There is a slowness to the day
Murky clouds have taken over the sky
Rain drizzled a bit like a teaser
Two woodpeckers climbed a papaya tree
Sounded back to me in their voice
When I made a squeaky bird noise
They left emptyhanded as papaya was unripe
My wait for the new project was extended
Frustrating the peace of mind
I would rather be working than sitting idle
Images from Pixabay
As the countdown for a dreaded, return looms
It seems like time is flying away like a
storm
Swirling towards the gigantic ocean of
reality
Draining out the sand beneath the feet
Slowly drowning me in its ever-growing
depth
The more I look for an anchor of hope to
hold on
The land of fathers looks sure to
abandon me
Back to the world I belong to, for an unforeseeable time
I will miss the hills and valleys filled
with green carpets
Of grasslands, separated by hedges all
along
The array of sheep and lambs munching on
virgin grass
The tidal river Usk and its uncertain flow
directions
The drizzles that accompanied by heavy
winds
The freezing temperatures and the naked
trees in winter
The picturesque landscapes I saw on my
journeys to work
The seamless motorways made distances
look like nothing
The endless daylight of summer and eternal
darkness of winter
The hams, kebabs, chips and fish, countless
experiments with food
The dragons, castles, forts and all those
heritage that remains
I wrote this poem when I left Newport for Birmingham in 2012.
Images Courtesy: Adobe Stock Images and Nation.Cymru
An abandoned well
Inside a forest
Attached to an old temple
There was no water for centuries
As it was filled with earth over the time
Astrologers predicted that there is a hidden treasure
Beneath the layers of the earth in the well
Some treasure hunters left behind the tools
Besides the heaps of earth, they removed
From the well, might be in dismay
The natives were amused to see water
During their lifetime in this well
Native temple devotees see no reason
To dig the well again for water
It might have taken so many days
To remove that much earth from the well
Police are now looking for the culprits
It seems that the treasure hunters failed
In finding the treasure in the well
The well is attracting curious visitors now
This poem is based on a piece of news I saw. The image is taken from mathrubhumi
I focus on the layers of drum beats
When I listen to the songs
I started my tryst with percussion
By making beats on a wooden bench
As a kid, emulating tabla in mind
Given my interest, my father let me learn tabla
I loved those fast notes and tried to grasp
But I was bad at byhearting the notes
So my learning was slow
I was so insecure about my tabla skills
That I skipped meeting the legendary singer Yesudas
When he came to meet the music students
It remains a regret that I didn't play for him
When the high school became more important
I had to take a break from the lessons
I did perform before audiences
With contrasting fortunes
I used to jam along with some nice beaty songs
Then I fell in love with drums
Bought drum sticks and joined a class
After learning the basics for a few months I quit
I have two pairs of drum sticks waiting for me to play
Maybe I will learn drums again
And fix the tabla to play it again
As beats in songs still slip my heart to beat the desk
And I dream to play beats in front of an audience again
Most people follow their musical aspirations. I have left my percussion learning midway. The beats of songs still lure me to try beating the desk. I want to make up for an embarrassing tabla performance in front of a packed audience someday. The images are taken by Carlos Castilla and By Heaven.
Goodbye to Internet Explorer
I still remember the first time I went
To an internet cafe with a friend
To create an email id
The slow buffering browser became
A part of my life
As it was installed as the primary browser
In most the places
You had the monopoly as you came with MS Windows
When I had a monthly internet browsing card
I used to sift through countless web pages
Checking for sports and other news
While chatting on some messenger
I remember browsing at home through
Dial-up internet at home
You buffered eternally slow
While I searched for engineering topics
For my presentation at college
Then I moved on to other internet browsers
With the availability of broadband internet
But still browsed with you for nostalgia at times
Your monopoly ended when Opera, Mozilla, and Chrome
Made inroads into the browsers' landscape
Now that you're gone
I must say, you were very underappreciated
For the job you did during the internet revolution
Though internet explorer was hated by the people due to its slowness and bad features, it played a huge role in the internet revolution. Its monopoly was down to the fact that it came with the Microsoft operating systems and most of the computers had Microsoft OS. People craved better browsers with better features. Microsoft was eternally slow to update IE and others made better browsers and IE ended up in the bin. Microsoft opted to create Bing and IE was bound for ignominy.
The weather app informs me
That the air quality is good
It made me wonder
When did the air become toxic here?
With a canopy of coconut trees around
With plenty of creepers and plants on the ground
Wind lashing out from the ocean frequently
Endless rains for weeks every year
The air was always relatively safe
But with the growth in the number of vehicles
Maybe, there is some change in air quality
But I hope that the ocean and rain will keep
The air refreshed
At least in this small city
I have seen the accumulation of black soil
On the floors in some other cities
I have felt the breathing of black soot and soil
Where construction materials create dust
As the cities grow vertically with high-rise buildings
Also the millions of vehicles spitting greenhouse gases
They are still safer than some megacities
That requires air filters at home
Electric vehicles alone won't improve air quality
The industries need to reduce pollution drastically
Else we will end up living in toxic gas chambers
Susceptible to lung diseases and other illnesses
This poem is inspired by the air-quality information I started receiving from an app on my laptop. I was surprised to receive the air quality information. As the air here is relatively cleaner compared to bigger cities. The images are taken by cleanairpartners and breathepa.
I romanticized the runaway wedding
Breaking away from the societal conventions
I didn't want an arranged marriage
And life with a total stranger
With a decision on a partner taken
With mere minutes of meeting and conversation
Nor I want to be bought by dowry
But the girl I loved, chose to run away from me
And not risk being ostracised by the family
By marrying me, after six years of friendship
I still see families avoiding their beloved kids
For marrying someone they loved
Not talking, not meeting, and not giving properties
Some families relent after seeing the smiles of
Their grandkids, they welcome back their kids
With the runaway weddings involving
Different caste, class, and religion
Many get killed for the honour of the family
More than love for their kids
They take pride in their societal status
People might cite the failure of many love marriages
But, I have seen arranged marriages that are hell
People remain stuck in abusive and unloved relation
For the sake of kids or for the sake of family pride
I wonder when will the society of my country
Rise above the societal norms and accept love marriages
I have come across couples who ran away and got married and led nice life. But my society and relatives are still not very evolved to accept love marriages. The ostracisation of the girl or guy for marrying someone out of caste, class or religion is still a reality. The honor killing of young guys and girls is also prevalent in my country. The image was snapped by Lorna.
A
bridge
of words
Built between hearts
Living continents apart
A friendship of the digital age
There is no voice or visual treats
Like a good old pen-friendship
Without the paper and pen
The inboxes of social media
With meaningful emojis'
Conveying the emotions
Without words at times
Reading the creativity
With a like or comment
Without sharing the stories of life
Without opening the hurts of past
Yet good conversations evolve
Over the beliefs and thoughts
Poems and real-world issues
Fifteen years of online friendships
Have evolved my mind into detachment
And enjoy the moments with words
Without expectations that plagued
The growth of long-term friendships
I feel that I have evolved in terms of online friendships from 2007. From Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media platforms, I found different friends over the years. I am still in touch with some friends from Orkut. Others just faded away with time. Then I came across liberals on Facebook. I am coming across nice writers and poets on Twitter and Instagram. The image is taken from gapatton.
Alongside a birthday greeting
Someone left me some questions to reflect
Reduction in dosage of depression medicines
Stood out as the best thing that happened in a year
I learned a part of the work that I struggled with for years
I wish to be less dependent on medicines and join an office
I hope to handle the market research reports on my own
I do not have lofty ambitions to achieve in a year
My depression dictates the success of my efforts
Writing poems again gives me a glimmer of hope
To follow my dreams with strength
This poem is based on some questions given by a friend to reflect on the occasion of my birthday. It did make me realize that I have come a long way in the last year. My aims for the next year are simple. But it will depend on how I am able to tame my depression. The images are snapped by Kevin Noble and Nikhita Singhal.
You were pith and beautiful
I was not a beast or a killer
You turned me into a villain
In front of your loved ones
I wish I had a lot of sugar to
Coat my words to appease
The fragile ego of your mind
You insidiously sailed away
Without delving Into the issues
You crafted and didn't address
That halted all the wings of our
Openness and mutual emotions
You were in a hurry to close the
The door of reconciliation forever
To find pastures anew so early
Leaving muddy tragedies for me
As a college student
I found myself on football ground often
Playing the game with my college mates
When I got my first Computer
My craze for gaming started with FIFA
Playing with my favourite team Manchester United
My friends used to come over for multiplayer games
That was competitive and fun during the evenings
Then I got fascinated about starting from the lower league
Building the club through the leagues to the top league
Then playing the continental club competitions
It was thrilling to play with unknown players
And make them worthy over the time
Then the art of buying and selling players
To ultimately build a team full of stars
Simulating some games along the way
And playing the glamour games with excitement
My keyboard keys were worn-out with excessive use
I have lived in ecstasy playing FIFA many a night
Without any girl in my life and the troubles
I had an addiction to playing FIFA for years
Now it has been a decade since I've played it!
This poem is purely based on my nostalgia for playing EA Sports FIFA games. Since I came out of my addiction, I don't feel like playing again. Images are taken from Google.
A self-sustainable home
Amidst the arid and desert areas
Walls are erected
By ramming soil on old tyres
Filling old glass bottles and cans
Binding it with soil, mud, and other binders
A long sloped roof to the back
Wooden support and structure
A linear building from the front
With huge glass panes to
Welcome all the sunshine
The backyard is filled with soil to make slopes
It and the wall act as thermal storage
Releases heat on cooler nights
The Greenhouse in the building
Grows vegetables and fruits
It helps in bringing fresh oxygen
The rainwater from the roofs fills
The water storage tanks to meet the water needs
Grey water from kitchen, bathroom, and sinks
Goes through natural filtration beneath
The bed of plants and provide water to them
Then it is recirculated to flush the toilet
Even the septic tank sludge is used for
Making manure for the plants and trees outside
The solar panels and wind turbines make
Off-grid life as a reality in a society
Away from the hustles of cities
The piping systems from the rooms to the
Lower slope areas help in the recirculation of fresh air
With temperatures varying with the climate
A sustainable house that could reduce carbon emissions
With the usage of wasted materials and renewable energy
It is now sustainable in tropics and rainy areas too
With the use of different materials to cope with local climate
This poem is based on countless documentaries and videos about earth ships I saw over the years. It is remarkable that wasted materials like old tyres, glass bottles, and beer or soft drinks cans among others can make a sustainable home. Earthships, with advanced designs, provide comfortable living with off-grid energy and sustainable water usage. This is ideal for those who wish to live amidst nature and lead a sustainable lifestyle. The images were taken by Earthship Biotecture Australia and Claire Carrion.
I am no younger
I am closer to my forties
The ladies of my age are married
I do miss a good company of a lady
I wonder if I will fall in love ever again
The heartbreaks that shaped my present
The loss of opportunities due to depression
I wonder If I could trust another woman
To bring hope and seal my healed heart
Maybe, I am averse to taking a risk
Without sorting out my finances
To not to be in a situation again
Where I cannot afford the lady
Nor win over her family
I wonder why I come across
Nice ladies from far away places
I write poems about my crushes
My heart is hardened to stop there
I would leave my native someday
Like I attempted five times in the last decade
I don't wish to raise a kid given my mental health
I don't know If I will come across a woman
Who will make me wish to build a home!
The poem is inspired by the prompt #Satsplat . The image was taken by Travis Grossen
Waking up to the sound of rain
On a rare dawn
Brought disappointment of
Missing out on the sunrise
Which I crave to see a lot
The breeze brought
The fragrance of guava flowers
The teak leaves on neighbour's plot
Flaunted happily with the breeze
This is not monsoon yet
Pre-monsoon showers
Teasing about endless rains
That could lash in the coming weeks
And the heavy winds from the sea
I am lost in the thought of waterproofing
As long summer showers have dampened
Some of the walls in my home
The sound of a small bird intrigued me
It is trying to engage with its partner
Sitting in a faraway tree
It seems rain evaporated into the thin air
As sunshine is making its way back to the greens
Rain woke me earlier than usual. The prompt #FromOneLine generated a poetic seed. I wrote the thoughts evoked by it in this poem. Images from JD Nightbot and Relaxing Sounds Of Nature
