Apr 2, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt for March 30th, 2016: Voice
Your Voice
©April 2nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
It is your voice that spells out
Home and shelter, and love,
And quiet certainty.
A conduit of beauty and song,
A channel of kindness, your voice
Allows things to flow.
I shall carry your voice
Like a cup of clear water
In the desert, when the desert comes,
Or a glowing flame in the night,
When darkness descends.
I shall hold it near my ear,
To hear better
Cup it near my eyes,
To see better
Pour it into a palm, and
Drink deep of its assurance.
I have need of it.
Thank you.
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Tags: #Daily Prompt, #Original Poetry by Vijaya Sundaram, #TheDailyPost
Mar 29, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Frivolous
Frivolous Gravity
© March 29th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Frivolous I might be, but I
Revel in, delight in your
Ibsenian seriousness.
Veer here, the world’s
On a collision course with hell, so
Lone traveller, may I join you
One day, soon, now? (I like your mien!)
Ultimate wisdom is fun, but
Sunlight beckons. Shed gravity, dance!
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Frivolous, #TheDailyPost
Mar 27, 2016 The Daily Post
In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Edge
Pebble Games
©March 27th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
She has an edge
They say,
He has an edge
They nudge each other
We need to smooth them down
They nod
Take all the sharpness out!
Round out the corners!
Make them smooth as a pebble,
Made small from rock!
Now, we can play with them
Pebble games!
Hold them in your palms.
Slap four down, toss one up.
Catch!
So smooth!
No cuts.
No cutting edge!
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Tags: #Daily Prompt, #Edge, #Original Poetry, #TheDailyPost
Mar 27, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
In response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Footsteps
Footstepping Stone
©March27th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
I step on sand, and my footsteps fade.
I step on water; waves drift away.
I step on air; winds catch my feet
I step on clouds; rain drenches me.
My footsteps lead to strange new spots
I step on rocks, leap over streams
I slip on grass, and keep close watch
For snakes, and sudden ice, unseen.
I follow others, drift from them,
Step on their boot-tracks, turn to go left
Then turn around, head back to the right,
Then walk on down the road not seen.
I wish that I wouldn’t have to roam,
I wish that I didn’t walk alone, with
No thoughts to think, no angst to own,
No dreams to seek on the way back home.
For it’s not easy, and yet things are!
(It’s just more work for my brain and me!)
And a road not seen can always be
A road that can take our footsteps far.
And footsteps light on a road of stone
Will ring like a gong and sing of flight
And freedom’s song will ease the night
Till all my flesh falls off my bones.
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*Written at 2:34 a.m. Please excuse me if it makes no sense. 🙂
Tags: #DailyPrompt, #Footsteps, #Original Poem, #TheDailyPost
Mar 26, 2016 The Daily Post
In response to the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Fearless
Fear Less
© March 26th, 2016
By Viajaya Sundaram
Everything contains dust
Everything cradles fear.
Everything contains death.
When these arrive,
I shall discard the dust
Of my self.
I shall become particles of air,
I shall become one with the stars.
From the stars I came,
To the stars I shall return
On rising spirals of song,
Leaving only dust behind –
Fear only the dust!
Fear the dust, for it infects all
Keeps us earth-bound,
Dreams small dreams,
Quails before power.
Fear the dust, for here
Danger and anger live.
And when dust pierces
Through every cold atom
Through every singing cell
Through every forgetting fold
Every warm space within
Like a dull knife, I shall
Let the fear bleed
Out, and close
The wound after.
For many things bend
Before absolute fear
Save the skeptic.
Yet, all things point to death,
So what is there to fear?
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Tags: #Fear Less, #Fearless, #Original Poetry, #The Daily Prompt, #TheDailyPost
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.
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Tags: #Legacy, #Love, #TheDailyPost, A Love Poem
Mar 10, 2016 Original Poetry, The Daily Post
For the March 9th Daily Prompt: Object
Objects I Didn’t Make
©March 10th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
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.
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Tags: #Love, #Object, #TheDailyPost, Earth and her gifts, On the day before the day before my birthday
Mar 10, 2016 The Daily Post
This is my second offering for the March 8th Daily Post prompt “Contrast.”
Choice
(Daily Prompt, Single-Word Prompt: Contrast)
©March 10th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Black is the colour* of his true love’s hair
And black’s in the heart of the racist’s stare
White is the colour of the skin he wears
And white is the colour of the black child’s prayers.
Blue is the colour of her eyes so bright
And blue is the bruise he inflicts at night
Green is the colour of Spring in the air
And green is the colour of jealousy’s glare.
Red is the colour of her lips that shine
And red is the colour of the rage that blinds
Yellow is the heart of a rose so sweet
And yellow the fever of cowards’ deceit
Brown is the colour of earth’s sweet grace
And brown are the shirts of those who deface
Purple is the pomp and power of wealth
And purple the heather so full of health.
Opposites, and contrasts are all of these
Choose not the stains, but colors that please.
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* All these years, I used the American spelling “color,” because I taught in a public school. Now, that I am retired, I am reverting to my Indian/English “correct” spelling of “Colour.”
🙂
(Yes, correct is a relative term, but I’ll go with English spelling!)
And yes, my first line is a reference to the traditional Scottish (later Appalachian) folk song, “Black is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair.” Here’s a haunting version by Nina Simone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRh7PSaOzI
Here is a moving version by the incomparable Pete Seeger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIx_9deq4Nw
Tags: #OneWordPrompt, #Original Poetry, #TheDailyPost, Choice, Contrast
Mar 6, 2016 The Daily Post
Geese, and Catamarans, Cowrie Shells and Smoke
(Daily Prompt: Connections)
©March 6th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
If I send you a string of thoughts
Winging across the air
In goose-formation,
Would you watch their flight?
And would you send back
A flight of thoughts
Winging as surely as geese
Returning in springtime?
Little archipelagos we are
Locked in by surging seas
Close, but not connected
Lonely, we send out catamarans
Carrying our conversations
In exchange for yours
It’s all bartering, this parley
Between us, yours for ours.
Cowrie shells of self in trade,
Cloth of heart and steel of soul,
Gold bangles of love,
And rings of friendship.
Mind you keep mine well,
Treasure them, shine them.
I shall do so, likewise.
For these are precious things.
And I thank you for yours.
Little islands we may be,
But I see smoke spire out from
Your chimneys, and am cheered.
I shall keep my hearth clean,
Dust the ashes, stock my fireplace
Use good kindling, light a fire.
I hope you’ll see the smoke rise.
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Tags: #Connection, #Original Poetry, #TheDailyPost