Jun 13, 2014 Uncategorized
Matrix
(Upon Seeing the Daughter of My Friend Who Died)
©June 13th, 2014
By Vijaya Sundaram
Child, whose fulcrum’s gone–
Leaves fall to earth, trees can die.
~ Summer rainshine weeps.
Yet, she plays and smiles
A child with no words for grief
Fish can swim to air.
And you, the father,
Broken, full of promises,
Can you face this child?
Not for me to speak?
Winds blow through the neighborhood
Speak of my friend’s grave.
For shame, you father!
Whose child dances on tightropes —
Honor her mother!
My friend, who died last year
Welcomed death, for cancer’s hell.
Her child breathes her breath.
Remember her child!
Her bones and her blood are hers
Spare love, spare your breath!
You will be your judge
And there will be reckoning –
Kneel, when your light fades.
Yes, you lost her too
To each, his loss, to each, hers –
Honor, cherish, weep!
And child, remember.
Reflections hold memories –
These make matrices.
__________________________________________________
NOTE: The root meaning of matrix is “mother” or “womb.”
Tags: #Daughter, #Death, #haiku, #Original Poetry, death of a young mother, grief, matrices, matrix, original haiku, selfish father
Apr 16, 2013 Current Affairs / General Interest, Original Poetry
For the Sake of Life Itself
©By Vijaya Sundaram
April 16th, 2013
Call me a coward.
I didn’t tell my eight-year old
That an eight-year old died
Yesterday, standing, waiting
To cheer the people who ran.
And his father, who might have run,
But did not, on that fateful day,
Can run and run from now
Until the end of time
And never catch up.
And the beautiful child that son
Must have been (for how could he be otherwise?)
Died in mid-cheer.
He was eight years old.
He held a poster that said,
“No more hurting people. Peace.”
His name was Martin.
How can one explain such a thing
And how can one still stay intact?
For, in that moment when the world blew up
And an eight-year old flew into the air,
Becoming one with the stars and the atoms,
One broke into a million fragments.
But we carry on, for all the other
Children, who wait for us, eyes wide with trust
Believing that there are good people among us.
And we turn to them, in relief and grief.
And I turn to my beautiful
Angel-child, for the sake of love,
For the sake of all the little ones,
And for the sake of life itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tags: #Life, #Love, #NaPoWriMo, Boston Marathon, children, eight-year old, grief
Apr 15, 2013 Uncategorized
Boston, In Grief
©By Vijaya Sundaram
April 15th, 2013
When fear develops teeth and claws
And opens wide its angry jaws
Can people turn around and fight
And slay that Grendel with our might?
Do people have the time to teach
Can love expand to hatred’s reach?
Go tell that to the ones who died.
Go tell their families that you tried
To stop the fear, to stamp out hate
Extend a hand, help grief abate.
But while we rage amidst our grief,
And seek to find the hateful thief
Of life and freedom and of peace
We know we need to find release.
Revenge is bitter, hate is cold.
We seek in lead that which is gold
Alas! What can we try to do
But face our grief, and start anew?
~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~
Tags: #NaPoWriMo, #Original Poetry, Boston, grief, marathon, Starting anew, tragedy
Apr 4, 2013 Original Poetry, Teaching and Learning
Teacher: A Glimpse As I Passed By
(For Val)
©By Vijaya Sundaram
April 4, 2013
Almost in the abyss,
A young boy howls in
Soul-agony, a torment
That he cannot understand.
He sobs, beast-desolate
In the hallway, uncluttered
By others.
I approach,
And see this:
Kindly teacher,
Clad in blue
Pats him gently,
Inexpressibly kind.
“It’ll be all right.
You’ll be fine.”
Her voice like soothing
Balm in Gilead,
Pours solace on his
Strange, wounded mind.
(For he is undeniably
Different from the others.)
Her goodness, a candle
Steady in his darkness,
Completely undoes him.
I walk by, heading elsewhere,
And try not to intrude.
He howls louder,
Lurches against her.
She hugs him with such love —
A well-spring
Of love, she is
An angel of beauty
An angel of warmth
Goodness glowing golden,
Like an energy-field
Around her.
All the comfort he needs
He finds right here,
In her enveloping frame
All the goodness nestled
In the encircling warmth
Of her motherly embrace.
And no matter what this child
Suffered today, whatever else
Torments, grips and twists
His grief-stricken heart,
He will remember this:
When he was most
Desolate and undone,
When he was most
Alone and abyssal,
There was someone.
And she leaned
Over the abyss
Plucked him up,
And brought him back
From the brink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tags: #kindness, #Loneliness, #Love, #NaPoWriMo, Abyss, Autistic Spectrum, Brink, Comfort, Education with soul, Goodness, grief, Misery, Saving, Special Education Student, teacher, Teaching the young
Mar 1, 2013 Teaching and Learning
I wrote this poem in December, immediately following the Sandy Hook tragedy. It completely took me apart. I took refuge in writing a poem, because that’s all I could do, after those dreadful hours of grieving, to deal with the unthinkable. Please do read and let me know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Memoriam – Sandy Hook
©By Vijaya Sundaram
Written on December 16th, 2012
O hold on to your rainbows bright,
O Children of the shadowed Dream.
O hold on to your unicorns, for
Things are not quite what they seem.
On the edges lurks the dark
Wedged behind those pretty parks
Run, my child, before it leaps
That monster from the scary deeps.
Hold your breath and lift your wings
Catch the breeze under your swing
Jump up high into the air
Live your life, don’t turn a hair.
______________________________
Refrain:
Monsters come and monsters go,
It’s you for whom our sorrow flows.
But we’ll go strong into the night
And whisper hope to make things bright.
______________________________
This world is not for hate and hurt
This world is not for grief and rage
You should be playing in the dirt,
And love your happy, youthful stage.
We’ll whisper deep into the morn
We’ll sing a song of love for you
We’ll work for all who have been born
We’ll bring the dawn above to you.
Forgive us for the world we’ve made
Forgive us for the sins of trade
Forgive this hateful history
And show us love’s deep mystery.
___________________________
Refrain:
Monsters come and monsters go,
It’s you for whom our sorrow flows.
But we’ll go strong into the night
And whisper hope to make things bright.
_____________________________
Tags: #Childhood, #Original Poetry, grief, parenting, sandy hook, teachers