Express In Eight

March 2022

Express in eight-March 2022
3-1-2022
Clean and clear


It was a relief
to hear Fred
raking rhythmical
in the yard.

Now’s the time,
windless and dry
to clean sweep piles,
and useless thoughts.

Prompt: Rake

3-2-2022
Difference

Finger prints
on a tender cheek
and on a wall
speak of separate sorrows.


The six-year old
sobs at mom’s fury.
The eighty-year old
wonders where went his strength.

Prompt: Fingerprints

3-3-2022
Like faith

I recall the sunny morn
when the taste of mustard
on sliced white loaf
lasting long.

Then, saw its flowers
colour the fields
in yellow to horizon, like faith
from less to endless.

Prompt: Mustard


3-4-2022
A Remedy

I found the right remedy.
Believe me, I did.

Sorrow smogged my eyes
like sea-mist at dawn,
my mind swirled
my spirit wilted.

The tiny tot’s sweet smile
left me smiling thro’ mental maladies.

Prompt: Write a poem about something found


3-5-2022
Size matters

I need tension
in knitting or else
size shrinks or expands.

So do I have
frictions and conflicts
essential for art of living.

I should of need, take care
not to let them an upper hand.

Prompt: Tension


3-6-2022
No tears

Crunchy green onion
brings no tears
like big sister does.

Like an innocent infant
it lets us enjoy
its goodness.

Blends with anything,
special to cuisine, our wellness.

Prompt: Green onions 3-6-2022

3-7-2022
Lapping down

All’s fine up the creek
where the water’s clean
cool and clear, where I seek
my childhood dream.

Water flowing down the pebbly
path, gleams in golden sun,
humming a soothing ripply
tune, glistens under the silver moon.

Prompt: Up the creek


3-8-2022
Tall and graceful

Suggu, a friend at college,
head and shoulders above
the rest, including the male
of the species, raked up egos.

Of unequal height, they had
to look up to stand and stare.
Called her “Giraffe’ in grudging praise.
Fluid and fast, she got us trophies by the score.

Prompt: Giraffes

Note-
Suggu, short for Suguna was a lovely tall (5’ 10”) classmate of mine in B.A.👌.

3-9-2022
Revelry

Scintillating show
by fighter jets and copters,
daredevilry by marine commandos
offered a visual treat
in all pomp and circumstance
to thousands gathered on the beach
to witness and enjoy
the Indian Navy’s operational prowess.

Prompt: Pomp and circumstance

Note- A week long annual event is held by Eastern Naval Command of India, in my hometown ( Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh)

This year’s specialty is that forty countries participated along side of us.


3-10-2022
An honourable man

History mirrors
the fact that honesty
is not always the best policy.

Wrong reasons understood
after betraying and murdering
Caesar, a man of the masses,
allegedly ambitious, Brutus took his life,
for his dishonesty was rooted in honesty.

Prompt: Honesty is the best policy

3-11-2022
Believer


What is
real and what’s not?
Is it the wave I’m caught
up in, a playful, instant hiss?
Or is it the ocean holding the keys
to endless faith where like Him, one can walk not fraught
with fear, doubt, a weak and wilting spirit , but with a lot
of courage, passion, devotion and belief in His expertise.

Prompt: Octastich


3-12-2022
Goodbye

“Till we meet again”
She said, with a warm smile
laced with recent memories.

Short separations

on a note of thrilling
anticipation made
her absence surely

filled with sweet nostalgia.

Prompt: I hate goodbyes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. (Snoopy)


3-13-2022
Change

To think I can change the world
is like living in a fool's paradise.
The feeling that "give me a place
to stand, I will shake the world,"
is a dream that quickly dissolves.

Nothing can stop change
that keeps happening everyday
and the world continues to evolve.

Prompt: I can’t help thinking that this would be a better world if everyone would listen to me. – Lucy

3-14-2022
Growth

The seed we planted
lay low and quiet.
Before the blighted doubt
took us on, it sprouted
through the good earth
wearing verdant leaves.

Now it flowers and bears
fruit, like our life together.

Prompt: New Growth


3-15-2022
Earth, the goddess

Earth is my haven, my safety
lets me live rooted in her gravity.
In entirety, the only living planet
with wind water and fire, replete.

Earth’s my provider, mother and guide
her vibrant seasons keep me inspired.
A goddess that protects me till death
makes me her own on my last breath.

Prompts: Poems by John Keats, Amy Lowell, Dorothea Mackellar.


3-16-2022
Plans

He waited under a shadowy elm
looking for the queen of the realm.
His steed stood silent and immobile.
There comes a coach driven in style.

Stepping in with a stunning suddenness
the rebel pleaded “listen to your people’s woes.”
Her majesty alighted to know what ails the masses,
By the night’s end, she’s armed with redeeming plans.

Prompt: Write a shadowy poem


3-17-2022
Tender-hearted

The tender betel leaf creeper
of heart-shaped shiny green leaves
that I planted the other day
began wilting for a reason I can’t say.

When it reared its head on day four
I knew it’s resilient at the core.
Now that I learnt what makes it tick
Ten to one, it will never fall sick.

Prompt: Resilience


3-18-2022
Rescue

Standing on the hilly ledge
overlooking distant ships at sea,
fenced by linear mountain range
carpeted in varieties of green,

I recalled the ballad “Spanish Lady,”
the captured damsel in distress
that loved her captor, the captain, steady.
He loved her too, there’s no more stress.

Prompt: Overlook


3-19-2022
In Defense

Neighbor's hen and its brood
started invading our compound.
They'd roam like royals true blue,
despite "shoo," stood their ground.

When it spotted the little chicks
there's no stopping the glaring cat.
Before it dared to claw their necks,
mother flared and the fat cat ran like mad.

Prompt: National Poultry Day


3-20-2022
At the party

The best part of a party
is listening to, or telling a story.
An experience, an incident,
a joke, anecdote or a complaint
told with verve connects me better,
gets me friends, brings us closer.

I raise the cup to a time-tested craft
“ Long live story-tellers!” a cheery toast.

Prompt: World Storytelling Day.


3-21-2022
Pristine

We’ve been going around
quite a bit, we sisters three.
There’s a kingdom above ground
where life’s beautiful, the wind’s free.

Pristine precincts, whispering clouds,
nestling in the lap of the Himalayas
quaint villages of Bhutan shrouded
in silence offer a lot of calming charms.

Prompt: Go around


3-22-2022
When the wind blew…

My hat’s a true cool blue
with a pretty logo in white
“Freedom’s my birth right.”

Sitting pretty on my head,
safeguards my long tresses
from heat and dust, my defence.

When the wind blew it away
my mind blanked till I found it in the bay.

Prompt: I Want My Hat Back ( by Jon Klassen)


3-23-2022

Activity

The mountain air from the north
touched me as I stepped out
to get rid of wearisome thoughts.

Yet, the farmers after a hard day
walk home brisk and boisterous,
no trace of weariness on their faces.

Find a fulfilling activity, I told myself
you could be as contented yourself.


Prompt: Weary


3-24-2022
Awesome.

Even as I took a single look
was swept off my feet, doubt not.
The bare brown hill had me awe-struck
Was it the place sages sought
Standing in rain and sun seeking
Siva from within their soul?
Was this the self same shiny stream
Where angels tread and adore
Mother Nature’s beauty, grace and grandeur,
matchless magic, her heavenly allure.
Prompt: Lost

Ravenfly form (created by Amanda J. Norton)

• 10 lines -- two quatrains and a couplet
• syllables per line – 8/7/8/7 8/7/8/7 10/10
• rhyme scheme – abab cdcd ee


3-25-2022
Mi Favorita.

I have been a secret admirer
of her books forever and ever.
Ask me why that is so.
Reasons could be row upon row.

Doyen of all genres, she’s blessed
sumptuously by the daughters of Zeus.
Life is a-changing, yet she shows
it with subtlety, control and competence.

Rivalry and clash among the characters,
emotions uncovering delicious shades
of perception, sorry, I can’t reveal her bio-data,
for I continue to be her “admidora secreta”

Prompt: Write a secret poem
“admidora secreta”- Spanish for “secret admirer”.


3-26-2022
Dictates

Saturn is moving house
in the Zodiac, they say.
He brings peace, they add,
I’d rather not personalise.

Pursuit of happiness
matters more than being
affected by the dictates
of astrology or prophesy.

Prompt: Saturn


3-27-2022
Smiling girl

The moment I laid my eyes
on her, standing vibrantly alive
I knew I was hopelessly hers.

Her skirt folded in light lemon green
demure in a blouse of pale pink sheen
a charming smile behind a gossamer veil

Her fragrance of innocence reaches out,
graceful beauty caught by sensitive hand.

Prompt: Ekphrastic poetry
A painting I came across.


3-28-2022

Casual comfort

There’s something special, something simple
about this home we went to.
Pastel painted walls breathing
free, just two paintings.
A wedding procession,
a fluent fall.
Books on the teapoy
Random life


Prompt:Simplicity
Syllables per line: 8/6/7/5/6/4/5/3


3-29-2022
Repulsed

A long time ago
in a galaxy far away
as I wandered at will, I saw
someone with a black-hood
swaying on unsteady limbs.
I said “shh” to plug a scream,
as black hoods multiplied by the minute.
One turned, “yuck! I strayed into zombie land!”

Prompts: Shh/Yuck


3-30-2022
The holy Basil

The two saplings of holy basil
expressively spread into a hedge.
Its scent and the flower dazzle
visitors, who see the cutting edge.

A unique plant of rare benefits,
I am happy to see seeds sprout
wind-sprinkled, growing into exquisite
bushes bearing nature’s love no doubt.

Prompt: Write a hedge poem.

Note: The Holy Basil is considered sacred in most parts of India.

3-31-2022
Music

Imagine a world without song.
Creation would’ve gone wrong.
Never is dawn sans song birds
the harmony that fills the world.

My soul wings away from troublesome
musings, my spirit takes off to visions
of a world full of beauty, joy and love.
No, no life without the divine “food of love.”

Prompt: Begin your poem with “Imagine a world”.