Jan 9, 2018 Original Poetry
Child of my Dreams, Child of my Reality
©January 9th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
Thirteen years and half a day ago,
The universe opened me up,
And brought you into daylight,
Child of my flesh,
So close, yet so separate.
I sang to you every day,
And named you for the Goddess
Well before I knew you,
Even as your form was being shaped,
Even as your heart beat like a
Little, steady bird in a sky
Beyond my comprehension,
But which I housed
Within the limits of my belly.
You carry your own sky, your
Secret name, your secret song,
And you will let it fill your life.
Once, I, too, was like you
Child of the universe,
Brought into the day,
In the singing cradle
Of my mother’s womb.
I knew her voice
Before I was born,
Just as you knew mine,
My babe, nascent and waxing.
One day, when my particles
Loosen and separate,
And I fly into another sky,
I will leave behind mine
For you, for your dreams,
So that when you fly, we will
Meet, equal in mid-flight,
With a full, pregnant moon
Sailing on our wings.
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Tags: #Birthday, #ForMyDaughter, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram
Mar 13, 2015 Teaching and Learning
Room
A poem by Vijaya Sundaram
©March 13th, 2015
Pearl-white and luminous
Shadowed in light,
Misted with kindness
Age comes to me,
And shadowed things drive the air
Back and forth, behind her.
And spirits stand in wait.
Purple and grey and silver
They flock around her,
And she looks at me,
Hand outstretched.
I take her hand, and
Find myself change, as I
Dissolve into silken mist.
She slips me on
Like queenly raiment,
And shrugs the last of me
Onto fine-boned shoulders,
Ready to sprout wings.
Feel the weight
Of the years grow light
And settle into new spaces
Around her.
Feel hips mould themselves
Into the stage past
Child-bearing, and there is lightness
Within hollowing bones.
The blood flows thinly,
Closer to the surface of things
Tears collect behind the back of eyes,
Damming them,
And then drain back into sluices.
I taste them, and remember
Thalassa, thalassa!
Oh, it’s not sorrow
Nor is it regret.
It’s simply
Being here, being alive,
Being happy, being sad,
Being good, being bad,
Being kind, and learning
To be kind.
It’s about pleasant things
And unpleasant, and
About leaving behind insults
And leaving behind scrapes
And leaving behind anticipation
And leaving behind heart-ache,
And leaving behind all those
Passing folk, shadows to my own.
We pass each other,
They and I,
Cocooned, shrouded in our
Own fog, eyes up or down, or
Gazing all around,
Going on our separate ways.
And so, Age slips me on
And I collect in folds around her,
Silken, thinking,
So much room to grow into!
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Tags: #Birthday, Age and Aging, Growing older
Jan 12, 2015 Awake in Real Time: Coffee-induced Meditations and Journal Entries, Parenting/ Home-schooling / Family Music and other Notes
Daughter
©January 12th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram
So, my daughter turned ten last Friday.
TEN years!
How did this happen?
First, a bump, then a baby, then, this person — this deep, deep soul who reads day in and day out, sings day in and day out, thinks profound thoughts about life and death, truth and falsehood, good and evil, and also plays with toys, plays on the playground, gives her unconditional love to her parents and friends, holds no grudges, forgives easily, thinks the best of others, and loves freely. She, who was moved to tears by music at three months, moved to tears by poetry at 11 months, whose first sentence to me was “Pwe wea book!” (Please read book), who loved the taste of spicy South Indian Sambhar at 10 months, who began toddling about at 9 and 3/4 months, who stood patiently in line at airports from eighteen months (when we went on our mostly annual trips to India), who trusted and trusts me implicitly, looks to me for the truth, and I am honor-bound to give it always.
There’s more, dearest daughter, and I’ll write more, but for now, Happy Birthday, love, and may the world treat you well, and give you peace and love. May you give back to the world. May you know no hatred, hurt, or fanaticism. May you keep that shining light of yours always lit, through loss and gain, laughter and pain, through learning, being and doing. May music sustain you through times of tribulation, and may laughter bring you out of sorrow, if there be sorrow. May your delight in the world, its beauty, its animals, its mystery and its people sustain you through everything until the end of time.
Love,
Mom
(Dreamer of Dreams)
Tags: #Birthday, #Daughter, the big Double Digit, turning ten