Category: writing

Featured

VERSE | THE WHINGE

On By Mahvash K. M.In Foot in the Mouth, poetry, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments 
Today has dawned as one of those 
Days that makes me gripe
I sit up in bed thinking of all
The things that I don’t like 

It’s useless today to try and be
Tolerant and benign 
So here’s an unlovely ode to things 
That get on these nerves of mine 

I hate early mornings
And tepid cups of tea 
I abhor geckos on the wall 
Even if they’re nowhere near me 

I can’t stand milky coffee 
But I cringe when it’s too strong 
Too much sugar makes me gag 
Too little pulls me down 

I so hate the humidity 
And what it does to my hair 
Like an alien in residence 
Waving its million arms in the air

I deplore breaking with the 
Predictability of my grind 
First my latte, then some work 
Then some angst if you don’t mind 

But I also hate when twilight sets 
On my day off from routine 
From the clutches of mundania
Self imposed as that may be 

I can’t stomach margarine 
For what it does to my intestines
Anaphylactic shock and awe 
Are then wholly, soully mine 

I can’t stand the loud caws
Of aggressive city crows
Scavenging, ravaging their 
Insidious way indoors 

But I also dread the day my
Neighbourhood mynahs don’t come by
I don’t care that my avian favouritism
Is then guiltless and alive

On these days I also detest 
All our erstwhile politicians 
I wish they’d all go and drown 
In the tumultuous Indian Ocean 

The Arabian Sea just seems 
Like a seriously dubious route 
They’d go Gulf country visiting 
And come right back home to loot 

I hate that I hate my life 
When my hormones are awry 
When everything seems absurd 
A frickin’ painful enterprise 

Yup, It’s one of those days again 
When I’ve woken with a groan 
It’s going be 24 hours of 
Whinge and hate and moan

VERSE | THE SWEET SPELL OF PAIN

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, writing2 Comments 
Barefoot I walk onto the path 
I don’t know where it leads
I’m propelled, compelled forward 
By the sensation in my feet

Onwards they take me further and further 
There’s an airiness in my heart 
I step lightly, sprightly forward 
Along that glittering path 

I look around me as I walk on 
Nature is everywhere 
A butterfly flits close to my toes 
I want to stop right there 

But onwards I walk, I skip, I leap 
My feet have a mind of their own 
They’re taking me down the scenic route 
So on and on I roam 

My face now wears a little smile 
My atoms are swaying too 
And my feet they keep the rhythm
Glide one-two, one-two.  

A melancholy melody almost a moan 
Comes wafting in on the breeze 
I close my eyes, feel its ebb and rise 
As I stroll in the bower of trees 

There’s something else that I can feel
Hiding in the shrubs nearby 
Heavy, leaden, bruised and raw
It’s getting closer all the time 

As I walk with eyes closed my eyelids fly open 
Everywhere is shadowy grey
For a little while there in my sleep 
My aching feet had swept me away.

VERSE | THE FACE IN THE MIRROR

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, writingLeave a comment 
I look in the mirror at the face 
That looks back at me 
Silent, still, waiting for something 
An acknowledgment maybe 

I need to see that she’s alive, I blink 
She blinks back at me 
I let her know that I’ve seen her 
She does the same for me 

I look into the dark brown eyes 
Her gaze is focused and serene 
I blink again to understand 
To read that look, to glean

She smiles a little smile then 
The pleasantries out of the way
She and I are closer now 
Than we were yesterday 

I notice the lines that now hug 
The corners of her eyes 
They tell tales of highs and lows 
Of when she fell and when she thrived

My glance slips down to the smiling mouth 
Lines embrace that feature too 
Telling both in prose and verse 
Of times both cheery and blue 

I look again into the eyes
I see a twinkle in them now
Still room for grace and joyfulness 
Before life’s final bow
Featured

VERSE | FALL FAREWELLS

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, serenity, verse, writing2 Comments 
A melancholy rustle stirs in the leaves
Holding heavy in their boughs
Their green, green garbs have faded
They are in mourning now

For the bounties once bestowed on them
By spring and then by summer 
Now they curl their mottled frames 
In the briskness of November 

Lady Autumn has this special
Cleansing Ritual that she wields 
Back into the earth they go 
Flowers, butterflies and leaves
 
The promise of new beginnings too
Is buried with their shapes 
For when spring comes round again 
For when again they will all wake

The leaves are weary as they cling 
To seasons that have gone 
But soon they too will hear her sing
The soothing song of Fall.

VERSE | THE PLEASURE OF KINGS

On By Mahvash K. M.In Joy, poetry, verse, writing1 Comment 
I go to the kitchen and switch on the light 
A hazy, 5 watt bulb warms to life 
I then put the kettle on 
And while it sings its little song 
I fix my square blue-flowered tray 
Strainer, spoon and a little bowl 
And one of my mugs adds to the whole
With a pinch of the most fragrant earl grey 
It sits in its saucer and awaits 
The steamy pour from the spout
Of the kettle as the water gushes out

Onto the teabag it flows in a rush
Steaming vapour billowing up 
The mug is filled almost to the brim 
Just enough space for milk, not skimmed
(Low fat is the best I can do 
Playing around with tea is taboo!)
Then the iris-strewn tea tray goes 
To the lounge, loaded with its amenities 
In all of this, as its centrepiece  
My mug puts on a steamy show 

It blows kisses in fragrant plumes 
Sending them wafting across the room 
I kiss it back with my first sip 
It’s the one that has the scalding nip
I close my eyes as it slides down 
My throat, searing the flesh around 
But that is the pleasure of tea drinking 
A self-immolation fit for a king

VERSE | ICARUS, REALLY?

On By Mahvash K. M.In Foot in the Mouth, poetry, verse, writing5 Comments 
* ICARUS: One of the most famous tragic figures in Greek mythology, his story highlights the dangers of excessive pride/ fixation. Although he was warned by his father not to fly too high, Icarus became overexcited and flew too close to the sun, causing his wings (made by his father,from feathers and wax) to melt and leading to his untimely death.
This is a bit of satire on the old Greeks of mythology.
There was once a young woman 
She had this special thing 
One can’t call it love you see 
The Sun was her heart’s king 

She’d look up at the sky all day
In spring and then in summer
Winter woes came down in throes 
Not seeing him was a bummer 

But she’d then glue her sun-sick eyes 
Upon the tele-vusion
Watching classics and Sci-Fi 
Of beaches and nuclear fusion

(Fission, I admit, is a grander term
But it’s a small explosion
Through staid old Fusion doth the sun
Make Helium from Hydrogen)

One day on her 60th birthday 
She’d had it with long distance 
She put her crafty hands to work 
She wasn’t losing one more instant 

She made herself some silver wings 
With aluminium and nylon string
And then up to the roof she went 
To flap, flap up to her king 

It was probably mind over matter that 
Got her three feet above the roof 
The Sun finally said “Icarus in your 35th 
Incarnation, you’re still a goof”.

VERSE | STAY

On By Mahvash K. M.In Joy, poetry, verse, writing2 Comments 
The tea’s still warm upon our breath 
The samosa crunch still lingers 
On the horizon the sun now rests
Like a russet-orange finger

The quiet echoes of our chats 
Still reverberate around 
Won’t you stay as the garden plays
Out its evening song? 

My heart still beats toasty warm 
From your visit to me today 
Let me have my fill of you
For a little longer, stay 

The tea’s still warm upon our breath 
Memories plume out in wraiths 
Reminiscing, remembering 
The sweetness of bygone days

VERSE | BREATHE

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, writingLeave a comment 
Stop and listen - do you hear 
The wind blow through the trees?
Let your mind soar up a little 
To the rustle of the leaves

Stop and look - do you see
Her golden yellow wings?
As the bee floats round the flowers 
Gathering nectary-sweet things 

Stop and touch - do you feel
The texture of the bark?
Of the grand old banyan tree 
It’s head swaying up with the lark 

Stop be still - let your heart fill 
And your atoms all slow down 
As you walk through the ethereal realm 
Of nature as she abounds
Featured

VERSE | UNTIL THEN

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, verse, writingLeave a comment 
He looked at me with eyes of love 
I could not hold his gaze 
My heart lay closed and tightly bound 
In yards of purple lace 

It once had soared high above 
Where eagles roam the skies 
But since then it had plummeted 
It had shrivelled up and dried

By and by it beat again 
As I slowly found my peace 
But it still liked to hide away 
In its blue-violet niche 

So when he looked at me with eyes 
That spoke of tender starts 
I looked away, there was no way
Into my blue-bruised heart 

Someday when the colours change 
Of the blood that flows within 
Of when my heart reddens anew
And once more soars and sings

I hope that I can hold that gaze 
So full of affection 
Until then I hope to heal enough
To want to love again

VERSE | WOULD I BE READY?

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, verse, writingLeave a comment 
I sometimes wonder if I heard
A new rustle in the trees
Would I be brave enough 
To open up my door and see

I wonder if I ever heard 
Its tread outside my place 
Would I be calm and ready
To meet it face to face 

I might sit still holding my breath 
This would be something new 
But it is all eventual 
It’s what we all go through 

If it looked at me and held 
Out its hoary palm 
I wonder if I’d have courage enough
To clasp it in my own 

If it stood to lead ahead
Waiting for my cue 
I wonder if I would follow it
Into the cosmic blue 

If indeed it came to me
While I was fast asleep 
I wonder if I would float away
On wings of final dreams

And so I hope that when I hear 
My name called to depart 
That in serenity and grace I walk 
The all-eternal path

VERSE | THE SHIFT

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, writingLeave a comment 
I feel it shifting 
The air around me 
It hums a new dirge 
In the rustle of the trees

It wafts through copses
Of almond and neem 
Fraught with scent-memories 
Right out of my dreams 

The Earth wears a glimmer
Like it’s pulled out taut
Resplendent, kinetic 
Like a tiger just caught 

I feel her eyes bore
Deep into my soul 
Flecked with vermilion
Full of phantoms and ghouls 

I feel her hot breast 
As she holds me close 
Pulsing, convulsing 
Her lifeblood in throes 

I hear it sometimes 
Her seized-seismic sigh 
It thrums in my head
Like death’s lullaby

VERSE | LOOK SOFTLY

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, writingLeave a comment 
Look softly my darling 
When you look at me 
Be calm and be tender 
As I take my leave 

I want to remember 
Your lovely face 
Serene and peaceful
As I leave this place 

Let us talk of things 
That are close to our hearts 
Of bittersweet endings
Of gentle new starts

Of faces and places 
Those still here, those gone 
Of tea-cozied rainy days 
As I hum my last song 

Look softly my dear one 
When you look at me
Let your beautiful smile
Be the last thing I see
Painting by my sister, Zeenath