The Poetry Marathon

Hi. I am Prachi Shah and this is my second full marathon. I had a blast with the first one and also got to read amazing poems from people around the world. I am geared up with my cup of coffee, my diary and my pen and have also locked up my daughter and husband in one room :P. Let’s Do This!

Mobile phones were still transitioning from

Luxury to necessity during my college days,

I never wanted one, never asked for one,

I knew there were bills that needed to be paid.

My brother walked in one evening,

A brand new Motorola flip phone in his hands

‘For you,’ he said, smiling happily,

This was a month’s salary, plus savings that he had.

Even he didn’t have one, and he worked,

Yet, he thought of me first,

He beamed as he gave it to me,

I stood there speechless, I had no words.

That moment’s significance has grown with time,

The sacrifice, the ready compromise,

This simple selfless gesture,

I cannot recall it with dry eyes.

I have had many phones after that,

But that tiny black phone holds a special place in my heart,

It stands for everything my brothers and I were, still are,

Each other’s backbones, even when apart.

Well, hello there Miss,

Allow me to introduce myself,

I am my master’s Hyde, the devil on her shoulder,

Basically, the fun one in the relationship.

You seem shocked,

she does play the goody-two-shoes part well,

I’ll give her that,

Although, it was my idea, you know, social pretenses and all,

We worked well…until now.

You see, she has great potential,

She has a delicious darkness within,

This stuff is of legends, it doesn’t happen often.

I get shivers of excitement when she unleashes her imagination

It is glorious, bloody, tantalizing, shocking,

but she keeps it imprisoned, never makes it real

It’s like having a blockbuster script and no movie.

Did you know they never assigned her an angel?

Nope, it has always just been lonely little me,

But they had a point, why waste resources,

On such a perfect like psychotic sweetie?

She runs from it, from me,

but you can’t hide from the abyss of your soul,

She’ll find her way eventually, I suppose,

but, you know, I do get so bored,

So I mess with her dreams and whisper things in her ear,

What? It is my job, after all,

To give her a little nudge now and then,

to help her embrace her true self,

and unleash upon mankind the horror within.

-Prachi S

He hunched his shoulders,

Walking, fading into the big city,

One of the many

with dreams unfulfilled

efforts unrewarded,

No takers for his skill.

He had walked his path,

But destination eluded him,

His wants dying on his tongue,

with all the mouths he had to feed.

In his despair, he couldn’t see,

He had enriched lives so many,

One was an engineer,

another, a photographer,

they owed their lives to him

he had kept them off the streets,

If only he saw himself with their eyes,

he’d see he was taller than the giants.

-Prachi S

I want to laugh,

unbridled, raw, pure, innocent,

the kind that comes in waves despite

your stomach knotting in stitches.

I want to choke on giggles that

make water spurt out of your nose,

that make talking impossible,

and send you rolling on the floor.

I want the laughter that starts with just one word,

or a look, a knowing glance,

that comes from oft repeated inside jokes,

privy only to those close to the heart.

I want laughter that is norm with the ongoing conversations

that is transparent, unchecked and free from judgement,

I long to laugh a real laugh,

It’s been so long, I wonder if I can anymore.

Your eyes always twinkled,

they spoke their own language,

Always shining like they were secretly laughing

Just out of pure joy.

They had fire, those eyes,

they showed the ridiculous strength you possessed,

Hard with suffering, yet soft with love,

they were like a lighthouse to my wandering soul,

But now they have extinguished,

And I’m lost.

– Prachi S

Angel’s first birthday,

My excited daughters decorate the terrace,

with crude hand-made posters and scraps of paper,

and a colorful paper cake painted with care.

They hand out tiny invitations

‘Be ready – it is going to be awesome!’

They spend hours preparing for their make-believe party,

A couple of jubilant, chattering monkeys!

6 o’ clock – IT’S PARTY TIME!

Two tiny girls drag every member

old and young to the top,

They all come – all of them,

and everyone cheers when the girls blow the candle,

Enthusiastic claps follow along with a joyful singing of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song,

Then they all pretend to gobble the pretend cake,

And give Angel a kiss, gently passing her around,

Just for seeing the girls’ faces light up,

who are now giggling and trying to act in charge,

We even play games, ‘It’s a party after all!’

and then, comes my favorite part.

Angel, a palm sized pink stuffed toy,

Sits in the center while eleven adults dance around her,

No cynics, no eye-rolls, no ‘lets get this over with,’ remarks,

Just a lot of warmth and love galore.

This is family.

I began my journey from galaxy Mildorn,

Their purple beaches had been on my list far too long,

but I paid the price with boil-ridden skin

for not carrying JellyProtect to fight its Neuar sun.

I continued my journey, albeit tad painfully,

Prodding along to the Meteor County,

The showers were spectacular, the view magnificent,

Glad I did it, it sure was fun!

Next was the luxurious Sentare for me,

Sipping on Shremark Pina coladas for free,

Swimming with the giant rasterfoons,

The gorgeous yellow ocean reflecting nine hundred and twenty six moons.

En route to Dexark, I was unfortunately swindled,

By a swine so gross and heavily wrinkled,

He took away everything save my cretamin rolls,

And made a swift exit through a hidden black hole.

With resources dwindled, I returned, cutting my trip short,

Which was just as well, for I was in for a shock.

The colony I had built for my college project,

A part of it had become completely wrecked.

It had an infestation, my, it had grown!

Ugh! Humans! I should have known!

Now I have to work on my planet all over again,

Clean up, rebuild, add more trees and some fresh rain.

Yawn! I’ll do it tomorrow, I’m too tired today,

Let the pesky pests live one more day.

-Prachi S

The landline rang breaking

the silence of the quiet morning,

I awoke, but didn’t get up,

It felt like a forewarning.

It’s shrill song pierced my ears,

I froze on my bed, eyes filled with tears,

My mind screaming over the racket,

‘Ignore it, it will make it not real’

Mum’s in the hospital,

Tubes down her throat,

She can’t be getting any better

If someone’s calling at 4.

I hear my father pick up,

His silence is loud and clear,

I hide under my blanket

Wisps of hope destroyed by mounting fear.

I don’t want to hear it,

The terrible news he brings,

I shatter, I break when he speaks,

what I knew had happened from the very first ring.

It never is like the movies

where fate makes your worlds collide

where soulmates get drawn to one another

and angels and violins your meetings preside.

it is work, hard work

you have to talk, adjust, make time,

It is a journey of two souls,

embarked with open minds.

It is not the in the grand gestures,

but the small ones, the routine, the mild,

a warm hug, a stolen kiss, a mischievous wink,

The choice to let go, no matter how riled.

It is a synonym of acceptance,

of gratitude, of forgiveness,

it is about being there,

listening and supporting.

It is the quiet touch after a fight,

the pride in the eyes that says, ‘she’s mine’,

It is the book bought for me after every work trip,

and handling my crazy after a bottle of wine.

For me, it is trust,

it is happiness, faith, the freedom to be true,

it is not an elusive concept burdened with fancy words,

for me, it is, simply…You.

-Prachi S