The swinging question

The swinging question

World away an empty swinging swing
Reminds of another
Blood spattered
Smeared by hatred
Poses the mute question

Will we allow , once again
Terror reign in our hearts
Allow the hijackers of faith
To rewrite our history
With the blood of innocence
And their hate

Surrender our faith
Deny it
Allow a hateful narrative
To define it

Lose love, compassion
To judgement ,petty squabbles
Over  superficial differences
To apathy and denial ?

--shubha

P.S. After the horrific terror attacks at a Children's park in Lahore on Easter Sunday.

Holi wishes

Holi wishes

Happiness, with colors, may it alloy
Overspread all with spring joy
Let go of past spats, differences destroy
In renewal, rebirth, let us grow, prosper, enjoy.

--shubha

Pic credit : from the Internet 

The bather

The bather



Awakening trees
Stretch, yawn, shake off winters' sleep
Bathe in morning light


--shubha

Woman , who are you ?

Woman , who are you ?

For far too long, man has longed to answer
Define this unfathomable mystery
Tried to capture her fragrance
In perfumed romance
In words , labels , purposes
For her being
In his image

For too long , women have longed to answer it too
By rejecting every limiting label
Testing their strength
Proving to themselves
And others
That they refuse
To be defined
In any image
Yours or theirs

How can any number of labels suffice
To describe that spark of the divine
That is your truth and mine ?

Woman , who are you ?
I am a traveler on a journey
To understand my own mysteries
Even as I reveal some
And leave you more
That you may always know
Mystery of magic and love

--shubha