Jan 8, 2017 Free Verse, Original Poetry, Uncategorized

Impermanence
©January 8th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

So, it snowed yesterday, and winter came in
Furred and booted, and full of fierce winds
Within, pizza baked, and root vegetables roasted.

We watched from within the warmth
Of home, cluttered and messy and bright
As the snow drifted endlessly down, dream-like, dusty.

Now, Holly leaps in a field of white
And returns, with snow-hardened spaces
Between the pads of her paws.

Patiently, she stands, as I bend down,
Excavate each glob of tight-packed snow,
And rub her cold, cold pads.

Her nose is white, too, snow-encrusted
And her eyes look bright and puppy-ish
As she awaits the end of my ministrations.

The backyard is a small wilderness now
And the first reluctance to step outside
Melts away with the powdery essence of winter.

Blue-white shadows vie with sunlight
As the day lengthens into afternoon, but for now
Blue skies spill down light and lack of warmth.

Cold winter gives way to warm days, then
Returns, like a revolving door,
Slamming me in the face.

Every moment of my life goes by thus
Captured like icicles that glitter in daylight
Permanent in the moment.
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Tags: #dog and snow, #impermanence, #Original Poetry by Vijaya Sundaram, #Winter

Mar 20, 2016 Haiku

Rhymed Season:  Winter – Haiku 4
©March 20th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram

White and cold and stark
Snow falls in the glooming dark.
Winter makes his mark.

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Tags: #Original Poetry, #Rhymed Haiku, #Season Haiku, #Winter

Jan 24, 2015 Original Poetry

Snow Fall
©January 24th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram

White drifts down,
A reminder that
The world will be renewed.
And that hills and trees,
Stripped of color
Are still beautiful.
And this white and brown
And black world, so gentle
So muted, so tender
Obscures the memory of
A harsher place waiting outside
The edges of window frames.

Suit up and take
My Eager Doggess for a walk.
And now, these are my reality:
A snuffly nose,
A waggling tail,
A smiling dog —
Forget all else, just
Skid and slip
On sidewalks down steep
Slopes in my up-and-down
Neighborhood, shaped
By an erratic earth epochs ago.

And think of fifty-year old bones
Breaking and cracking on
Empty streets, dragged
Down by dog in haste,
Yell to her urgently: Slow down!
She does, befuddled.

Turn resolutely back,
Find a safer, straighter,
Quicker way home.
No broken bones,
No bruises or bumps.
Strangely, after all is over,
Reflect, drinking hot tea, that
Moments of sheer terror
Carry their own pleasure.

But don’t risk all for it.
Do not fall.
Falling is for the young.
There is a slight pang,
The memory of a deep gong within me.
Shrug, move on,
Falling is for the young, I say firmly.

Look out my windows,
Glad to be home.
Let my gaze caress the sky,
And the earth hums
With quiet satisfaction,
While she laps at her water
Noisy, unselfconscious.

It’s good to be still vertical
In a snow-veiled world.

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Tags: #Original Poetry by Vijaya Sundaram, #Winter, 2015, Chronicles of Holly, Snowfall, Walk with dog