THE MIRROR

Is the mirror happy?
Or is it sad?
Beautiful?
or is it bad?

To the seer it says –
Why do you ask
questions that I
Reflect back?

Wipe off the dust
And wash off the grime
See me reflect the
Light

that shines

within!

THE FOUNTAIN

The Green shoots out

And stretches towards life

As the slumbering,

Careful earth cups it close

To its heart with unspoken

Tenderness.

 

Life fountains out

In a joyous gush as

The greys merge into blues

And the wisps of white

Float across

and sometimes descend

hugging the frozen earth

warming it in joyous

abandon.

 

How perfect the

Choreography!

How beautiful the

Tango!

I bow to the sublime

Dance of eternity

Continued in infinity

In life’s eternal

Backyard.

 

WEBS!

It grows and grows,

an endless spidery web,

of wants and desires,

Life – caught in silvery,

gossamer trappings,

taken over, engulfed, drowned,

not knowing that it’s even happening.

Enamored by the Golden cage,

forever on a hamster’s wheel,

spinning, spinning, spinning!

Breathe – I say to myself,

Let it go, let it go, let it All go!

Lighter, freer, oh to float,

to open the cage and get off the wheel – what bliss!

But –

More is Gold – the world howls!

Bigger is better – it screams!

Climb and claw, fight to get it All – it preaches,

buy more and get more

you are worth it – it entices!

For without it All – you are Nothing- it hisses!

You are only the things you own – it proclaims!

Oh, how we curdle in fear, how we buy into the lie.

What a web!

What an enticing illusion,

No more, no more, no more –

I will be caught no more.

I fly with glee, my mind will be free.

I begin the untangling,

the unraveling

Free to simply Be.

BRIDGES

All I see –
A world filled with
Chasms and trenches
Differences and distances
Murder and mayhem
Ego and anger
And I feel –
Isn’t it time
to take a mirror to oneself?
Isn’t it time
To acknowledge the pain?
Isn’t it time
To wipe off the tears
And stop the madness?
Isn’t it time to
build bridges?
Of understanding and acceptance
Of sympathy and empathy
Of generosity and gratitude
And above all –
Of love and compassion…

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

MAY IT BE FILLED WITH JOY AND PEACE!

SWORDS AND ROSES

There nestled two villages –

on opposite sides of

a majestic mountain

but never had the twain –

seen each other.

 

There nestled two villages –

idyllic and as pretty as could be

heady with the fragrance of roses but –

Red in one and White in the other.

 

There nestled two villages –

with beauteous women and men

that strutted with chests puffed and swords –

that gleamed and glistened.

 

And then one day, there arose a rumour –

skies darkened and lightning struck

and blood thirsty cries rose  –

in a thunderous and murderous chorus.

 

“How can Roses be Red?”

“How can Roses be White!”

“How can that possibly be true?”

“Kill those liars! Kill for ’tis definitely untrue!”

 

And so, they disbelieved each other and cried –

 “Sharpen your swords! Get on your horses!”

“Kill those liars! And save your souls!”

“For our truth is the only Truth!”

“For it cannot  –

otherwise be!”

 

And so they clawed and clambered

to the top of the majestic mountain

and fought and fought and fought

and their children and their children –

too fought.

 

And killed and killed and killed

For their truths –

Roses could only be Red!

Roses could only be White!

How could it possibly be otherwise!

 

And they continue to disbelieve each other –

And continue to fight

their bloody and brutal fight

and trample upon Roses both –

Red and White

And now there are Roses –

No more.

 

And now there are children –

no more.

THE MASKED

Men and women in masks
Marionettes that dance
Fake smiles in bright lights
Brittle and brazen in fights
With holes in their souls
How do they get by
With hideous grasping
Greedy and grabbing
Stripping the world bare
With an ugly stare
Beautiful carcasses
Designed to deceive
In shadows they live
Without masks
They cannot breathe
Such is the world
A stage –
of masked
Strangers.

A CARPET OF GOLD

Gold under my feet

scrunched up and unnoticed

Its beauty no lesser…

Gold in the heart

Hidden and unknown

Its love no less pure…

Gold in the earth

Undiscovered and covered

Its glow no dimmer…

So what if the gallery’s empty

So what if there’s no audience

So what if there’s no applause

Gold shines and beauty blooms

And love still spreads its fragrance

 In a world

Unforgiving

A SUMMER HAIKU

This haiku has now been published in the Journal ‘When Women Waken’.

http://www.booksbywomen.org/whenwomenwaken/a-summer-haiku-by-anjali-deshpande/

 

Sparkling water

Speaking silence –

reflecting.

 

 

 

WINTER’S NEST

     

Drizzling eyes

heavy skies

      sighing shadows

      lengthening nights

      Unspoken words

      spoken silences

     empty spaces

     empty nests

birds in flight

distantly destined.

 

BUBBLES OF EXISTENCE

To each his bubble
to each his colour
to view through a happy rose
or a suspicious grimy grey
Some do burst bubbles
with sly and shameless glee
Others blow them up
with joyous abandon
Some exist but for a moment
others scatter hither-tither
as whimsy dictates, this way and that
Yet others glide effortlessly
neither do resist nor exert,
their importance upon others
their iridescent luminescence
content to just Be
In the here and now

and Forever…