Celebrating real women | Destiny Poets.
2. The swirl
Wings beating in the darkness it flew off
I could see its silhouette
till the sun rose
As it passed me in the night shadows stroked my hair
somewhere near it had come to roost
a perch unseen not unheard
like old love settling into a familiar lair
but my dawn was cruel
Its white was never fair
A hope swung from a branch and then let go
A dead bat hung on an electric wire
that wouldn’t let go
A dream swirled around the sink and sank with toothpaste foam
Each morning the mirror sings an elegy
to a crushed drupe
My skin is a polythene bag
with half a liter of stale street air
A pin prick is all I need to fly the coop
©Reena Prasad
Posted in Destiny Poets. Link Here
The Annual Destiny Poets' I.C.O.P. Awards : 2013.
Highly commended in two categories. Poem of the year and poet of the year. Many thanks to Louis Kasatkin who keeps the spirit of poetry alive and kicking with his constant endeavors in encouraging poets and good poetry. Proud to be a member of the Destiny Poets!
(1) I.C.O.P. Poem of the Month:- October 2013.
“Kunjumon” is the Poem of the Month for Oct 2013 at The Destiny Poets UK. Thank you Louis Kasatkin
Kunjumon
Sprawled near the shop door
dangling coir, bright plastics, baskets
flimsy balloon balls, flower pots
and you-
a fallen statue reeking of neglect
Irritating to bustling feet
but they stepped over your motionless form
and left the air fouler
with curses that you inhaled
You were the underworld
without the beard, gun or pot belly
ribs painfully embossed
upon your sallow youth
We fattened up our kids
using your nightmare shamelessly
Mariamma
the luckiest woman of all
three hefty sons she had
A thief, a madman and a drunk but no girls
so wasn’t she blessed!
Septic tanks and cow urine tanks called you
armed with a bottle of the cheapest toddy
you swung down holes
where no devil dared to breathe
scooping up discarded human bits
Our girls under your protective stagger
safe as they quickened their steps
from the lonely bus stop to the
lamp-lit shadows of motherly forms
none would look at their budding youth
while you thrashed out your lungs
and limbs at the road romeos
Kunjumon, you fell out of life suddenly
just like you did everyday
but among the fallen
you still stand tall
©Reena Prasad
The clouds gather
A vast expanse of sea in the sky
The rumbles of discontent thunder
flashing angry looks of light.
Earth rising up to gather,
her beloved oceans in her arms
Howling winds storm about
Swirling dust forms whorls and rounds.
Mighty trees bang their heads.
Falling branches make a broken bed.
The rats and snakes form shaky bonds
Hiding in holes underground.
Over gorged rivers swell and pout
Muddy waters from the fields spout
Birds of every feather flee
The surface of earth in full fury
Gigantic mountains begin to nod
In rhyme and rhythm with nature’s glee
As she dances and claps her hands
Bringing an end to man’s greed.
——