poetry

Rakshabandan

You arrive and greet
This morning of Rakshabandan.
As always, in full bloom
With unequivocal light and love.

This symbolic yellow rose
Stops me in my tracks
As you, brother, embodied
It’s rich depth and warmth.

Saving me from my sorrow
I see how love transverses all.
Physically no longer side by side
Yet our spirits still unite.

Our bond is clear
My brother dear,
As you remain with and between us,
Your loving sisters.

Today is Rakshabandan, the day of celebrating the bond between a brother and sister. The yellow rose is the symbol, my two sisters and I chose, that represents our departed beloved brother, Dipak.
From an unknowing third party, what should the universe send my way today or all days, but a yellow rose surrounded equally by three buds! What an image of our sibling unity!

Genius Loci- Spirit of a place

What gathers together
Giving rise
To that one feeling
Of being in the right place?

No words needed
As all in the glance
Is acknowledgement, respect
Perhaps even an adoration.

Flourish here
Does the calm,
The peace
More so a mutual love.

Bestow on the self
The same gratuitous presence
And feel yourself at home
Welcomed, received and loved.

Here lies a bond
With no bondage,
A relationship
With no need for any rules.

Belief and faith perhaps
The stepping stones for most,
But this inner knowledge is to be reached
With an ardent and persistent thirst.

Let then the magic
From the ultimate connection
Release it’s power supreme
Second to no other.

So accept and harness
Your own ‘Genius Loci’
And bask in the stream
Of the greatest of loves.

 

Original artwork of myself and my companion of a short time, Duchess, who claimed my backyard as her home for the last two and half years of her life.

Nature’s Valentine

With your eyes upon me
I stand in your trance
Delicate, supple,
Dare I say, beautiful

Your kindness showers a light
What you see is your reflection
Except you think
The beauty belongs all to me

Together we beam
Bouncing energies that gleam
Much like chicken and egg
Where does this beauty begin and reside?

Universal is this beauty’s light
So easy to see in nature’s delights
Yet if so omnipresent
Why so hard to accept
That we are part of the same exquisite design

Come, my admirer
Share with me your heart
So that I may too
See my reflection

Then with such an embrace
Of love, light and beauty
Gratitude can reign
And we both shall have truly lived

Returning Old Friend

Left guessing each morning
As the night sky lingers,
Sun rising faster elsewhere
You tease your arrival.

Tickling the leaves
At the tips of weighted branches,
Sway is soft, sometimes brisk
Ghost-like you change the air.

Mid morning telling
With full force brightness,
Your are not quite ready
To come and stay.

Waiting for your signs
With warm hues of amber and burnt orange,
The longing deepening
For what only you can deliver.

Trees will be crowned
With jewels to be shed,
Giving comfort
And rustle to my feet.

Fall you arrive
Bringing time to reconnect,
As the hearth becomes
The gathering spot.

Time for reflection
Three quarters in,
The year almost done
What’s happened? what’s yet to be done?

Lists never completed
Bewildering and unforgiving,
Instead let’s give thanks
To each day, each season.

Thank you my old friend
You teach how to shed,
Keep gratitude close
And revive for seasons to come.

Alone in the Crowd

A profound problem prevails
Not of drugs,
Alcohol or sex
But of attention.

With lack of stillness
Abandonment of eye contact and listening
Value is lost
In the one on one.

With quality misperceived
Defined by quantity of ‘likes’
Distances traveled
Selfies with monuments.

This scarce commodity
Briefly given
Desperately craved
Now sought for in the unlikely.

These gadgets abundant
Handheld to worn,
Closer than keys
More valued than currency.

What have we become
When what we need
We’ve found in a mode,
Which serves only to perpetuate the disease.

With false sense of belonging
In a crowd yet alone
Hoping to be heard
Yet not a word is exchanged.

“Pictures are worth a thousand words”
But today we cry
No more pictures!
Just give me a moment
And few real words.

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Hardest Love

Learning to love
The ‘hardest’ person
In your life
Will be The greatest achievement.

To love this ‘hardest’ person
Means to Accept
Their weakness
Their faults
Their idiosyncrasies.

To love this ‘hardest’ person
Means to Forgive
Their choices
Their mistakes
The pains that are carried.

To love this ‘hardest’ person means
To show kindness in their loneliness
Share laughter in their sadness
Support their efforts
Acknowledge their concerns.

So begin now
To Love, Accept and Forgive
This ‘hardest’ person,
As it is none less
Than You, yourself!

This task appears easy
In this ‘me’ world
But who is it that we love?
The true self or the made up self?

Past the screens and barriers
Lies a tender soul,
Strong and fruitful
Locked away with but one key.

True love is this key,
With the mighty power
To release from all suffering
To embolden with courage.

So unlock this ‘hardest’ person.
Allow the potential
To surface
So love can be felt
Inside and out.

Artwork by Yossi Kotler, curtesy Pintrest.

Breath of Fresh Air

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This stagnant air
Pungent with pride
Obstinacy and malice!
Leaves no room to breathe.

The weave so thick
With every cause, every claim
Each voice just another noise.
No surprise there are no winners.

Acute pain or oblivion
Victim or perpetrator,
The weight so heavy, why bother to change!
Just surrender to your place in the chain.

Yet each day there’s a new dawn
Chance to shed the snake skin, leave behind yesterday.
Make the clean break
With a breath of fresh air.

Walk, even run away from the clatter,
But don’t turn that blind eye!
Summon the strength from within
With each in and exhale.

Rotating in our spaces
We may not know each other,
We may not even see each other.
But we are linked by times past and present.

Each one of our acts count.
From a hand in community work
To recycling plastic bottles
Or a simple smile and story shared.

Denying our obvious commonalities is ignorance accepted!
As this one world is home to all.
And even more basic
Is how we breathe,
The same air
In the same way.

So together,
Lets make
And take,
A breath of fresh air.

Resonance 1

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Flow of flutes
Beat of drums
Glide of strings

Instruments played
Notes to melodies
Melodies to harmonies

Moving towards me
Ears not only
But my pores

Hear the feeling
Of ancient times
With divine perseverance

We blend
Boundary lost
Vibrating as one

Am I the music?
Is the music in me?

In this space
Unquestioned freedom
Peace

Gently resides
Inviting me
In

Held
Rested
P’haps even saved

Bringing
Flow, rhythm
Resonance

To my being
Being alive
Being here

The things you never thought that happen to you…

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Basking in the light

You feel the sun

Did you know it comes up

Just for you?

 

Fingers entwined

Palms face to face

Perhaps as you stroll

Maybe just seated together,

That moment, it happened

Just for you!

 

Countless events

The mere length of a breath

A strangers smile

The taste of a pickle

A star streaking across the sky

Did you know they happened

Just for you

 

No premise requires

No transgressions possible

No power can deny

You just need the currency

Of being alive!

 

To know

What really happens in life

Takes no PHD

No millions or billions

No name or fame

 

So wake up to life

Capture this time

As so much is happening

Just for you!!