The Poetry Marathon

#4- Always Mine

TRIGGER WARNING: DEATH

SPOILER WARNING: LORD OF SHADOWS- CASSANDRA CLARE

 

High above the Council Hall,

The golden clock began to chime the hour.

As if the world didn’t care for her,

As if the world didn’t ache for her loss.

My eyes brimming with tears,

As my heart tries to cope with what I’d seen,

A small whimper as my hand reaches my face,

Trying to push the sobs inside me.

I hold her in my arms,

Her head heavy in my lap,

Heavier than she’d been,

Like the soul leaving her had burdened her.

I brush her hair away from her face,

Willing her to come back to me,

Can’t imagine a life without her,

A life without my dear little sister.

The anger bubbling inside me,

Shaking my ever steady hand,

I pray and I pray and I pray,

But I feel my prayers going up in smoke.

I plead her to open her eyes again,

I beg her to stay by my side,

I feel the light go out of me,

I’m alive but I’m dead inside…

~thryaksha

 

FIRST LINE TAKEN FROM THE LAST LINE OF “Lord of Shadows” by “Cassandra Clare”.

 

The Concert

No. 4 – The concert

By Nandhini G. Natarajan

 

Piya’s teacher could

not take it anymore.

I was upon her,

like Chinese torture,

drip, drip, drip.

So what if Piya couldn’t speak

couldn’t sing,

couldn’t play?

She could do something.

 

She was given

a triangle,

for one tinkle

at the end of the song.

 

Ecstatic,

I brought the camera

and a video

to capture Piya’s debut.

I stood squarely

in the aisle,

not a movement would I miss.

 

Piya came on stage

with the triangle.

Tears gushed into my eyes.

The tinkle was heard

but not seen.

By the time,

my eyes were clear,

the moment had passed

with nary a picture to show.

Dominion–Hour 4

burn bare the earth

tip the seas with waste

declare oneself king of money

We shall see each other again* (a poem in memory of Patti)

We shall see each other again, she said,
but don’t come now.
The truth is, she said,
I don’t want you to remember me this way:
frail and sad, slipping away.
Dying.
Instead, how about this?
How about you go to the ocean and
walk through the waves crying
while beautiful black shells wash up at your feet and
sea gulls scream into the winds
above you.
You can take carnations and fling them into the surf
and you can sing a song of your making
that will float
all the way from California to Indiana
to my waiting ears and
I will send you snowflakes and baby robins and oak leaves
and everything wonderful
that I can offer from my world
and you can send me
coyote songs and sun rises and mountains
and everything wonderful
from your world and
all these infinite joys will mix together
into a jeweled labyrinth
of our friendship and
then of course
one day
we shall see each other again
but not now, not now.
Just not now.

*title is from the last line of the book, Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

 

Poem No. 1 Salt

Poem No. 1   Salt

This morning I had a boiled egg for breakfast

My daughter forgot to bring me pepper and salt

It was difficult to swallow and my mind began

to think about salt – such a precious commodity

so important in culinary pursuits!

 

Loyalty is judged in some cultures by sayings:

“I have eaten your salt and I will always be true.”

Once I visited a rock salt mine

An ancient part of a mountain called Khewda Mine

In Pakistan – it is said that Alexander found it!

 

All the imported salt to the West is Khewda salt

But it is called ‘Red Indian Rock Salt’

The mine is massive and is brightly lit up

Has its trains, wagons and trucks

The salt glows in reds, yellows and golds.

 

It is an impressive art gallery

Even with a swing bridge across it

At Christmas time they have

Christmas trees and a crib

With Salt Mother Mary and Baby Jesus

 

The ingenuity of the carvers an amazing gift

by the Miners not paid extra to sculpt salt

in so many shapes, sizes and colours

The Michel Angelo’s of the Salt World

I left after buying a salt doll in three colours!

 

——-

Sundar

 

Hour Four

Glass

I have always found it hard to get close to anyone.
You would always joke and say that I was a lot like a porcupine.
Cute, but yet so harmful to those around me.

I promise, I never meant to hurt you.
I never knew how sharp my tongue could truly be.
How many scars have I left in my wake?

I always liked to see myself as a sword.
That analogy always made me feel better.
It meant that I was no longer weak.

After that night, I never wanted to feel vulnerable again.
That’s why I covered myself in armor and picked up my sword.
It helped me keep myself safe.

However, the longer I keep this charade up, the more I realize,
If I am a sword, I am a sword made of glass,
and I feel myself beginning to shatter.

–  The last two lines are from Glass Sword, written by Victoria Aveyard.

Tomorrow Is Another Day – Hour Four

“After all tomorrow is another day.” – Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind (1936)

After all, tomorrow is another day
This day’s trials are passed
While on this day, the struggle’s real
Have faith it will not last
For each new dawn is a new chance
To start over once more
So slumber deep with hope in sight
That only good’s in store

While yes, we only have the now
And tomorrow may spark fear
The trials that you’ve survived this day –
Each one has brought you here
You’ve overcome this day! Congrats!
Be gentle with your mind
You’re stronger than you were before
So leave the past behind

Go forward in your slumber, deep
Have dreams of what can be
Keep peaceful thoughts in mind and sleep
Knowing that you are free
Of all this day’s trouble abound
Nothing’s left in your way
Reflect upon the courage you’ve found
After all, tomorrow is another day

Young and afraid

I was afraid,

a little afraid,

afraid of the unknown,

afraid of the known,

afraid of missing something,

afraid of not being me,

I was afraid,

a little afraid when I was young……

 

(Source : Remix poem from Chapter 1, pg number 1, of the book ‘the great gatsby’)

NO ATTAINMENT WHATSOEVER – Hour Four (2021)

NO ATTAINMENT WHATSOEVER

 

the Tao of the sage is work without effort

work not consisting of any effort

effort never idolized in place of work

 

where what we are / meets what is

where the bent tree’s use is known to itself

 

do not be fooled by effort / effort will not make you wise

the peaks unscaled by man have a use still undefined

that the defining and words themselves would destroy its work

the work of existing / the work of untouchable spires

the work of a bent tree making shade and accessible nests

 

your everyday mind is the Tao

there is no way through effort to accord with it

when you try to accord, you deviate.

 

we, reaching the peak of our own spires,

know passion in effortless sky-touched

impenetrable mountains of our true power

 

 

 

 

“the general sense seems to be that one must destroy only that which is truly harmful to society or to oneself and that this cannot be discerned without the authentic, impartial love for the whole that is the mark of the wise man, of the master.” – Tao Te Ching (Notes), Lao Tsu (J. Needleman)

Tailing after Trevor

Tailing after Trevor

for Trevor Penick 

Wrap me up inside your positivity.

Thank the universe from me,

for it made you

move to the East Coast.

Patreon applause for keeping you

motivated through this pandemic.

Music and workouts much appreciated.

Zoom and Sessions, 

the gracious “bandaids”

as you call them

between virtual and live in person.

Vibes of enthusiasm that this is temporary. 

Your admission of love to be “watched”

miss the crowds of fans,

makes me even more

a faithful audience member 

of participation.

So keep me bandaged inside your song writing,

I will sin with you in Sin City.

Sing along the tour trails with O-Town.

 Reflect on your fresh new haircut styles

until we can hug again in selfie smiles.