People watching: Poem

I find myself in the Universe
As I pursue Poetry in people

Zephyr wind whistles whisper sing-song secrets
Tides of time tango in delight
A damsel's auburn curls spring free under evanescent skies
Gossamer threads unraveled by her sun-kissed laughter

Frozen caterpillar dreams
find fluorescent butterfly wings
frigid fantasies ignite into molten lava
Families find home

Held hands harbor hope
couples wade through vociferous tides
Flowers bloom in an iridescent ballet
Children dance in buoyant smiles

A man's indigo eyes hold stories untold
Tales of his treasure hunt, lost and found

Innocent infant laughter
plunges me into childhood
the embrace of all my past selves

Effervescent wisps of wisdom an elder exudes in grey
renders me naive surety about uncertain tomorrows

The people I watch, and the voyeur, I
merge in the song of velvet horizons
differences strewn, similarities celebrated
as giving Mother Nature takes us in her arms

As I pursue Poetry in people
I find me in everyone- and 
lose myself in the Universe.

Copyright © Roshni Ramanan

Dreams: Poem

My tender hands
harbor emerald dreams
crystal balls 
pulsate potential
a future of my design

When my velvet dreams bleed
I, persevering, plead:
"Hold on tight
 Let's brave the raucous night
 Morning come
 We'll put up another fight."

We wander exotic lands
unmarked by hoof prints
build stoic rudders
set sail into
pregnant tomorrows

I cradle my silver dreams
caress of sanguine songs
"If my heart resolute, and
 Spirit be true
 hurdles, no heed
 I'll see you through."

My golden dreams and I
assiduous scale
precipitous mountains mighty
fecundate fertile life
from horizon heights

When my molten dreams
no longer incubate caterpillar
burst into butterfly flame
I unleash their lava
onto dragon skies

Variegated wings spread
Iridescence across infinite space
Victors wink at me jubilant
Beaming rainbow pride

Copyright © Roshni Ramanan

May your ardent, blazing dreams crystallize into a radiant reality! 

Eternal Summer: Poem

Dance me into the sunrise

Let's 
Foxtrot into fantasy
weaving our youth around
sunbeams of laughter

Waltz into wonder,
as butterflies garland us
with pollen pecks

Tango in triumph
to tanager tunes
cockatiel cheerleading calls

Sambo into solace
swaying amidst
jubilant bougainvillea

Mambo in merriment
mischievous sea breeze 
caressing my skirt

Rambo in radiance
fiery light rays igniting
latent desires

Jive in jouissance
hearts bloom open
under expansive umbrella skies

Quickstep into quest
exultant waves rush
delivering answers

Salsa away from sunset
stealing time
stilling cycles of nature

You've danced me into the
Land of eternal summer

Copyright © Roshni Ramanan

Woman of my dreams: Poem

Sand clocks, hourglasses still everywhere
Her swirling shadow
My entranced eyelids

Eyebrows, arches to heaven’s gateway
Pyramids bow, her majestic forehead
Lilac blush lifted cheeks
Seraphic smile stopped heartbeats

Purple diamonds perch on her nose-ring
Ears part, Japanese sensus
Celestial lips, crescents curved
to nature’s drumbeats

Folds of enigmatic curls,
hold truths untold
Ablaze with equal parts fire and water
Golden eyes hiding galactic secrets
leaving mine star-studded

Holy bells chime
petals of laughter spill
roses perch on golden anklets

Bangles, spherical symphonies
sparrows, robins take notes
Finger rings glow
New moon nights

Nape of her neck, treasure chest
Pendants, garlanding her
Trinkets bring together every faith

Graceful shoulders
anchored by the sky’s might
Aphrodite’s envy, her full breasts

Waves in her waist
Maps to celestial spaces
Rainbow colours merge as one
Her velvet navel

Interwoven palm lines
Past, future meet at present
Her hands come together
to unite time and space

Slender fingers, ancient beads
Statues await touch
to awaken
Blessing hands, grant
carefully sealed, concealed desires

Silken, soft tread
Elements, awed voyeurs
Tenuous footprints carry remembrances
Exquisite lands, ethereal skies

Skirt flowing
starlight splendour
bodice, threaded in thunder
Pleats, evaporate erroneous ways
Twirls silence mind’s lightnings

The fairy who unravels
diaphanous threads of mystery
Obliterated my questions-
wisps of memory
now one with
yesterday’s air

Here she was,
my ethereal answer
Goddess from prayers
Mythical dame from
grandma’s fables
The woman of my dreams.
Copyright © Roshni Ramanan

Dear water

Wash the weight off of me,
drench my fears,
drown my inadequacies,
dampen any hatred,
sink every self-doubt,
soak my reservations,
swamp any negative intent,
submerge the bundles of pain,
flush away all falsehood,
rinse stains of my sins away.

Trickle in sweet smiles,
spray me with playfulness,
swim with abandon into my soul,
shower me with content,
bathe me in light,
rain in abundance,
flood hope into my heart,
stream joy into my being,
splash me with a dash of wonder,
immerse me in your fluid dance,
as I plunge into new adventures,
Let’s sail together, an alien cruise.

Drink to
waves of versatility
springs of satedness
puddles of patient progress
fountains of incisive intellect
creeks of creativity
brooks of buoyancy
ponds of treasured ideas
lakes of loving-kindness
rivers of resplendence
seas and oceans of serendipity.

Dear water,
With a drop of your luck,
a dribble of my hard work,
I’ll paddle through hell,
the way I wade through heaven.
Copyright © Roshni Ramanan

Joint custody – HAIKU

Sun and moon divorced

Stars suffer joint custody

Await an eclipse

 

 

Art is born!- Poem

I breathe emptily
into a blank paper
by the side of
the flickering fire

Dust recedes in my head
Snowflakes melt
into crystal clear water
Clouds collide
Ideas rain in

The night prevails
yet wisdom dawns

The thunder roars
quelling the writer’s block
The lightning frolics
A victory lap on my behalf

The sky is a gleeful witness
to this noisy circus
Gods of the heaven wake
blessings cascade down

The ocean of words
hit me like a
torrential storm

Nib caresses the parchment
Art is born!

This is dedicated to every artist who is conscious of the art all around us, and who diligently adds to it. Your service doesn’t go unnoticed.

SONDER- Slam poetry

      Slam Poetry    

Sonder
is to realise
That everyone you recognize
Has lived a tale
You’ll never fully unveil :
A tale with Fisherman knots and an intricate plot,
A tale that can’t be explained or taught.

This is just as true for you and me
As for the stranger on the street.
We are walking stories, talking experience,
We hide siren alarms and syringes
up our sleeve
and paint our scars with Mascara
In the tales we weave.
Torn. Worn. Forlorn.
Yet we never cease to believe.
So when whispers of envy tickle my ears
I laugh at the fickle truth.

Sonder
A whisper says: She’s so together
Together?
I’ve been broken in ways you can’t imagine
Like a fish carved apart into gill and fin.

Sonder
A whisper says: She’s brave
Yes I’ve braved the monsters
Not those under the bed, but the ones in my head.
Not those that hide behind curtains,
but those that crawl into hearts.

Sonder
A whisper says: she’s so free
Free, indeed, from the bonds I’ve been tied to,
From the many ways I’ve been lied to,
When the clock ticks bedtime only when validation strikes,
When thoughtless words metamorphosize into sharpened spikes.

Sonder
A whisper says: She’s complete
Depleted I was once,
Though now replete.
Maimed much, aimed at,
On the end of a tight death grip
Of an invisible White Walker’s fingertip.

I wiped off the grease,
Picked up piece after piece,
I’d signed no lease with life,
It was my job
to find peace with strife.

So I bundled up the loss and guilt,
Tossed them into my patchwork quilt.
When I embraced the monsters at night
I realised they stopped putting up a fight.

Carefree today came with money,
To land at the hills, I crossed pits many.

Yet, if you take a very close look,
You can read some pages of my book.

See the war’s blood red in the blush of my cheeks,
The turns of fate in my twisted green veins,
Find the whiplashes on the creases of my palm,
And you’ll uncover the story behind this picture of calm.

That’s why
When I see
A sea of people
Who always seem
complete and replete,
fair and free,
I’m reminded that they’re
stories within stories.

And I whisper to myself
Sonder.

Elements- Poem

 

Water I am

In my gushing praise

In the love that pours

In the patter of my hugs

My laughs that rain.

Earth I am

Layers revealed as you dig deep

In the solid support I provide

A base that holds all of you together

As I muddy around and you grow into a tree !

Air I am

In the breeze of thrill I bring

The air of courage I breathe into you

As the wind of my prowess roars

And the puffs of my gentility kiss.

Fire I am

In the rage that rises when you’re wronged

The willpower to make mansions material

In my boiling passion

And in my scent that incenses.

Sky I am

In the expanse my soul traverses

An umbrella over your being

As I watch over protectively

Absolute, omnipresent, manifest.

Water you become

In the joy that bubbles in you

Trickles of togetherness drenching us

In the flush of your excitement

As we rinse our days away.

Earth you become

When you hold me, even when I erode you

As you let me sprout

In the happy sandcastles of our dreams

As we conjoin and sustain life.

Air you become

In the storm we rake together

Then survive through the gale

In the companionship we inhale

As the windmills of days spin away.

Fire you become

As I burn your desires

Add fuel to the flame

As we’re roasted in a continuum

Our hearts set aflame.

Sky you become

In the fears that we set free

As we’re both dawn and dusk, day and night,

An abode encouraging flight,

Invincible in our celestial sphere.

 

SENSES- Poem

 

Your music overthrows me –

Potent notes dangling in the grateful air,

I inhale your melody

That dances around despite its melancholy,

The same breath unites us

In one wavelength,

The beats you kick away

engulf me in a rhythm;

I see your unassailable call

To the valley of elation

I jump on, eager,

The taste of the song lingers still

I savour the sounds.