Original Poetry - Vijaya Sundaram

The moon hangs down low.
Eyelids half-closed in near-sleep,
I drowse in swoon-shine.*
____________________________________________________________
The above is my response to the March 17th prompt in Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Swoon-Shine is my play on words for this prompt, with the sense of sleepy swooning I felt, combined with moonshine.

____________________________________________________________

Today’s haiku writing technique is a challenge by Jane Reichhold who posted in Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. She writes this:

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I once started to write, because I like to play with words and bring them to life through my novels and of course through my haiku and tanka. It’s really a joy to dive into the richness of your own language, or in this case here at CDHK, into English, not my maiden language, but it starts to become almost my maiden language.
Today’s haiku writing technique used by Basho has all to do with pleasure to play with words. To explain the meaning of this HWT I will also give the romaji translation of the haiku by Basho for today.

tanabata no awanu kokero ya uchuten

for the Star Festival*
even when hearts cannot meet
rainy-rapture

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

Tags: #Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, #haiku, #Moonlight, #Sleepiness, #Swooning

Shelved – Four Senryu

Mar 17, 2016 Senryu, The Daily Post

In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Shelf

Shelved – Four Senryu
©March 17th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

Dark, swirling eddies:
Sorrow, rage, hate, all of these
I set on a shelf.

Open the windows,
Let the cold, waiting heart of
Outer Space have them.

When dark thoughts are fed
To the Hungry Thing that lurks:
See how it explodes!

And all will be cleansed
All will turn to sun and air
Taste them, live anew!

______________________________________________

Tags: #Darkness, #Emotions, #Freedom, #Original Poetry, #Shelved, #Space

Drop-Ocean (Senryu)

Mar 15, 2016 Senryu, The Daily Post

In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Drop

Drop-Ocean
©March 15th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

I am but a drop
And I yearn with aching heart
For the deep ocean

______________________________________________________

Tags: #Daily Prompt, #Drop, #Metaphysical, #Original Poetry

Unfinished

Mar 13, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post

In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Incomplete

Unfinished
©March 13th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

The brush moves in strokes
And a painting is born
The bell rings; like smoke,
The image is gone.

Turn back to the brush
Take up a new one.
You feel there’s no rush
When you bloom in the sun.

And work you’ve begun
Ere the bell was rung?
And dreams where you’ve run
For a goal that’s won?

So what about it? Ah, this
You’ll work at early and late
Your unfinished work is
The future that waits.

________________________________________________

Tags: #Incomplete, #Unfinished

Missed Step and Hidden Moon (Four Senryu)

Mar 12, 2016 Senryu, The Daily Post

For The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Misstep

Missed Step and Hidden Moon
(Four Senryu)
©March 12th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

Miss, please watch your step!
She makes a misstep, hurtles,
Floating, feather-light.

So easy to see
Now, floating above the earth
So sweet it all was

All the faults, the flaws
Their beauty, his joys, her pain,
Complex chords in songs.

Leaves that float downward
Look too much like autumn tears
The moon hides her face.

________________________________________________________

Tags: #Misstep, #Original Poetry

Legacy: A Simple Love Poem

Mar 10, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post, Uncategorized

Legacy: A Simple Love Poem
(for The Daily Post Prompt for March 10th: Legacy)
©March 10th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

Give me your heart.
I shall always be true.
I shall wind the silk
Of mine with yours
And spin a cloth
That endures.

Give me your trust.
I shall hold it close.
And build for it a room
That opens to the world
And keeps it safe
When it needs a retreat.

Give me your hand
To hold when I’m unsteady,
And, if you have need of mine,
You will have it.
The rocks are hard, and
The hills are steep,
And we have need of
A steadying hand.

Together, we shall advance
Into the sunset.
It’s beautiful sometimes,
And stormy sometimes,
And full of rich color, always.
The horizon beckons,
And night advances.
It does not scare me.

Our laughter, the music of time.
Our struggles, the drama,
Our losses, our joys
The eternal dance
With which we braid
A life together.

Love with you is all I need.
And that will be our
Legacy for our daughter
When we are gone,
And she will hold it
Close to her heart.

______________________________________________

Tags: #Legacy, #Love, #TheDailyPost, A Love Poem

Objects I Didn’t Make (Daily Post Prompt: Object)

Mar 10, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post

For the March 9th Daily Prompt: Object

This stone in my hand?
From the heart of a planet
Swinging through time
And shaped by space.

More sacred than some
Gift shaped by human hand
(Although I like those, too!)

This flower on the plant?
More precious than any
Plucked to celebrate my
Being on this earth.
(Although I like those, too!)

I used to love pretty things
I still love them.
But my heart is full, now.
My life, likewise.

The sands are vast,
The sea heaves gently.
There is much to gaze upon,
Together, many swells,
Many troughs.
So many mysteries
Lit by the sun!

This shell, here, now,
Is the gift of time.
These glittering bits of sand,
The gift of this world.

Take these.
I didn’t make them,
But finding them,
Binds them to us.

____________________________________________________

Tags: #Love, #Object, #TheDailyPost, Earth and her gifts, On the day before the day before my birthday

Secret Season — Tanka #2

Mar 9, 2016 Original Poetry, Tanka, The Daily Post

In response to Secret from The Daily Prompt

Bees buzz in sunshine
The Season of Secrets comes;
Blossoms everywhere!

See your child unfurl her wings;
Wonder at her secret smile.

______________________________________

Tags: #Daily Prompt, #Secret

Vijaya Sundaram

Poet, Musician, Teacher, and Amateur Visual Artist

Archive for the ‘ Original Poetry ’ Category

Crocus Longiflorus by Meneerke bloem (2010) Bluejay By William H. Majoros – Own work

Secret Season – Tanka #2
©March 9th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

Vijaya Sundaram

Poet, Musician, Teacher, and Amateur Visual Artist

Archive for the ‘ Original Poetry ’ Category

Crocus Longiflorus by Meneerke bloem (2010) Bluejay By William H. Majoros – Own work

Secret Season – Tanka #2 ©March 9th, 2016 By Vijaya Sundaram

Secret Season – Tanka #2
©March 9th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram