Author: rupali66

To Mother Earth

Mother Earth, you are truly divine.
Without you, there would be no life.
I could fill infinite books and pages
With words in your honor and praises.

Of the millions of species you bore,
We humans have taken so much more.
Even with the billions of neurons gifted,
We have from our purposes far drifted.

You gave us eyes, but we lack the vision
To see the equality in all your creations.
You gave us ears, but we choose to hear
All that pleases us from all that is dear.

We feel so proud of all our inventions
Oblivious of the impact of our intentions.
Not realizing you still hold the controls
To the wheel of fate as it turns and rolls.

When will we know for better or worse
That you are our sole link to the Universe?
That the answers we seek lie within you,
And the reasons for our existence, too.

Tulips

I walk into the flower shop seeking
The perfect little gift for my lover.
The shelves are all a riot of colors
Of smiling buds that await picking.

The blushing rose is indeed pretty,
But so clichéd with its velvet petals.
My eyes then look away and settle
On some big, blossoming white lilies.

Their freshness appeals in an instant
But I want them to mean a lot more.
And, soon my gaze passes over
To a group of nodding carnations.

They’re beautiful with shades aplenty
But for my one love, they surely fail.
And so I move on, a little restless
To a bunch of dew-laden red tulips.

With petals not just a sight to see,
They speak what my heart stores –
My deep and unconditional love –
A love so true for a lover so lovely.

I walk out of the shop so happily
With the red blooms in a bouquet.
I see the delight on my lover’s face
When the tulips speak so eloquently.

Whispers of the Night

As I lay on my bed and close my eyes to sleep,
The night comes alive and whispers to me.
I hear the rustle of the trees in the cool breeze
As magical little pixies prance on their leaves.

The air is fragrant with the queen of the night
As the iridiscent fairies softly hum a lullaby.
The moonbeams spread just enough light
For me to see a dream with my droopy eyes.

And then there are the insolent crickets
Who chirp away excitedly in the grassy thickets.
Their chorus stays constant with every minute
As they spy on the dance of the garden spirits.

The nocturnal merrymaking then slowly cease
As the rosy light steals across from the east.
The world rubs its eyes and stirs up on its feet
And I wait for another night to whisper to me.

To Me

There are two sides of every coin. Similarly, there can be two ways to perceive oneself. You can either look at the glass as being half empty or half full. Here is a poem that attempts to do both. So which one is you?

Please note – this is a reverse poem, so read it both ways – from top to bottom and from bottom to top.

This is who I am.
I want to define myself.
As I gaze at my reflection
I see someone who has tried
And lost all heart and hope.
I don’t see a person who fought
To win against difficulties.
I see someone who could do all
To run away from life’s pitfalls.
I don’t see a person who wants
To achieve every dream.
I think I could put in my efforts
To face this truth about myself.
As I gaze at my reflection
I want to define myself.
This is who I am.

A Love That Never Fades

I found an orange rose outside my door
On the morning of my sixteenth birthday.
A multitude of questions had me floored.
With many emotions, my heart did sway.

The next day, too, I was greeted by a rose.
A bloom that brought a smile on my face.
Was it from a secret admirer or a beau?
Who kept it? There was not a single trace.

All through school and college, I did grow.
And every morning, my door it graced.
I smiled, laughed, shared, and loved more
Like the dew-laden bud left at my place.

That age passed like a river that flowed,
And I always looked forward to each day.
Overcoming pitfalls that life could throw,
The rose made me more than I could say.

Then, one day, perchance I came to know
My mother kept the rose there every day –
She wanted to make me feel so adored
With a love that would never fade away.

Not the End

It’s a story as old as time itself.
The grass that grows in the velds
is eaten by the buffaloes and deer.
They, in turn, are the lion’s meal,
and when the mighty king dies,
his body returns to the plain’s soil.
On that, the lush green grass grows.
Thus, the circle of life does flow.
Such is the law of the universe.
It’s a cycle that is never reversed.
So don’t be sad when it seems to end,
for something new will soon begin.

Storms

Storms reveal
the power to heal.
The moment of birth,
the moment of death,
the events between
are all stormy.

Storms create
the strength to adapt.
All of life’s changes,
the resistance and plunges,
that define and redefine,
are all stormy.

Storms reveal
the ability to resile.
All the challenges
that shake or break,
leading to a rebounding,
are all stormy.

From every storm
arises a new form.
It’s a chance to clean
the slate and start again
with endless possibilities
and probabilities.

My Dream

Much has been written about dreams.
Much that could fill papers and reams –
They are messages from the universe
sent to the dreamer for better or worse.

They are thoughts that are imaginary,
Images and sensations, all involuntary.
But I want to dream the dream less dreamed –
A dream in which I’m someone else’s dream.

I want to be the hand that offers help.
I want to be the guiding voice that tells.
I want to be the map for the directionless.
I want to be the light in their darkness.

Yes, fairies and unicorns have their magic.
But wouldn’t you all agree when I say this –
The world would be a much better place
If the dream I dream came true every day.

Sugar and Me

Debuting in the greatest reality show in the universe,
I was bound by restrictions for better or for worse.
The dos and don’ts that were laid out were aplenty.
Some were stated clearly, and some, not so clearly.

But of all the conditions I was supposed to adhere,
none was as confounding as the one about sugar.
Yes, this two-faced ingredient is used in desserts.
With milk, flour, spices, fruits, and other cohorts.

It soon became a habit in a wee, gullible kid like me
as I found it to be so likable and so darn sweet.
“She’s a growing child,” all the people would say,
and I got away with the laddoos, candies, and cakes.

With Time, the law of cause and effect progressed,
and soon, my true blue friend was seen as a defect.
Yes, every bit I ate stayed on with me on my waist,
and it did not take a doctor to know I was overweight.

The do now metamorphosed into a major don’t
as this double-crossing thing upset my hormones.
The one that was delectable is now my enemy.
I need to break up with it both physically and mentally.

Well, the wheels of the reality show go on and on,
and I have with me now a new set of regulations.
Read this, my friends, and I hope you will be the wiser.
When it comes to eating sugar, it’s best to be a miser.

A Great Place To Be

Consider the tiny little seed.
Deep in the soil, it lies buried,
and then, shoots up into a tree.
Yes, the dark is a great place to be.

Consider the ugly piece of coal.
Pushed under the layers of the earth,
into a diamond, it changes radically.
Yes, the dark is a great place to be.

Consider the no-good speck of grit.
Trapped inside an oyster in the sea,
it transforms into a pearl so shiny.
Yes, the dark is a great place to be.

Consider God’s greatest creation.
Encased in the womb, all alone,
it grows to become a cherubic baby.
Yes, the dark is a great place to be.

The idea of the dark is indeed terrifying.
It’s terribly perplexing and frightening.
But it certainly is the best place to be
for that’s where your light shines brightly.