History

“This is insanity”, I shout at her rigid, receding back
her eighteen year old spine
has as much steel as did mine at her age
I curse under my breath
memories of distant past flood my troubled mind

It still lies in the dusty corner cabinet
beneath the silken, floral duvets
hidden and buried deep
but unforgotten
a piece of my past that I cannot erase

ever the rebel, in a fit of anger
to spite my mom
I had coloured my hair fuchsia pink
that one act of madness, of defiant delirium
a show of my cussedness
drove a wedge wide and gaping between us forever

The frostiness of our relationship
has not thawed with time
“Harlot” she had called me then
splintering an already tottering bond
forgiving and forgetting had gone past repair

I don’t want history to repeat itself
nor be the mother my mother was
with resigned footsteps and a forced smile
ruing my own foolhardiness
I make my way to her room.

https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2021/07/12/what-do-you-see-90-july-12-2021/

https://amanpan.com/2021/07/15/eugis-weekly-prompt-unforgotten-july-15-2021/

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/07/15/reenas-xploration-challenge-190/

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Failed ploy

He hides in the shadows as twilight descends

Standing behind the icy curtain of frost in the vale

Plotting a sinister plan so vile, as the day slowly ends

Around midnight the wind suddenly turns into a gale.

The dead and the departed respond to his call

Obsidian figures rise as if in a trance

They move as directed; at his beck and call

In a messianic frenzy they begin to dance.

He stands now in front of the dank, ornate crypt

Hoping to regain life from his inamorata lying supine

With fingers, like daggers, his beloved’s heart is ripped

Tears of blood fall from the heaven and dogs begin to whine!

Slithering snakes shatter the syntax of the night

Howling hyenas hum scenting a hunt

Lighting strikes thrice cleaving the night

Bringing to a naught his devilish stunt!

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/07/01/reenas-xploration-challenge-188/

https://amanpan.com/2021/07/01/eugis-weekly-prompt-twilight-july-1-2021/

The gift of humanity

Alone, abandoned and adrift
in the tsunami of turbulent times
we learnt the hard way to stay afloat
we also learnt to look out for each other.

Each day a commoner lent a hand
each day brought stories of humanitarianism
each day many a precious lives were lost
each day some small victories were won too!

The powers to be never tried to make us feel safe
so we learnt to be brave to survive
the best gift that we gave to each other;
we not only held hands, despite the distance, but also beat most odds!

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/06/24/reenas-xploration-challenge-187/

https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2021/06/21/what-do-you-see-87-21-june-2021/

I am learning

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/

Eugi’s Weekly Prompt – Champion – February 18, 2021

Suspended time

The image, forever frozen in time
is imprinted indelibly on my mind
the city of love that denied me love
returns to haunt me every then and now

holding that moment in my palms
I watch time unfurl its whorls inexorably
the piercing tendrils touch my face not so gently
my memories are followed by a trail of sighs

my past colouring the present
future remains a slate so blank
the static of my soul presses pause
I suspend the hourglass and the tick-tock freezes

days and nights lose their meaning
I refuse to acknowledge their acceptability
the sun, the moon and the stars are but
unwanted intruders in the entr’acte of my life

I choose to live in this suspension
till I find words
to leave my mark and stain the moments.

What do you see # 69 -February 15 2021

Components of time

Me

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/

I will…

Unicorn chasing, life became a blur
skimming along the surface, moving swimmingly
unexpected storms caused untold turbulence
in the ocean of sleep
despondency, a thin blanket
tattered with bullet holes of memories
barely covers the aching bones of drudgery
shivering uncontrollably I look for a lining of comfort but there’s none
I try to sit still spinning the fine threads of tumultuous thoughts
whys, whats and whens tie me in inextricable knots
reminiscences of days bygone,
when the mathematics of life eloquently overcame the geography of living,
chain me, hindering further movement
the sun seems so far off;
a shrivelled dream in a firmament gone black
all the nows are steeped in a charcoal haze
rushing crazily into a vortex of helplessness
I write my name with cold and disobedient fingers
the outline of anaemic morning filters through the half open gaze
I had been blind to the secret door that leads within
light, a deep drink from the sapphire skies,
suffuses my being with anticipation
I bid adieu to the thorny consequences of pretty wishes
which with their propensity to waylay have me fumbling feral like
today I am determined to form constellations
from my thoughts languishing like fallen stars.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/reenas-exploration-challenge-170/

Watch the video below 👇🏼

What do you see # 67 – February 1 2021

Unpalatable truth/ palatable lie

Nostalgia blurs the rough edges
bringing into sharp focus
only the pleasurable moments
making past a perfect browsing ground.

Avoiding a jab of reality
living in soft focus
often makes present palatable
in the present times.

Closing our eyes
masking our true selves
not living by our own rules
will our future be a photoshopped life!

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/01/21/reenas-exploration-challenge-169/

What do you see # 66 – January 25 2021

A harangued homemaker holds forth

I am taken aback by the hiss of dissent
an angry spluttering follows
splattering me with icy coldness
on this mellow winter morning!

I try again
this time there is empty noise
the hissing continues
with a bit of frothing at the mouth!

I exclaim loudly in anger
muttering profanities under my breath
I should have taken the nut brown appearance yesterday
as a portent of things to come!

The tear shaped drop hanging precariously
clinging for life to the faucet
seems to smirk at my tears of frustration
adding to the unmitigated covid anxieties!

We don’t get any snow
nor was there scheduled repair work
how dare the water I take for granted
play hooky at will to throw my life out of gear!

Frantic calls hither and thither
reveal the vile, bitter truth
the rising ammonia levels had forced
the water board to halt the supply!

The dry tap seemed to mock me
reprimanding me for my callousness
had I had a strategy and been a prudent user
I wouldn’t have faced this shortage!

The sink full of dirty dishes look on defiantly
(I had not done them inspired by Susi!)
leery laundry languished
my home suddenly looked a mess!

With a sigh I flop down dejected
glad that the rest of the flock was snugly asleep
without the morning cuppa
my mind still in the realm of foggy understanding!

I send prayers to the lord I don’t believe in
I rashly promise to be more woke
I mentally tie a knot
to remember to store water henceforth!

As the arms of the clock inch closer
to the time of wfh schedule
I make one more trip to the tap
to cajole it to spring forth!

And miracles of miracle!
water gurgles grudgingly, then gushes
taking mercy on my predicament
I sink at the sink with heartfelt thankfulness.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/01/14/reenas-exploration-challenge-168/

( If the poem doesn’t make much sense, please tap on the link above for the challenge for which it was written)

WTH, WFH!

I am an unwelcome intruder in my own citadel
my diligently built fortress run over by night crawlers
a glare, a scowl, a stare
I slink back sheepishly to nowhere!

Bent busily over their machines, they go about their operations
making me feel utterly useless and unwanted as they finish their assignments
the day time squatters of my prime property
banish me from my own domain with alacrity!

No laundry, no dishes, no talking or sleeping
mute and invisible, hands on for trouble shooting
I am their safety valve but the roiling in my inner
like the pressure cooker on constant simmer!

My feelings crest and crash regularly
delight on a vacation, sleep is of late, a foe
restlessness and angst come and go
I laugh, live and love despite the gnawing hollow!

The dark night of my soul has never been darker than now
there seems no heuristic approach
I need a break from the cacophony of familial obligations
I look for satisfaction, am tired of reconciliations!

I don’t care what’s right or wrong
I won’t try to understand
let the devil take tomorrow
But tonight I need a friend and how!

The answers are all there within for a picking
no matter the darkness all around
chin jutting out, head held high
I embark on inwards journey with a sigh.

The doors are dark and open with difficulty
the burgeoning clouds of despair mar my sight
yet I espy clear sky, onwards I move resolutely
In 2021 I wake up to redefining my identity.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/reenas-exploration-challenge-167-2/

VJ’s Weekly Challenge: What Pulls on Your Soul?

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/help-me-make-it-through-the-night-challenge-173/

What do you see # 64