Apr 18, 2017 NaPoWriMo, Original Poetry
Today, Springing
©April 18th, 2017
By Vijaya Sundaram
Dogs a-tumbling down the hill
Grubbling on the grass
Tailashing away in sun-cold Spring.
The air, awash in hound-cry,
Barkling and squeawhimpers,
Blue-ens and trembles
Like a live thing, ready to tackle
The season hovering like a
Butterfly, unsure and zigzaggering
Above a single dandelion,
Which captures all the delight
Of the sun in beam-bloom.
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Today’s Day 18 NaPoWriMo 2017 prompt reads:
Today, I challenge you to write a poem that incorporates neologisms. What’s that? Well, it’s a made-up word! Your neologisms could be portmanteaus (basically, a word made from combining two existing words, like “motel” coming from “motor” and “hotel”) or they could be words invented entirely for their sound. Probably the most famous example of a poem incorporating neologisms is Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, but neologisms don’t have to be funny or used in the service of humor. You can use them to try to get at something that you don’t have an exact word for, or to create a sense of sound and rhythm, or simply to make the poem feel strange and unworldly.
Tags: #Dogs, #NaPoWriMo2017, #NeologisticPoemAboutSpringToday, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram
Mar 22, 2016 Original Poetry
Nonsense Limericks
©March 22nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
A doggle while roaming the park
Saw a bird whom he called “Pig-Lark.”
Said the lark to the dog,
“I am SO not a hog
And I’m not a big fan of your snark.”
A pig who was roaming at dark
Saw the dog who had teased the lark
Said the pig to the dog
“Go and lie in a bog,
And I won’t send for old Noah’s ark.”
The dog was insulted by this
Turned away with an audible hiss
The pig laughed in glee
Threw a mad jamboree
And the Lark flew away with a kiss.
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Tags: #Doggles, #Dogs, #Larks, #Limericks, #Nonsense Poetry, #Pig-Larks, #Pigs
Jun 7, 2014 Awake in Real Time: Coffee-induced Meditations and Journal Entries
Took Holly for a LONG walk. A little off-leash run in the park was part of it.
It’s so very satisfying to be an animal with an animal.
I love how she seeks the shade, how she goes straight for grass or dirt, when we’re on a sidewalk on a hot day. I love her delight in jumping through a meadow of uncut grass and flowers, leaping in pure puppy joy! I love her sweet almond-shaped eyes, giving me the same half-closed look my daughter used to give me, when she (my daughter) was three months old, well-fed, warm, and content in my arms. I love how she (my puppy) snuffles my hand, when I talk to her, and hold a tiny bit of a treat to remind her to heel. She does, and gets her treat.
Did I think about my upcoming work during this walk? No!
Did I think about profound matters pertaining to humankind? Of course not!
Did I think about my family, my students, my friends, my colleagues? Hah! Not on your life!
I thought about nothing at all. I was totally there, being a dog with a dog, and being a mommy to the dog.
We stopped halfway and found a little convenience store. I asked the man through his kitchen window, whether he could spare a cup of water from the tap. He did, and Holly got a nice drink. Waves of bliss emanated from her ears.
It’s very … nice. It’s sweet to see a dog drinking water. Am I besotted? Still? You bet!
Now, we’re home, an hour later, and we’re both so very glad to be here! Our kitchen is cool, and she’s just lapped up a long drink, eaten a few pieces of apple and blueberries (yes, she loves fruit), and flopped down on the cool floor.
My little family has just returned from my daughter’s swim class. Holly is thrilled. She is happiest when we’re all there with her, happiest to be with her little clan. After her ecstatic greeting of S, whose long braids are wet from the pool, and which Holly loves to tug, our puppy goes back to flop down, sack-like (thanks, Ted Hughes for that inimitable phrase, “Sack of snoring dog,” which my husband, daughter and I routinely use, except we’ve mistakenly been saying, “sack of sleeping dog”).
Now, I’m off to water the tiny bean plants coming up, which I planted last week.
Have a lovely Saturday, y’all!
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Tags: #Dogs, a new Saturday morning post, Chronicles of Holly, daily life account, laziness abates, sack of sleeping dog, simple life
Apr 24, 2014 Original Poetry
Dog-Joy (Or: Completion)
©April 15th, 2014
By Vijaya Sundaram
I find I take delight
In my dog’s proud walk,
As she picks up a stick
And claims it in the
Name of Holly.
Utterly undone, I kneel,
As she twists her whole
Frame in wordless ecstasy
When she sees me —
This smiling curve of dog
And joyful tail,
And gentle teeth
That grab my hand
And nip and hold it in love
Beyond reckoning.
I am complete.
Who greets me like this?
(Oh, I know I am loved,
But like this? This pretzel-
Shaped frenzy of joy,
This luminous, numinous
Delight in my being?
Oh, I know I don’t deserve it,
But who cares?!)
And when she lies near me,
A love unlike no other,
Her soft, puppy fur
On my feet, warming them,
A wild presence at the
Boundaries of my own,
I find my brain
Dissolves in a mist
Of dog-thought.
I think:
Why dream?
Why do anything?
It doesn’t matter,
Not now.
Oh, I know I’ll arise
And go about my duties
And do stuff, but
I don’t really care
For any of it.
I have this dog,
This now-sleeping
Weight of dog
At my feet.
I am complete.
No, there is no despair here,
Just utter, total quiet
A settling, as it were,
Of soul and self:
A house settling deeper
Into earth.
I am complete
With her on my feet.
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Tags: #Contentment, #Dogs, #NaPoWriMo, Canine joy, Puppy