Tag: quietude

VERSE| THE WOODEN BENCH

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

We have all, at some time or another been overwhelmed, overpowered, bested by our grief, anxiety and wretchedness. At those times, some of us have also been lucky enough to have that one place where we have, for a while, found some degree of quietude and peace. This is a tribute to those secret little places and spaces of comfort and healing in our lives.

There is this wooden bench I like
It’s not fancy, quite the common type
Cloaked in by the dappled canopy
Of a gracefully pirouetting Mara tree
It sits in the park like a dear old friend
Its well-worn embrace ever welcoming
A young couple walks up, caught in the grips of wrath 
Love is lost, it’s the wretched aftermath
Words are exchanged until the fury’s spent 
Frustration - Anxiety - Sadness - Silence
Then they sit down on the wooden bench …
Slowly muscles relax and nerves untense
Even if it is a passing interlude
Loads are lightened, hearts are soothed.

Wild flowers grow lushly around its feet 
Bobbing bright heads to earth’s vital beat
The bench sits there like a quiet friend 
It’s well-worn seat ever welcoming
A man sits down in a state of unease 
Holding on to his hat in an errant breeze
He picks up his phone and looks at the screen
The unlit glass reflects the tranquil scene …
He looks up and around him his brow somewhat eased
Fleeting albeit, he’s found his moment of peace. 

Songful birds and their terrestrial friends
Roam warbling and chittering around the bench
Hoping for a serendipitously fallen treat 
They browse busily around the seat
A wheelchair-bound man looks up at an overcast sky
His female companion already has water in her eyes
They sit side by side in worlds of their own 
Reminiscence weighs heavy of days that are gone
A mynah trills as a light drizzle falls
And a sweet petrichor briefly dispels the pall …
The man looks at her, takes her hand and she smiles 
For now they’re alright, tomorrow is still a while. 

I too have sat in nature’s restoring arms 
On that bench where she weaves her alchemical charms
I too have unburdened my hopes and my fears 
I too have laid my bursting heart bare
And I have heard her soothing murmurs 
That have quietened my deepest despair
I’ve looked into her soft eyes from that corner in the park
For a time, my soul too has emerged from the dark …
The clouds have parted, the sun has shone through 
And I’ve breathed more easily, sitting on that wooden pew.

Image generated vis illustration software

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 | STILLNESS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writing1 Comment 
There is a peace in solitude
It comes with a little practice
At first you miss the cacophony 
Of everyday distractions 

But the heart in time learns to grow still
You can almost see your breath
Weaving its vapory way out of
Your lungs in a silver thread 

Every inhale is deep and calm
You close your eyes each time
You feel your blood rush in your veins
You feel serene, you feel alive

Time slows down, each moment glides
Almost visibly away
But not before it wraps you 
In its visceral array

It is Now, and Now is all
There is for you to know
It’s in this time of solitude
That your calm and stillness grow.