Liquid Courage

Hands neatly folded 
in my lap 
legs primly crossed 
The buttoned-at-the-neck blouse 
matches my decorous skirt 
I sit poised 
Calm fingers 
wrap themselves around 
the stem of the glass 
from which 
I delicately sip 
the wine 
I'd rather toss back 
in a single gulp 
I want to throw caution 
to the winds 
and tell you how I feel 
but I need the courage 
of the red liquid 
running through 
my veins 
so I can let the 
giddy relief 
of confession 
go to my head 
quicker than the Merlot 
I'm imbibing 
with such abandon 
or is it a Cabernet 
Does it matter?
Just keep my glass filled 
for if I don't uncork
my emotions today 
they will stay sealed
ageing in the cask
that is my heart

© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Leaving

There is always a road
The sea, dark hair, dolor

Always a question
Bigger than itself-

They say you're leaving Monday
Why can't you leave Tuesday?

Through a sliver of time 
a skein of dark hair 

twists itself into a road 
leading away from you to the sea 

Bleached of passion, the question 
fades into the colourless sky 

You ask why I can't stay another day 
The answer lies in my leaving



Additional text © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Seduction

I

practise

the art of

seduction by

fluttering my lashes coyly at you

My hair veils my face from your ardent gaze

or so I think

I look up

You are

gone

I 

guess I

should keep on

trying, though it 

does not come as naturally to me as sharp 

words that roll off my tongue. Sarcasm is

spicily brewed,

my perfect

cup of

tea

This is a tetractys poem.

“Tetractys should express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise using 20 syllables. They can be written with more than one verse but each subsequent verse must invert the syllable count. There is no limit to the number of verses. The structure is: 

line 1 - 1 syllable

line 2 - 2 syllables

line 3 - 3 syllables

line 4 - 4 syllables

line 5 - 10 syllables”


© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Femme Fatale

Slipping a slender strap
off a delicate shoulder
I let my silky slip
slither down to pool
around slim ankles
Gracefully I raise a lean leg
shod in red stilettoes
Stepping out 
of the pool of silk
Hands on hips 
I strike a pose for you
all curves and planes
peaks and shadows
I kick off my heels
Elegance in every move I make
as I glide towards you
Struck dumb by desire
You drink in the sight of me

(That’s how I imagine it)

When I slip that strap off 
it refuses to slide 
until my shoulders 
do a vigorous shake
Far from slithering 
down my body
the satin is reluctant 
to part with my waist
clinging to my hips 
mistakenly wanting 
to guard my modesty
Finally it bunches up 
around my feet 
a shapeless mess 
entangled with my heels
I lift a foot 
the slip hangs on
Seductive pose forgotten
I struggle to 
jerk it off
It twines itself 
around my feet
Tripping me up
Bringing me down
in an ungainly heap 
on the floor

(That’s what actually happens)

Why oh why can’t it be
the way it is in the movies?


© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Red Is The Sky

A pretty house 
with a pretty fence 
somewhere 
in the country 
I dreamed
my own 
happily-ever-after 
with you

To save it from 
a slow death
I thrust into it
the knife 
of reason 
expecting it 
to perish
bloodlessly

But it streaked 
the sky 
a brilliant red 
a public admission 
of failure 
it seemed to me 
that would play out 
day after day

Now I look 
for a world 
where the sun 
doesn’t shine 
where the night 
is dark enough 
to drown 
my nightmares

© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Lure Of The Letters

Silently the doors 
slide open 
as though they know 
here they are not 
permitted to squeak
For a moment 
I feel the hush 
soothe nerves 
frayed by life's 
incessant clamour 
My eyes feast on
endless rows 
of temptation
neatly arranged
some fat 
some tall 
some slim 
I am pulled
this way
then that
an eager child
let loose
in a candy store
As the calm 
seeps into my skin 
relaxes my mind 
I pick a letter 
to start with
Today it is S 
perhaps because
the scent of spring 
that emanates 
from this row 
The rhythmic tilting 
of my head 
to read the titles 
lulls me into 
a happy state 
I pull one out 
lured by the title 
Beneath The Bleeding 
by Val McDermid  
It promises murder 
Blood and gore 
always attracts me 
I drop it into the basket 
then I meander through 
the other letters 
stopping at B
touching V 
skimming L
Reading R
Some join the others 
in the basket 
others are left 
on the shelves
for another day
maybe
I pay no heed
to the time
noticing only when
my basket is too heavy
I can't take them all
so I find a quiet corner
to sift through the pile
whittling it down
until I reach the limit
Like a reluctant lover
I leave some behind
hoping they will
wait to get into
my good books
The chosen ones
I carry home
eager for a
cup of coffee
and the wonders
of a world
I will step into
on the first page


© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Fusion

Your touch 
heats my lips 
they unfurl 
like a rose 
seeking 
the morning dew

Your breath 
fans my body 
desire builds 
rapidly rising
like the wave 
swells in an ocean 

Your fingers 
caress my arms 
like whispers 
of silk 
slipping down 
my body

Your skin 
fuses with mine 
a million 
starbursts 
explode 
in unison 
celebrating 
our union



© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Love Is In Me

Love, all starshine and moonbeams,
casts a flirty glance at me
at once mocking and gentle
I covet more 
but she turns her gaze away
Hooked, I follow in her wake
She flicks a finger at a rose 
that instantly blooms
I want to pluck it into my life
But the thorns keep me at bay
As I pause, love drifts away
The moment lost
I call for her to stop 
A coquettish backward look
reels me in 
I watch her land gently 
on the lips of a young man 
as he kisses his girl
Fireworks go off 
illuminating her face 
It is me, flushed and breathless 
laughing up into a beloved face
I want to pause
savour the sensation
But love wanders out of my view
I find her just in time
to see her trail 
her slender fingers
on a cherubic form 
asleep in her mother’s arms
Love lights up her eyes 
bathing the baby 
in a precious glow
My heart clenches
I know that feeling 
that breath slamming out of me 
when I held my little one close
Love traipses along
her smile lighting up the sun
rippling the wind 
that dances on the water
Mesmerised, I float on air
my feet cushioned on the cloud
of happiness she creates
Then she stops 
one final time
to gather two friends
in her embrace
perfuming their hug 
with the scent of loyalty
taking me back
to the time 
when I nestled
in loving arms
Lost in the memory
I lose sight of her
But now I know
I will never lose her
For she is in me
and will always be 


© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Claws of Despair

Insidious tendrils 
of dark thoughts 
twist themselves 
around the mind 
choking the joy 
out of the day

Stealthily they creep 
through the veins 
siphoning the hope 
out of blood 
sucking the heart 
into their dark embrace 
dousing faith's glow

Limply the days fall 
into the abyss                        
happiness gasps 
for breath 
in despair's acid fog 
feet grow roots 
in melancholic mire 
unable to step 
towards the light 
an unending struggle 
doomed to fail

Toxic tentacles 
strengthen their grip 
pulling me down 
beneath the inky blackness 
into which I go willingly

 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

It Must Be Love

No ring of the phone 
punctures the silence
No knock on the door 
heralds your arrival
No plans you make 
have any place for me
No letters from you
arrive in the mailbox
No hello comes my way
though you see I’m online
No sign to tell me
I’m in your thoughts
No hint that you may 
have once loved me
The ache in my heart
tells me to stop hoping
yet your thoughts
keep haunting me
What is it
if not love

 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Marriage Of Mourning

Pretty patterns 
spun delicately 
on dainty palms 
staining skin 
a deep auspicious red 
striving to join
zigzagging vermilion dots 
sitting proudly 
on a radiant face 
Her dreams take on 
a rosy hue 
cast by the 
crimson silk 
draped around 
her fragile form 
Lips painted scarlet 
tremble at the thought 
of being crushed 
slender limbs 
a quivering mass 
of fear and anticipation 
setting an eager heart 
galloping into the night 
The evening's 
twinkling lights 
cascade into veiled 
kohl smudged eyes 
gazing into the future 
brightened by the 
golden glow 
of the sacred 
matrimonial fire 
fusing two lives 
in an eternal embrace 
Salted with joy and 
a sprinkling of sorrow
tears flow 
the flowers in her hair 
leaving behind 
the familiar scent 
of home 
as tinkling steps 
take her 
into a new world 

only to be consumed 
by the leaping flames 
of avarice 
white skin charred 
to an inauspicious black
Vermilion blood 
marking the earth 
a dull brown 
Sparkling eyes 
dimmed by death
A budding life 
snuffed out 
before it could blossom 
Another innocent soul 
sacrificed 
at the altar of greed

 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Unfinished Melody

My soul sings 
of my love 
for you 
a melody 
so painful 
I bury it 
deep within me 

I turn up 
the radio 
to drown out 
the refrain 
that rings 
in my ears 
I let the sounds 
of the world 
fill my heart 
so it can forget 
the words 
of the song 
on which 
we soared
to the heavens

When the noise abates 
the swelling silence 
screams in my mind
but I can still 
hear the tune
that never 
stops playing


 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

I Remember

I remember his 
hands cradling my face gently.
The day seemed so bright

The light shot diamonds 
from his eyes and I felt like
a million carats

I will not forget 
him and the way the mountains 
looked, both tall and strong


 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

The Right Time

Seconds and minutes 
held in a miserly grip 
waiting for the right time 
to spend this treasure

Hours and days 
carefully hoarded 
to use on that
proverbial rainy day 

Weeks and months 
unused for fear 
of squandering 
what can’t be recovered

I saved it all up for years
and life passed me by
As the sands of time
slipped silently away


 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

About Time

Never enough time
to get it all done
I hustle
I bustle
frazzled nerves
shredding
the veneer
of calm
I mutter
I stutter
leaving
an unfinished trail
in my wake
I explode
I implode
on the verge
of collapse
when a
youthful voice
of reason
pierces the
frenzied fog          
"Chill, ma"
Stopped
in my tracks
by teen wisdom
I pause
I ponder
So much to do
so little time
that's true
Maybe
I should do less
enjoy the time
while it's still mine

 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Unconnected

Eyes still closed 
I reach for the gadget 
that owns me now 
Sleep still lingers 
in the glance I cast 
on its brilliant face 
I have new mail 
Maybe today 
someone has finally 
said hello 
But it’s only my bills 
and the poem of the day 
I shall read later 
Perhaps someone 
followed me on Twitter 
or tweeted like the birds 
on my balcony 
I no longer listen to 
But there’s no little bird 
on the corner 
of my screen 
to tell me so 
Facebook comes 
a poor second
to a beloved face
I'd rather see
Pinterest reminds me 
of a pin cushion 
The word Instagram 
is an instant turn-off 
and Tumblr just another way
to describe acrobats 
So much wasted time 
to check if someone 
got in touch
So lonely 
in a connected world

 © 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved