the way
And let in the light
And while you are gone, I await your return
You defend your pride, as I sit here and burn

---

**This poem is a joint effort by Amanda and myself, for Monday Poetry Potluck at Jingle Poetry… I loved writing this with her! It was a real fun experience! Thanks Mandy!!!**

***And my dear readers, please do take the time to check out the other amazing creative treats brought to the Potluck… And if you feel tempted to submit a poem or 3, PLEASE DO SO!! We would LOVE to read ‘em!! ***

Silent smile

Image credits: Google Images

Night now unfolded
Opened like a vast canvas
Smooth galactic plane

Diamond dust sprinkled
On a sheet ebony blue
Gleam intensified

Watching Luna smile
Revel in her own glory
True heavenly bliss

Past present future
Written between shiny dots
Many tales revealed

Reflected below
On glistening waters black
Sight never to miss

Dreams floating right by
Tickling exhausted nerves
High ride on some cloud

Eyelids heavier
Warm darkness sweeping over
Pure satisfaction

---

Submitted for:
One Shot Wednesday at One Stop Poetry – hosted by Pete Marshall this week
Monday Poetry Potluck at Jingle Poetry – hosted by Amanda and myself
Haiku Heights – hosted by Leo
Please do visit these sites to read the other amazing creative outputs… Enjoy!!!

Every minute or so…

Time had slid right by
Like sand slipping through fingers
She did not know how.
Harder she tried to hold tight
Faster did it seem to slide

Now sitting, wishing
She were shaped as the hourglass
But knowing better.
It is blood that flows through her
Not fine and pure as that sand

But time is relived
Like this sandglass turned over
Up to down it flows
Deeds not undone, but redone
These grains trickling once again

---

** I wrote this (rhymefree – rare for me) Tanka triplet(my first ever!) for Magpie Tales, hosted by Willow… Please do check out the other amazing creative takes on the prompt here… **

***Please accept my humble apologies for not visiting/commenting on your blogs very frequently in the past few days. I have my in-laws visiting us, and time seems to be in a real hurry to catch some elusive train! And this will go on till October 19th!! Till then, please bear with me and my scanty comments … I do and will make it a point to hop on to your blogs whenever I can [am too blogaddicted to stop that ]. And of course, along with my dear friend and ever helpful partner Amanda, I will continue to host the Monday Poetry Potluck at Jingle Poetry).. Thank you all so much for understanding! I love you, my dear friends!! Hugs and kisses..***

---

Here is my acceptance poem for The Perfect Poet Award – week 28…

Thank you for everything, my sweet Jingle… and a HUGE Thank you to all my blogging friends….

My joys know no bounds
Overflowing like rivers
Dancing all the way

I would like to nominate our truly amazing Riika for the next week’s perfect poet award! She rocks!

 

Without punctuation

Image credits: Photobucket.com

The gates have shut
Walls have risen
Kicked in the gut
In this mindless prison

I feel remorse… I confess

Bound and gagged
Chained and beaten
My body dragged
And soul all eaten

I am punished… I bear

No ounce of scope
For my release
Within, I mope
While on my knees

I need freedom… I escape

Surrounded by sea
But I can’t swim
Hopes to be free
Are very dim

I feel challenged… I try

This menacing ray
Filling my cell
Sounding too gray
Like a resounding knell

I am afraid… I craze

I’ve tried to run
But all in vain
Faced by a gun
I’m trapped again

I feel helpless… I fail

Now none to bait
Nothing to pry
So I lie in wait
To rot and die

I give in… I finally give up…

---

**Posted for One Shot Wednesday, hosted this week by Adam Dustus. I also recommend you to visit the other amazing poets here as well… You will not regret it.. **

Unveiled shadows

Image credit: Willow Manor @ Magpie Tales

Locked in tight embrace
His shoulder held her face
Beyond, a midnight sky
Through windows standing high

On opening her eyes
She saw a spectre rise
Cloaked, it loomed ahead
A body, then the head

The eyes that held her gaze
Now set her soul ablaze
She stood there paralyzed
‘Is this him?’ she agonized

The phantom flashed a smile
It was without the guile
She knew what she had seen
But how could it have been?!

She feared about the worst
Her heart about to burst
Then loosening that weld
She saw whom she had held

The man sunken in her hug
Was just a faceless thug
And the ghost that seemed to glow
Was the one that loved her so!

---

**Posted for Willow’s Magpie Tales AND for Monday Poetry Potluck at Jingle Poetry(THE new community uniting the poets of BlogWorld)! Please visit both of these, and enjoy the other fascinating reads here **

Celestial Affair

Image credits - photobucket.com

Silver slim crescent
In indigo, slow ascent
Wisp of misty scent

One grey streak cuts thru’
Painted with the darkest hue
For moon, that’s not new

Shy? So am I.

---

**Posted for Sunday 160 hosted by Monkey Man.. Check out what the other writers/poets had to say in 160 characters.. **

Bandwagon and 3 things!

Recently, I was tagged by Christine, Jingle, Riika, Lisa and Ankita for playing these fun games…  Thanks a ton to these super cool friends for thinking of me…

So, without much ado, here I go….

Band-wagon Tag:

1. Why did you start blogging?
→ Here, I shall paste a bit from my About page.. “Mine is just an attempt to catch my thoughts before they jump out of my mind as they cross it, and decide to never come again! Mine is just a medium to know me as I was, by way of my thinkings, in case I am to ever lose my memory. So that my husband and friends (that’s YOU) can direct me to this site if such a day ever finds its way in my life.”

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world with no restriction of costs, where would it be and why?
→ Since there are no restrictions, I would want to see every part of this globe!! After all, I have to know my neighbors, and theirs, and theirs… don’t I?!

3. Did you have a teacher in school that had a great influence on your life? If so, what?
→ Hmm… as much as I admire anyone who has ever taught me anything, I still like to believe that it was I who decided to learn or implement it. So, to answer this question, yes and no!

4. If you could spend the day with a famous person, who would it be, and what would you do?
→ Gee.. is that a trick question?! But then again, I would love to meet David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and see how his fingers work on that guitar of his! OH GAAAWWDDD!

5. Toilet paper – over or under?
→ (sigh) Is this really necessary to know?

6. Name one thing in your life that you would do over if possible.
→ All of it!I like my life.. I can live it over and over (without changing anything about it!)

7. Tell about your pets – if any.
→ I have a human pet…does that count?

8. Do you live in a small town or a large town.
→ A HUGE TOWN!

♥ ♥ ♥

Three Things Tag:

3 places I would pack my travel bag for
→ California, Egypt, and for the third, I leave it to hubby.. let him take his pick! I’ll enjoy it anyway…

3 On-screen characters I love to watch
→ Hercule Poirot (David Suchet is AWESOME!!), and ofcourse Tom and Jerry

3 moods that describe me the best
→ Hazy(by that I mean “lost”), crazy and lazy!

3 things I always think of doing on a weekend
→ Trying out something new to eat, watching some movie, lazing around

3 things from my childhood that I cannot forget
→ Solving crosswords with daddy (yea!!), having to wake up early to get ready for school (grrrr..), staying with grandparents during summer (wow!)..

3 things I would never say no to
→ Music, chocolates, and gifts!

3 things I cannot live without
→ Hubby (but he ain’t a THING.. so this doesn’t count). Credit card(his), my iPhone, and water(okay.. maybe Coke)!

♥ ♥ ♥

And here, I will be breaking a few rules, and tagging all my friends… So, anybody who reads this, and feels like playing it, PLEASE DO, and post it up!!! I would love to learn more about you…

~~~~~~♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥~~~~~~

NOW… I have been given some beautiful awards by some amazing friends here, and I have delayed putting up the awards … So, I thought I should do something to make up for all the delay…

Here is a small token of friendship and gratitude to all my readers and friends whom I have had the honor of getting to know. This is something I made for you, and I sincerely hope you like it enough to accept it…
Please feel free to download it and put it up on your page if you wish… I would love it if you do!!
Once again, I humbly thank you, one and all!!! xoxoxox

Enjoy a terrific weekend!!!

~~~~~~♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥~~~~~~

“Trust me”, it said!

Image Credits: Google Images

I leaned against the wall
Tried to hear what it said
Its silence, hard as lead
Making all my spirits fall

I stared at the ceiling
Knowing not what to do
Your games of peekaboo
Playing at my feeling

I tried to smell the air
For traces of your scent
To me, no clue it lent
I thought this wasn’t fair

I touched the floor ‘neath me
Hoped for your footsteps near
These tiles evoked a fear
And I wished I could flee

I stood by French windows
Tasted the finest scape
And let my thoughts escape
To the weeping willows

I let my senses drain
For sixth to run this show
And now I simply know
That hurt shall not remain

This torch lit in my core
I let its embers burn
A click and then a turn
And you walk in through that door

---

**Posted for Thursday Poets’ Rally – Week 28, hosted graciously by Jingle**

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you all to Jingle Poetry, THE new community for poets! From poetry potluck to featured poets, from poetry blog shows to poetry news…we have it all!!! Different days, different treats!! Do stop by, have a look, and once you fall in LOVE with us, follow us and subscribe for updates and more goodies! Cheers to you all for making us happen!!!! Thanks for taking the time… ENJOY!!

If only he had spoken..

Vincent Van Gogh - a Self Portrait

Black orbs, deep-set looks
Sallow, sometimes bearded
Looking left and right

Never a smile
For quite a while

Done in a few strokes
Sitting too still, staring hard
As I paint some more

Feeling a rush
This flying brush

Wherever I went
Those eyes kept following me
What should I do now?

Will this e’er end?
Can this road bend?

Forgetting all woes
Coming back to my colors
I live just for them

They are my soul
They make me whole

Through paint I travel
This world, my rainbow haven
Penniless, I thrive

Sorrow unveiled
Canvas, I hailed

Fame is not for me
Wealth I shall pass for my love
For art dwells inside

I will live on
After I’ve gone…

---

**This is a challenge whose response I first saw on KSeverny’s blog. It got me interested, and so, here I am, participating in it! The challenge is hosted by EchoStains! It’s awesome!! For more details on it, please click =>here <= or the image above … Enjoy **

***Yours truly has also submitted this post as her shot for One Shot Wednesday, hosted this week by our lovely Moondustwriter… Please do make time to read the amazing writes here by the other poets as well… One Shot ROCKS! ***

“THE” first story

Image Credits: Willow Manor

She was pretty as can be
With soul sweet as cake
But she loved to be free
And rules she had to break

She was asked not to touch
The tree that bore the fruit
But her heart was racing much
And longed to grab this loot

She gaily walked and picked
This sumptuous mass of red
Her smiling lips she licked
Feeling contented and fed

But the deed now was done
The can of worms unleashed
And although she had fun
For this, she had not wished

Haven, it was no more
Instead, a world of dread
Greed seeded in the core
Wrapped in green hatred

This apple, so disarming
Who knew it was just bait
Alluring and charming
That it held a whole new fate

---

** Posted for this week’s Magpie Tales, hosted by Willow Manor… Please do check out the other amazing creative takes on this prompt as well… **

***A very interesting fact about this poem (that I JUST discovered, by chance): The text file I saved this poem as, happens to be EXACTLY 666 bytes! Now, is it ODDLY EVIL or what!!! ***

~~~Oh…and, this might be “THE” first story, but it’s my 150th post!! Yaaayyy!! Thank you everyone, for being so patient with me all this while… I will return this favor with more posts! ~~~

Darkest light

Photographed by me from home - after the tower lights of Empire State went off at 2AM

The blackness of night
Glorified
By the glow of a moon
Sanctified
And drizzle of illumination
Mollified
Soldered by reflections
Deified
Revered by souls
Terrified
With an innocence often
Vilified
By hypnotic gazes of shadows
Petrified
Infused with million sparkles
Purified
Eventually, depths of which
Verified
Here is a night
Gratified
Leaving us all
Satisfied!

---

*~*Posted for Friday Flash 55, hosted by G-Man… Please do check out the other creative writings as well… *~*

***Just wanted to let my blogger friends know that I will be of on a drive to Boston and thereabouts in a couple of hours, and will be back only on Monday – planned by hubby and friend!! And I am dragged into it!!! So, I may not be able to visit your blogs till Monday… please be patient with me, cuz on Monday I will be hoarding your Inboxes with comments!! ***

This serene volcano

Image credits: Photobucket.com

With a pounding heart
And a racing pulse
In whole and in part
This sheer impulse
While unto you I dart

In the core of your palm
Ocean of your eyes
I sense a floating calm
As I release sighs
Like rendition of a psalm

In a tight embrace
As you are holding me
I give in with grace
Moon in day I see
Shooting stars I trace

For now be it rain
Or a winter cold
I can feel no pain
And they have no hold
Over my soul’s terrain

Into one we merge
Together in this bliss
As tidal waves emerge
With a gentle kiss
A lonely past we purge

Unknown (A known ?) trajectory

Image Credits: Photobucket.com

From deep down, to top
A steep precarious tread
Peak is right ahead

From ashen to glow
Streams of heart and soul emerge
As rich passions surge

From darkness to light
Watching the expanse unwind
Candles lit in mind

From out there to here
A prize well deserved and earned
That past has been burned

From navy to pink
Color palettes in motion
Works like love potion

From bottomless pits
Unable to break a fall
Place of no recall

To shining new heights
Fresh with a bold new flavor
For you to savor

Such is this journey
From tense night to intense day
A life on display

---

*~*Submitted for One Shot Wednesday, hosted by Brian Miller this week… Please do check out the amazing posts here by the other poets as well… *~*

Soft whispers

Image Credits: Willow Manor at Magpie Tales

Winds were howling
Trees were scowling
He could sense the pain
Then he heard it again

“Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

Swallowed in sweat
Feeling cold and wet
He was looking all around
Feet barely touching ground

“Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

He then sat huddled
Thoughts were muddled
In this shadowed house
He felt like a mouse

“Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

Shutting his eyes tight
And trembling in fright
He thought he was choking
Then felt the slight poking

“Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

With a start he awoke
Heard Mom as she spoke
Her eyes, a melting brown
As she straightened his frown

And she said, “Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

The nightmare now gone
With this brand new dawn
But he knew what held his fear
Vacation’s over, school’s almost here…

But she was saying, “Sshhh… don’t be afraid…”

---

~*~ Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 29, hosted by Willow Manor… Please do visit the other creative writers as well… ~*~

Painted Plain

Clicked by me

I’m awake
A wall I view
Not fake
Of pure blue

Where am I?
I’ve no clue
A dragonfly
Afar it flew

A drone I hear
And then I knew
It’s the sky clear
Azure in hue

---

**My entry for Monkey Man‘s Sunday 160!! Check what these writers could write in 160 characters (or less) **

Mr. Question – Ms. Answer

Image courtesy - Photobucket.com

From what place?
From corners of a mind,
Where thoughts interlace

In what way?
In manners by which
Many hearts will sway

For which one?
For souls that dare
To shadow the sun

Till what time?
Till the day when
There’s left no rhyme

To where next?
To galaxies of verses,
Governed only by text

---

**Posted for Friday Flash 55, hosted by G-Man… Please do check out the other creative writings as well… **

Step on it…

Image credits - Photobucket.com

Come on, my dear, rest on me
For I’m as plush as can be
Repose upon my fibres soft
Soon I shall take you aloft

Now that you’re here and perched
Pardon me if I lurched
I have begun this jolly ride
‘Tween white clouds, you will hide

Farewell to ground have been bade
My oh my! Are you afraid?
Please trust me, do not worry
For I will be in no hurry

This smooth drift in mid-air
Wind blowing through your hair
For your face lit with smiles
I could fly a million miles

Tell me when you want to land
I’ll guide you, just hold my hand
Back to earth, here we are
My love, on you, I’ll leave no scar

I hope you had a lovely time
For this, from you, I’ll take no dime
Come to me whenever you wish
Off we’ll go, to skies we’ll swish…

---

** The above poem is my entry for Jingle’s Thursday Poets Rally – Week 27**

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jingle, and all my fellow-poets here at the Rally, for this amazing award. Without your love and support, it simply wouldn’t have been possible… Thanks for this lovely magical carpet… Come on and ride it with me… Let’s go see all the beautiful places we’ve ever wanted to, together…

Raging embers

A seething bright flame
Of rich orange and red
Up now, is my game
Helpless, I fall on bed

I twitch, cringe and frown
Shut my eyes for a while
In this fire I drown
Towards it, I’m servile

Trying hard to think
Of ideas light and mild
Driven to the brink
Of a world, mad and wild

I look ’round in vain
In search of just some hope
Knowing I’m in pain
Left me with not much scope

This white hot feeling
Off me, I cannot shake
So I plead, kneeling
God! Stop this damn headache!!

---

**This is my contribution for One Shot Wednesday, hosted by Leslie Moon (aka Moondustwriter) this week… Please do check out the amazing posts here by the other poets as well… **

***Image credits: Photobucket.com***

Peaceful descent…

She slit throats just for fun
For paltry sums, she would stun
She called handsome men her hun
Then threatened them with a gun

She was known as the Betrayer
The Nabber, the hired Slayer
Of sin, she had on a thick layer
But now, she was getting grayer

She knew, however hard she’d try
The blood and tears would never dry
A wife’s despair, a child’s cry
Haunted her mind thru’ low and high

She finally stepped into the tub
To give herself a gentle scrub
Gore on her hands, she tried to rub
Aware she’s no more than a burnt stub

The water flowed beyond the brim
Fading lights, it all looked dim
Last breath gone, she now seemed grim
Her painted nails floating on the rim

---

**Written in response to the prompt this week at Magpie Tales, hosted by Willow Manor… Please make time to read and enjoy the creative takes by the other amazing writers and poets here… **

***Credits for this breathtaking image go to the lovely Willow ***

From my easychair

Growing drops
On my window
Hand in hand
Down they flow
Beyond them
Clouds billow
Threatening
Loud and slow
Silently,
I watch the show
Bound within
Nowhere to go

---

*Posted for Sunday 160, hosted by Monkey Man. Please do check out the creative reads by the other writers-poets here…*

**A VERY COLORFUL AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRIAN!!!!! **

Satiated? Hardly!!!

Love they felt
Hearts did melt
Passions were spelt

How romantic!

Vows were read
They stood wed
Their wishes fed

Glowing faces…

Toasts were sung
Cheers were flung
Together they clung

Party time!!

Plop! He fell
What the hell!
“Ring that bell!”

He’s gone…

She slowly smiled
A temptress wild
Her avarice piled

Rich widow!!

---

**Posted for Friday Flash 55, hosted by G-Man… Please do check out the other creative writings as well… **

Mysterious Route

Image Credit - AnimeVice.com

A moment of intense heat
And then he was born
In no time he grew
Began his journey on.
He pondered all the time
Of where he would end up
He’d move, and would pause
Restless as a pup.

And then all of a sudden
A coarse blanket fell
Over his frail body
Sweeping him under it’s spell.
It crushed him through and through
Beneath it’s leaden weight
He tried his best to dodge
But it was now too late.

He died, like he was born
In a moment’s flash
He was that drop of sweat
Infamous and crass.
And just after he passed
Another drop was born
Into a world unknown
Of heat and cold and scorn.

Just until…

Image via Wikipedia

Tick-tock-tick-tock
Awake in bed I lie
Letting out a sigh
Sleep I so deny

Tick-tock-tick-tock
All is calm and still
But I feel the chill
Mind working like a mill

Tick-tock-tick-tock
Yet another flash
Burning like a rash
My thoughts seem to clash

Tick-tock-tick-tock
His breathing sounds so clear
By my side, right here
The rhythmic beats I hear

Tick-tock-tick-tock
I turn to face the dark
And hear singing of a lark
The sun has shown a spark

Tick-tock-tick-tock
Now my eyes they close
Somewhere, I smell a rose
And finally I doze…

---

**This is my contribution for One Shot Wednesday, hosted by Pete this week… Please do check out the amazing works by the other poets as well… **

***I would also like to use this opportunity to tell you all that one of my all-time favorite poems was featured on One Stop Poetry very recently… I thank my friend Brian from the bottom of my heart, for this honor. You will find this poem on my own blog here, as well as at One Stop Poetry… I would be delighted if you take the time to read it… The poem is very special to me, as I wrote it the night before I was supposed to move to a new city for good… Thank you all, for your patience.. ***

That Social Worker…

She spent years spreading love
Like a flowing river
She was sincere as a dove
And a generous giver

She filled us up with life
Until our thirst was quenched
We sploshed without a strife
She watched us getting drenched

She asked nothing in return
But a little care
Cuz with cracks in her turn
There’d be no love to spare

Alas age is taking over
And showing on her wrists
But she will never cower
Inspite of those cysts

She may be a little rusty
But that’s only on the out
Her heart’ll never smell musty
She’ll hang on, without a doubt!

---

**Posted for Magpie Tales – Week 27, hosted by Willow Manor. Please do take time to read the creative works by the other contributors as well **

***Image courtesy – Willow Manor***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Wearing Taj
Go British Raj
Cotton wheel
Bolly-reel
Farming pride
IT-ride
Bombay to Mumbai
Madras to Chennai
You’ve come a long way
India, Happy Independence Day

*Posted for Sunday 160, hosted by Monkey Man. Please do check out the creative reads by the other writers-poets here…*

**Today is 15th August, the day when India and all of us Indian children celebrate our Independence from the British Rule… This is an ode to honor India on completing 63 years of FREEDOM !! **

***JAI HIND!!! ***

Free… Found… Forever…

A starless night
No one in sight
I was lost alright

On sandy shore
With waves that roar
My hopes, they soar

Squinting my eyes
I watched him rise
From seas to skies

One swift glide
Him by my side
My pain did subside

Two spirits embrace
Hearts out of pace
Returning to undead space…

---

**Posted for Friday Flash 55, hosted by G-Man… Please do check out the other creative writes as well… **

Shaded in Love…

He tousled my long flowing hair
And then played with a strand
I sensed a start to this affair
‘Twas Heaven here, on land

I was reborn…

He ran his hand over my brow
To his warm touch, I froze
My eyes saw his desire grow
I simpered and went rose

I was shy…

His fingers traced along my lips
My mind went weak and light
I wanted to taste him in sips
And sing in wild delight

I was ecstatic…

He let some water droplets fall
Placed some on my shoulder
I stood beneath the waterfall
Behind a strong boulder

I was soaked…

He looked at me, his work of art
And wished I were alive
Felt no beat in my paper heart
On his easel, I would thrive

I was… I just was…

Tempestuous calm

Looking into your hazel eyes so deep
I know your love is for me to keep

Hold me with your tight embrace
I know it’s real, my pulse is on a race

Feel my skin , dancing to your touch
This sense of mine reflecting so much

The melody of love bursting out wild
These passions that float, are never mild

Breathe sweet nothings into my ear
While you’re with me, I feel no fear

Let’s dance to this tune here and now
Let’s sing to the world, and take a bow

For as long as we can sail together
This vast ocean seems gentle as a feather

---

**About a month back, I had taken up a free flow poetry challenge thrown by Richard North of The Arts Web Show. The challenge was to write whatever came to your mind when listening to a particular piece of music… no editing, no correction…just write it! So I did it too, and the above poem was what resulted, in a matter of about 4 minutes of music playtime! I haven’t edited the poem since, except maybe capitalize the first letter of each line Anyway, the idea here is to just let go, and allow the mind and senses to take over… I really encourage and request EACH AND EVERY ONE of you to take up this challenge, and see what your mind can generate when set free… Today, I saw Jamie’s lovely post that had her response to this challenge, and I was reminded of mine!!! So I thought it would be a lovely idea to post this poem for One Shot Wednesday (hosted this week by Adam), so that my One Shot friends also have a go at this amazing challenge… My dearest Readers/Bloggers/Writers/Poets, please PLEASE check out both One Shot as well as the Free Flow Poetry Challenge! Once again, the details about the latter can be found by clicking here.. Have a great time! **

Ms. Molly and he…

He has the finest friend, a lovely Ms. Molly
She’s as old as he, always coughing and bending
But caring for her garden, her family they are
Her love for him and them has been never-ending

Each day she would quench his thirst with water
Carried him sweetly like he were her only child
Then together they went to greet the pretty greens
Wind whistling to this couple, and birds cooing wild

Plants welcomed them, with their spirited dance
Rewarded Ms. Molly with a sweet tomato and peach
The tallest of trees bowed graciously to say hi
Weeds tickled them proud, so deep was their reach

But today he sat there, in wait of Ms. Molly
A feeling in him, that the wait was in vain
Cuz he’d heard a thud inside, and then a whimper
And he knew that Ms. Molly was no more in pain

The breeze is not blowing, the birds are quiet
While he broods over the times he’d spent with her
What’s he to do, how’s he to go on
And as he ponders over, the greens weep and wither

**This is my contribution towards this week’s Magpie Tales hosted by Willow. The credit for this lovely image here goes to Willow ofcourse…. Please do check out the amazing works by the other writers/poets as well ***