Sunday, May 31, 2009

the air hisses and crackles

my anger pours forth venom
leaves behind havoc
path is tarnished with acerbic words
flames are visible far away
the air hisses and crackles

"when rains douse the fire
there is nothing but hard ground"

Saturday, May 30, 2009

I dream in brown

muds sticks everywhere
the walls, the floor,
seeping through that door
I dream in brown
shades of which keep changing
dry to wet and back again

"I am planted in that soil-
that earthy scent of you
pleases me no end-
nothing covert about it"

Thursday, May 28, 2009

it hurt like a dead man's calling

it hurt like a dead man's calling

with all that silence between us
I kept on inhaling cigarette smoke
you kept on staring beyond me

it hurt like a dead man's calling

my feet tapped on the chipped floor
head was somewhere on the roof
but your stance did not change

it hurt like a dead man's calling

I did see your eyes blinking fast
once, twice, more I lost all count
I let my arms loose and dangling

it hurt like a dead man's calling

tumbled down, broken to pieces
both stretched to our limits
damaged irreparably

it hurt like a dead man's calling

I moved, standing in front of you
you moved, standing in front of me
bitterly at once, we turned away

it hurt like a dead man's calling



Wednesday, May 27, 2009

timid embrace forces out dreary thoughts

looking at me with dreary eyes
fear writ large all over her.
she lay there timidly,
FIERCELY I EMBRACED HER
timidly she returned it
largely the fear leaving her
the dreary look from her eyes gone

for such a small being
thin and emacipated
her hold on me was tight
FIERCELY SHE EMBRACED ME
tightly I held her close
emancipating thinness
contained in her smallness

" litle girl's timid embrace
drove away dreary thoughts
right out of my troubled psyche"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those of you who has not participated in 3WW till date, come and join in. This week's 3 words are: timid, dreary and embrace. Don't be timid, give up the dreary look, embrace the three words. In any form you like, poetry or prose. I DARE YOU!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

two sides of the same coin


we all sat around that fire, silently

watching it casting demonic shadows on us
as it burned away the flesh and bones
and he was all but gone

on the other side of the wall
oblivious to our loss and pain
all were in celebratory mood
(a wedding can never be anything less)

unwillingly I lost touch with my reality
lending my ears to laughter and songs
everyone suddenly burst out singing;
forcing my pain to faded away

without seeing them I visualised
the groom and bride dancing
renewing my faith in life's force
dazedly I walked to the other side

bright light encompassed my sight
and I was filled with such delight
in that beautiful star filled night
my loss made joy reach its height

"sorrow would hit me soon enough
again, but let me live a little for now"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hop on aboard the Poetry Tain
and have you checked carry on tuesday yet?

Saturday, May 23, 2009

changing orbits

the sky was so clear
my visage was mirrored in it
even in the dark
I could see the azure shade of it

stars were sprinkled all over
scattered yet some played truant
hiding behind a fatter one;
gathering at one place gossiping

watching the play of stars
shading moon, vast emptiness
I felt like a lost planet
searching for my own sun

at that moment I did agree
with W H Auden's opening line
a cloudless night like this
can set the spirit soaring

the clear sky showed me the path
I found you playing hide and seek
with the stars- the moonlight
reflecting your mischievous eyes

"pulled by your gravitational force

I dropped-from my orbit to yours"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you checked carry on tuesday?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

For Chris: listen to me....

I write the following for Chris of Snippets From Spaceship Orion, who has had a stroke and is in the ICU. He is still in the woods and he needs all the love and support he can get from us. Please do visit his blog and leave your good vibes for him. No, I have not met him ever but that does make any iota of difference.

My poem is not edited at all and is very rough and raw. And Donn, I send my good vibes for you too..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this I write for you
to come through
to argue
over triviliaties
you better listen to my entreaties
or if you so wish, my pleas
three years or more
you came up to my door
or was it I who was floored?
life cannot take a turn
you gotta return
letting your posts burn
not to ashes
but flashes
maybe about your smartass trash
I say so because I know
you gotta get on the flow
to be ready for a road show

why should you take the easy way out
come on now, we have to catch the fatest trout
get up, get going and better make that turn about

no pawns spared

it was mayhem out there
each trying to best the other
with black and white falling aside
chequered to the last
both stood alone
the white king
the black queen
each preoccupied
in an efficient game
bloodshed had been spared
each wanted to taste power
and rule over the other

"silent love treacherously asked both to optimize"


Do check out 3WW. The words for this week: efficient, optimize and treacherous

Monday, May 18, 2009

two hearts


somehow you unravelled her from all
she held with force of habit. enthralled
she awaits silently in anticipation
of your next move. are her expectations
beyond your control,
to belong to her mind, heart and soul?


Go taste
The American Sandwich



if only my heart a octahedron

you could have hidden in the corners

ORGANIC MATTER OF OUR HEARTS

cornered in octahedron's recesses

it would be a great play ground



And go take NaiSaiKu Challenge?

Sunday, May 17, 2009

tangled mess

disembodied she stared at nothing
rugged mountains loomed like giants
her designer suit looked like rags
nails chipped, filled with dirt
her tangled hair flying all over

frenzied she searched for a comb
(a woman always thinks of her hair)
finding none, she crumbled into herself
a hand found her shoulder
trucker offered her his own one

dirty though it was, she pulled it
through her unkempt hair
even the comb refused to go further
reflecting her life was in shambles
and now she was going to lose her hair

trucker took away the comb,
gently untangled it with his fingers
with a long suffering sigh
she leaned into him, disconnected
from everything but him

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the third in the series of road trip poetry. All stand on their own but if anyone wants to read all, here are the links:

road trip


road trip continued


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#Update: I dedicate my blog to Granny Smith. She is one of the best bloggers I have known. She lost her husband Otto on the 10th of May. Please do visit her and offer your condolences.


Friday, May 15, 2009

fingers dance merrily in the air

softly I touch the air
my fingers dance merrily
feeling the moments

waft of your presence
travels through time or space
(I don't care what)

tiny particles of thoughts
slowly grow bigger
transcending unknown arena

it was not at first time
nor at the second or the third
yet it slowly took over me/you

softly I touch the air
my palms opening up towards you
closing my eyes, I look at you

"even the divine can't explain love
or the tolerance it brings within us"

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

unfocussed

I get so nervous when you bicker at me and then the trajectory of my focus goes awry.

Go check out 3WW..

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

swaying ways

cemented in my ways
yet I make you sway
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
swaying to my tune
forever cemented


Give The NaiSaiKu Challenge? a try!

And try hyperlinking as asked in Read Write Poem

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

that burning heat reaches out, touching me, almost scorches my sensitive skin. Just as suddenly it touches those exhilarating heights, so calming. fire was never so welcome, coming from your inner core anything is.

Also check out The American Sandwich




Sunday, May 10, 2009

powdered space

cyber dust-
what's it like to be
powdered space

Saturday, May 09, 2009

cat story

there was a piercing pain
everything went blank
when I came around
I found myself sprawled
on that cold earth,
in a bloody mess
my dignity in shreds
(arrow still stuck in my chest)

was I seeing things?
cat wearing a sweater
with four booties?
unblinking yellow eyes
staring at me
purring sensually
it darted towards me
and pulled out the arrow

(I cried out with pain)
in no time it licked it clean
that forked tongue
was a dead giveaway
when it talked back
I was doubly sure
my long lost demon
had come back to me

he shed his sweater
showed me his hairless form
a magic gone wrong
he gotta live with it
a faery gave him a sweater
and knitted him booties
first I laughed
then I hugged him

as a vampire myself
I had no complaints
I felt a happy tingle
went into a trance
when my cat bit hard
blood dried itself out,
both our powers had returned
healing my wounds


Friday, May 08, 2009

wanderer

He had left home, left the green of his own country
to wander across the sun-bleached West,
the dry flat roads of the plains,
and the dark rugged mountains.
But no matter where he traveled,
stranger though he was,
he was never at a loss for words, for he needed none.
The music of his fiddle spoke for him,
and it was welcomed wherever he went.
Doors opened at its sound,
a place was made by a campfire,
and food and drink appeared.
it was a free life.

There it was again—a sharp shrill call.
A bark, he guessed, imagining the coyotes
No, he thought, uncertain now
as the wind brought the sound closer.
Not a bark, but the harsh cawing of crows,
their raucous voices rising from the canyon.

The whistled wind was hushed beneath their loud cries,
and the crickets were silent between the rocks.
into the swirling clouds,
they gave themselves over to flight.
He held his hand over his face
to protect it from the seething dust,

glimpsing in the turquoise sky
the black veins of their parting.

And then the winds quieted,
the dust was exhaled back to the earth,
and the sky shone clear again.
the sound of him playing the fiddle
percolated the air, calming his nerves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Revised from this.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Succinct

Weren't your messages to me supposed to be cryptic? Do you have to flash those to all and sundry and malign me?

Go check out 3WW...

Monday, May 04, 2009

opposites

my love notes to you
over the years
all undated
LIE IN WAIT FOR YOU
to be dated
for all those years lost
to be noted: love still exists

Give
The NaiSaiKu Challenge? a try!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Honour Rolls

Neatly he counted out the coloured cards, making a stack of it on his side.
Seeing there were more of the red streaked ones, satisfied, he grunted out loud. Only few more to go, and he would graduate to a professional killer.

Check out The American Sandwich

Sunday, May 03, 2009

tell tale winds

opening my notebook,
I sat down with a few pencils
(I hate writing with pens)
all those grandeur ideas
encircling until then
ran away from me
into the spooky night
(what else can one call it
when winds keep howling?)
I could hear them
whispering to each other
that I was a sham
my words were stolen
coming from far and wide
I ought to confess it here
to all and sundry
that I swapped ideas
with ghosts of the nether world
so much for tactile spirits

"if it served the purpose
why waste space, speculating?"

Friday, May 01, 2009

New book reviewing blog: everything distils into reading

Most of you are aware that I have lost my Reading Room blog to Malware. I have tried to get help from google/blogger but no one is responding at the help forum. Hope I get it back but I am not very sure about that. Meanwhile, I have started this new blog, slowly retrieving data from google reader.

everything distils into reading

First, I will retrieve the book reviews as well short stories reviews. Then I will see about getting around other posts. And also links/blogrolls. As I have most of you on my google reader, that won't be a problem.

Please help spread word about this blog to all those you know, by the way of emails or in you blogs. Any help in that direction would be appreciated greatly. And can anyone help me find a 3 column template?

Thanks!

My email id: gautami.tripathy[at]gmail.com
everything distils into reading