Category: serenity

VERSE | THE STRINGS THAT PULL

On By Mahvash K. M.In Faith, Family, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments

For my beloved sister who is swept in the constant tides of farewells and then meeting-again-for-too-short-a-while. And for all the other parents whose fledglings have taken wing, may you continue to find your joy and serenity.

They are the quickening parts of you
That you bestow upon the world 
Beings that become other people
Independent. Adult
Then there’s the anxiety and tumult 
Of letting them go 
From the safe radius of the home
From the proximity of your everyday touch
From the protective circle of your sinewy arms
Each muscle a testament 
To years of being superhuman 
A perpetual hero, a champion  
And now you also have 
Your own growing pains to bear
Of them not being there 
As they make their start
In places you can’t be
Coming back to rest
To lay down tired heads
On other pillows, other beds
Their childhood rooms
Stirring softly with their scents
But my dearest, don’t despair
These aches pass, they morph
They bloom into other things
A kinship deep as all the seas
A bond of care that is more even-keeled 
Conversations, confidences, the sharing of dreams 

They are out there now
Let them live and love 
With all their might 
You’ve done your part
They know the tree
The orchard, the seeds
That they’ve sprung from
Now let them go
Let your fluttering, bursting heart 
Give them wings to fly
Fly, fly, up, up high 
Into the vastness of the sky
Let them whoop with joy
Let them go 
Where the soul moves them
Out into the brilliant world
To take a little bit of it 
Make it their own
Let them imprint it
With their hearts and their minds
Let them be quirky, let them be kind
Let them be funny, let them be full
Of passion, of hope, of tenderness 
Let them roar and cheer and also tear up
At life’s beauty, excitement, its bruises and cuts
Let them show all their own shades of loveliness 
Let them add to the shimmering throng
Of all that’s vital, new and strong

And you, dear beloved 
With your empty nest 
Now filled with books 
Or paints or pets
You who have begotten them 
Stand fast and true and wise
Behind them. Cheer them on 
As they sing their own songs 
In the great choir of life.
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VERSE | SENSORY SAUTÉ

On By Mahvash K. M.In Emotions, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
I resolved to write egged on 
By echo-braised recipes
Of grating voices and bitter hearts 
And chopped up memories 
They tossed about inside my head 
Seize-sizzling, beet-bloody 
Of you is who I tried to write
As bits of you fell in
In-cisor cut, unholy messed 
Out and in of my sight 
I took my pen
The scene was set 
I would write of pent up things
Of audacious consequence
But my pen lent itself more
To gnawing contemplation
A cooked-up imagination 
As it bickered in my mouth 
The words they just sat there 
Headless, fleshless, boneless, bare
I chewed again upon the pen
They leapt aloft and hovered then 
For a bit before they bit 
Me on my purposeful lip
The drop of blood 
Drop.ped on my page 
There was no plot there was no stage 
There was no more righteous rage 
For them to come off eloquent 
And so I laid down the pen 
Let down my resolute bun
Bun-dled off my peaceless pique 
Pick-ed all of myself up then 
Set free an ex-heal-ation
I don’t think that I’ll try again.
Image: Annis Woods

VERSE | PALMS TOGETHER

On By Mahvash K. M.In Faith, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
Palms together
Cradling the chakra of your heart
You give of your essence to the world
You pray for healthfulness 
For the fruition of dreams and things 
The prayer travels from your lips 
Like a flock of migrating starlings 
It moves with purpose and with aim 
Of ardent supplications

It then joins hands with other wraiths
With other ghosts in the gold-green ether 
Of immaculate petitions and pleas
That linger in grace fulfilled, replete 
And also those that hopeful remain
Floating like fireflies, lighting the way
For other prayers that have lost their way 
In the cosmos of blessed invocation

Palms together 
Facing the chakra of my solar plexus 
I send my own missive into the universe 
There are no words to this appeal 
My gut sends the scriptless message for me 
I’m not quite sure of what it is 
I close my eyes and soundlessly 
Wordlessly, I send out my energy 
To take on what form it will 
In the maya of our collective dreams.
Image: John Phillip

VERSE | A DOVE SHE’S NOT

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment

NOTE: a flock of doves is variously called a cote, dole, dule, bevy, flight, and piteousness.

If my peace was like a dove 
A wooing, cooing ball of fluff 
I’d catch a little flight of them 
And find serenity again 

But every time that I have tried 
To visualize, to catch some sight 
Of the piteousness said to stop wars
Assuage wounds, bruises and sores 

It flutters out of my mind’s eye
I’m left gazing at an empty sky
And so I looked for something else
To calm my inner sweeps and swells 

And then one day it came tiptoeing 
Into my quietest imaginings 
The vision of a tranquil lake 
A gentle, shimmering, blue-green slate

Now when my hurrying-scurrying world without 
Seems like it’s turning upside down 
I close my eyes and I transport 
Myself to that peaceful spot 

I’m far away from everything 
My troubles bolt, they take wing
My core gleams softly in the place 
Where I sit by the lapping lake 

My inner peace, a dove she’s not 
But all the stillness I have sought
Is by a lake, without its birds
They await me in my outside world.
Images: Zeenath K. D. Wood (my sister!)

VERSE | DISTANCES

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
I know we haven’t talked in a while
I know I haven’t seen you wear your soft smile
We’ve said things to each other we didn’t mean 
Tearing and splitting the vital seams 
Of the fabric of our togetherness 
I know that I have felt desolate, helpless
We have sat in silence, cold as frost
The glow of our closeness long since lost 
Somewhere along life’s bewildering way
I let your warm hand slip away

I know we haven’t talked in a while
I know I haven’t seen you wear your gentle smile

Through the years we have journeyed on
Along the same path but each on our own
Forged by our children, we treaded their dreams
Only seeing shadows of you and me 
Still together we walked into middle age 
But it’s been a while since I really saw your face
It’s been a few years since the air around
Was filled with your familiar scent and your sound
Somewhere, somehow I lost the quickening string
That bound us together through thick and through thin

I know we haven’t talked in a while
I know I haven’t seen you wear your lovely smile

But I know you’re still here, your pulse still beats warm
Even as we’ve both whipped up raging storms
They’ve whirled inside, while we’ve pulled away
The terrible loneliness adding to the fray
I know that we are distances apart
But I can still feel you in the depths of my heart
Let me find you once again in the mists
Of sepia memories, reminiscences 
Let me hold your hand as I once did before 
Let us walk together, in step once more

I lost sight of you, dearest for a while
Let me love you again, let me make you smile.
Image: Portia Mendigo

VERSE | THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writing1 Comment 
When life gets hard as it sometimes does 
When the weight of the world is pulling you down 
When you want to hide in the depths of your bed 
When you don’t want your feet to touch solid ground 

When you want to close your eyes and just disappear 
And hope that in some dimensional shift 
You can escape the world that surrounds you here
That you can find the cosmic ether that fits 

When you have to part your hesitant lids
And the effort is excruciating, difficult 
When despite your aching, your most ardent yen 
There’s no secret exit, no miracle 

When you bring your hand up to your sleep-shrouded face 
When you glance accusingly at the lines 
When you wonder if ever they would become 
Prophets, purveyors of better times 

When you finally rise and breathe deeply in 
When you feel the pulse of your blood again 
When the vestigial coolness of your room 
Brushes up familiarly against your warm skin 

Then know that although the odds are stacked 
Up sky high, crushing, overwhelming 
That the universe still holds you close to her breast 
That there are still songs that she will sing 

So when life gets hard as it sometimes does 
When your heavy heart has robbed you of your smile
Slow down, pull back from the rush of life
Dearest one, take the road less travelled for a while.
Image: Forest Path by Jillian Crider
Image: Forest Path by Jillian Crider

VERSE | THE FACE IN THE SHADOWS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
There’s a face in the shadows
Downcast, serene
A quiet glow drapes
The rest of her
As she sits cross-legged 
On the floor 
She holds the cosmos in her prayerful hands 
I want to see the face 
so full of quiet grace 
I want to understand 
Where the woman gets 
Her stillness from 
I tilt my head to see 
More clearly 
And then two shimmering orbs 
Rise from under their lidded veils 
I hold my breath I’m no longer 
Watching from the outside in
I float I glide out of the place
I’m light as a feather 
I rise up there’s no tether 
To time and space
To anything I have ever known 
I float on 
And I drop 
The sharp edged angst that I had held 
In my chest and in my head 
And it falls
Away from me 
I stretch out my arms 
I rise and rise 
Into the infinity 
Of those glimmering eyes 
Through twin portals
To my paradise.

VERSE | MOMENTS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
The thing with moments
Is that they never stay
Vaporous, ethereal
They alight and fly away 
They come upon us 
On gossamer whispery wings 
Or rush with such force 
That you’re left reeling
The breath knocked out of you
And then they’re gone
Or they cloak you silently 
So imperceptibly 
Like the lengthening shadows 
Of eventide 
That you realize 
That they were there 
Only after they have quietly 
Melted into yesterday’s dawn

The thing with moments
Is that they never last 
Always on nimble feet 
They are fleeting pin pricks
upon your skin
A quick rush of warmth within
The lungs for a moment collapsing 
A vanishing scene
The stuff of dreams
Always receding 
But not before leaving 
Their forever tattoos 
In reds, yellows and blues
A kiss, a hug, a bruise 
Eternal imprints on the heart 
Emotional ink
Permanent, piercing 
Sunk deeply in 
By the wraiths and ghosts 
Of moments past.

VERSE | A BLOOM OF ONE’S OWN

On By Mahvash K. M.In Joy, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
Sometimes I’m a foxtail orchid 
Needing extra care and warmth
Sometimes I’m a leaf skipping
Where the wind takes me along

Sometimes I feel fresh and light
Like just-cut summer grass
Sometimes things get cold and grey
Then I’m the winter frost

Sometimes earth’s shadowy arms
Are where I want to hide
I’m then the discreet Cereus that flowers
Once in a great big while

Other times my gladdened heart
Beats strong and rhythmically 
My courage drapes me like a cloak 
Then I’m the intrepid weed 

Every day brings a new avatar 
A new sensibility 
I hug the day that comes my way 
Or watch it drift from my safe niche 

Nature’s blooms that make up my being 
Rest in their special spaces 
Each day I become the seed that keeps
Life marking its measured paces.

VERSE | SADLESS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, truth, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
My thoughts sometimes
Become like rebellious kids
They dart about my head
Swarm into my hippocampus 
Making me sweat 
I race after them 
Calling to them 
But they don’t heed me
They’re chimerical beings 
Elves and pixies and aliens 
Coins and marbles and peeling paint 
A stubbed toe, a tired saint
A fierce cupid on a fountain
Rose bushes that run riot 
And then I just lose sight 
Of them at all 
I hear the silence
Numbing, thrumming, sometimes strumming
Through my brain

Then I see them again
They’re out on the streets 
They’ve run free, leaving me behind 
They’ve escaped the prison of my mind 
I watch them from afar 
Tumbling around
Laughing, skipping, rumbling around
Moaning, groaning, fumbling around
Far away from me
I’m featherlight now 
I float above them 
Like I’m dead 
The leaden weight of life 
Has dropped 
I watch it tumble with my thoughts 
Rumble, tumble, sometimes stumble 
In its frantic vitality 

I’m timeless, sadless, gladless now
E m p t y
I float away 
In a silent conspiracy 
Of air and nothingness.

VERSE | HEAVEN CAN WAIT

On By Mahvash K. M.In Faith, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writing1 Comment 
There’s someone you see who can use your help 
Above and beyond the 2.5 percent
That has been made obligatory on you 
By forces of faith, of habit now too 
Don’t think twice because you have done 
Your duty as prescribed by the One
Go ahead, give some extra, don’t hesitate 
Don’t hesitate. Heaven can wait 

You’re going on your blessed Hajj number two
You’ve been good, devout and true 
But the farmer working in your fields 
He needs a liver transplant critically
He looks to you for a helping hand 
Should you divert funds from your pilgrimage plans?
You’re caught up in a quandary of faith 
Don’t hesitate. Heaven can wait 

The colony that you pass everyday 
The one with the shanties, a riot of grey 
It’s residents are different, they don’t share your beliefs 
But you’ve spoken to some, you’re aware of their dreams 
Should you give of your blessed prestige  
To those who believe in a separate deity?
God’s benevolence does not discriminate 
Don’t hesitate. Heaven can wait 

When you feel pulled in directions unique
That speak to your heart abundantly 
But seem to lie in realms that are 
On the twilit edges of well trodden paths 
Still your cacophonous heart, and listen 
To the flow of lifeblood in your veins 
Let it take you up the streams it creates 
Don’t hesitate. That’s where heaven waits.

VERSE | GRACE

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writing5 Comments 
Are you ready? said he softly 
I was sitting and watching tv
For what? I asked full well knowing
The implications of that simple question 

For your journey onwards from here 
He said quietly in my ear 
I stared ahead, I couldn’t look 
Into eyes that held the whole cosmos 

I still have things to do I said 
Even as my heart filled with dread 
I still have dreams and wishes said I 
Even as I felt my mouth go dry

He waited watching me silently 
His shadow was now a part of me 
I took a breath and looked at him 
His eyes looked back serene, glowing

I cried, I am afraid to leave 
Even if I have always believed 
That one day I must walk away 
Wrapped in death’s final embrace 

But that faith has always surrounded me 
On the outside, while inside of me 
Has grown a choking, gnawing terror 
Of the day that you would appear 

He took my hand and held it fast
My hand in his we touched my heart 
The blue-gray fear that sat in there 
Evaporated into the air 

I felt my soul for the first time 
Floating, thrumming, humming inside 
I smiled even as the tears flowed 
Silver, sparkling, love-hallowed 

I laughed, I cried, I laughed again 
Life was beautiful even at the end 
I loosened the strings bound to the past 
And closed my eyes as I breathed my last.