A Vacation in Alaska

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 30

Its midnight,
Time to close those eyes,
But the light, oh the light!
The sun still shines!

I've lived a week
It feels like two,
The sun never sets
In this wackeradoo!

Four hours of sleep,
Three are twilight
The one remaining
Is my soul's delight!

The solstice is near
I'm not ready, I fear
I may be exhausted
From this day all year!

A vacation in Alaska?
A preposterous idea!
I'd rather be cruising
My way to Jamaica!

Flying in the 21st Century

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 29

Its all too surreal.

Flying 20,000 miles with no leg room
Feet problems as bad as if we'd walked them all.

Resting tubes at airports
"Sleep the wait away!", they claim.

Moving walkways that cover miles in minutes
Thoughts speeding a mile a minute.

Erupting volcanoes delaying flights
Who would've made that connection?

The jet takes off into the stratosphere
Sun drops hanging like chandeliers
Amidst clear clouds

But who's looking anyway?
Flashing images at the flick of a button
Are far more fascinating.

Sleep embraces some, eludes others
A minor jolt startles some, others remain undisturbed

Seat belts, life jackets, oxygen masks tucked safely away
As the tracker glides forward on the map.

Flying over the Pyramids, the Alps, the Baltic Sea
Still, no one's watching.

The spiced chicken, coconut-flavored rice and free drinks
Are all too consuming.

Finally its time to land.
Tired eyes watch tired hands
Lift bags from cabinets.

Home, sweet home.
But some
Are going to miss those few moments of escapism
As they land themselves into reality.

My Personal Angel

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 28

I love your yellow, red and blue
Wacky Sesame Street pajamas
I love your squeals, loud and piercing
Their simply music to my ears!

Jumping on beds!
Hopping on boxes!
That's all you need
To be ecstatic!

And when your blue
Your face is pink
Your tear drops glisten
On your cheeks.

It makes me want to hug you tight
And steal the moon and stars from the night
And offer them to you as toys
That sparkling wonder in your baby blue eyes!

I wish that everyone I knew
Was as much fun and sweet as you
I would give up all my nights and days,
To be by your side in every way.

Bollywood Romance

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 27 (acrostic poem)

Bubbling with life
Over the top emotions
Long lost looks of love and flowing saris
Lusty, short breaths of wonderment

You ask, why?
Why are people dancing jolly
On top of mountains, flying
Over fields of daffodils,
Dreaming sweet songs of distant love?

Rendezvouses in deserts,
Oceans of tears,
Miraculous meetings at railway stations,
Airports, always a happy prelude to The End.

Nothing or no one is off limits in this
Crazy kaleidoscope of reel life, and you willingly
Escape into the short-lived stream of celluloid.

Happenstance

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 26

A missed appointment,
An eavesdropped conversation,
A spontaneous drive,
An unasked question.

A slip of paper lost & found ,
A chance encounter with a friend,
A small etched logo on a pen,
A Post-It lying underneath the bed.

The twists and turns of fate are many
That one chance meeting, object or endeavor
A happenstance
That altered its course forever.

Vertigo

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 25

That was devious
A delightfully devious little scheme
She loved it

The vertigo would
take him to the edge of reason
Drive him to the point of
succumbing fully
Moving through time and space
at lightening speed
Like a roller coaster through hell
Like strobe lights flashing silver
every one tenth of a second

And then they would do it
Force him to change his will
The old sod had left them out
'No pills until we get every penny out of you'
They would say

But nothing much was in their destiny
The old man had an attack that night
Crossing the street
Blinded by the lights of a New York Cabbie
Hit and killed.

The White Elephant

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 24

In the herd of grey
Stood an aryan
A king amongst kings
Worshipped and revered
The White Elephant.

Eight servants
A ceremonious cloth of gold-red
No one else but princes and priests
Could sit on it,
Such was its stature
As it marched toward the temple
To be fed, anointed and praised.

It is ironic that
The same trait in man
Would make him a leper
With a begging bowl
Outside the temple gates.

The Model Maid

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 23

She poses.
Dusting the chandelier
Head slightly tilted
Shoulders strong
Her dainty hands
Go about their business.

She moves gracefully
Yet with purpose
Just like she had
All those years on the ramp.
Firm lines
Strong face
Mouth a silenced 'O'
Her signature walk.
The Wrought-Iron Beauty, they called her
Ebony skin, stoic eyes
Her look - hard and grey.

To the envy of the rest of the staff
She is a diamond in the rough
They know.

She knows.
Nothing goes past her -
Stolen glances
Whispering
Gossip
About her age
Her lovers
Her addictions
And her downfall.
It all stands out

Against the backdrop of
luxury she cleans
Parchment lamps, bohemian vases,
Raw silk curtains
As raw as her wounds.
She scrubs hard and fast,
with mustered vigour,
Spots vanish, stains disappear,
But shame remains.

Like that one scratch on a plate
she can never get rid off,
One slip that
Obliterates the exquisite vase
Into a thousand pieces
Of guilt
Of anguish
Of fear
Telling her to flee from the scene of crime!

But she stays.
And cointues to dust.
The storm inside her has calmed.
The chandelier needs to sparkle.
And my oh my, if she can't make it.

The Turvy-Topsy Emporium

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 22

The sign in the window says
"The Turvy-Topsy Emporium"

I entered in, then stood amazed
The Walking Stairs just had me dazed
Curios hung ceiling to floor
Mid air, there hung another door

I jumped for it, but fell right through
Clinks and clanks as curios flew
Such things as I had never seen
Such things that I just never knew!

White pepper, black snow
Sweating hot, an Eskimo
A freakish fish, nor tail nor fins
A dismal cherub with countless sins

A crooning crow, a cawing conebill
Serenading the nightingale
Herself, a most precocious thing,
She stood as tall as Mount Basin

A paradox as straight as A
A meter's just a mile away
A smell I see is greenish blue
A sight I smell is cheese fondue

Half-heartedly
I fall to the floor
For as I come around I know
The Topsy Turvy is no more!

Imperfect Lives

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 21

She didn't know his language
He spoke very little
She was bald, lost her hair in chemo
He was almost broke
She didn't care too much for late night TV
He was nocturnal
She painted like a dream
He sang hoarse
She shop lifted
He gambled

They met under the mistletoe on Christmas Eve
At the Bounce-O-Rama Singles Holiday Mixer
Two strangers
With straggling lives
Just about getting by each day
The crowd cheered on
They were forced to kiss
He gestured dinner, she agreed
They conversed in signs and laughter
Laughing and signing their sorry lives away
Something unexplainable happened that night

She sold three paintings the next week
He won the lottery
A gallery agreed to feature her work
He smartly invested his win
Her mother asked, what happened?
His friends couldn't believe it
In five years she became a local celebrity
In three he became a millionaire
She moved to Paris
He stayed in New York

But they never forgot that magical night
When unbeknown to them
Each imperfect life
Wove the other's into perfection.

The Olympian Diver

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 20

A thrust of energy
An aerodynamic lift
Pointed toes, hands stretched, muscles taut
Somersaults and twists in time and space
Like a bird that is up to tricks
A smooth sail into motion
A glide path toward the serene blue waters
Finally a deep cut and a swish!
The nimble body disappears in an instant
Under white froth

Two seconds down
It emerges from the serene depths
Triumphant as a phoenix rising from the ashes
Graceful as a sultry mermaid sashaying its way ashore

Score: Ninety-Six
Moves: Back two and a half somersaults and two and a half twists
A loud gasp of astonishment
The sound of water echoes in her ears
And thunderous applause
Even louder is the thumping in her heart
She has won!

The Olympic Gold rests on her chest
The burning desire is gone
In its place, an everlasting torch of pride.

Tattered

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 19

A tattered cloth, a sunken ship,
A relationship beyond repair,
No silver lining in this cloud,
He silently wondered what was left?

He gazed into that memory -
Humming softly, she walked in
He saw her wearing plaids that day
It struck him odd, why? he couldn't say.

A conversation? A TV show?
A note left on the refrigerator door?
He could not say what got his goat
There was something he had to know.

A chilly breeze blew through the door
Carrying a whiff of her perfume,
It stopped him cold, he frowned his brow
It was slowly coming to him, he knew

Christmas, last year, she'd jokingly said,
"I am a Polka Dot not a Plaid!
If I'm not with a gentleman,
Why should I have to parade?"

He tucked his head into his hands
And keenly pondered over how
A simple phrase way back as this,
Could steal away his happiness?

A Cat in a Graveyard

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 18

The green glass eye
Blinks once, blinks twice,
Blazing in the cloaked black night.

An arched-back plunge into the dark
It knows no fear,
That steely heart.

It whispers secrets
Painful and slow,
Its purr is an infernal roar!

Its vivid viciousness is seen,
It needs no witch or wizard to
Reward its dark and dirty deeds.

It stood upon the coffin door
And scratched away until its claw
Bruised and burned, and burdened down
It climbed into its own hell-hole.

Sati - An Act of Immolation

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 17

She stepped outside in bridal wear,
Radiant red, face aglow,
An old hag walking by her side,
On and on, her tears would flow.
She took slow paces to the pyre,
Death itself was beckoning her,
Slow and rhythmic, soft and loud,
The crowd was chanting "Fire! Fire!".

They washed her feet in holy water,
Scrubbed and dried and wiped them clean,
As if to mock her one last time,
Before they were dipped in kerosene.
The hag - she left her by the pyre,
She climbed each step with forced restraint,
In her last moments ritual-bound,
Her urge to jump remained contained.

There her young beloved lay,
His feet and hands, bound and tied,
And suddenly she felt no fear,
With him lying dead, by her side.
A calm that she was stranger to
Filled her heart with fortitude,
She turned around to face the crowd -
"I won't go in", she spoke aloud.

The chanting stopped, the old hag gaped,
Dumbstruck by this audacious step,
Now what they saw I cannot say,
But silently, they walked away.
She felt no doubt or angst or pain,
But stood alone and watched the flames,
As they consumed each part of him,
His death had bought her, her freedom.

A Rainy Day

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 16

Raindrops on short grass blades,
The smell of wet earth filling up our senses,
Running wild through lush green gardens
Carefree, without armour or defenses.

We rescued a new-born bird one day,
As she lay helpless in the rain,
Her nest collapsed, her siblings fled,
She squeaked and squawked but no one cared.

We took her underneath the shack
The poor, tired thing just stared
In an instant, she breathed her last
But she smiled to bid farewell, I swear.

The three of us stood hand-in-hand
As we watched this precious bird lie still,
One of us cried, the others consoled,
Which one did what, I can't recall.

This memory keeps flooding back -
Three sisters on a monsoon day,
Running wild through lush green gardens,
Standing hand-in-hand, is what remains.

Split-Second Chance

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 15

The jet takes off into stratosphere,
Sun drops hanging like chandeliers
Amidst clear clouds.

She rocks around to some rock and roll,
I think I'm about to flip and explode
Like a supernova.

There isn't much that I can do
But linger on, on her every move
As she looks away.

I'm sitting in an airplane,
Flying as a bird,
Still caged by my emotions
With her sitting close.

I'm hoping she won't notice,
I'm praying she won't care,
There isn't much that I can hide
Underneath that stare.

She turns around and smiles at me,
A thousand rainbows ignite,
The violet mist knocks me cold
And all I see is white.

In a flash and a rhythm
She's all gone,
I just can't fathom what's going on
Until I look outside.

The rainbow's clear,
Sun drops gone,
The supernova's a shooting star
That I wished upon
For another chance
But they cheated
And all I got was a split-second romance.

A Bad Gift

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 14 (the cleave)

Hurry up - Don't tell anyone
Open it - With Caution
Its a gift - Unwrap it
Don't hold your breath - Just reveal it

Disappointment - Laced with
Hot tears - Hot pink ribbons
Of love - And a heart
Distraught - Mine
Hopeless - At your disposal
While you wanted - His
Someone else - Waiting in the wings

Poem Starting with a Line from Norman Dubie

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 13

The pearl slapdash of the moon is on the water
A stroke of white on black canvas
Shimmering yet blurring into its depth
As we slice through the mid-Atlantic

The grey silhouette of the ship
An iron cast mould in the dead of the night

A slow whistle floats on waves of wind
Making its way to the deck
A door opens, a head peeps out
There is a strong gust of wind
It goes back in
But in that instant
It grips the tune
Before plunging back under cover

At dawn, the sun strikes
Both corners of the ship
The bow and the stern
Gleaming in morning glory

Footsteps on the deck
A long deep breath of virgin air
Then a whistle
Slow and soft
A lonely traveller blows
A familiar tune floats back into the winds

Within

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 12

The sea shell wondered
Is there an ocean inside me?
Its vastness, its mysteries, its beauty
Contained within my hollowness?

The way man wonders
Is God within me?
Strength, Compassion, Enlightenment
Can they reside in my heart and emerge through my soul?

Almost Mine (A Pair of Minakari Earrings)

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 11

Oh gorgeous one!
The turquoise and sea-green make me come alive
The silver lining with delicately engraved floral art
Take me back to the time of the maharajas
The Royal Family of the city of Jaipur
Regal aesthetics, exquisite tastes

Your name - minakari
Befits you
Mina - the Pisces Sun Sign
Shy, dreamy, divine
You make a woman
Feel like an ethereal beauty!

You were shyly hanging
In the window display
Of the busy street
But I spotted you
Hiding behind the Garnet-studded Paisleys,
That overshadowed you in size,
But not in perfection

I tried you on
I loved the way you shook against my neck
The sound you made when I turned my head
The silver drop balls hanging in perfect circles
From the silver dome
Hanging in perfect proportion
From my ears

But I was blinded by the bling of
Rhinestones - your nemesis
I picked a perfectly passe pair of
Turquoise Chandeliers with gold embellishments
From across the aisle
When I knew I should have picked you
Because the next day
You were gone.

Scenes from a Wedding

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 10

"You may now kiss the bride"
And they kissed
Sitting in the front row
A peck of innocent love
They're small smiling faces flush
The flower girl and the ring bearer
Aged four and five.

Later, they skipped along
Hand in hand
Stumbling their way to the garden fountain
Amused stares and short laughs of delight
They were oblivious to
Frolicking and splashing the day away.

At sunset
The wedding band played Sinatra
Under the white canopy
Amidst the dancing couples
They were a precious pair
He was on a mission, she was his muse
He held a sombre expression
As she twirled slowly
He carefully bent one knee
As she clumsily dipped
Suddenly he whispered something in her ear
They ran out.

Her lavender dress
Matched the frosting on the cupcakes
Just devoured, crumbs still stuck on their faces
They slept peacefully
In the last pew of the last row
Dreaming sweet dreams of happiness
As the affair continued outside.

Betel Leaves

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 9

He strums his guitar
Sitting on the porch
In the ginger night air
Wattling strings of music
Whispering a love song.

She sits next to him
Swaying, drunk on his ballad of love
She feels powerless
Like a marionette
To which he holds the strings
Tugging on desire,
On pain, on love
Inside her.

Suddenly, she grasps his arm
Like a tigress' talon grasping its prey
Luscious and tempestous, she leans forward
But just as suddenly, he pulls away.

She sits stunned
Its like he pulled the rug beneath her feet
And let her fall, head first, on the floor
Brusied, she gets up and begins to cry.

He laughs
A child's laugh
A wicked one
The sound makes her nauseous,
Bitterness rises like bile inside her
It reminds her of chewing betel leaves.

A fringe of cherry blossoms surround them
On this warm summer evening
But why does it feel like a cold winter night?

A String of Pearls

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 8

A string of pearls
Smooth and soft,
Lustrous and light

The pearl oyster
Shapes its destiny
Consuming parasites
Growing its own selfish beauty

Out comes the pearl
A triumph of life's wonder
Attracted to others like it
Forming a molten string of exotic white

Loosely strung around the neck
The heartbeat of the bearer rises
Here lies intoxicating security
In this most flattering jewel
For any, for all

Round, tear drop, baroque or pear
They are all exquisite
They are all worthy of love
They are all to be treasured

Even in death it will live,
It has shown only life when alive.

Vogue Exposed

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 7

The escalator floated upward
got on the fashionista and the flirt,
on cloud nine, lost in the dream
rudely awoken by a rip and a tug
Off came her stair-caught skirt

Veiled

30 peoms in 30 days challenge! Day 6

Life Magazine's Top 50 Photos of 2009

I am enveloped in a sea of white,
The scarf, neatly tucked underneath my chin.
I am faceless and nameless,
My eyes, black slits, my windows to the world.

I walk through the busy streets.
My beauty a mystery,
My feelings invisible, just like I am.

But in my silence there is strength,
My veil is my honour and my identity,
It is my inheritence,
The legacy of my ancestors.

It liberates me because I am unknown,
It stifles me because I remain unknown.

It is not shame or fear that makes me look down,
But prayers, my eyes closed and head bent
As I hear the familiar call to The All Merciful,
Ringing in this land of Seven Sands,
A land I call my home.

Shiva, Hitler and Venus

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 5

Shiva, a young boy with divine powers,
When he sang, there were storms and torrential rains,
Trees fell, mud houses melted,
But crops flourished and villagers prospered;
He was their destroyer and their saviour.

Hitler, the neighbour's cat, a menace to mice,
Dreadful and dangerous,
Regal and solitary,
An unforgiving hunter who killed them all.

Lake Venus, beautiful and serene,
White as an angel's white robe in winter,
Blue as the blue bird in summer,
The seductive Goddess of the the Island.

The question begs to be asked, dear reader:
Would ol' Shakespeare's rose by any other name
Indeed smell as sweet?

The Scramble

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 4

The bride hurled the bouquet into the crowd,
It took its own whimsical path through the winds
Before landing in her hands.

There was a scramble and then a shout of joy,
Her destiny was sealed by roses,
Yes, she would have her boy.

The Masterpiece

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 3

The Prima Donna sang while he painted.

She swirled through a lyrical melody,
He brushed a stroke of blue serenity on a white canvas.
She strung a low note with dramatic intensity,
He drew a circle of melancholy, bold black and centered.
Her pitch and tempo rose; high and fast,
He splattered crimson onto it with passion.
Her voice was building into a crescendo,
He knew better than to stop now.
A swish of anger,
A smear of dread,
A trace of eternal bliss!

Then suddenly she stopped.
It was his modern art masterpiece.

She knew

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 2

She knew it would rain today
The cloudless, sunny sky had nothing on her.

She knew the sky would darken with thunderous black clouds,
And the rains would fall like never before,
Just like her tears had, the day he'd left her.

The weather report on the radio
The weatherman on TV
The Weather app on the iPhone
And The Weather Channel
All proclaimed three days of blissful sunshine
But she knew otherwise.

She knew the forecasts were tricking everyone,
But she wasn't fooled.
She's been fooled before - not again, no, never.

She knew it would rain just like she knew he would never call,
But he called and it rained.

Lift

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 1

High heels and a nose job,
Nothing else could lift her spirits.

Parachutes, airplanes, a rocket to the Moon,
Lifting him up and setting him free all at once.

The first Rising Sun, martial arts, Yoko Ueno,
She rises and shines, deep in concerntation then soaring in rhythm.

If the things that could lift us up, could keep us there forever,
Would we know ecstacy?