All Entries in the "Poetry" Category

For the Indian-English Poets Ankur Betageri

You who write
and spit-polish your ‘poetry’
as if adjusting
your well-brushed hair,
and applying cream to your wrinkled forehead
You whose every word
and the sterile voice behind it
passes out even before it consummates
a weakened passion eaten
by greed and hatred
You who speak into the mikes
of air-conditioned conference halls,
your lines filled with burps, and the distress
caused by an excessive flatulence
You who [...]

Stranger in the City Ankur Betageri

I was born in Bangalore
but the city is not mine
I cannot belong because they sell it to me
and I’ve to buy
I am always on a guided tour
a stranger made by a stranger land
I’m a tourist in the restaurant
a tourist in the mall
a tourist in the cinema hall
a tourist in the park
I pay – enjoy – [...]

The Miracle of the Flies A. J. Thomas

Sitting down to meditate….
Flies alighting on the tip of the nose,
nostrils, between the eyelashes,
inside the ear, right on the centre of the brow…
So, this is meditation…!
But if you do not grow impervious
to flies and other such things,
how are you ever going to get onepointedness?
Should you have been distracted by these tactile
marauders? All the big sins [...]

Strength in Solitude A. J. Thomas

Strength in solitude
is something everyone
talks about rather pompously.
what do you think
of a dog that lies under a parked car
making it his home of the moment?
no smell of petrol,
no shooing by the parking attendant
can deter him.
He has the confidence
of having his place in the scheme of things.
He does not need to prove his strength
on the floor [...]

Expectantly…. A. J. Thomas

An overcast sky
a strong cold north wind blowing down from the Mediterranean–
heading north along a happy go lucky road
at 180 kilometres an hour
the turmeric terrain of the upper Sahara
punctuated with stunted olives, eucalyptus
and lesser smudges of dark green—
straggling shrubs hopeful to make it
to the future
small flocks of sheep
and a precious goat
road-signs with the picture
of a [...]

Astonishment Tariq Hamdan

Sleeping every night
and wake up astonished
that we are still alive.
Life will forget waking us up,
we will forget ourselves sleeping
some sleep…

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Tsunami Tariq Hamdan

The world is an abstract piece
avoiding pads during periods.
The world is the waist of a belly dancer,
if it shakes, ruination spreads.

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Forty Tariq Hamdan

Here you are at forty
you are using “Photoshop” to erase wrinkles
off your face
before sending it by Email.
Here you are at forty
your penis isn’t as stiff as before,
explaining to a friend
how exhaustion and Caffeine
can kill a horse.
Here you are at forty
blackness is pulling out
hair by hair
in disguise of you,
shampoos and Almond Oil.
Here you are at forty
going [...]

Prayer Agrahara Krishna Murthy

To see only reality
let me have the eagle’s eye
let the grass look like grass
human faces like human faces
Let me get the diamond stone
let it flash the hardness-melting-moment;
the habit of wearing and taking off masks,
let it drop
In the morning, at least by the time
I go out for walking
let some fresh air blow;
let the milk I bring [...]

Meditation Agrahara Krishna Murthy

The concentration of the tree
which stood kissing
the sky beyond the sky
was broken,
a leaf broke from the stalk
a bird lowered its eyes and saw.
The leaf speeding
in the direction of the earth
stood still in the air
and meditated on something for a moment
Ascending the boulder of air,
slipping the next second
floating and darting
whirling round and round and round
this twilight-coloured, [...]