Keep writing , keep writing , keep writing
With every effort you get better
Just put your head down and keep fighting
Things are easier letter by letter

Please don’t ask me to guide you , dear poets
At least not as if I were a tutor
We are all just throwing our quoits
If one hits the bull’s eye, why , bully for her

As a fellow poet , what I feel is
One should just never stop writing poems
One can soon see where the real steel is
As for critics , be ready with “ I’ll-show-‘ems “

( Amita Sarjit Ahluwalia )

Some left me for I no longer had wealth
And some saw me as a burden
With my shrivelling health
Few who remained a little longer with me
Left for no use was I to them
Finally the caravan left
Leaving me stranded in the path of life.

Yet I did not feel scared.
I felt a veil of darkness being lifted from my eyes
Illuminating the dark caves of the heart with real colours of life, bereft of any pigments.

While a sheet of cool calmness
Descended over me, healing the wounds that expectations had gifted.

One has to finally exit the gates of life alone, I realised
Even though surrounded in life
With people and things galore.

Thankful was I that the
Doors of truth had opened much before my end
Giving me enough time to shed off the
Ephemaral,the artificial and
the insanity that had clouded my vision for a lifetime.

That is when I felt
I had encountered my soul
As I prostrated before the Almighty
for making me aware of what really mattered in me,
Much before the doors start closing upon me.

WOMAN

You were born a woman for a purpose
It is no accident for sure
You are here to deliver a story
Strong, real and pure

You skipped through mustard fields
Climbed the sprawling mango tree
Played house with your strawberry doll
And went gallavanting on market sprees

Your tender heart missed a beat
As you roamed rosy eyed focusing on your crush
You burnt the midnight oil for that degree
And your chosen path was no light brush

You walked around the sacred fire
Vowing to stand by your mate
A promise you made in all earnestness
That holds true till the evening late

You were blessed with motherhood
An experience that made you grow
You juggled the roles of wife and mother
Oh boy it was an incredible show

Suddenly the shadows loomed large
And ominous clouds gathered in front
You fought valiantly like the Goddess Kali
And your demeanour became bold and blunt

You carried your self esteem like Sita
Vowing to put things right like Draupadi
You garnered courage like the Goddess Durga
And put the equilibrium at ease

O woman you were born to bring glory
To the clan you were born into
You were also born to bring further glory
To the clan you chose to marry into

Let not the sparkle ever dull in your eyes
Like Saraswati may your speech never lose power
The world is yours for the taking and making
Salute your inner fire and let your grace shower

I’m tired, must rest
You go on, Cabbage
Go on, do your best
Drop excess baggage

Yes, Life is a quest
And so is marriage
When you must go west
I’ll bring your carriage

Your liege-man I’ve been
To serve and protect
My Love and My Queen
Faithful and correct

From two steps behind
To two steps ahead
In death I’ll path-find
In life you have led

( ASA )

You were lotus feed
of an imagery
working daintly upon me;

What else could I do, but
to instil faith
into my breath
that has mazed me eternity

to bloom
Petal unfurled

© Tapeshwar Prasad

Turning inwards
is not more or new
But,
What is turning inwards
towards my soul
the spirit within,
to the silence
my heart wants to seek,
to the light
the dark soul needs,
to the purity
my sins want to explore,
to the sanctity
my life wants to adore.

I want to sit in silence with myself
with my own being
the one I am trying to understand
the one who wants to listen
to the deep conversations
my soul wants to express.

Turning inwards
might not be more or new
Still, I wish to turn inwards
and live
the very essence of being
alive. I wish to hold hands
with myself, walk miles
till the sun sets. I crave
to walk on the clouds
and reach the
clarity of my thoughts. I dream
to push myself
deep within me
to be my own self.

~Mehak Varun

A LOOK AT LIFE-107
BY-SMRUTI RANJAN MOHANTY

   LIFE  DIVINE 

Life is as simple as the clear blue sky
We make it hazy
Life is living in reality
We make it worst of a mirage
Life is not about accumulating assets
That boomerang at you
Turn into liabilities at a later stage
It is not about building relationships
That strongly bind you to the world
Become the cause of your sorrow and misery

Life is not about carrying a heavy load
Feeling breathless under its pressure
Ultimately succumbing to it sooner or later
The more you carry the more you worry
Less the luggage better the journey
Faster the movement
Life is freedom
That makes you a free bird in the open sky
Going higher and higher searching the elixir

Life is not an endless strife
To go ahead of others
It is an opportunity to look at your self
And take rapid strides towards the destination
You hold high

Life is not about laurels and accolades
Clapping and cheers
Parade of ego, selfishness and vanity
It is a vow divine
To know, by knowing which
You do not need to know anything

Life is not about adding years
It is more about adding beauty and grace
Knowledge and wisdom
And living with a purpose

No matter live in the world
But never let the world live in you
That is the cause of your bondage
And the biggest tragedy of life
If you can go beyond it
Your life will be life divine

Smruti Ranjan Mohanty©

( Things Done )

How does a Poet become
An upholder of the Moral Arc of the Universe
Tending towards goodness?

By recording history , things that happen
In the outer world and in the world within

The world of the mind : ideas, reason
The world of the imagination : images , myths
The world of the soul : faith and hope

Seeing the great lawgiver Solon
trying to copy his nephew
who was singing a song by Sappho
Someone asked him :

“Why , Solon ,
should you waste your time on it?”

Solon replied,
“So that I may learn it before I die.”

Ammianus Marcellinus,
He who professed to have been
“a former soldier and a Greek”
(miles quondam et graecus),
In his Res Gestae
(Rerum gestarum Libri XXXI)
in thirty-one volumes

recording the history and traditions of his time
in Rome in the Fourth Century before Christ
speaks of Socrates labouring day and night
at reading and debating ,
and when asked why , saying simply this :

“in order to leave life knowing a little more”
( “ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam” )

Knowledge and Imagination
Weaving tales , narratives, songs
enter our genes
help us evolve

Makaris!
Take heart .
Makers of Poetry !
No poem is futile

( Inspired by a reading of Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary )

( ASA)

57th Milestone

Is it really true?
That I have reached the 57th milestone?
Finally saying No to blues
And bidding a firm goodbye to moans

How wondrous has been the journey
Interspersed with darkness and light
O it was delightful to be around honey
And soak in the sunshine bright

Is it really true
That I am inching towards being a senior citizen
No matter what or who
It is now goodbye to times frozen

What a sojourn it has been
Meeting my fate and accepting the date
Endless drama I have seen
But ended up with affable mates

Is it really true that I am a little wise
Finally tearing apart the net of shroud
I sure have paid a hefty price
But boy, it has been worth it, I say aloud!

It is now time to chase away melancholy
And usher in all graces of life
Finally time to script a melodious story
That has no shadows of strife

It is now that I promise myself time for sweet Nature
And drown in the joy of music
Fill up my life with splendid features
And curate a pretty garden of vibrant Tulips

It is time for deeper truths of life
Banalities no longer interest me
No more complaints and mindless cries
It is time to be joyous and just be

I have studied the texts aplenty
And discussed tales too
It is finally time to introspect fully
And live at peace and in a manner true.

People do charities and so much more
I too get inspired by them for sure
The greatest gift I feel i can give at ease
Is by being humble, humane and a friend to thee