Tag: verse

VERSE | VEINS

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

Note: This poem was long-listed in the 2023 Plough Poetry Competition

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

VERSE | MIST

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
The winter mist is rolling in 
Tracing umbras and penumbras 
On liquid walls conjuring 
Illusions of nostalgic things 
Like tapestries of sunny hills 
And shadowlands where 
valleys stretch 
Into soft concaves 
Of velvety days shimmering
At their edges, glimmering 
In the halos of lit up orbs
Glittering, pulsating
Watching and observing all 
Like eager sentries making sure 
The invading mist 
Covets no more 
Than the silver kiss 
That it bestows 
On each doorway 
As it tiptoes
In and then away 
Into the darkness further along 
All the while 
As it glides
Whispering its vapory song.

VERSE | THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES

On By Mahvash K. M.In Emotions, Humanity, poetry, Sadness, truth, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
I wish sometimes that I could 
Pause this mad, sad world of ours
Just make it static, less erratic 
For a few peaceful hours

I wish sometimes that I could
Travel to 1945
Put a spanner in-genius things 
That now maim and unalive

I wish sometimes that I could 
Get into the minds of men
To fathom whence the ego-angst
Comes seething, storming in

I wish sometimes that I could 
Put my arms around the babes
As ceilings and beams are pulverised 
Sealing off all escape

I wish that I could look into 
The eyes of the “chosen” hoard
As they rape, ruin and raze
In the name of a furious god 

I wish that I could for a while
Wield the zen of the universe
To open up her veins, to let 
Her essence truly gush forth 

I wish that I could make our world 
A softer place to be
Cotton-balled for a little haul
A pearl-feathered reprieve

I wish that I could wish and sometimes
Wishes indeed came true
But every time I open my eyes
Reality flogs anew.

Image: Lakshay Jakhar

VERSE | THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, truth, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
He looks at him, his son-in-law
Blinking, not recognizing him
It has been over half a year 
Since this son was last here 
Half a lifetime in his existence 
Scrambled by dementia. Aasiya
The daughter he’s barely spoken to
Given in marriage at 22
He now remembers crystal clear 
As she sits with him, ministering 
Talking to him now without fear
Ungrudgingly for all the years
She was not enough. Arif
Her husband with the business
The opinions and the maleness
Was the apple of her father’s eyes
But now all he sees in the clouds of time 
Is this angel with her beautiful smile
As she soothes him, and she feeds him
Her gentle touch calming the storms 
Of confusion and disquietude
That rage through him so often now
All he sees, all he has eyes for
Is his daughter, his beloved Aasiya.

Image: Blackbirdkoyel

VERSE | SEPIA STORMS

On By Mahvash K. M.In poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
I hear the leaves rustle in the breeze
The gust picks up slowly, gradually
I hear the rattle of a window 
The one that lies loosely in its frame 
Like a watchful sentry 
Announcing the entry 
Of a wayward breeze 
That rolls in through its screen
To knock upon the door
At the end of the corridor

I walk out of my bedroom into the lounge 
The sentinel window 
Is now trembling, recoiling
Rattling its pane 
Warning of rain 
That will soon moisten  
Its face; gushing
Rushing, tearing
The dust off old memories
Renewing the pain 

I see the first flash of lightning and then 
The thunder breaks
The storm has arrived 
I look at it through the window 
Now lying quietly in its frame 
Soon the glisten of its pane
Swells into a stream flowing 
Down silently as I sit quietly 
With the sweet ache 
Of old memories again.

VERSE | CRESCENT MOON

On By Mahvash K. M.In Joy, poetry, serenity, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
The crescent moon shone overhead 
She wore a tilted smile 
I looked at her and asked wherefore 
She smiled so, was she shy?

Convinced that in her timid state 
She hadn’t heard my query 
As she perched in her cosmic grove 
Smiling lopsidedly 

So I cupped my hands around my mouth 
The lady was full of guile 
“O Crescent moon, you nighttime boon 
Give the world a real smile!”

She seemed to laugh and hid herself 
In some gossamer clouds nearby 
But her glowing curve still favored
The right side of the sky 

I watched her play hide and seek 
Showing a bit of her askew smile 
Floating, gliding through the clouds 
I was enchanted, mesmerized 

I turned away, this sensory play 
Called for a brew of tea 
Mug in hand, when I looked again 
She was beaming cheek to cheek.

VERSE | WEIGHT WHAT?

On By Mahvash K. M.In Emotions, truth, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments

(This piece is about body image issues that so many women face especially as they get older. It takes a lot of character and guts to not let the negativity get to you. Again, this objectification is a product of our chauvinistic environments).

You’ve put on weight, wait! 
Does this mean that you’re eating too many sweets
Or could it be that you’re finally getting old
Old, rolled, holed into the box
That’s been built for you, no u-turns
Nothing you can fox your fading way out of
You’re done.  Stay in the shadows, woman
Know your place
Face the truth of tradition
Perdition
Hard-wired into your being, your biology 
Know your place
Or we’ll remind you 
Laughingly, ribbing along the line
Where we can jest or malign

I’m caught off guard, but I’ve also been 
Wrought, fraught, taught
To feel bad for feeling bad 
To smile wide
Wide enough to swallow his sin and my own hurt
My eyes scrunch up, almost close
Those windows to my soul
Beclouded, beclogged, becloaked
Lest the world see the state of my heart
He feels bad for an instant, he reneges
Laughingly, now ribbing across the line
I feel worse that he feels bad 
My smile widens until I can feel it cut into my skin
His sin and my guilt doubled
Lancing at my face, etching unnatural lines
Into furrows that make me look 
Comic, demonic, they take their pick
On the day they feel a rage
Righteous, man-ifold and brave
That they then spill into the ruts 
Of my shame-shambled face.
Image: Zelal Guzlan

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 
Sitting in 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 | FOR NOW

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
Dappled sunlight 
Upon my skin 
Warm, streaming motes 
Kiss my neck 
My arms, my face 
Whispering sweet nothings 
Caressing, comforting 
My shoulders drop
The weight of the world 
That sits on them 
Like twin rocks 
I’m no longer Atlas 
Holding up the sky
Shivering
In its storminess
Legs quivering
Under its burden of sighs
And tears and loss 
For now 
It has all melted away 
The coldness, the heaviness, the grey 
For now 
There is only a quiet joy 
A rainbow sprinkling 
Of dappled sunlight 
Upon my skin 
Thawing me, warming me 
From within.

VERSE | THE AB-SIND CLUB

On By Mahvash K. M.In Foot in the Mouth, funny, poetry, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment

This is a fond tribute to all the microscosms of colonial design and demeanour/ architecture and attitude that continue to faithfully roost in various cities across what was once the coveted Jewel in the Crown.

I’m having a day that’s making me feel 
More sterile than a beetle on its back 
I’m walking on the thin side 
Of breaking down, losing sight 
Of my psychedelic, privileged life 
I need some of the forgetting tonic 
That Pir Buksh so expertly whips up 
That makes me happy, schizophrenic 
With every sip and every glug 
I drink the potion, and I duly grow 
My Abs synth-esizing my lost bravado 

Suddenly they’re all like flies 
On the periphery of my eyes 
They cease to make me wince and curse
They cease to be a part of my universe 
I sit back, bark an order 
In Bloodhound, German shepherd tones 
Throw a carcass, throw some bones 
Throw a tantrum for good measure 
The club becomes a pyramid 
I’m at the top, the very apex 
Those hoisiting it upon their shoulders 
The club like a majestic boulder 
Matter not, they sit there 
Like a pile of boring underwear 
They’ve seen it all but you don’t care
They keep it all precisely together 
The erstwhile jewels in their imperial leather 

“One more!” I shout in thundering tones 
“Absinth me up quick bartender!”
Before I lose the precious threads
Of the delicate lace of elegance 
Pir Bukhsh gives me some more manna
From the counter in the shadows 
And I swallow and I glide
In the throes of happy amnesia 
The absinthe in the Ab-sind club 
Makes me feel so damn superi-a
Heavens be praised I’ve had a day
Like I’m lord of a castle in the UK
Indeed, the last few hours have made me feel
Like a hero in a Bollywood reel.

VERSE | LONGING

On By Mahvash K. M.In hope, poetry, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment 
I found an eyelash on your cheek 
It perched there like a dream 
I couldn’t take my eyes away 
From that hypnotising scene

The beautiful imperfection of
That eyelash out of place 
Was also the exquisiteness 
Of nature’s untamed grace 

You looked at me as I looked at
The fallen angel on your cheek 
It fluttered on broken wings like 
Back into heaven it would leap 

And then you smiled that special smile 
Where your eyes light up with mirth
The eyelash took a leap of faith 
Becoming one with the pulsing earth 

I found an eyelash, it had strayed 
Onto your sun warmed skin 
It filled my heart with wistfulness 
With love and with longing.

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.