Jun 7, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Dot Matrix
©June7th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Here’s a dot, see?
And there’s one.
Quick, draw a line!
Resembles nothing much.
Now, see this one?
And that one?
Quick, draw another line!
Still, nothing much.
Do the same, draw lines from A to B,
From one bright dot to another,
All scattered chaotically across
This sublunar sun-bashed place!
Something seems to emerge.
Stand back and take a good, long look.
What do you see?
Was it what you wanted to see?
Or something you never imagined?
Was this the image you dreamed of?
No? Step back, stand aside.
Let us see with our own eyes.
Ah, you got an ape,
Arms low to the ground,
Brow furrowed and low,
Grief in his hirsute visage.
He’s looking up wide-eyed
Fearful, dreaming, while
Brilliant, icy spears of light
Pierce the night air, and he’s
Caught in the tug between
Confusion and desire.
Welcome to humanity!
You’ve connected the dots.
The stars await you.
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*I use the term matrix in two different ways, and one of them means “breeding female,” from the Latin word for mother, i.e. “mater.”
And, of course, anyone who dealt with computers in the 80s and early 90s knows what a dot matrix printer is.
Tags: #Connected, #DailyPrompt, #Dot Matrix, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #TheDailyPost
Jun 7, 2016 Haibun, Original Poetry
Seedling and Child (A Haibun)
©June 6th (since it’s well past 2:00 a.m., I guess it’s the 7th), 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Such a little matter, transferring little seedlings into bigger pots, and setting them out in the sun! Until this year, my husband did all that. Now, that the garden is entirely my responsibility from start to finish, I found myself approaching it with trepidation. What if I killed a plant while transferring it? What if all this work came to naught? I filled the pots with potting soil and rich compost and a sprinkling of fertilizer, and mixed them well. Playing with sweet-smelling earth is always fun. The hard part came when I had to separate the intertwined roots of various plants (because there were three seedlings in each cell, sometimes more, sometimes fewer). I did so, hoping I wouldn’t break anything in the process. While transferring little seedlings from the seedling starter trays to individual pots, I spoke to them, patted the soil around their roots, and sang softly to them. The miracle is when they grow into tomatoes, brinjals (eggplant), green peppers, and other vegetables. As I do this earthy task, I see my daughter, eleven years old, tall and beautiful, full of music and kindness, still growing. I love how she’s this magical being who came from my body – how did this perfect person come to be? Soon, she’ll go to Summer Camp (and my heart beats a little harder when I think of it, since she’s never been away from home, except for TWO sleepovers in her entire life) for two months. She wants to go, and it’s a beautiful, music-filled camp surrounded by nature, near a lake, and she’ll learn many wonderful things with people we trust. I will not stand in her way.
Little seedling, grow!
Dance, and dream, and court the sun
May your roots reach deep.
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Tags: #Child, #dVerse, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Seedling
Jun 6, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
The Play Within a Play
©June 6th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Like a streak of madness
My dog chases her ball.
The sun shines down laughing,
And the meadow’s ablaze in
Green-gold exuberance.
And all the dogs leap about
In the pure pursuit of fun.
My dog always finds her ball.
And when she brings it to me,
Grinning in pure playfulness,
With no thoughts beyond
The pleasure of retrieving it,
I think:
If I could chase my dreams
Likewise, and find them
And bring them home,
Without over-reach,
With single-mindedness,
With pure pleasure
I would consider this play,
– This play of my life,
One in which the script
And the fun of it, match –
Well worth the running
And chasing, and the
Happy home-coming.
But in the meantime,
I watch my dog and her play,
And I am well-content.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Playful, #TheDailyPost
Jun 5, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Smooth
©June 5th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Smooth is the silk that lies on her skin
Smooth is the skin of her face
Smooth is the glass that holds her songs in
While smoothly she smiles with grace
Smooth is the rain that slides down the pane
Smooth is the air that she breathes
Smooth is the moon that’s on the wane
Smooth are the cares that she sheathes.
Smooth is the talker who speaks her fair
Smooth is his winning smile
Smooth is the walker who walks her where
She followed for many a mile.
Smoother still are his loving words
Smooth as a gentle breeze
But smoothest yet are her songs unheard
Which wait for their release.
On wings of song as she smoothly glides
He’ll hear the voice of the skies
He’ll love with a love that won’t be denied
Stay true till the day she dies.
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Smooth, #TheDailyPost
Jun 5, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Marble and Sand
©June 5th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
You hold your future lightly,
A glowing marble in the sun,
And watch it glitter.
And you twirl it about
Peering at it, curious,
Eager to get on with things.
Then, tossing it lightly aside,
You skip away, light-hearted –
A whole Now awaits you.
So much to do, so much to taste:
Read and sing, and laugh
And draw, and learn, and oh!
Such mindless joy, such joyful mind!
Rope-skip, hop-scotch, climbing trees,
Rowing imaginary boats with a best friend,
Becoming a merman (or mermaid),
Swimming to an islands, avoiding the Beast,
Your vast school playground an entire
Ocean to swim in.
Occasionally, you hold
That marble and gaze,
As at a crystal ball,
Mesmerized by what you see.
Do you see me in there –
Older, wiser (maybe), tired
Not jaded (well, sometimes),
Dreaming, always dreaming?
Or, do you shrug lightly,
As time turns to eat its tail?
Do you play endlessly, all chaos
And movement, shouts and
Ringing laughter – pure energy
On the receding shores
Of the shifting sands of your
Eternal, illuminated, sunlit,
Magical, singing childhood?
And all the while, a glinting marble
Lies buried in the sand, quiescent,
Patient, ready to be picked up later,
Because the Future can wait.
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Tags: #Childhood, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #TheDailyPost
Jun 4, 2016 Haiku, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Digambara
©June 3rd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
The trees judge all things.
Moral arbiters of men,
Breathing quietly.
The sky pouring light,
Cloud-blue, and indifferent,
Rolls around the earth.
Standing there, quite free
Shameless and glad, he drinks air,
The sky enfolds him.
Sky-clad, he stands tall.
Chancing upon him, in fright,
Woman and dog flee.
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Tags: #DailyPost, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Sky, #TheDailyPost
May 31, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Bread and Circus
©May 31st, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Give me my daily bread and circus!
Give me my gaudy show!
Show me that life’s got no purpose,
Save what I already know.
Keep me ignorant and stupid,
Entertain me all day
With pretty pink hearts and cupids,
While our world burns away!
Show me that life has no meaning,
But for what t.v. shows.
And while we sit around screening
Reality, life goes.
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In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Circus
For some reason, my poem reminded me of the line “Here we are now, Entertain us, ” in the Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit .
Tags: #BreadandCircus, #ClimateChangeisReal, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #real life, #realitytv, #TheDailyPost, #Tongue-in-cheek
May 30, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Photograph©Vijaya Sundaram, 2016
Blanketed
©May 30th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Solitary cloud in an empty sky
Empties itself of air
Arbitrary crowd that an empty eye
Empties itself to stare.
Blank is the mind that stares up high
Looking to find a thought
Rank is the mind that looks down low
Looking to blind a spot
Look straight ahead, not up or down
And make yourself quite still
Don’t seek to find, just speak a mind
Whose blankness will not spill.
Blanketed in perfect peace,
You’ll sit in ease and find release!
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In response to The Daily Post's Daily Prompt: Blank
Tags: #Blank, #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #TheDailyPost
May 30, 2016 Original Poetry
Backyard Jewels
©May 30th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Raindrops glittering.
Brilliant diamonds light up trees.
And tender young ferns.
Laughing pink hearts sway.
Fir needles clutch lucent gems.
Burning bush shines green!
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Tags: #haiku, #Nature, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #RaindropsonPlants
May 29, 2016 Original Poetry
A Vision in a Waking State
©May 29th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
As the fan turned
The light shook on the glass jars
And liquid seemed to flicker
– Water it was, not liquor –
They did not spill their bright stars
Which coolly burned.
Movement that’s above me
Is not movement reflected ,
And it’s not movement,
Not an improvement.
Its shadow deflected
Is not reality,
But oh, it’s so much more
Alluring,
And makes the dark night floor
Reassuring.
While the light ‘neath the door
Loses mooring.
Come, says the light
Come, says the night.
Yes, I shall, I whisper
And the night turns crisper.
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Tags: #AWakingVision, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #ReflectionsofLight, #ReflectionsonReflections, #ShadowsandNight