Category: Life

Once Upon a Lazy Day

Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore,
I felt a cool breeze, and … is that the boom of thunder?

Suddenly, with arms flailing, I start falling nonstop.
I see myself floating in the center of a raindrop.

Hurtling towards the emerald earth at lightning speed,
I feel a thrill moving up through my toes, and I scream.

With a splash, I land on the petal of a frangipani.
It’s so fragrant and so smooth that I can slide on it.

My dress swirls round and round as I twirl in a pirouette
To the lively notes of a guitar strummed by a cricket.

In the background, I’m accompanied by butterflies
Who flutter with their colorful wings shining bright.

And as the music rises in a melodious crescendo,
Across the grey skies, there arches a rainbow.

And everything within view as far as I can see
Is bathed in a halo of the seven colors so heavenly.

The skies above then turn a flaming crimson red
As the Sun rues he wants to stay longer instead.

But, the twilight grows, and the moon tiptoes in a bonnet.
The stars cast a net of light, and the image vanishes.

I slowly open my eyes, and in my room I am, on my little bed.
T’was but a dream, like gossamer, on a lazy day, as I overslept.

The Evolution

Today, I open the doors of my heart
To let in the Universe and all it brings
And flow with my evolution that will start.

Emotions hidden and kept secretly apart
Are released when I cut all the strings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart.

I let Love sculpt me into a work of art.
With Gratitude, I experience all things,
And flow with my evolution that will start.

I let Anger, Hate and Resentment depart.
Against them, I do not hold ill feelings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart.

I let in Prayers and the Peace they impart,
Invite Happiness with its unbridled wings,
And flow with my evolution that will start.

I make a concious decision to restart,
Let Grief leave, and count my Blessings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart
And flow with the evolution that will start.

PS: This poem is a Villanelle. The villanelle is a highly structured poem made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the refrain serves as the poem’s two concluding lines. Using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.

The Perfect Present

The corridors of the Past are sealed and dark.
The Future is a trip on which we are yet to embark.
The Present is where we can make our mark.

The Present is the interface linking the Past and Future
Like the Windows home screen on our computers,
Lessons are used to create possibilities by us as users.

The Present is the moment in which we are alive.
It holds innumerable opportunities for us to try.
It is where all actions and manifestations come to life.

So, make your Present your best friend and comrade.
Dwell not in the Past, for it has already faded.
And worry not about the Future, for it is not made yet.

The nature of Time is to keep flowing away.
The Present is it’s boon, in which we are awake.
So arise, and in this instance, stake your claim.

There’s a Choice…Always!

In our lives, we always have a choice to make.
Every moment brings with it an array of options.
We become what we choose from them to take.

Every wish, every dream that keeps us awake
Can be brought to existence by our own actions.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.

We can’t decide when the Sun rises at daybreak,
But the dawn brings chances without questions.
We become what we choose from them to take.

Even when we feel we have made a mistake,
We can make amends after some reflections.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.

It’s our life after all, and we are the ones at stake.
The world offers a Pandora’s box of passions.
We become what we choose from them to take.

With every little shove that seems like a quake,
We can either give up or reshape our missions.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.
We become what we choose from them to take.

PS: This poem is a Villanelle.

Treasures Of the Past

Some say what’s out of sight is out of mind,
And this is also true for the steady flow of time –
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, years and decades,
With every passing moment, they all fade away.
They take with them experiences sad and happy
And seal these in a cabinet labeled “Memories.”
The cherished ones at times pop up in the mind,
But many of these are forgotten and left behind.
Oh! To catch and freeze all those moments
With the details just as they were in that instance –
The dress, shoes, eyes, garden, smile, and rapture.
Yes! All these are captured in a beautiful picture.
These images are all treasures from our pasts.
They are the ones that make the lost times last.
Be it people, places, adventures, events or things,
A photograph is sure to pull the heart’s strings.
And whenever you want to relive those moments,
All you need is to look at the pictures in albums.

The Faces of Life

What is life if not an evergreen shrub
With hurtful thorns and velvet buds?
What is life if not a swinging ride
Sliding down and then up so high?

What is life if not a bride’s dress
With sturdy satin and delicate lace?
What is life if not a big mirror
With a side clear and other blurred?

What is life if not a vast ocean
With calm waters and raging storms?
What is life if not a bestseller
With true love and aching heartbreak?

Yes, life in all its beautiful moments,
Strives to always create a balance –
Opposites so distant and yet so near,
Life serves up both smiles and tears.

Childhood Dreams

If ever there was any innocence,
It would be in a childhood dream.
Where one sailed the seven seas
In a paper boat down the stream.

To meet the fairies of wonderland
With pink frocks and magic wands.
And fly with them to the silver moon
In a ship made of colored balloons.

And on the way, maybe fight and slay
Fire-breathing dragons that lie in wait,
And find a cave full of shiny treasures
On the banks of a flowing chocolate river.

Yes, there never was anything sweet
And precious like a childhood dream
Seen through the eyes of innocence
Like little bubbles of effervescence.

Walls or Bridges?

Light doesn’t discriminate –
Revealing all when it glows.
The breeze doesn’t discriminate –
Caressing all when it blows.

A rose doesn’t discriminate –
Spreading fragrance when it blooms.
Thunder doesn’t discriminate –
Scaring all when it booms.

The ocean doesn’t discriminate –
Tasting salty to all who drink from it.
The Maker doesn’t discriminate –
Loving all whom He created.

Then, how is it that we’ve drifted?
Drawing boundaries out of differences.
A different color, race, country or belief
Makes us deny trust and acceptance.

United, we can forge our own Fate.
Divided, we become weak like prey.
Caught in the warp of cause and effect,
Let’s not build walls, but bridges that connect.

My Friend

I had a friend who was strange.
As strange as strange can be.
She’d jump into a muddy drain
To rescue a stranded puppy.

Her pockets were full of crumbs
That she fed to the little birds.
She used twigs to move earthworms
That wiggled in the middle of roads.

She didn’t like candy, dolls or ribbons
New dresses, hair clips or nail paint.
But she’d climb trees to help kittens,
And one day, she told me the reason.

That she did these on her own accord,
As being kind itself was a true reward.

The Reward

Once upon a long time ago,
There lived a wealthy man.
With money, his coffers did flow,
And there was nothing he lacked.

Silken clothes, jewels and gold –
His closets were full of them.
A mansion, servants at his call,
And plates encrusted with gems.

Yes, he called himself fortunate
As he had all of life’s rewards.
He felt he had all the happiness,
And that he needed nothing more.

Then, one hot day, his caravan
Stopped to rest in the afternoon.
The chariots parked under a banyan
That had vast branches and roots.

As he got down to stretch his legs,
He saw a man dressed commonly.
Who smiled benevolently at him
And asked if he was hungry or thirsty.

With disdain, the rich man denied
And told him that he had no wants.
The man bowed his head and smiled
And turned away to another person.

This man served food and water
To people who rested under the tree.
He took no money even if offered,
And this, the affluent man saw silently.

As the sun set, he questioned
That man why he did what he did.
The man smiled and invited him
To serve with him food to the needy.

The opulent man laughed loudly
And agreed just to humor him.
He served a weary traveler a meal
In a plate made of woven leaves.

All of a sudden, he was overcome
With an emotion hitherto unknown,
From his eyes, tears flowed freely, and
He felt at peace and happy all at once.

As he looked at the common man,
That man just smiled at him.
He knew that this humane action
Had turned to dust his arrogance.

As the princely man sat in the chariot,
And his caravan began to move,
He realized he had been rewarded
By his own service that afternoon.

A reward that couldn’t be measured
By diamonds, gold and gemstones.
It was a prize he’d always treasure
From his generous gesture alone.

I hope that like the wealthy man,
My friends, you too realize –
An act of kindness and compassion
Is itself the true reward in our lives.

Just Laugh

Laugh like the daisies
Bobbing in the breeze.
Laugh like the little dew
Shining on green leaves.

Laugh like the golden Sun
Blazing in the afternoon.
Laugh like the great ocean
Glistening white and blue.

Laugh like the midnight sky
Twinkling with tiny stars.
Laugh like the crescent satellite
Beaming from a distance far.

Let there always be laughter
And reasons to laugh out loud.
Let it fill the heart with rapture
Like a rainbow in the clouds.

Let laughter be your pal
In moments of sadness.
Let it cast its magic spell
As the harbinger of happiness.