Quest(ion)ing

I work with words

Work around them

Turn them inside out,

Sometimes invert them

Within themselves...

Split each one, tear limb from limb

And share their screaming silences

Or their silent laughter

With innocence writ large in confounded

faces

Sometimes, again, with blasé bored shut down faces. 

Sometimes, I see them dancing, hanging playfully

Below the ceiling, creeping in through windows

Where a stray eye streaks out to escape the 

Stifling metaphor that coagulates her brain...

And at question time, I wonder at the looks:

Ask, and eyes vacantly hunt upwards, 

Seeking the selfsame words I tried to give them

Only they indifferently ignored them... :)

And now, I see them, there, tantalizingly hovering

Playing hide and seek, as the questing eyes

Cast upwards...

Quest(ion)ing...

How I love that about them!

31 January, 2012

(Live in Class today :))

Free

The gust of wind that blew
Did not take away the weight
I thought it would.

If anything, I feel heavier
For the storm, that rained on,
Did not cleanse, it only drenched.

Heavy, deep inside, with no hope
Of ever shedding that baggage of grief.

When you lose, shouldn't you be light?
For you are suddenly free, severed.

Of responsibility, of being bonded.
Of love.

You are that kite, soaring on freed string.
You are that feather, blowing thither, every which way.

YOU are free.

And there is free. Again.
Free of you.
Free to keep you ever, in my heart.
To know sometimes, visit memories
Free to grieve.

I wonder, though, when
Ever
I will be.
To.


29 January, 2012

Bereft - Tanka

Gently wafts the mist

Gossamer veil, uplifting

Caressed, wrapped in love-

I never knew when you left;

Abandonment, now dawns cold.

27 January, 2012

(Tanka, Japanese lyric verse - Syllable count 5-7-5-7-7)

Fall - A Jorio

From knob of green

(Catching light, giving life)

The tree's soul finds

Freedom. Rising while falling!

18 January, 2012

*************

Final Jorio, I promise, for sometime, at least :) 

Jorio? Cuboid writing, four lines, four words each. Capturing the essense of a moment, a fleeting feeling. More here and here, with explanation :)

Angst - a Jorio

Bottled emotion spills over

Wild eyes, aflame, errupting

Then sizzling, stinging, hurting

Into icy pearls, unforgiving

17 January, 2012

***

A Jorio is cuboid writing, four lines, four words on each line, on a theme. More explanation on the form, with the previous and debut Jorio here :)

Your Measure - Jorio

fathomless in unspoken words

garnered in unexpressed yearning

unfettered, yet captive, within

you're loved, soulfully, unconditionally!

16 January, 2012

**************
Bhavya Grey Kaushik, from FB, and a wonderful writer, had instructed me on the nuances of the Joria, its form, theme, and sent a link for more samples. Perhaps the readers here too, could try their hand at it. What I have understood, is that it is called "Cuboid writing".
"A Jorio, also known as a Joria (plural)  is an ancient Persian writing artform. The poetic cubism consists of four lines with four words in each line. Its short and simple poetic characteristic makes it very easy to write, as there are no considerations of any syllable count - as in the case of other forms like Haiku or Tanka. A jorio is mostly about a moment in time, feeling, thought, story. It can describe an event like a falling autumn leaf or a feeling, like dejection from a loved one. Try not to rhyme it though. I mean, a non-rhyming scheme is not mandatory, but it is appreciable." It is more about symbolism, about the fleeting, or lasting evocative lingering image it leaves with you :) As I understand it!

Here it is, the link to read more:

http://www.fictionpress.com/u/505545/Anaare

Loosing Apron Strings

Tiny chubby fingers uncurl
From older hands...

They move, wider, surer
They reach out, and grasp

That handful of opportunity
That beckons, tantalizingly

Always a measure beyond
Always seemingly unattainable.

And so, they move,
On belly, then on fours...

Raise themselves, at first tentative
But the steps get firmer, surer

Blindly stumbling, falling, rising
Walking, walking, suddenly racing...

All in no Time, while time stands still
They're up, and running, gleefully,

Shouting, cheering, in wild abandon
Throwing the right number on the dice

That will take them a pace closer
To the rungs of the ladder on the board game of life

(And so you throw that number, except that it's loaded :)
And I'm glad, for one, this game isn't just one of chance.)

Oddly bereft, odder still, in relief... :)
I see the light, and though sad, I'm thankful:

The apron strings have loosened... :)


1045 hrs, 15 Jaunuary, 2012

Godspeed Ashwin! Keep flying high, and keep your cheerfulness up, ALWAYS! With all my love :)

A Class Apart :)

Fifty two faces, bright, clean
Groomed hair, defying the
Dusty wind that
Pushes thru' windows...

Pretty, demure girls (a total pretence :P)
Boys- Steadfast in attitude (a total sham :P)


But, forgiving of their
Nerdy, strait-jacket
Bonkered teachers
All the way!

A burgeoning thirteen (on average)
But going on Twenty :D
In tiny tantalizing peeks
Practising the come-hither
Whatevers! :D

Bold, brassy declarations
Experimenting always
Pushing the limits-
Their own folks'
And mine!

And, much as I do
Shudder, chew imaginary nails
Worry and rage...
I must confess, that
In their sneaky
Absolutely naughty way,

They have me.
Just that!





28 December, 2011
While supervising a test, my own class, VIII 'A'