Windows of hope

Windows of hope

Bright, blue butterfly 

Unfurls among the gray clouds, 

Chance window of hope

--shubha

Secrets of the heart

Secrets of the heart

What secrets do you hide,my beating heart ?
That I am,what I always was from the start ,
That there is no beginning , end, no meeting to depart
That the illusion of separateness , plays a part
In obscuring the real , the true , the one in every heart
That I discover , lose , discover in starts,
When my heart beats for another , that love imparts
Is how I lose in Love, my own heart?


--shubha

Smudged moon

Smudged moon


Bosom of clouds hold
Secrets of nights' rendezvous
A smudged moon betrays


--shubha

Story of time

Story of time

With a yellow finger
The sun traces, the story of time
Upon my breathing walls,
In lengthening, shrinking, lengthening shadows
Measures,in distances, its' passage
As I watch , at rest,
Collecting the blessings of quiet.

--shubha


Inspired by a poem, Tranquility by Poonam D on  a facebook poetry group.

Meera's call

Meera's call

You smile in every flower, tree
In every breath, every heartbeat,free

You are in every grain of sand
In each giving, receiving hand

When you reside in all that be
Where can you hide from me?

Why then,Oh playful cowherd do you make me seek?
Vanish from the recesses of my heart,in nights bleak

You who manifested to assuage your devotees' pain,
Will you let Meera's plea, go in vain ?

--shubha

Immersion

Immersion
For Ganesh Chaturthi

Come into my heart ,oh large-eared one,
Let me open my own , listen, to the music of truth
Seat yourself in this heart for endless days
Let me worship you with endless devotion
Focused, wise , accepting, pleasing
And as the world bids you goodbye through immersion
Let me bid goodbye to all bondage , by immersing myself in you

--shubha

Of love and bonds

Of love and bonds

Make not a bond of love
For bonds, simply hold down

Love demands expansion with every breath we own
Forfeit self, hurt, expectation, worldly renown

Yet those bonds of love, that I have known
Untainted by expectation, have steadily grown

In me, seeds of love have sown
Lets me expand into the unknown

Love subsumes bonds into it's own
To untangle them,set you free, in love,grown.

--shubha

P.S. this poem came to me in response to a prompt ( bonds of love) on a facebook poetry group, wordsmiths . With apologies to Khalil Gibran fro the first line which is similar to one of the line sin Marriage- The Prophet . 

Janmashtami prayer

Janmashtami prayer

With these tiny steps, enter my heart,
To steal it, O' charmer of charmers,

Let me glimpse the cosmos in You, enshrined,

Even as I learn to see You without and within,

Through the forest of my fears,
Lead me with your divine music,

In the moonlit clearings of Your joy,
Dance with me , to ecstasy , to bliss

Through my questions, my trepidations, my life,
Be my charioteer, my teacher, my guide,

Through my everyday illusion of trouble
Be my sustainer, to bear and comfort me,

Be my light, O' Krishna,
Lead me unto you.


--shubha

Lament of the sea

Lament of the sea

Desperation boards rickety vessels
To sail, to a chance, at a life
On an unwelcoming shore

Overburdened with the masses
Daily seeking refuge
Why us? , they ask
It is too much to bear
Too many, to care
Put up walls of fear

Greed preys on desperation
To desert them to their fates
These migrants, who are, not quite people

Hope capsizes, in storm of apathy
The sea, no longer able to hold
A cold world's discarded souls
Washes up on the shore, a corpse
Of a small child
As a mute question
On the present state of humanity
And its’ bleak future .

--shubha

For Aylan Kurid , a five year old Syrian boy , whose copse washed up on Europe's shore after a boat carrying him and his family capsized during a desperate bid to sail to Europe in order to seek asylum from the civil war in Syria.