The Poetry Marathon

Dear Love,

Waking this morning without you,
I am lost,
Like a boat adrift,
In the blue ocean of Nottingham sky.

I am missing you the way, an orange misses its skin, once peeled,
That is all there is to say.

Just this:

I miss the way,
Your love tethers me,
But does not bind me,
To the Earth.

Your sweetheart,
Dimple.

I’m sitting here at three in the morning,
Clock’s ticking and the house is sleeping ,
Three hours until the sun will rise ,
Three hours until my sons will slide, With slippered feet downstairs
And ask me to make pancakes.

And still my sleep eludes me.

There was that drink I had at ten
What was it? Tea? It had caffeine!
And then of course there’s work to do, To plan, to plan, and then to worry: Three more shows, and all that travel, All that baking (!)
Can’t be right…Let’s do the math again.
Again.
Be safe and do the math again.

And still my sleep eludes me.

I’ve taken time, I’ve taken baths, I’ve taken pills,
Yet here I am, sweat soaked and hazy, Wondering what will happen come tomorrow,
I’m counting sheep and counting stars ,
And counting ticks and tocks of clocks, I’m counting down the next three hours

And still my sleep eludes me.

A Mother’s Love: a recipe inspired by my mother

Ingredients:

1 pound of unconditional love

1 bunch of affection

3 tablespoons of trust

2 cups of patience

1 dash of sleepless nights

Season with:

Creativity, intuition, tenderness and dedication.

Preparation:

To be a mother is the greatest gift a woman can have. She makes an imprint on our hearts and becomes an example
to follow. Mother is the noblest title on earth. Invincible warrior.

She dedicates her soul to make sure that her children have everything they need; she is the friend who we never have to tell we are hurting, sad or worried; she already knows.

Mother is the one who can ground us with able to give us the wings to fly.

roots,

and

yet

is

She makes us feel like the most exceptional and precious person in the world. She holds our hand and protects our heart. Dedicates her life and soul

She ignores her weariness and her pains, she soothes our sorrows, cures our woes and rejoices in our success

I love you, Mom!

It is I

The little girl with the braided locks
In her pinafore with the matching socks,
Her eyes filled with stories untold
It was I, a little miracle, waiting to unfold.

That lovely lass, in the afternoon sun,
Full of life, gaiety, and mindless fun,
Falling in love for the very first time,
It was I, trying to make my verses rhyme.

That beautiful face behind a veil,
Those quivering lips as life set sail,
A friend, a lover, a consort for life,
It was I, smiling through every strife.

That joyous face filled with pride,
Those skipped heartbeats, when a little baby cried,
That best friend, and a punching bag,
It was I, a mother looking for innocent moments to brag.

The silver locks glistening in the sun
The laugh lines that wrinkle at every pun,
Those sunsets when the sky turns to gold
It is I, reflecting moments young and old.

The lover who has been romanced in the light of the moon,
The mother who was dismissed, a moment too soon,
It is I, you have always found by your side,
In all my roles, as a woman of pride.

It’s a long road ahead that you and I will #walk.
We may or may not match our stride.

We may never ever cross paths.
But if we ever do, and if our #masks still hide our #smiles,

…can we #promise each other this ?

We shall not turn away our eyes in #guilt.
We shall not lower them in #fear.

We will remind ourselves that, while #anger and #sorrow have no #color,
#Love makes up for them in a million hues.

We will accept that #acceptance is hard, and #forgetting isn’t easy,
But deep within we will #believe, to #forgive isn’t just #divine, it’s also the best anti-depressant.

The road ahead will be traversed by many like us.
And also by many more, unlike us.

It will be trudged slowly, by those, whose #wounds are deeper than ours,
Who are #weary, whose #hearts need to #heal, and whose #minds need to #rest.

Maybe, just maybe if we kept our promise, we may be able to make it a little easier for them?
Maybe we #slow down for a few who need the #kindness, and #run with those who want to be #free ?

Aren’t we all a little bit selfish, to want to be remembered for the right reasons?

It’s a long road ahead that you and I will walk.
We may or may not match our stride.

We may never ever cross paths.
But if we ever do, and if our masks still hide our smiles,

…can we promise each other this ?

This is my first participation in a challenging event. I have heard and I know it’s going to be a difficult one , in terms of your mental health, might take up your entire time, but I am up for it. I feel you should always test difficult waters and find out how far you can swim. There’s no preparation as such but yes small things like keeping myself awake hopefully and the love and support of my family and extended relatives and friends should keep me motivated and going. I would like to thank a beloved friend of mine who actually posted about this thing on my social feed, so that I could take part in it. And I hope I can keep all of you enthralled as well with my wonderful poems. This is the quote that I feel would resonate with many at this point of time so…I would just post it here and I go by this.

It’s very hard at the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually, you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.” – George Sheehan, runner and author

So no matter how strenuous you might feel, I think we all have it in us to give us a little push that will help us complete either the half or the full marathon.

Good luck everyone!

Professionally have I OD’d on OD ( organizational development ) for over a decade and more . Personally, I am all about making the mundane a wee bit more meaningful and of course a lot more fun in the process. In the course, of course, I very often fall flat on my face, but the joy of getting up makes it worth the “trip” !

Am quite an emotional wreck
which is synonymous with me being a Cancerian, so don’t take me too seriously; I try not to 🙂 on most of my sensible days. On “other” days, I have more than enough very very well meaning well wishers, who do that for me and land me safely back to earth !

What would I do without them I wonder ?
And then I pause, and I often ponder.
For all the times I haven’t let them be,
How on earth would they feel, they were saner than me?

Arguably and not so humbly yours…
Sunanda