One of my talented poet friends, Oscar, has nominated me for a Real Neat Blogger award and a Beautiful Bloggers award 🙂

Definitely made me smile! Here are some of the questions he has posed for me to answer :

1.) What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year and why?

Well, I’d have to say Jurassic World for Chris Pratt and the special effects 🙂

2.) If you were a cartoon character, who would you be and why?

I’d be Johnny Quest! I used to adore that character when I was little. Anybody else remember Johnny Quest? 😀

3.) Have you ever read a book where you felt the author was writing about you, which one and why?

I have felt a bit of dejavu  sometimes.. I cannot pinpoint which books or which lines. I read way too much and recall very little of what I read, afterwards, unfortunately.

4.) What would you do if you received a gift of one million dollars, tax free and why?

I would set aside 10% of it for my personal needs. The rest 90% I’d donate to various charities and causes. In a country like India, help is always needed.

5.) If your life was a song, what would the title be and why?

“What doesn’t kill you make you stronger” by Kelly Clarkson! It never fails to cheer me up and is my favourite work-out song 🙂

6.) What was your favorite game to play as a child and why?

I have played a lot of hide and seek and “house” with my cousins.

7.) Would you like to know the day you’re going to die ahead of time? Why or why not?

I’m sort of split about this one. If you know, then you’d be able to say goodbye properly and tie up loose ends. But then again, it would definitely be easier emotionally to not have impending doom over your head 😡

8.) What one thing are you most proud of and why?

I was very proud when I got my degree, it was definitely worth all the hard work and stress.

9.) What one thing would you change about your past and why?

If I change something about my past, it may change things about my life now.. and I’d definitely not want that 🙂

10.) What would you do if you were a man for a week and why?

Ooh! This is an interesting one 😀 I’m not sure I’d enjoy it very much, I’m happy being a woman. That being said, I’d probably just watch people around me and soak in how people treat you differently when you’re a man.

I’d like to nominate two of my favourite poetess’ (under no obligation) for these awards!! 

1. Scattered thoughts

2. Jane’s Musing

The 10 questions I have for you ladies are :

1. What inspires you to write?

2. What are your personal goals for the future?

3. What is your favourite food?

4. Where would be your dream vacation?

5. What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

6. What is your favourite season, and why?

7. If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

8. Do you have any plans for the New Year? (I think mid-year is a good time to think about that :P)

9. Do you believe in soul mates?

10. What is the quality that you admire the most in people?

Kill convention – Ae freslighe

Darling, you kill convention

By your patience I’m humbled

My devoted companion:

You never let me stumble.

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Your love is my legacy,

Safety net when I’m falling

A weak hidden tendency,

Stay forever, my darling.

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Dear Readers,

Did that seem like a very simple little love poem? Oh, how looks can deceive! Here are the rules I followed to write this:

1. Each stanza has 4 lines (quatrain)

2. Each line has 7 syllables

3. A rhyme scheme of ABAB

4. The last word of the 1st & 3rd line of each stanza has 3 syllables

5. The last word of the 2nd & 4th line of each stanza has 2 syllables

6. The first word of the poem and the last word of the poem are the same.

Still seem like a simple poem? This one really had me racking my brain and I’m still not 100% happy with the end result!

This style of poem is an Old Irish style called Ae freshlighe. It goes as far back as the 5th century and was only carved onto trees or gravestones. So in order to remember them, Gaelic poetry came with a lot of repetitions, rhythm and alliteration. 

For more on Irish poetry and many other forms, please take a look at this wonderful resource for poets : Poet’s Garret. I get a lot of ideas and inspiration from this fantastic site. 

Thank you for reading everyone and hope you liked Ae Freslighe!

The right to be happy – Haiku x 3

Rainbow colours shine

Bright against the drab gray sky

No more shame, but pride.

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No reason to hide

What your heart feels deep inside

The joy of liberation.

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The wait’s been so long

For the simplest of them all

The freedom to love.

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Promise me – Tanka x 2

Fear and longing spin

Into a loose cotton ball.

In hope, take refuge

There’s comfort in the unknown,

Let fate do the talking now.

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Sweet optimism,

Hold my disbelieving hand,

Walk me through shadows,

Carry my soul through this time

Keep your promise, I’ll keep mine.

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Dear Readers,

You just read two Tankas. Remember the Tanka style? I’ve written one before in conjunction with a haiku. See it here. Just to refresh your memory, a tanka is a Japanese style of poetry with 5 lines with a syllable count of 5-7-5-7-7.

This post has been in response to Heeding Haiku with HA prompt from Mind Love Misery’s Menagerie’s blog. The topic was Mid Year and the rules were as follows:

You must have expected something or you must have made plans when this year began. Now that it is coming to its middle point, how are your expectations and plans coming along? Once you have thought about it, write a haiku or tanka or a haibun and tell us how this year has been so far for you.

Hope you all enjoyed it and looking forward to attempting more challenges in the coming days!

Tanaga

How did I slip through the cracks?

Treading the unearthly tracks,

That narrow divide between,

What happened and what has been.

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Salty water fills my mouth

Sun starts setting in the south

Everything is upside down

I can swim, but now I drown.

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Dear Readers,

You just read two Tanaga poems! This is a Filipino style of poetry which is made up of 4 lines with a syllable count of 7-7-7-7. The rhyme scheme for the lines maybe AABB, ABAB,  ABBA etc. Here, as you can see, I have used the AABB form. 

Not sure if you noticed, but this poem doesn’t have a title. This is because traditional Tanaga poems do not have titles, rather, they should speak for themselves. So, I thought I’d let this piece remain nameless 🙂 

Hope you all enjoyed it and please do let me know of any new poetry forms or poem ideas that I can explore! 

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Chemistry

My burrow welcomes me this morning

Meticulously clean, reflecting light

This acrid smell may make others gag

But my comfort here has no limit in sight.

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I prod about till my eyes converge to it

The poultice, my trustworthy fix

It shoots through my veins

Soothing the knots and tendons

That familiar nettle makes me tremble

I pause for a moment to reel in it

It intenerates me and makes me ply

The generosity of my favourite toxin.

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I set about assorting, organizing

Peroxide, sulphide, oxide, nitride-

Alphabetical, colour coded, decoded

You’d mistake me for a lowly lab rat

But I’m the Messiah of chemical delights.

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Dear Readers,

This has been a response to Mind Love Misery’s Mengarie’s Wordle #66. The words which were assigned to this word prompt  and the rules were as follows:

1. Converge

2. Prod

3. Burrow

4. Messiah

5. Tendon

6. Gag

7. Poultice

8. Limit

9. Intenerate (to make soft or tender; soften)

10. Peroxide

11. Generosity

12. Nettle

Use at least 10 of the words to create a story or poem

The words can appear in an alternate form

Use the words in any order that you like.

Weekend blues – Spensarian Stanza

I wish the weekend would come everyday,

It’s not for the reasons that you may think

Social butterfly- no, its not my way.

Monday, Wednesday..I wish time would shrink,

Pass by quickly, as fast as eyes can blink

Sunday night, my love gets on a red bus

Away from sight and touch, my sad heart sinks

Chin up, smile and try not to make a fuss

Count down till its just two of us

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Dear readers,

This style of poetry is known as the Spensarian Stanza. It is made up of 9 lines, the first 8 lines has 10 syllables and the last line has 8 syllables. In addition, there is a specific rhyme scheme of:

a b a b b c b c c

Definitely a challenge..! Hope you all liked it, and let me know what you think 🙂

Dazzling dusk – Nocturna

Sugar drops melt into white stars,

Set in the fabric of black velvet sky.

Flicker brilliantly, these crystal shards

Whisper lullabies to fleeting clouds.

They spin across the misty horizon,

Guarding heaven’s gates, so proud

The moon dubious in her absence.

Dazzling dusk has just begun,

Waiting to lose her innocence.

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Dear Readers,

This style of poem is known as a Nocturna. It is a 9-line french style of poetry, based on the “night” theme, made up of the following rhyme scheme:

a b a c b c d b d 

In the olden days, it used to be recited in the form of prayers.

Hope you all enjoyed it and let me know what you think!

Choke – Free verse

The hand that chokes your throat to paralysis

Leaving you frozen, but gasping

Your will and hers stand at the precipice

Mighty mountain to an endless deep

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Is there a chance, a fleck of light?

The begging is so unrelenting

Yet, you can’t find a way to stop

You make flimsy billboards for the path

The path you want, it doesn’t exist

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The hand that chokes your throat to paralysis

Gave you a warning to step back

Don’t dare to take for granted

What you don’t have in your arms

We are all figments of someone’s fantasy

Nothing human is free of fallacies

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Believe.

Fill your soul with the purest hope

The kind other people mock blatantly

Only you know what you feel, what is true

For you… and for her.

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Dear Readers,

This is a free verse today, for a change! I’m on bed-rest on and off for awhile (not sure how long) due to some health issues. But I really want to keep up my blog and atleast a poem every other day.. Hopefully your encouragement will keep me going 🙂 

Thank you for reading as always.. you’re all lovely people 🙂

Surreal – Pleaides style + A couplet

Strokes of paint streak my wall

Swim between blind conscience

Shades by which I abide

Stun my senses senseless

Simulate my mind’s eye

Shimmering in wetness

Soaking the air to dry

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Feel the texture between your fingers

Imagination sleeps within the grooves.

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Dear Readers,

Today I have experimented with an “invented” poetry form (as opposed to traditional poetry forms that I usually write). It is called Pleaides, and was created by Craig Tigerman in 1999. The rules are simply to start each line with the same first letter as the title (the letter here is “S”) 

I have also followed a six syllable count restriction per line on this form, which was placed by Hortensia Anderson, a famous haiku and tanka poet.

Since I always write atleast 8 lines, I have finished with a non-rhyming couplet. Hope you all enjoyed it and let me know what you think of this new style 🙂