Silent Shame

Silent Shame

Shame hung from the tree as copses,

The shame that is for me,you,for our many lapses,

For each time we saw discrimination and turned away,

Not our problem, we reasoned, had nothing to say,

What does it avail, all this noise, protests in the street,

Nothing ever changes,what is the point to seethe,

Our own responsibilities refused to meet,

Behind  false veils of tradition, culture, honor, our daughters hid,

Taught our sons to view them as equals , we never did,

Pardoned savagery as justice,

Made the victims,bear the burden of our sins,

For how much longer will we avert our eyes,the destinies blame,

Not own up to our collective shame.

--shubha

Curtain calls

Curtain calls


The final curtain call,
As the curtain finally falls,

As the breath leaves in growing gasps,
The memories flood like the actors with various parts,

The comedies that brought about the smiles,
The tragedies wore you down many a mile,

The different crowded stage of thoughts that touched in bit parts,
The inspiration that gave one a new start,

That one love, that hovered as a star from above,
The masked monsters of despair that into their bottomless pit did shove,

For the final bow came every memory, fair, dark, blue, of every hue,
For the act was done , the story spun,

The audience applauded this final bow,in trite ways,
Left ,to act out their own plays,

The illusion of life, passed this day,
The stage emptied , the cast scattered away,

For another curtain call, another day, at the end of yet another play.

--shubha

Dimpled hope

Dimpled hope

A dark scar, ran down, like a tear-stained streak,
Even as fresh hope blossomed, as hesitant dimples on her cheek.

--shubha

Raindrops

Rain

Raindrops fall

Descend as mercy from heaven, 

Rinse the dusty surroundings clean, 

Obviates the overwhelming,oppressive heat, 

Pleasing smell of the revived earth, sweet, 

Sweating populace rejoices in the treat, 

Fine mists where the clouds, 

The mountains meet 

Rain drops 

as life 





--shubha

Heart's language

Heart's language

If the heart, knew not ,the language of love, what would it say?

In those ever dwindling  heartbeats , would any meaning stay?

The mechanical motion to pump blood in and out,

Would those many,many thumping beats,count?

Would each beat that flutters or swells,

Count as a moment lived, as well?

Perhaps it is well that the heart understands the language of love,

To fill each beat, of this life, with the possibility of joy from above.

--shubha

Bring our girls home

Bring our girls home

Bring our girls home,
No longer will they be pawns in power plays gruesome,
Return them to us  unharmed, unscarred,
That they may blossom the rest of their childhood, unmarred,
Let not this power of darkness overpower,
Bring back our girls, give us the strength to overcome this trying hour.

--shubha

P.S . This is the slogan for the releasing the school girls abducted in Nigeria

The yawn

The yawn

An epidemic broke out, in a hot classroom,by the far wall,
Where the heat and languor did sprawl,
Spread that contagious malady of boredom,
The stifled yawn.

--shubha

Glowering ends

Glowering ends

Glowering ends, a rasping cough

The years from a tenuous life

Snubbed out in stubs

--shubha

Unabashed flowers

Unabashed flowers

Open in directions four,
Spreading the fragrance that emanates from the core,
Cream colored petals , against a background of dark green,
Innocently invited the beholder to appreciate their waxy sheen,
Unabashed, curious, open,
Unlike some shy buds, that curled and drooped, in the hot sun.

--shubha

Beautiful day

Beautiful day
Vainly I try to bottle in a few words, the beauty on display,
To describe the elements on this beautiful day,
Grope for words that can adequately convey,
The blue of the blue skies or the green of the trees, that against it ,sway,
Search my stilted,stifled vocabulary,
For a word,to describe the free flowing, full river's majesty,
Look in vain,for that word that will bring,
The caress of the cool breeze on your skin,
Or the sound of the chorus that the ripples sing,
The warmth of the sun under my skin,aglow
Is there a word to convey that too?
Yes  in vain ,I try to condense the beauty of creation ,
That beauty that is available to all to experience, but defies description.

--shubha

Change within

Change within

In a sunflower field, roasted sunflower seeds in hand,

Satiating crunch, roasted , salted or bland,

While a similar seed bursts open in the earth's wet womb,

To push through the soils' tomb 

And join its' fellow sun gazers 

The seeds in my hand,their nascent life,razored,

Only food to sustain another , no longer can grow anything,

What a difference it makes,if the change is imposed,or springs forth from within.

--shubha

Eyes

Eyes

Two dark eyes, stared at me, upbraiding, accusatory,
With more questions in them than answers,

I wondered how many memories, prisoners of pain, paced it's labyrinths,
How many smiles hid in those crinkles on the edges,

What sorrows swam in those thin film of tears,
And what joys, sparkled in it's twinkle,
How many times had they scanned the horizons, waiting,longing,
Looked into other eyes seeking,
That which they carried buried within?
I wondered what dreams hid under those lids,
What stories they had to tell,

These dark eyes staring back at me ,with understanding, bemused at my bewilderment.

--shubha

Light play

Light play

Through the shadowy woods, the little copse glowed in the fading light,
Lit up, as if in the spotlight , what a glorious sight,
Lifted up her verdant limbs in the sunset,
Like a camera-loving, posing, starlet,
And as the wind sighed her song through the boughs
Seemed to be irradiated with her own inner glow,
Until the reluctant rays slowly pulled away,
The curtains of darkness fell and she waited to shine another day,
In the setting sun's  light play.

--shubha

Whispered wishes

Whispered wishes

Heart's fondest desires,
In heart's own silence, dwells,
In fear of it's disappearance , the heart thuds and swells
Scarcely can I ,give it life ,by setting it to words,
Lest ,it dissipate and vanish like soap suds,
Or give it expression, in a river of emotion ,a song that gushes,
But only as a fervent prayer are heard ,these fond whispered wishes.

--shubha

The Coming

The Coming

As I hurried to the trail today with some rapidity,

The air seemed to be weighed down by its own humidity,

From the surface the heat rose,

To dance as droplets of sweat at the tip of my nose,

Every leaf seemed to be still and expectant,

Like holding their collective breath for the moment,

When the wind would spread the happy news along the way,

Hearing which the trees would lift up their boughs and sway,

The clouds will rumble dark and low,

To burst open and pour their joy on the land below,

Yes, all creation seemed paused in hushed expectancy,

For the coming of the dark faced lord, to dance them to estascy.

--shubha

Mother

Mother

Mother, god's representative on earth,

One to love unconditionally from birth,

Tremendous faith she demonstrates in our nascent abilities,

Her blessings and prayers carry us through many trying contingencies,

Ever concerned, ever loving in her cares,

Reminds us of the loving presence that is always there,

As we take a moment,to remember all that you are due,

And with gratitude ,wish a happy Mother's Day to you.

--shubha

A rainy day prayer

A rainy day prayer

What is it about grey on blue,
That reminds me of you,
What is it about the lining of silver rope,
That fills my heart with hope,
That a promise ,of a rainbow, that you will bend,
To let my full heart, a grateful prayer send,
The clearing for the dark skies to a starry night,
That holds me in your embrace tight,
The quiet of the cloudy night,
That dances, in the dappled moonlight,
And brings this belief ,that tomorrow will be just right,
When your joy, your creation, will paint another beautiful sight.

--shubha

Story of a sugar cube

Story of a sugar cube

Among others of my kind, jostling for space

I had lain, proud of my form and white surface,

Yet within my structured crystals , I thirsted,

To know sweetness, I felt existed,

Until one day I was picked up,

And dropped into a steaming cup,

And as I was stirred into that hot brew,

Lost the form and color I knew,

Dissolving thus to sweeten another's cup,with love,

I discovered the sweetness , that I was made of.

--shubha

Festoons

Festoons

Like delicate teardrops at the edge of the lashes, they hung,
I saw spring joy,that as purple festoons, swung,
And my heart filled with the melody of this celebration, that nature had sung.

--shubha

Evergreen Vigils

Evergreen Vigils

The evergreens at the periphery,
Lifted their glowing green candles heavenward,
In silent vigil,
Giving thanks for the new spring
At the altar of Mother Nature.

--shubha

Change

Change


Constant in every sphere of life,
Has often manifested in the form of strife,
Always present on the surface ,
Not in the depths that sustains,
Great turmoil in a short span sometimes it has wrought,
Else been a quiet creeping difference that unawares has caught,
Change, that constant companion of time, slyly deludes,
Coloring that constant and unchanging source in the ever-changing hues.


--shubha

Drifting apart

Drifting apart

How the vocabulary of friendship changes,
One that began with shared benches,shared lunches,
Sealed with the exchange of toffee foil rings,
Friends all around, what joy the memory brings.

Shared notes, feverish quizzes before tests,
Secret crushes that only the best friends knew best,
Conversations that couldn't wait,
Shared in traffic over the din,
Where one could finish the sentences that the other did begin,

Growing up , journey to our own fortunes in different ways,
Sudden phone calls still filled with plenty to say,
The delighted occasional meeting,
Yet, below the surface,the differences were seething

Moved away to different but similar houses,
Found directions  with respective spouses,
The tasks, the chores, the family soon overwhelmed,
And the regular connection stemmed

Now we meet in social media posts
A like on a picture , perhaps a friendly poke,
The conversations yawn,trying to bridge the gaps of many years,
Yet finds comfort in knowing we are both still here,
Sometimes at the change, the heart wrenches
A journey from best friends to close friends to friends to acquaintances,

And yet through the deluge and the ebb of feeling
We find we care about each other's well being
And perhaps that is the treasure of friendship
Not the time, the connection, the conversation,the said and unsaid fears,
But the knowledge that you matter, to someone over the years.

--shubha

Estuary

Estuary

Marriage like an estuary,grows,
Where with the the tide of time,love ebbs and flows,
That through this constant cycle of flood and drought ,nurtures new life,
Provides a bedrock for for the young to learn, through the plenty and strife,
The river and the sea meet to provide a sanctuary, a launching site,
For the young ones to grow and explore the ocean wide,
But what does the river and sea,
Gain from this marriage ,the estuary?
The river that journeyed far, sprightly, broad and stretched to reach the sea,
How could the vast mighty sea, bound in this little inlet, contained be?
For in the end, it is not about what you got,or what you sought,
But what you gave and what that gift begot.

--shubha