Jul 21, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
The Eternal Seduction of the Unfettered Mind
©July 21st, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Birds sail the air like fast boats.
Ferns wave, dreamy and ancient.
Quietly, a mushroom grows
At the foot of a fir tree.
The Now seduces me.
I watch with half-closed eyes
At the post-noon languor
Of my backyard.
I know there are chores
Piling up, and a garden
Awaiting my ministrations
And a life that needs sorting
Papers and plans, and plants.
I know I should be an adult,
And engage in busy-ness.
But I cannot, not now.
A cup of water like a benediction
A book before me, interrupted by this poem,
This computer blinking cursorily at me,
That backyard sodden with sunlight,
All of these drive thoughts of tomorrow
Into the dustpan of blankness.
I lose myself in the Seeing
The Hearing, the Being
Of this world around me.
Could this mean
I am carefree,
At least, for now?
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(With apologies for echoing the title, “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” one of the best titles I’ve ever come across in film.)
Tags: #Carefree, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 20, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
What is This Thing?
©July 20th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
This is a mystery
So still, so stormy,
So full of shadows and shapes,
So many fishes, small and large,
So many beasts beyond our ken,
So full of canyons and peaks,
So riotous in colors and life,
So saturated with longing
With the past, present, future
Colliding in mid-stream, swirls
Of echoes from everywhere,
A chaotic clash of currents
From every-when,
Where does it begin,
Where does it end?
How sombre are its deeps?
How playful are its shallows?
How many sunrises and sunsets
And moonrises and moonsets,
And star-flows and haunting calls
From faraway constellations
Fill its hungering belly?
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Dept, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 19, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Feast and Famine
©July 19th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
So much to eat,
And such little control.
So many riches,
And such little taste.
So many sensations,
Such little feeling.
So much beauty,
Such little appreciation.
So much knowledge,
Such little wisdom.
So many choices,
So many chains!
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Feast, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 18, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Frail, Holy Grail
©July 18th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Hold the Earth holy
Hold her in your hands.
Keep her safe.
Blue oceans circle her.
Giant peaks touch hushed skies.
Canyons yawn below.
Trees grow tall and strong,
Grasses wave gaily in prairies,
Animals leap and stalk, and dive,
Flowers grow unashamed and lush,
And here and there, the earth moves,
Rocks jut out, bones show.
Earth is strong
But she’s lived a long time
Been poked and prodded,
Strip-mined, mountain-top-mined,
Tunneled, cultivated, deforested
Plundered and molested by men.
And now, she’s grown
Frail as glass,
Life-broken in places,
Trying to stay intact.
Give her room, give her time.
Let her waters flow,
Let her birds fly,
Let the forests grow tall
Let her animals live.
Let all life flourish
Try and do no harm.
Let our Earth recover,
And we may live, yet.
Seek her strength.
This is our Holy Grail.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Earth, #Frail, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 18, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry
Driving on Parallel Lines
©July19th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Tree after tree after tree
Flashes by, green streaks against blue.
Endless scenery can get old.
But oh, the lure of the car!
The getting in it, the onward trip.
A metal box of death
With music to beguile us
Pouring out of an i-pod,
Promises liberation,
The dog drowsing in my arms
Or staring out the back seat,
While my husband takes the wheel.
(Or, when I drive alone, and the dog
Sits in the passenger seat
And looks at me, and at the road,
Tongue hanging out in joy, a
Grin of anticipation on her face.)
And the car flies on the road,
Humming in pleasure, for she knows
She’s heading for a place that’s new,
And what car can resist that?
Onward, she goes, and skims
The heat-shimmering surface
Of a road that leads her on,
Promising eternity where the sky
Bends over a nonplussed road,
Which defies geometry,
When two parallel lines
Get closer and closer,
And finally meet.
And we drive right over that point,
Into another world
Just over the horizon,
Chasing the sun.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Drive, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 16, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Unpredictable
©July 16th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Even as I think
The skies wheel around my head
And I unthink it.
Even as I say it,
The ground revolves below me,
And I unsay it.
Even as I feel it,
My blood swirls around my bones
And I feel it more.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost, #Unpredictable
Jul 16, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Storm-Catcher
©July 16th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Winds gather up each other
Roiling in a viper’s nest
Storing up venom,
Coiling and uncoiling,
And the skies groan
Like women carrying
Wet laundry to the line,
Dripping clothes
To wring out
And hang up.
Flash of lightning
Tears apart clouds
Titanic hands ripping skies
Clashing cymbals,
Accompanying shouts
Rumbling deep within
Our bones, as we ache
With the coming
Of the storm.
Dread or alarm catch at some.
Some run out to drink the rain,
Some enjoy the show,
Others fasten windows and doors,
Still others hide.
(Where’s the DOG?!)
Would that the storms
Within us be as obvious!
I could run and catch those storms,
And lasso them. I could run them down,
And tame them, and ride them.
And together, we could face the new sun
Parting the clouds, and heave
A sigh of relief, as we collapse
On the wet, wet grass.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #Storm, #TheDailyPost
Jul 11, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Cowardice
©July 11th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Arise!
Take up your knitting.
Do it! Do not fear it!
It’s just yarn and needles
You’re not weaving lives,
Spinning destinies
Plotting a Revolution,
Like Therese DeFarge.
You’re knitting a swatch.
Ah, it isn’t cowardice, then?
What is it?
Jump!
There’s a place to learn to swim
And teachers who will help.What’s holding you back?
You’re not on a sea,
Bobbing helplessly among whales.
You’re here, now.
There’ll be many hands to help.
And you won’t drown.
What’s to fear?
So, it isn’t cowardice, then?
What is it?
Inertia?
What’s that?
A first cousin
To cowardice,
Only much slower.
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P.S. I’m very tired today. I’m writing because I’ve made it a daily practice.
No colorful metaphors flash into my mind’s eye today, nor searing emotions. Sorry!
Tags: #Cowardice, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Post, #TheDailyPost
Jul 10, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Desert-Rain
©July 10th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Thirst is all around us
Vast, gaping, parched thirst
Gripping the throat,
Drying the mouth,
Making a desert of our lives
A desert in the hearts of men.
And the land crumbles to dust.
And people fall forward,
Prey to hatred and guns
To violence and pain
To those who kill
With savage impunity.
Alton’s name means Old Town, or
Town at the source of the river.
And a river did flow from him,
Into the desert all around.
Where it dried and vanished
Into the dust, as he was pinned down
And killers pumped bullets into a dead man,
Because he stood there, selling music.
Sworn to protect, they
Murdered, instead, with glee.
Alton Sterling, aged 37.
Say his name!
Philando, a name that sings
Love, love of humans, and
Love was in his days, his acts.
Philando, shot for no reason,
While his girlfriend beside him,
Live-streamed his death
His loss of life into the desert,
His breath left him
While a crazed cop held a gun
Spluttering bullets and lies.
Philando Castile, aged 32.
Say his name!
And we thirst, we who watch,
Standing helpless, as we see the desert
Encroaching on us all.
Mouths agape, parched, we stand
As our feet sink further, deeper
Into sand that churns as we yearn
As their hatred burns us all
And if we do nothing, say nothing
The desert will grow.
Dig a well, plant some trees,
Hold your ground for humankind.
And human-kindness will bloom.
We shall not desert our brothers
Our sisters, our children, our souls.
We shall walk on shifting sands, and find
Our way back to green lands.
We’ll dig a well to quench
Our thirst, and we’ll offer
Libations in the name of peace,
Which, perhaps the gods will accept,
And perhaps, someday, they will rain
Down mercy and help us love again.
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Tags: #AltonSterling, #DailyPrompt, #Desert, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #PhilandoCastile, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost
Jul 9, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
A Glass of Water
©July 9th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Liquid sand turned transparent
Catches captured light from a bulb,
Holds it in liquid, transparent,
Shining like the sea.
A glass of water.
And when it falls,
Its light tumbling and cracking
It sometimes breaks
And spills everywhere –
A little like us when we
Stumble and fall.
With luck, we won’t break.
Would that we were
As transparent, as clear.
And when we spill,
Would that we could get
Easily mopped up!
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Glass
Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Glass, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost