Time and Space

Subterfuge

waltzing impeccably
on the limits
of time and providence
i slice my image
into thin wedges.

sashaying flawlessly
on putrid flesh
of rationale and pledge
i sculpt myself
as individual yet again.

In Bangalore

Landed up here in Bangalore on 8th Night. Our flight was 90 minutes late. I had called up the airlines before proceeding for the airport but they said it was on time. Why can't we get proper info? Good thing I take along books almost everywhere. I wasn't bored. My mom was travelling with me. She gets tired sitting and waiting. I sometimes forget that she is 70+. Travelling is tiring for her despite the fact she is rather active.

We reached 10 minutes past midnight, i.e., 9th Dec! It was my niece's birthday. She was still awake waiting for us. My eldest brother lives in Bangalore with his family. His eldest son is studying in Delhi.

It has been two days and we are here till 17th. I am just savouring the time doing virtually nothing. Break from work, routine and stuff. Going for walks, hitting the malls, drinking endless cups of tea ( I am a tea person!), utter bliss...ah! Coming back to Delhi, I will need to work out harder after all that food I am gorging!

Writing too has taken a backseat. So if I do not come to your blogs to read and comment, you know the reason why. I will catch soon enough, I hope!

Snaked Fingers

Purple Haze

Poetry meme

Thanks lotus reads, for tagging me for this. I have had fun doing this doing this..:). I must thank cam too, for initiating this.

1. The first poem I remember reading/hearing/reacting to was:

Will you come into my parlour said the spider to the fly..
I cannot forget it ever. It was my first exposure to duplicity.

Here it is for all of you:


The Spider And The Fly by Mary Howitt (1799-1888)

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you may spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show when you are there."
"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high.
Well you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest a while, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
"Oh no, no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning spider to the fly: "Dear friend, what can I do
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome - will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "kind sir, that cannot be:
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"

"Sweet creature!" said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise;
How handsome are your gauzy wings; how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
If you'd step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,
And, bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly;
Then came out to his door again and merrily did sing:
"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple; there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer grew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes and green and purple hue,
Thinking only of her crested head. Poor, foolish thing! at last
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast;
He dragged her up his winding stair, into the dismal den -
Within his little parlor - but she ne'er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words I pray you ne'er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the spider and the fly.


2. I was forced to memorize (name of poem) in school and...

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright by William Blake. I simply loved the imagery.

“The Tyger”

Tyger, Tyger. burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, or what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

3. I read poetry because....

I have too. I read classics to modern. Anything, everything. I have vast and varied taste. It depends on my mood.


4. A poem I'm likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem is ....
Too many. But I think my favourite is by John Clare:

I Am by John Clare

I am: yet what I am none cares or knows
My friends forsake me like a memory lost,
I am the self-consumer of my woes—
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shadows in love's frenzied, stifled throes—
And yet I am, and live—like vapors tossed

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life or joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems;
Even the dearest, that I love the best,
Are strange—nay, rather stranger than the rest.

I long for scenes, where man hath never trod,
A place where woman never smiled or wept—
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Untroubling, and untroubled where I lie,
The grass below—above the vaulted sky.

5. I write/don't write poetry, but..............

I do write poetry. I started out as a short story writer and don't know how I graduated to poetry. Words just flow without any reason and I have to write no matter what.

I can't do without words
I only exist without it
Poetry gives me direction,
imagination and perception.

7. I find poetry.....
Everywhere. Things I love, things I hate. In mundane things, in nature, in you, in me...you name it, I see it.

8. The last time I heard poetry....

At a poetry meet organised inter school last month in Delhi. I enjoyed poetry reading very much.


9. I think poetry is like....
soul food. I cannot live without it. I have to read it and write when muse strikes me.

All you poetry lovers...readers and writers...consider yourself tagged!!

Stigmata

Pinnacle of Pleasure

black vines entwine
to walls in the countryside
thunders bring in the cold night
trees welcome embracing rain
just like lover his beloved

soil awaits its turn
soaking in the water
to its core through it pores
quenching its thirst
as never before

lightning strikes
showing the nudity of nature
in all its splendour
in the arms of water
pouring as if to consume.

the storm abates
hunger satisfied,
each single part replete
the earth settles about
after orgasmic release!

Filling the holes with ink

preceding night,
turning the pages
in my mind; filled
with your memories,
i fell asleep with lights on.

with numb fingers,
i tried to pen the holes
that time has made
into your remembrance,
handwritten for me

my ink tried to fill in the
painful distance,
created by your absence.
i could visualize
your glaring eyes

in those pages in the
recesses of my mind,
the words stood out
noted down in margin
of memories which I had

scribbled the night
you disappeared forever,
leaving me alone
with shards of pain
which will never fade.
..........................................................................................

In memory of a close friend who passed away some years back.

Word List....writing exercise

Fidelity,

Gnu,

Hacksaw,

Ize,

Jabber,

Krypton

With loads of Krypton in his body, the Gnu had low fidelity rate. His friend Ize asked Jabber to get a sharp-edged hacksaw to cut of his(Gnu's) over-active organ.