Soaring temperatures, sweltering heat
Two lonely old superheroes out on the street
No sign of rain and the infernal capes
Looking for something cooling, whatever it takes!
They spy an ice candy man and shout with guttural glee
Startling the poor man and making him flee
Slurping on the ice cream with obvious relish
Doing foolish things can be so delish!
https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2021/07/26/what-do-you-see-92/
https://amanpan.com/2021/07/22/eugis-weekly-prompt-soaring-july-22-2021/
The whirlwind of his words
though expected, always knocks me down
leaving my knees weak and wobbly
scattering my composure like a bundle of straw
the slurry of alcohol and contumelious derision
pours forth contemptuously
from his frothy, sneering mouth
the tar black viscosity of toxicity
crushes me with the ferocity of a ton of bricks
then dribbles down deep into my denuded heart
corroded and misshapen beyond recognition
creating a stygian worthlessness
tongue tied and petrified, I stand rooted
facing the obnoxious aural onslaught
spleen spent, he staggers away
my timorous soul wrings it hands
bemoaning the lack of courage at disposal
but promising resolution in future
which, in truth, eludes with regularity every time.
https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2021/07/19/what-do-you-see-91/
My fears lie to me everyday
their perfidious ploys
making me pusillanimous
from the hunter, I become the prey
I forget from naught we came
and to naught we go
in the circle of life
seasons bloom and fade
despair and hope move cyclically
with no concern for orderliness
I hear life calling out
I choose to disregard my fears.
I am learning after an age it is difficult to bend
I am learning some relationships I need not mend
I am learning life flows irrespective of me
I am learning sometimes it’s best to just be
I am learning I have become a sum of all expectations
I am learning not all actions require knee-jerk reactions
I am learning I can lurk in the shadows
I am learning I can miss a few curve balls life throws
I am learning unlearning is an improvement
I am learning moving sideways is also a movement
I am learning to champion causes close to my heart
I am learning to not bother about the popularity chart
I am learning stopping and leaning is alright
I am learning the sun needn’t always be bright
I am learning to allow life to overwhelm me
I am learning chaos allows me to thrive and be me
I am learning life is not a sumptuously laid banquet
I am learning it is often better as a picnic laid on a blanket
I am learning to not dictate all my words all the time
I am learning to flow with them oft times
I am learning to undress the metaphors of life
I am learning it’s okay to unravel a bit in strife
I am learning to keep things simple relatively
I am learning I have outgrown the need for complexity
I am learning to bench some irrelevant thoughts
I am learning I may not always be able to connect the dots
I am learning numbers really don’t matter
I am learning to happily trade them for chatter
I am learning having most follows could be a dubious distinction
I am learning to un-follow some without compunction
I am learning I am surely no atlas
I am learning I can live without all the fuss
I still have to learn to stop when the going is good
and not push my luck too far that I am misunderstood!
VJ’s Weekly Challenge: I’m learning…
https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/02/11/reenas-xploration-challenge-172/
Your unwavering gaze on me
leaves me flustered and unnerved
I drop the book and stop mid-guffaw
and though I am not the blushing kind
I feel heat travelling up my neck
confused and tongue-tied, I look away
but a sidelong glance finds
you are still looking my way
a half smile hovering in the vicinity of your lips
a dark lock of hair across your twinkling eyes
eyes that echo my feelings
and I swear my heart somersaults
for it is not a fantasy but for real
it seems I am in luck
as the passion seems to be lit both ways
you say something to others nonchalantly
but the roar in my ears is loud and drowns your voice
I breathe in shallow bursts
feeling chilly and hot by turns
none of our friends notice anything
with trembling fingers I gather my books
hugging them to my errant heart
I want to linger but quietly slink off
before my eyes can give my heart away.
https://wordeologist.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/the-saturday-symphony-22-first-kiss/
I had been persistently warned
playing with fire was no fun
but I still swallowed the sun
my words now leave lacerations
my touch third degree burns
my lone tear like molten lava runs
leaving putrid diamonds all along
the sputtering that goes on inside me
can dwarf the fire of all the galaxies
my eyelids bear the weight of glowing charcoal
drooping and wide open at the same time
restlessness like temperature climbs
I believe I swallowed the mercury along with the sun
which now runs through my ice cold veins
my fingertips emanating flames
the planetary triangle of tangled moon, mercury and sun
entwined forever in my palm
I play with blisters without any qualm
maybe this is the truth of today
maybe it was all a mistake
maybe the golden orb is a flake.
Proud and unbending; that is me
and see how you are soaring with my support
I had been very clear from the beginning
you don’t have to be rich to be my girl
you don’t have to be cool to rule my world
but you have to be malleable to my way of thinking
had I been an emotional cesspool like you
we both would have wallowed in nothingness
It has taken me years to mould you
to change your internal wiring
and erase your history of pliancy
I don’t care if I sound immodest
that I pulled you back from the brink
of being an average, anonymous person
if you are admired today and eulogized
it is because appearances matter
they see just the surface; tranquil and beautiful
they can’t see the turbidity beneath
let’s not go there and let’s not talk of
bruised self respect and things inconsequential
I brook no opposition of any kind
I take rightful pride in what I have made of you…
a glorious reflection of me.
https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/reenas-exploration-challenge-171/
What do you see # 68 – February 8 2021
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/kiss-challenge-175/
Tyranny acquaints us with the deepest despair
despots never stop from repeating their mistakes
trying to subjugate everyone to rank capitulation
using brute power and the machinery of state
Hubris struts around, brazenly fear mongering
reason and righteousness softly tiptoe
in such a gloomy scenario they quietly retire
for the victory of the oppressor is taken as a given
In the darkest of darkness when nothing is visible
in the coldest of winter when frigid winds blow
in the furthest corner where ultimatum pushes
the timorous soul sings in a tremulous voice
Gathering frail courage from note to note
as hesitant other voices join in, haltingly first
the song becomes a rallying cry for the oppressed
soaring up and high beating down all walls.
But the obstinate tyrant refuses to retreat
for drunk on absolute power, he is blind absolutely
bully pulpit misused by bumbling bedlamite
never expecting a fight back as a repercussion of tyranny.
My door drooped with depressing delusions
contemplating a complete close down
the flimsy curtains vainly tried to shoulder the pain
only their innate exuberance kept them feebly fluttering in the breeze
soft whispers lay entrapped in the dilapidated walls
never sleeping yet unable to force the issue
keeping my eyelids pinned open, staring vacantly
congeries of emotions lay congealed on the cold marble floor
I bit into a slice of pain drying on the windowsill
the back of my throat, drier than a desert, ached endlessly
the sheets on the bed crumpled like cracked glass
leaving longitudinal lacerations on my naked body
lightning failed to illuminate the penumbra of my fragmented heart
So I sit under the shroud of stars every night
as the wolf moon joins me in singing dirges till the morning
the sallow sun saunters into my courtyard
dropping a bowl of pity in my lap
the voiceless scream that had been tapping in my chest
sinks to my stomach tiredly
my muddled mind is a morass of emptiness
unable to take a categorical stand
I cradle the un-grieved losses in my arms
the futility of living never more unbridled than now.
I sit still
your angry words wash over me
I shiver with chills.
Words that drip from my fingers unbidden
refuse to slide down my tongue
I choke on them.
Always retreating mutely
never comfortable with arguments
silence my retort.
Tears traumatized by your temper
find a realise at night
my sodden pillow holds many secrets.
Anything can spark
accusations, finger pointing
flogging dead horses.
Painfully pedantic
you fly off the cuff easily
wreaking vendetta at the unsuspecting me.
Emptying your bowels of vitriol
calmness descends on you
I am left seething.
This casts long shadows
on the love we share
chinks begin to appear.
I know I am not the problem
your past causes insecurities
yet your diatribe hurts.
But “we” is more precious than you or me
so I start (with great difficulty)
a fight back.
Staying quiet no longer an option
communication holds the key
dawning of newer milestones.
Eugi’s Weekly Prompt – Dawning – January 21, 2021
VJ’s Weekly Challenge: The other side
Another poem was published in the Visual Verse. You can read it here.
