Tag: truth

VERSE | TUNNEL VISION

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writing4 Comments

Literal and Satirical definition: defective sight in which objects/ other opinions/ other people cannot be properly seen if not close to the centre of the field of one’s view.

It grips me in its narrowness 
Blurring out everything else
The serrated edges of my self
Fade, become invisible 
I only get to feel
One urgent, solitary reel 
Of fickle life at a time
Drenched as it is in endless
Waters of love or rage
Seas with no horizons
No frontiers, no boundary lines
These swells take over me
In my entirety
I can barely breathe
The deluge almost drowning me
My heart and mind
My tears and smiles 
In that moment are replete
There can be no more
In my stores
Of pain and joy 
They are empty, hollow, done
The universe too
Knows when it’s enough 
And that is why I then see
Only a sliver and no more
Of life’s excess, its extremity 
Its climax, its nth degree
Through the narrowed and diminished lens
Of my shielding, sheltering tunnel vision.
Image: Kay Adonna

VERSE | THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE AIR

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments 
There’s something in the air 
In the way it moves around
The living and the dead
It carries a new sound 
Alien and profound
It bleeds in and it seeps 
Reaching further than skin deep

There’s something in the breeze 
It has much to say 
In mystifying whispers 
The strange leaning of the trees
In the writhing of the leaves
Detaching from their seams
By off-season guillotines 
Shimmer-sharpened by the breeze
It moans against the skin 
In tongues we now don’t speak 
In tormented suffering 
But all that we can see 
Is the stirring of the leaves
In their swaying canopies 

There’s something in the air 
A blinding glitter everywhere
But the motes of light are still
While a cosmic storm prepares  
A million miles away
Thickening, darkening 
Marking time until 
It comes crashing, smashing in
Sweeping us all in
Its alpha and omega waves 
In beginnings and endings
Lips everywhere 
Spilling the same prayers
As with our souls bared
We fuse, we unify
With something new in the air.
Image: DB Waterman
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VERSE | PIN PRICKS AND PAPER CUTS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments 
There’s a shop down the street
Where you can buy consciences
Gentle pin pricks around your heart
For when you want to sense something 
For when you want to feel 
A tiny paper cut, a delicate weal
Most times you buy a numbness though 
Cloaked in velvety greys and yellows 
They’re tailor-made to fit around 
Your never-racing, constant heart 
And your ever-racing, chasing mind
The greater you can muster 
Put down on the counter 
The finer the swaddle
To enshroud your qualms
To feel the vaguest of twinges 
Of right and wrong
When to see and when to be 
Sightless, without sound 
Unconscious, uncurious, asleep
In the thick, creamy fabric
Numbingly, comfortingly bound
Gut-driven compass buried deep
Six feet below the ice and the snow
The tsunamis, the floods and the hurricanes  
The droughts, the disease, the misery
Interred in darkness, entombed underground
In the meantime there’s a shop that sells 
Custom-built, free-of-guilt scruples in town.
Image: Fine Art America

VERSE | THROUGH THEIR EYES

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
She sat there selling bangles 
Set up in a wicker basket 
Some laid down on the grass
Every now and then she gently 
Swept off the dust that spread thinly
From teeming feet that hurried past
Barely slowing near the woman 
Sitting on her haunches hoping 
For someone to slow down, to pause 
Her concave belly almost touching 
The basket that was tugging 
The life blood from her womb 
Every time that she moved 
Spilling it in little driblets 
Onto its precious load

The maternal bond of glass and blood
Unremitting, never enough 
As she sat car-caressing 
Sometimes fretting, sometimes fussing
Rearranging, caring, loving
Always loving, always loving
A tender smile hov-hovering 
Around her tired mouth
She was umbilical-corded 
To her treasures 
Resting in their bed of wicker
Willing them to cleave their way 
Into the hearts of passersby 
Willing them to shine so bright 
That it brought tears to her eyes 
The boundless world of plenty
In those bangles by her side

Behind her lay two little heads 
Heat-numbed and stupefied 
Little thumbs in little mouths
Doing their best to pacify
The endless hunger in their bellies 
Matured and rarefied 
Over lifetimes spent behind 
Their mother as she hummed 
Little songs of gentle rain 
On golden fields of wheat and rye
Watching their little sisters 
Take all their mother’s time 
Resting in their basket
They tinkled and they winked
They watched their little sisters 
Gleaming, laughing in delight 
Suckling on the joyfulness 
That streamed from their mother’s eyes.
NB: Image is from the World Wide Web. Artist was not mentioned.

VERSE | KIDNEY-STONED

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
There’s an ache in my kidneys 
It’s stuck fast to me 
It seems to go deeper 
Than just physically 

When I least expect it 
The pain creeps up on me 
Like a divine messenger 
Whispering its prophecy 

I clutch my aching flesh 
On my left or my right 
I press desperate fingers 
On the tormenting side 

And then I hear the words 
As they form in my head 
The pain cannon-balling them
Into shooting threads 

It’s a manifestation of 
Trying hard to fit in 
Of being torn to pieces 
Every single day within 

It’s the gathering storm 
On every page in my feed 
Of a debt-propelled suicide 
Of a billionaire’s feast 

It’s the hungry eyes 
That sit in their deathly sockets 
It’s the bloated engines 
Of Mars-bound rockets 

It’s people breaking out of 
Society’s pristine box 
To be trodden underfoot 
By the conventionally orthodox 

It’s the clamour of politics 
Economics and faith 
It’s the thousand new ways 
We resent and we hate 

These barbs sit inside me 
Each waiting its turn 
They’ll wound and they’ll lance me 
Until they’re felt and they’re heard 

There’s an ache in my kidneys 
Of a tragedy that’s new
Or one that’s lingered awhile 
And now is screaming its truth.

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.
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VERSE | VEINS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
She looks at the leaf 
Its serrated edges holding together 
A cosmos of possibilities 
Of alternate realities 
Of burgeoning opportunities 
She looks at a vein 
A cholorophyllated pathway of dreams 
A vital, verdant, emerald seam
Running like a stream 
From the heart of the leaf to one serrated edge

Nearest
To her wrist 

Where her own veins have seared a path
Specific, stark  
Chiseled from the magma of predestined fate
Pre-blessed, pre-set, per-fected
Once a rolling ocean of fluid dreams 
Now quiet, grief-stained, shadowy seams 
Of still water that never skips
Never dances; it stays gripped
Even as it drips
In the finite space of one blue-purple vein
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UPDATE- New Book Release | SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS

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

My book SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS is now available at the following locations:

SRI LANKA:
- THE BAREFOOT BOOKSTORE
- THE JAM FRUIT TREE BOOKSTORE
- PENDI
- SARSASAVI BOOKSTORES
- EXPOGRAPHICS

PAKISTAN:
- LIBERTY BOOKS
- PARAMOUNT BOOKS
- READINGS

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The book is a collection of poems and essays, and as the name suggests, the contents of the 243 pages range from the sublime to the ridiculous; from soaring on the wings of ecstacy to struggling with overwhelming despair; from the capricious joys of matrimony to the dubious delights of singledom; from the profound ecstasy in a mug of steaming latte to the ardent disappointment in a less than perfectly brewed cup of tea; from the comedic to the somber and from the customary to the controversial, this collection of poems and features encompasses them all, and like a sore-throated bulbul (who also has some clear-voice days) I have sung them all for you.

POETRY READING | JUST ANOTHER FAIRYTALE

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

My book SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS is a collection of poems and essays, rumblings of the heart about the joys, the truths, the pain, the controversies, the funniness and the wonder that criss cross all our lives in one way or another.

The book is divided into five sections: Joy, Foot-in-the-mouth, Truth, Hope and Serenity. The Truth and Foot-in-the-Mouth categories are especially brazen and raw. As with most such uninhibited writing, the objective is to assail the sensibilities and even if just for a while, to look the truth right in its jaundiced eye. The other three sections are largely whimsical and uplifting very much like walking through a zen corridor, which I’m hoping, will also soften the sensory assault of the former two segments.

POETRY READING | MAYA

On By Mahvash K. M.In newbook, poetry, SHIMMERING SCRAPS, writingLeave a comment

My book of poetry and essays SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS will be available in bookstores across Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the end of December 2022.

FRIENDS IN SL can get their copies TODAY from the Jam Fruit Tree bookstore on Galle road in Colombo via call/ WhatsApp to 072-7268078.

Shimmering Scraps is a collection of poems and essays, rumblings of the heart about the joys, the truths, the pain, the controversies, the funniness and the wonder that criss cross all our lives in one way or another.

The book is divided into five sections: Joy, Foot-in-the-mouth, Truth, Hope and Serenity. The Truth and Foot-in-the-Mouth categories are especially brazen and raw. As with most such uninhibited writing, the objective is to assail the sensibilities and even if just for a while, to look the truth right in its jaundiced eye. The other three sections are largely whimsical and uplifting very much like walking through a zen corridor, which I’m hoping, will also soften the sensory assault of the former two segments.

NEW BOOK RELEASE | SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS

On By Mahvash K. M.In Foot in the Mouth, Joy, newbook, poetry, serenity, truth, verse, womenwriters, writing3 Comments

Dear friends and family,

It is with great excitement and pleasure that I introduce my second book for the grownups – my book of poetry and essays titled SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS. The book will be available across bookstores in Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the end of December 2022. Friends in SL can currently order it from the Jam Fruit Tree bookstore on Galle Road via call/WhatsApp to 072-7268078.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

This is a collection of poems and essays, humble opinions, rumblings of the heart about the joys, the truths, the pain, the controversies, the funniness and the wonder that criss cross all our lives in one way or another. I have compiled them here because too many times, we are witnesses to profound beauty, love, dreams, desolation, prejudice and injustice and yet, we forget.

The contents of these pages range from the sublime to the ridiculous; from soaring on the wings of ecstacy to struggling with overwhelming despair; from the capricious joys of matrimony to the dubious delights of singledom; from the profound ecstasy in a mug of steaming latte to the ardent disappointment in a less than perfectly brewed cup of tea; from the comedic to the somber and from the customary to the controversial, this collection of poems and features encompasses them all.

Scraps of Poetry and Madness is a phrase borrowed from that literary Wonder Woman, Virginia Woolfe. For in this collection too, there is a stream of raw and strident, passive and ruminative, joyous and grief-bound, mad and glad thoughts that run like a melody through the entirety of its spine; and like a sore-throated bulbul (who also has some good-voice days) I have sung them all for my readers.

VERSE | STARS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, writingLeave a comment 
She carried a little bouquet 
Of golden-hearted nargis*
Her face flushed, her eyes bright
She was going to make a gift of them
To someone special.
The bus stop was empty
Save the woman with the flowers
And me. I had my phone in my hand
She sat on the bench waiting
Clutching her bouquet
I stood nearby, holding my phone
Watching her secretly
Trying not to spook her
But she was mesmerizing 
In the tender enchantment 
That surrounded her

The bus was late
She sat there almost motionlessly, quietly 
But the thrum of her joyful energy
Was taken up by the gay bouquet
As it danced gently in the breeze
She wore yellow shalwar kameez*
With little white flowers 
Or were they stars?
They were tiny, almost imperceptible 
So small I was sure even she wouldn’t know
But they shimmered in her gaiety
She smiled as she adjusted the stems
The flowers bobbed back happily
She sat there like a painting 
Full of joy and anticipation 

The bus rolled in
Carrying its load of passengers 
I lingered a while to see
The recipient of this picture of love 
That waited brightly on the seat 
Together we watched people alight
People go left and right
Until the last passenger stepped down
I climbed on, slowly, hesitantly
I sat down near a window and looked out
The bouquet now lay inertly on the bench
Its sunny heart wrenched 
Where it had been clenched
In the ardent embrace of a pair of hands 
Drenching it in the liquid warmth of love

They were stars, not flowers
On her kameez, five-pronged tridents
Piercing, lancing, shattering
The perfection of beautiful things 
Hidden, Unbeknownst to her 
The fault, I was sure, lay in the stars.
* Nargis: Daffodil

* Shalwar kameez: the long shirt and trousers worn by women in Pakistan and India