Aug 4, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Grape-Craving
©August 4th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
I crave grapes.
Yes, grapes!
Rich, luscious, succulent,
Tight-skinned, green-gemmed
Bursting-at-the-seams
Grapes!
Like chrysoprase cabochons
Strung together, grapes
Shining in the light, those
Green gems so tight,
Make me crave them.
Their translucence drives
Me sick with desire
And their sweetness
Causes me to swoon.
Grapes that ripen slowly
In the hot sun,
Inviting greedy raccoons
To feast at night.
Ah, those grapes!
Grapes, which, when you pluck them,
Give out an audible sigh of desire
And say, “Yes! Oh yes!”
And I imagine silken curtains
And sylph-like ladies
Passing them out on burnished plates.
And lazy, overfed Romans lying about
Eating the clustered globes
Filled with nectar that would
Intoxicate if they were allowed
To ferment into wine.
Now, as I write this, I arise,
Open the refrigerator,
Grab a container of washed grapes
And eat them, two by two,
Four by four.
I am sick with sweetness.
Drunk with greed.
So … sick, so drunk.
(Why did I do this?!)
(Why bother with wine
If you can have grapes?!)
No! I am not Lucullus,
Nor was meant to be;
I’m just a lowly grape-eater
Hedonist before bedtime.
My dreams shall be sweet.
And I shall be well-satisfied.
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Tags: #Craving, #DailyPrompt, #No!IamnotPriceHamlet, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #T.S.EliotReference, #TheDailyPost
Aug 4, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry
Afternoon-Flight
©August 4th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Flash of blue sails across sun-drenched air.
Japanese maple stands, glad to receive bird
With open branches and dappled leaves.
Glints of gold on green and flutter of leaf and feather
Gently open my tight-breathing heart,
With its Elsewhere just a step away,
And pour in peace.
Blue-jay, harsh of voice, but oh, so grateful
For air and light and shelter!
Traffic sounds from far away, a soft reminder
Of human time.
But why remember it?
Time is a thief.
Human time is bondage time.
Bird-time is peace.
And tree-time, endless.
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Tags: #Birds, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Peace, #Time, #Trees
Aug 2, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Keep Looking
©Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Every strand of my DNA
Takes me further back
And farther
And is woven through
All life around me.
Every strand of my DNA
Shivers when people suffer
And when they kill,
I feel killed, cell by cell.
And every nucleotide in me
Hears every nucleotide in you.
I hear you, and I see you.
What you feel is pain and rage,
And it hurts.
And when you hurt someone,
It hurts.
And when you hurt yourself,
It hurts.
There is a suppurating sore
In the body politic
Logic and empathy die by degrees.
Flawed reasoning struts about.
How shall we heal this?
Look deep within my eyes
I’ll look deep within yours.
Let’s look closely, and see
Who sits inside, crouching
Or strutting, who laughs,
Who cries, who rages.
What do you see?
What do I see?
Let it all seep out, all the
Hatred, rejection, anger, spite
Rage, hurt, sorrow, indifference,
All that rushing, tumbling loneliness,
And, hiding deep in there, a lost
Child, hurting, always hurting, alone,
Deaf and blind in a dark cellar,
Where love comes not,
And fear resides, and grief
Twisted into rage.
Keep looking.
Do not look away.
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Tags: #Connectedness, #DailyPrompt, #humanity, #Love, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #Profound, #TheDailyPost
Aug 1, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Sorry!
©August 1st, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
I’m sorry, she said
After flaying him.
Recriminations, regrets
Tears, rage, had all
Poured out like torrents
Of water down a street
After a colossal storm.
And he picked up his
Spirits, tucked his
Sadness under his arms,
And carried on,.
Love bears all things
But sometimes, it can
Crack in places,
And tear in others.
And the water waits
To flood those cracks.
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Apology
Tags: #Apology, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 31, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
I Admire
©July 31st, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
The hummingbird that hovers
Magical and suspended in a sea of perfume
Drunk with nectar and delight
Whirring silently before taking off:
I admire her.
That cat that walks, soft-padded
Sure and silent, unblinking
Like a lighthouse in a sea of darkness
As it watches for a night mouse:
I admire him.
That dog, whose nose senses changes
And shifts in mood, whose presence
Heals the heart-broken, and whose smile
Chases away clouds that gather:
I admire her.
That girl, as she does somersaults
Like a being from non-space
Filled with sheer lightness of self,
Loving the air as it moves around her:
I admire her.
That woman who moves, sylph-like
Through bursts of colour in her garden
Whispering love to flowers, and
Coaxing vegetables to grow, as she works:
I admire her.
That man who holds his wife aloft,
As she cries quietly in a spasm of grief
For her sudden sense of a life adrift,
And as she feels her strength ebbing:
I admire him.
And the mother who holds her family,
When her husband isn’t around,
And her children look to her for hope
And she cannot surrender to sorrow:
I admire her most of all.
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Tags: #Admire, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 29, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
An Ill Wind
©July 29th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
I am the bringer of coolness.
But I can fan the flames too.I fell trees and buildings,
And whip the sea into froth.
I blow people hither and yon,
And the windmills turn.
Wildly the weathercock turns
And the earth turns, as I blow.
And I whisper and rage, and blow
And sigh, and sing, and know
That my songs are heard by those
Who care to listen, and heed me well.
Heed me well, for my ill wind
Will blow everything away.
Heed me, for I am sick, and
Contagion flies along my back.
For lies and hate will twist their eyes,
And rage and lust for power swell,
And kindness is ground underfoot
When the people race to first place.
Trap me, use me, feed me goodness.
Turn my illness round, make it stop.
I’ll bring in breath so sweet,
My songs will scent your days.
Bring filters and sails to catch me.
Clean my soot and my shame.
My ill wind is sickening this world,
So restore me to health again.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost, #Wind
Jul 28, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry
Unstoppable
©July 28th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
That slippery slope?
I call it the hell-slide.
Begin that descent.
You’ll justify it at all costs.
You’ll bluster and shout
You’ll wave your arms.
You’ll step on some skulls
And you’ll keep on waving.
Your conscience will call
And you won’t hear.
And, as the water gathers
Around your ankles,
You’ll still be waving
And you’ll drown.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 24, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Slip
©July 24th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
I’ve said it before,
I’ll say it again:
I hate clocks!
I hate Time!
Treacherous old King!
Stupid we are, so willing,
Enslaved to that tyrant!
Tick-tock, tick-tock,
Drip, drip, drip, drip!
Always dribbling through
The hourglass of our days,
He drags us (that traitor!)
Feet-first into the ocean.
Every minute hastens us
Closer to the end.
And we go willingly.
Why don’t we fight?
(Mind you, I’m not afraid!
I just don’t like surprises.)
I want to be everywhere
And everywhen, all at once.
Engulfing the void that opens,
That stretches before us all,
But Old Father Time, grinning,
Toothlessly cackles, “No, no, no!”
We could suspend Time,
Draw him up by his ankles,
Leave him dangling,
Screaming over the cliff,
While we have a leisurely picnic,
And watch the waves with
Indifferent admiration.
I watch the Old Clock-Man
That old, shuffling Watch-Man,
Grinning, grinning like a mask
Walking around us, avoiding
Direct contact, whispering
Bad thoughts in our ears.
And I think wicked thoughts.
Evil beast! May he perish
Without a whimper, a whisper.
May he be swept away like dust!
For he grinds away the hours
He turns the crank on the minutes
He grins in his hideous mask,
His face empty behind it.
And when he’s done, he sits
And counts the hours, like a miser
Sitting among piled hills of gold.
He counts the beating of my heart
The pulse of my temples,
He numbers my days.
He likes that – gives him a thrill.
How can we wear his avatar,
Grinning like an empty thing
On our wrists? See how he
Lurks inside our phones
Our cars, our computers?
Are we MAD?
This is proof of our slavery:
We shackle ourselves
Time and time again,
And even decorate our chains.
Fie!
I shall paint strange patterns
On that grinning mask,
And while he sputters and gasps,
I shall turn my back, and march
Straight into the sunshine
Beyond his gilded prison.
He cannot catch me,
For I shall give him the slip.
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Tags: #Clock, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 23, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
I, Prometheus
©July 23RD, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
There is an eagle.
By day, deathly agony
Every night, rebirth.
Come, Heracles, come!
Free me from my binding chains
Golden apples wait.
The gods are jealous,
Incensed, for I helped mortals.
Gods know no mercy.
I brought them fire
Moved by pity for mortals –
So puny, so small!
I regret nothing
Not the gift I stole from Zeus,
Not my transgressions.
We are what we are
The gods themselves cannot change.
I shall be renewed.
I shall wander on,
Seeking to help humankind –
Here lies my reward.
This is what I’ll do:
Find a thing that needs doing,
Bend the arc of life.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #GreekMythology, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #Prometheus, #Punishment, #TheDailyPost
Jul 22, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, Uncategorized
Slowly Flooding, Slowly Ebbing
©July 22nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
It spreads slowly
This relaxing of a stiffening.
The body gives way to
Strange griefs of its own,
Unknown to the mind.
Toes and fingers,
And spine and elbows,
And neck and knees
And hips and hands
And feet beneath
All succumb.
A mysterious call
From within, from without
– Heavy, leaden, attractive –
Casts a spell on them.
There’s an ache that
Defies knowing, but Hypnos
Winds his arms around them,
Around me, forgiving all,
Making me prone, supine,
Swooning with slumber.
Take me away, O God of Sleep!
Waft me slowly, slowly away
On your bier so your brother
May see me, and nod and say,
“It’s not time, yet.”
I won’t mind his rejection,
For I seek only you,
O Beautiful Hypnos,
To dally with you,
And speak with your children,
The Oneiroi, with winged
Morpheus in his cave
Strewn with poppy seeds
And quiet Lethe flowing close by,
Flooding my senses and my soul.
Only, allow me to return
At a time of my choosing.
For, alluring though you are,
One has to fight the spell,
Any spell; it’s the only way.
So, let not Thanatos take me,
Though he, too, allures.
And slowly, slowly, bear me back
To the land of the Awake,
Bear me back to my bed,
Slowly, quietly, on tiptoe,
Then leave without farewell.
And though it’ll hurt my heart,
It’s the only way, as I
Come slowly back to life,
To the world of those
Who wake, and ache with the
Joy and the grief of those
Who live and love, in spite
Of life slowly ebbing away.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #Slowly, #TheDailyPost