You Linger

Having touched

My life

You marked me

For life

 

You left

You remain

Often appearing

Reflected in mirrors

 

Déjà vu

Moments abound

Your spirits linger

In myriad ways confound

 

Alone, sick in bed

I sense your gentle treads

Soft breath on fevered brow

Sheer curtain’s sudden billow

 

I plump pillows, turn on side

My feverish palms find

Your sacred chanting beads

My divvied treasure, entrusted

 

Seated on stoop steps outside

I see you twinkling in the night skies

In shapely white clouds during daytime

You affirm your presence time after time

 

I see you in leaves of dusty books

A turn of phrase, in stranger’s looks

In gentle chides, in crooning lullabies

In firm tones, in disappointed moans

 

I’ve tried to live up to your expectations

Life is after all a slippery slope, you know

When you left, my horizon had darkened

Now I light my world’s wick with hope

 

Tides bore away your ashes

Waves obliterated your footprints

Your markings on my soul still remain

Pulsating in the blood’s flow in my veins

 

(**my homage to all my beloved departed kith, kin, friends)

Mom

you left
you remain
a lingering
fragrance
in goodness
in kindness
in simplicity
in veracity
in childlike
belief
in everybody
I drape your
warming essence
when my feet
falter and
I need
unquestioning
love
that you
showered
unstintingly
you left
you will
remain
with
me
till
eternity

Family Tree

I hug its trunk
still a bulwark, rooted
in ancient wisdom

a go to place
when life’s heat
crisps a slow burn

healing self in its
dappled shade, mentally
I hug selective boughs

Physical asunder and
Time have been my
Two main adversaries

In emotional upheavals
I give the tree an angry shake
Only sappy flakes disengage

solid stolid boughs
Hang firm – strong shoulders
My havens, a phone call away

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phantom Limbs & Shelf Life

with progress

things atrophy

 

comfortable ties

choke or amputate selves

 

DNA dilutes

Redundancy rules

 

often wonder at own emotions

and/or lack thereof

 

why feelings run lackluster

my need to emote, warmth muster

 

do feelings too have a shelf life

with longevity chalked out

 

absence no longer endears

fallacy, same old antics do pall

 

is it detachment or emotional turnoff

at life’s fag end, I cogitate, question

 

do relationships have a shelf life

with an inherent expiry date?

**

Old poem – same subject

 

Have been wondering about it of late

Do relationships have an expiry date?

Sight of some who gave a rush of joy

Same face same antics now do annoy

Some pandered to and cultivated contacts

Outlive their usefulness and only distract

Few relations that by loved ones are foisted

Over time do pall to be severed and discarded

Fake relationships make strange bedfellows

Quickly dissolving ignominiously as dodoes

Childhood crushes and some love bitten brushes

Over time reside in mind merely as fond memories

Neighborly relationships are formed dictated by need

Tested yet short lived with inbuilt chips to timely recede

Handful of friends and few resilient blood ties

Stay the course of bonds and persist over time

Thus I do maintain in life everything is rated

Comes with short span, stamped, expiry dated

***   ***   ***

Practically all the relationships I know are based on a foundation of lies and mutually accepted delusion.- Kim Cattrall

Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational. – Hugh Mackay  Author , Athlete

A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies  -    woody Allen

To Mom With Love

 

To Mom with love

 

 your form left

maybe, spirit

lingers in

heart’s

dwelling,

firmly ensconced

 

I see you in

dress up time

In owned special

déjà vu moments

of us

you, me

 

 Dad’s brother said

I looked like him

others, like you

I am of you, my

own guardian

angels

 

always

steering my

life’s paper boat

out of harm’s way

away from

the brink

 

flavor of soap

in my mouth

still gags, you

made me rinse out

four letter words

innocently spoken

 

 

wet rebuking eyes

still haunt when am

less than thoughtful

and find self wanting in

myriad ways n then take

small steps in your ways

 

 

you were special to me

I was very special to you

My guilty pangs you

Dismissed summarily as

growing pains, exhorted

never ever feel guilty

 

 

you were special

you made me feel special

I remember you in waking

sleeping moments, in all my roles

as daughter, mother, aunt

grandmother, friend

 

 

 

Next Page »