Dare not feel

Dare not feel

With deep dread
I avoid that hole in my heart
That aches, trembles
For those dealing with the aftermath
Of Mother Earth's tremors
Lest I should lose my equilibrium
And fall into that yawning hole
That seems bottomless

With pretended deafness, loud music
I turn a deaf ear to the whistling rockets
Screeching sirens , rat-a-tat of bullets
That are the sounds of a war-zone
Home to so many

With a practiced indifference
I turn away from appeals
To various charities
Hide my paralysis by fear
Under the onslaught
Of the world's endless problems
Under the guise of helplessness

Cease , stop , desist
This heart can bear no more
Stop, I dare not feel
I dare not stop

--shubha

Earthquake

Earthquake


Deep within the bowels of the earth, the plates grind, grate,
Send tremors through our insulated lives, our belief in our own immunity,shake,
Cause much suffering, upheaval and shock,
The movement of the cracked crust on a ball of molten rock,
Reminders of our insignificance, connections, that earths' bounty is not,only to take,
The rude awakening of a shuddering earthquake.


--shubha

Oasis

Oasis


Thoughts flood, wash me away in their deluge

Yet don't satisfy my thirst, are not my refuge

I string my days together, with sips at your tranquil oases,

As I wander lost, the vast desert of my illusions, biases.


--shubha

Spring green

Spring greens

From my window, I see

A sylvan wonderland,pretty

The promise of growth,as it be

Green upon green,dances free

As I collect a bit of calm, spring ecstasy. 

--shubha 

Happy Tamil New Year

Happy Tamil new year- puthandu vazhutukal

May this new year flower with hope of the neem
Hold the promise of sweetness of the raw mangoes
Brighten your life as the blazing, powerful sun
Wishing you the joy of a new year
Filled with grace, blessings for growth.

--shubha

Thirst

Thirst

This illusion of aloneness,separation
This unquenchable thirst,of desperation

For a few drops to satisfy
A yearning deep, rectify

A myriad of desires,chased
For momentary happiness, quickly erased

When all the while , in the journey, endeavor,
Breaking down the dam of ego, we find our reservoir

--shubha

Tension and Resonance

Tension and Resonance

Distances yawn, stretch
Taut, tense with misunderstandings
Strengthened by the silences
Of fear, apprehension
To snap and throw apart
The once tight pairing
Vibrating with resonance
And inherent tension.

--shubha

Wars were won

Wars were won

The cost of war
Is estimated in the billions
Of broken infrastructure
That needs rebuilding

In the loss of life
Of the fighters
The civilians
And those left behind
Whose life cannot be rebuilt
As it was before

In the numbers displaced
Homeless in an alien land
As refugees
As they bide their time to return

In the loss of innocence
Among the children
A childhood snatched
For the insanity of their elders
A debt, rarely repaid,

So many different ways to measure
The loss of a war,
Yet , history reports,
Wars were won.

--shubha

P.S. This poem came to me in response to a photograph of a of a terrified little girl in Syria with her hands up , because she thought the photojournalists camera was a gun.

Of crosses and stakes

Of crosses and stakes

We all carry our crosses,
Across this life
The price of our sins
This spectacle,a lesson to others
That the burden we carry alone
Is the price of our separation
From our truth

Other times we feel
We burn at the stakes
Of an unfeeling world
For not conforming
To it's stringent measures
The price of our freedom
Their heresy

Yet neither crosses or stakes
Are our only truth
For beyond the nails,pain
Beyond the burning disassociation
Lies,the promise of deliverance
Of resurrection.

--shubha

Fool's birthday

Fool's birthday

Ah! the joy of a birthday,
On All Fool's day

The snarky or playful reminders,
The many witty rejoinders,

But it is not without some recompense,
For you can invite many a friend,
To a non existent party, without giving offense .

--shubha

Weight , my dear friend

Weight, my dear friend

Weight my dear friend
Will you stay with me till the end?

Sometimes I was your clinging need
Others, you, I did feed

Together, we make a inseparable pair
Through diets, workouts, or feasts fair

So many times your presence, did rue
But I could not have found a friend more true.

--shubha