Poetry Competition Ends 30th April 2025 11:19pm
DU Official NaPoWriMo Challenge
#3/30
Lotus
In the humidity of the sky
and the heat of the sun,
with the warmth of the water
and the touch of the fish,
Bunches of PINK LotuS had bloomed
Pearls used to fall
from every petal of the soft lotus
The pond complained
that the winds blow very fast
in every sunset the flowers embraced the sky
they used to be very proud
under the refuge of the earth
The flow of the pond changed
In a killer cold foggy evening
The mud froze like ice
In a moment,
the lotus clusters
became strangers for pond
Bunches,
which were dancing
on the verge of ecstasy
became as silent as glass
This stoppage of time
started becoming painful
the wind that used to tell
stories of the beauty
of the blue pond here and there,
now started stinging
like the sting of a bee
This was a time
when the world
was bleeding from
a piece of a falling star
and its splinters
and sharp edges...
Lotus
In the humidity of the sky
and the heat of the sun,
with the warmth of the water
and the touch of the fish,
Bunches of PINK LotuS had bloomed
Pearls used to fall
from every petal of the soft lotus
The pond complained
that the winds blow very fast
in every sunset the flowers embraced the sky
they used to be very proud
under the refuge of the earth
The flow of the pond changed
In a killer cold foggy evening
The mud froze like ice
In a moment,
the lotus clusters
became strangers for pond
Bunches,
which were dancing
on the verge of ecstasy
became as silent as glass
This stoppage of time
started becoming painful
the wind that used to tell
stories of the beauty
of the blue pond here and there,
now started stinging
like the sting of a bee
This was a time
when the world
was bleeding from
a piece of a falling star
and its splinters
and sharp edges...
2/30
Grease
Crumbling sand falls through my hands
Erased upon the wind
Relativity does not account for rewind
Yet I find a way to move backwards through time
The muddy knees of Socrates
A shallow thought held under water
So much bother as the bubbles discontinue their venture to the surface
Always contemplating purpose
Until these real eyes inhale
And realize in hell
That the true pain is isolated
That the suffering is stagnated
That the reality is anticipated
Through a devastating lense
The sunrises as it dawns on me
Its been a decade since I've spoken to some friends
Its been hard fate since I've spoken from this end
The sun sets before it's gone
Just as Narcissis couldn't stop the ripple from what he reflected upon
(Late - was just a rough day. Slipped my mind)
Grease
Crumbling sand falls through my hands
Erased upon the wind
Relativity does not account for rewind
Yet I find a way to move backwards through time
The muddy knees of Socrates
A shallow thought held under water
So much bother as the bubbles discontinue their venture to the surface
Always contemplating purpose
Until these real eyes inhale
And realize in hell
That the true pain is isolated
That the suffering is stagnated
That the reality is anticipated
Through a devastating lense
The sunrises as it dawns on me
Its been a decade since I've spoken to some friends
Its been hard fate since I've spoken from this end
The sun sets before it's gone
Just as Narcissis couldn't stop the ripple from what he reflected upon
(Late - was just a rough day. Slipped my mind)
3/30
Oh Happy Day
oh sunny day welcomes me in
beautiful sunlit flowers smile up at me
while their tree guardians take note
the birds resting in their boughs
leaves rustling slightly
while their branches praise the blue
the sky reaches on forever
a home for the sun
The earth rotates lazily as the day progresses on
She is interactive, our mother
she gives as she receives
I notice that on days I'm stormy
and stomping out about the property
She will reach out and trip me
admonishing me to be kind
the energy I'm stirring is contagious
to my fellow beings
so I refocus myself centering as I go
meditating on the beauty of the place
and relay a positive message in which to dwell
Oh Happy Day
oh sunny day welcomes me in
beautiful sunlit flowers smile up at me
while their tree guardians take note
the birds resting in their boughs
leaves rustling slightly
while their branches praise the blue
the sky reaches on forever
a home for the sun
The earth rotates lazily as the day progresses on
She is interactive, our mother
she gives as she receives
I notice that on days I'm stormy
and stomping out about the property
She will reach out and trip me
admonishing me to be kind
the energy I'm stirring is contagious
to my fellow beings
so I refocus myself centering as I go
meditating on the beauty of the place
and relay a positive message in which to dwell
3/30
Breathe
Breathe
Relax
Close your eyes
Feel the rising
Of your chest taking
In air as you breathe in
And its fall as you breathe out
Inhaling and exhaling air
Life giving oxygen that nourish
Your life through out the years that you're living
Take time to savor the moment of peace
Feel your lungs expand and your heart beat
Alive, healthy and vigorous
Appreciate what you have
Be grateful and give thanks
For the gift of life
For everything
Cherish life
God loves
You
Breathe
Breathe
Relax
Close your eyes
Feel the rising
Of your chest taking
In air as you breathe in
And its fall as you breathe out
Inhaling and exhaling air
Life giving oxygen that nourish
Your life through out the years that you're living
Take time to savor the moment of peace
Feel your lungs expand and your heart beat
Alive, healthy and vigorous
Appreciate what you have
Be grateful and give thanks
For the gift of life
For everything
Cherish life
God loves
You
3/30
My k(night)
in the depth of my loneliness,
in the shadow of my solitude,
i often muse
...of someone coming from
across the sky
on a shooting star
from a distant planet;
a man: beautiful,
sweet and shy,
kindness glowing
on his face
with deep dark eyes
for me to gaze
into our eternity,
to be lost forever
in the haze of serenity,
away from my miseries
away from my pain
where there is no loss...no gain...
transcending space and time
he carries me to his universe
where only love...love and love rhyme...
a world where the sky
is a silken field
while the stars twinkling wildflowers;
and the crescent moon-
a pearly rainbow
in a purple twilight
that's fading into
a mystical night...
beneath the moon
lying down in each other's arms,
the aura is so calm...
as we look up
water of dreams flowing placidly
high above
and we drown slowly
into that everlasting love...
My k(night)
in the depth of my loneliness,
in the shadow of my solitude,
i often muse
...of someone coming from
across the sky
on a shooting star
from a distant planet;
a man: beautiful,
sweet and shy,
kindness glowing
on his face
with deep dark eyes
for me to gaze
into our eternity,
to be lost forever
in the haze of serenity,
away from my miseries
away from my pain
where there is no loss...no gain...
transcending space and time
he carries me to his universe
where only love...love and love rhyme...
a world where the sky
is a silken field
while the stars twinkling wildflowers;
and the crescent moon-
a pearly rainbow
in a purple twilight
that's fading into
a mystical night...
beneath the moon
lying down in each other's arms,
the aura is so calm...
as we look up
water of dreams flowing placidly
high above
and we drown slowly
into that everlasting love...
3 of 30
Reflected scenes.
A light infused,
And an almost doting,
Crystalline skin,
Is poised with nonexistent tension.
A happenstance state,
in a sudden embrace,
As firm as the finest down,
Compacts in a spread of,
Descending weight.
Within the silent
Moment of a moment
An imperceptible breath.
Is left hanging in the birth,
Of a moisture laden cloud.
And faster than it's laid,
It's left.
A mist enshrined, bereft void,
Becomes a cascade of space.
A tantric arc of,
Bejeweled and refracted motion.
Collapsing in a hollow,
In a run of hollows,
A light infused,
And an almost doting,
Crystalline skin,
Is again poised with nonexistent tension.
Reflected scenes.
A light infused,
And an almost doting,
Crystalline skin,
Is poised with nonexistent tension.
A happenstance state,
in a sudden embrace,
As firm as the finest down,
Compacts in a spread of,
Descending weight.
Within the silent
Moment of a moment
An imperceptible breath.
Is left hanging in the birth,
Of a moisture laden cloud.
And faster than it's laid,
It's left.
A mist enshrined, bereft void,
Becomes a cascade of space.
A tantric arc of,
Bejeweled and refracted motion.
Collapsing in a hollow,
In a run of hollows,
A light infused,
And an almost doting,
Crystalline skin,
Is again poised with nonexistent tension.
3 of 30
my trust fund, my nuclear waste
Your sunset burns
my bible and my apocryphally, crappy ideals.
Like a nest of thoroughbred horses
tethered to a slaughterhouse,
your radiance brings a bolt pistol to the floor.
All cat food for the masses - and
I hope to, one day,
find my one pure god.
The new spring grass.
A pail, Pure morning rain. The wren all proffering
in a morphine flute-blue.
And his holler,
an entr’acte for his gratefulness to Dymphna’s grace
and each of her resuscitations.
my trust fund, my nuclear waste
Your sunset burns
my bible and my apocryphally, crappy ideals.
Like a nest of thoroughbred horses
tethered to a slaughterhouse,
your radiance brings a bolt pistol to the floor.
All cat food for the masses - and
I hope to, one day,
find my one pure god.
The new spring grass.
A pail, Pure morning rain. The wren all proffering
in a morphine flute-blue.
And his holler,
an entr’acte for his gratefulness to Dymphna’s grace
and each of her resuscitations.
3/30
A Poem For My Dad
Seeing you in my dreams
Never gets any easier
There’s a different kind of heartache
That comes with this kind of grief
I miss you everyday
And think of all the things you’re not here for
Some days are just harder
Where everything reminds me of you
Maybe it's the cloudy weather
And the chill that's in the air
But today, I can’t seem to stop thinking
Of how much I could use one of your hugs
A Poem For My Dad
Seeing you in my dreams
Never gets any easier
There’s a different kind of heartache
That comes with this kind of grief
I miss you everyday
And think of all the things you’re not here for
Some days are just harder
Where everything reminds me of you
Maybe it's the cloudy weather
And the chill that's in the air
But today, I can’t seem to stop thinking
Of how much I could use one of your hugs
#3
~’anthaadhi.. the eternal sun
no start no end
..anthaadhi
this primordial godparticle
in within this transient being
he too one such rustic warrior
simplistic naivety written all over
.. braving against any injustice, in
a raging red fiery warring vigilante
a roaring avatar
in rudra thaandava
(born a no-one in a nowhere mapped
an insignificantly conversing ..
a colloquial hamlet.. of this
a nothing much held interior pocket
thats in scrap out moulting layers
of its crispy flaky roughened hardness
from its crazily heated up crusted lands
as if cracking out innumerably
in risky seismic palmistries.. bleeding
daily in honest sweat out ploughings
smiling amidst landmines to tremors
he is the humble prideful
Son and Sun of this Soulful Soil
..these pitch black dry lands soils
as his deep eyes and dark skins
.. yearning to be setting in
as auspiciously seeded clouding
…outpouring as lashing down rains)
in his greying hairs now.. turns
into a newborn again.. long bed-ridden
and now trying learning hard
to walk ..with planted support
.. as an eagerly clumsily
stepping baby walk .. clad
in just the diapers..
nothing but tears swell in
my pretty aging wrinkly eyes
to a Niagara roll out~ pooling in
as overwhelming monsoonal
Cherrapunji rains ..
those same arms that once
in embrace of this me, an
adamant little girl.. & those
same flexing high arrow legs
touching skies in yogic asanas
..a yogic guru to that little me
…are almost made motionless
the child .. he .. a dawning sun ..
never a dulling moment..
.. will come out of this
disabling dormancy.. as
The Eternal Summer.. shining
in exuberance .. once again
yet again .. just for me his lil girl
..& for such us, droopily waiting
as shrivelling away brown crop
in dire need
of a photosynthetic assimilation
of you, your light, your love
appa
*unique words: 207
~’anthaadhi.. the eternal sun
no start no end
..anthaadhi
this primordial godparticle
in within this transient being
he too one such rustic warrior
simplistic naivety written all over
.. braving against any injustice, in
a raging red fiery warring vigilante
a roaring avatar
in rudra thaandava
(born a no-one in a nowhere mapped
an insignificantly conversing ..
a colloquial hamlet.. of this
a nothing much held interior pocket
thats in scrap out moulting layers
of its crispy flaky roughened hardness
from its crazily heated up crusted lands
as if cracking out innumerably
in risky seismic palmistries.. bleeding
daily in honest sweat out ploughings
smiling amidst landmines to tremors
he is the humble prideful
Son and Sun of this Soulful Soil
..these pitch black dry lands soils
as his deep eyes and dark skins
.. yearning to be setting in
as auspiciously seeded clouding
…outpouring as lashing down rains)
in his greying hairs now.. turns
into a newborn again.. long bed-ridden
and now trying learning hard
to walk ..with planted support
.. as an eagerly clumsily
stepping baby walk .. clad
in just the diapers..
nothing but tears swell in
my pretty aging wrinkly eyes
to a Niagara roll out~ pooling in
as overwhelming monsoonal
Cherrapunji rains ..
those same arms that once
in embrace of this me, an
adamant little girl.. & those
same flexing high arrow legs
touching skies in yogic asanas
..a yogic guru to that little me
…are almost made motionless
the child .. he .. a dawning sun ..
never a dulling moment..
.. will come out of this
disabling dormancy.. as
The Eternal Summer.. shining
in exuberance .. once again
yet again .. just for me his lil girl
..& for such us, droopily waiting
as shrivelling away brown crop
in dire need
of a photosynthetic assimilation
of you, your light, your love
appa
*unique words: 207
3/30
Dirty Work
I did a little dusting, just the other day
Some “light housekeeping”
Vacuumed yesterday’s coffee talk
swept the crumbs
And shoved a few words under the rug
It’s just a little spring cleaning
So I take to the curtains and tear them up
I’ll try blinds instead
things don’t always wash well, and you’d be a liar to disagree
Hypocrisy is the biggest mess there is to clean
With that sticky mud it keeps on tracking
I’ve mopped the floor a hundred times
So I’ve given up, it just keeps coming back
So much work to do, so little time
Light housekeeping really does a number on my mind
And my body follows suit
So I’ve decided that it’s time to drop the broom, and pack my bags
Put it on the market how I leave it
Now, it’s someone else’s dirty work.
Dirty Work
I did a little dusting, just the other day
Some “light housekeeping”
Vacuumed yesterday’s coffee talk
swept the crumbs
And shoved a few words under the rug
It’s just a little spring cleaning
So I take to the curtains and tear them up
I’ll try blinds instead
things don’t always wash well, and you’d be a liar to disagree
Hypocrisy is the biggest mess there is to clean
With that sticky mud it keeps on tracking
I’ve mopped the floor a hundred times
So I’ve given up, it just keeps coming back
So much work to do, so little time
Light housekeeping really does a number on my mind
And my body follows suit
So I’ve decided that it’s time to drop the broom, and pack my bags
Put it on the market how I leave it
Now, it’s someone else’s dirty work.
3/30
iii
One day (was May),
men lax for tax
won max; got sax,
but nay, not pay!
Yet now, see how
you try and fly;
all eye the sky—
say "wow!"; ask "how?"
Why did her kid
(yon coy, shy boy)
get foy new toy?
Mum hid his lid!
Fey kit did fit;
gal rap our map.
Big tap, bad zap—
had wit; she hit!
iii
One day (was May),
men lax for tax
won max; got sax,
but nay, not pay!
Yet now, see how
you try and fly;
all eye the sky—
say "wow!"; ask "how?"
Why did her kid
(yon coy, shy boy)
get foy new toy?
Mum hid his lid!
Fey kit did fit;
gal rap our map.
Big tap, bad zap—
had wit; she hit!
3 of 30
(RE:)turn to Sender
A message unrequited, out of spite
or,
perhaps pending full approval
and an adequately detailed response?
Alas,
I send unto you
tidings of polite courteous request
meticulous and thorough
to avoid unnecessary confusion,
yet admittedly more lengthy than needs be.
Yet your response
to my email
bedecked in pomp and circumstance
oh so proper as procedure requires,
is:
'Hi,
yeah,
sounds good.'
How the Bard must weep
for language unused enough
to keep a thimble thirsty.
Yours faithfully, hoping you marshal enough sense to reply with more words next time.
(Unique Words: 78)
(RE:)turn to Sender
A message unrequited, out of spite
or,
perhaps pending full approval
and an adequately detailed response?
Alas,
I send unto you
tidings of polite courteous request
meticulous and thorough
to avoid unnecessary confusion,
yet admittedly more lengthy than needs be.
Yet your response
to my email
bedecked in pomp and circumstance
oh so proper as procedure requires,
is:
'Hi,
yeah,
sounds good.'
How the Bard must weep
for language unused enough
to keep a thimble thirsty.
Yours faithfully, hoping you marshal enough sense to reply with more words next time.
(Unique Words: 78)
# 3
Unrelenting
Are you outside in
Or inside out?
Where does the pressure hit you?
Did the news today
Take your breath away
Or was that the unresolved tension?
Do you want to scream or isolate?
Can you halt the growing suspicion
Our moralities flushed
Freedom asterisked
Or is it that the unempathetic,
Cruel, and malicious
Are at the forefront
Tempering the loudest?
Are you outside in
Or inside out?
What pressure are you putting?
Passivity will end this world.
Peace must be unrelenting.
59 u/w
Unrelenting
Are you outside in
Or inside out?
Where does the pressure hit you?
Did the news today
Take your breath away
Or was that the unresolved tension?
Do you want to scream or isolate?
Can you halt the growing suspicion
Our moralities flushed
Freedom asterisked
Or is it that the unempathetic,
Cruel, and malicious
Are at the forefront
Tempering the loudest?
Are you outside in
Or inside out?
What pressure are you putting?
Passivity will end this world.
Peace must be unrelenting.
59 u/w
3 of 30
short-lived fantasies...
everything...
every imaginable uplifting
gifted to me in that moment of time
that's what it gave me
on a wild whim I entered
never expecting any kind of return
they all said it wouldn't happen
insistent my stature wasn't up to the challenge
{what's wrong with being petite?!}
but for the first time...
I followed my dream
a few simple photos
brief biography
stuffed in an envelope
addressed & sent
& the unthinkable occurred
I got the call
date set & location
again...I went...despite them
all the naysayers
& their cautionary words
it was...terrifying...
but the lights...the music...
the power of the walk...my stomp
Livin' on a Prayer...
the thundering applause
better than any drug
goddess...it consumed all my fear
filling me with fire
600 of us took a chance
10 got called back
one of them...was short little ol' me
I could barely breathe
but I walked & posed
did exactly as I was told
& in a silent corner of my mind...
allowed a tiny pocket of hope
took years to admit my disappointment
when they chose someone else
statuesque...of course
I never really wanted to be famous
I only hungered to be something special
{which I already am...
though I couldn't see it then}
but for those few weeks...
I had fire & drive...
& damn...
...I felt so {beautifully} alive
short-lived fantasies...
everything...
every imaginable uplifting
gifted to me in that moment of time
that's what it gave me
on a wild whim I entered
never expecting any kind of return
they all said it wouldn't happen
insistent my stature wasn't up to the challenge
{what's wrong with being petite?!}
but for the first time...
I followed my dream
a few simple photos
brief biography
stuffed in an envelope
addressed & sent
& the unthinkable occurred
I got the call
date set & location
again...I went...despite them
all the naysayers
& their cautionary words
it was...terrifying...
but the lights...the music...
the power of the walk...my stomp
Livin' on a Prayer...
the thundering applause
better than any drug
goddess...it consumed all my fear
filling me with fire
600 of us took a chance
10 got called back
one of them...was short little ol' me
I could barely breathe
but I walked & posed
did exactly as I was told
& in a silent corner of my mind...
allowed a tiny pocket of hope
took years to admit my disappointment
when they chose someone else
statuesque...of course
I never really wanted to be famous
I only hungered to be something special
{which I already am...
though I couldn't see it then}
but for those few weeks...
I had fire & drive...
& damn...
...I felt so {beautifully} alive
3/30
The Girl Goes Out Without a Jacket on the First Sunny Day
or, The First Buds of April
The mist lies low in all the deeps and hollows.
Clinging branches hold
to Winter’s trace,
but cannot stop our prancing
purple kiss –
the grace of promised change
has come at last.
The dark
is not the longest part of day,
now light will run
her fingers through our hair.
Our heart, long cold, is finally thawing out
and frigid night is not
where we will stay.
Old women warn of winter
still concealed
within the open arms of April’s reach.
The rains will come.
The wind may steal our glory.
Temperatures may drop below the freeze,
but we can’t wait to show off our new frock
and celebrate the sun and all her warmth.
The Girl Goes Out Without a Jacket on the First Sunny Day
or, The First Buds of April
The mist lies low in all the deeps and hollows.
Clinging branches hold
to Winter’s trace,
but cannot stop our prancing
purple kiss –
the grace of promised change
has come at last.
The dark
is not the longest part of day,
now light will run
her fingers through our hair.
Our heart, long cold, is finally thawing out
and frigid night is not
where we will stay.
Old women warn of winter
still concealed
within the open arms of April’s reach.
The rains will come.
The wind may steal our glory.
Temperatures may drop below the freeze,
but we can’t wait to show off our new frock
and celebrate the sun and all her warmth.
