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…**

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! ***

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! **

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!! ***

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?! **

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! ***

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! **

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! **

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!!! **

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!! **

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!! **

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!! **

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!! **

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!! **

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!! **

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 **

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!! **

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! :’( ***

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! **

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 **