#HuesoflifepoetryGd – Straight From My Heart

Blessings-For Sale

 At the traffic intersections, 
 Street corner, 
 Outside the malls, 
 the food shops, 
 At entrance to the parks
 and gardens, 
 You can buy blessings
 and wishes!
 
 The tattered rags, 
 the garish hags, 
 the girl with matted locks, 
 the beggar whose raw sores shocks, 
 the child in the Girl's arms, 
 the woman in a voice sing-song! 
 For some money 
 They wait, 
 Eager to deliver, 
 Blessings and wishes!

India is a populous country and a developing one at that. We have our own problems, poverty being one of the biggest, the solutions to which are not always easy. So we have people begging on streets, at the traffic intersection, outside malls, theaters, restaurants, literally anywhere where they can expect to attract the maximum eyeballs. There is a view that it is almost an organised industry here and hence not deserving of charity but then that is certainly debatable. What is usually quite interesting to watch is the response that these people provide when you give them some alms by way of charity. Usually they would bless you in their own way. I look at it as buying of blessings and good wishes!

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge- Street People

A Tale-of Desolation

Standing in the wilderness,
I am a tale
Of a struggle,
A resistance,
Dogged perseverance
To hold on to existence.
 
This was meant to be a check post
On the border,
manned by a few sentries.
I was their workplace at day
And at night, their nesting shade.
Life then was peaceful, full of joy.
My dear friend, nearby flowed the river
In its cool waters, my reflection
Danced and wavered.
 
Not much activity happened here.
The nights used to come
Dressed to please and charm.
The sentries who stood guard
On the river embankment
Talked in hushed whispers
To drive away their sleep and boredom
And I revelled in many of their secrets.
 
Then the war broke
Men and machines fought
Against each other,
For pride and to possess,
To succeed in beating back death.
Nowhere was any human dignity left.
 
The day the war reached here,
It was a night just like any other.
The enemy came
from the opposite bank of the river,
Against a large platoon of men,
The guards, my inmates, were ill-prepared
And certainly, no match.
They tried to fight back bravely
But fell defending my territory;
Their blood was soon left splattered
On my walls and the river bank.
It was all over in few hours.
 
The enemy moved on and I
Was left standing for many days;
With splattered blood
And stench of rotting flesh
Filling the night air.
 
I still stand today, forgotten, desolate.
The boundaries have been re-drafted
and I am long forgotten.
Even the river has changed course, deserted me.
I stand alone
Carrying the tales of the past
Etched in my crumbling bricks and mortar.

https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/three-things-challenge-382/

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #86

FOWC with Fandango — Dignity

Reincarnation

There's warmth in the air.
A familiarity in the smells
That waft up to his senses.
Recollections come,
Wrapped in a blanket of haze.
And his smile begins to break.

Is that a school
visible in the distance?
Wonder why it looks so familiar
When did I come here last?
And then, his smile begins to break.

How many years has it been now?
His mind tries to calculate
The years that he had been away
Where is the pond
with its brilliant white lilies?
Was there someone
who used to beckon me to its banks?
Then, his smile begins to break.

Why have I come here?
He bids his mind to recollect
A sense of connect I feel;
Established many years back, from present?
Did someone, long ago
Made me promise
To come back here one day?
Why do I perceive
the soul of the ancient
Under the garb of modern?
He stands and ponders.
The smile then,
Sometimes of recollection,
Sometimes of bewilderment,
Plays on his face.

What do you see # 50 5th October’20

Eugi’s Weekly Prompt “Mystical” October 5, 2020

Ambition

His stupid heart;
Vehement in its denial
Of all things prudent and practical.
A romantic, by nature.
Living in a fool's paradise.

While his friends were busy
Coping with pressure of the daily grind,
Earning university degrees
A job for the future
Raising a family,
Money for their material benefits,
He wanted to be-
A moonbeam!

Like the moonbeam,
travelling ticketless
Over the whole earth,
He wanted to caress the soul
Of many a traveller
Weary with fatigue
On the road of life.
Like the moonbeam
He wanted to lie, floating
On the vast oceans
And swim with the whales.
Penetrate into
the depths of forests
Basking in the silence
Breathing a bouquet of fragrances
Of wild moss and lichens
And lie peacefully
with the lions outside their den.
Like a moonbeam
He wanted to sooth and calm,
Induce peace and love,
In all hearts baying for blood
And plotting violence
On humanity and nature.

Sitting by the roadside,
In tattered clothes and unkempt hair,
Lost in thought,
Vehemently shaking his head, sometimes,
While staring at the moon,
He still nurses this wish
Of becoming a moonbeam.

Inspired by a famous poem named "Amalkanti" in my mother tongue.

FOWC with Fandango — Vehement

https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2020/09/24/three-things-challenge-368/

Stars

Expanse of night sky
Sprinkled with shimmering stars
Binding in a spell;
Mystery of the cosmos
Living their own destiny.

COLLEEN’S 2020 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 196, #THEMEPROMPT

Eugi’s Weekly Prompt “Cosmos” September 21, 2020

Nature’s Fury

Fury of nature

Slow increase in frequency.

Hunt for life in space.

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 324 FURY&SLOW

Giggle never ages

In her wrinkled face.
Struggles of years reside.
Giggles never age.

In face of struggles.
Her spirit remained robust.
Giggles, they remained.

Never losing face.
Pride displayed in glint of eyes.
Giggles, they endear.

The face of the brave
Smiling away life's struggles.
Unsheathe your giggles.

Weekend Challenge – The Face

Sudden Occurrence

Sudden occurrence;

A crimson life from earth’s womb.

Confidently poised.

Marvelling nature around

During its short existence.

COLLEEN’S 2020 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 195 #EKPHRASTIC #PHOTOPROMPT

Autumn Morn

Dawn finds dewy grass.

Bedecked with fallen flowers.

Wrapped palms over warm tea.

#Haikai Challenge #156 (9/13/20): new coolness (shinryoo) #haiku #senryu #haibun #tanka #haiga #renga

Standing Tall

"Standing tall
A beacon in storm.
Hope for souls in fright."

Thus was inscribed
on the foundation stone,
Of an old lighthouse;
unused now,
no longer burdened with
the responsibility of leading ships home.
It lay abandoned, uncared;
No longer a hub of activity.
No longer remembered.
Except perhaps on a specific day.

A day when, many years ago
Tall columns of clouds
Had suddenly swamped the skies
The sea had turned ominous
The waves, murderous.
In the darkness of the night,
The stormy sea had risen high
Aiming to consume the trawler
To its deep confines.
Lurching dangerously
The trawler and its two occupants
Had braced for the worst.
The dark night
Had them in a grip, tight.
The frenzied winds had
Hit them with all their might.
Home seemed nowhere in near sight.
In absence of guiding stars
Reaching the shores, they realised
Would be a tall order.

When all had seemed lost
And fate seemed intent to do its worst.
Through the darkness
the duo perceived a glimmer of light.
The lighthouse that day had stood tall.
Amidst the darkness and squall
To port, it had the trawler brought.

In remembrance of that day
They come each year;
A sailor's cap on their head.
Bent with age now,
And with wrinkles
that hide the smell of sea in its folds.
Touching the walls
They mutter heartfelt gratitude
To the old lighthouse
For having saved them
on that fateful day.
In front of the foundation stone
They bend low
To place a bouquet of flowers in obeisance.
Then back to their lives, they go.
The lighthouse remains,
Still looking at the horizon,
Perhaps reminiscing
And with pride
Standing tall.

Weekend Challenge – Tall