All I want

Don't want to look at the dishes in the sink
Don't want to cook that chicken all raw and pink
Don't want to mop or vacuum the floor
Don't want to do the laundry or any more chores

Don't want to go to work every single day
Don't want to be stuck at my desk just for the pay
Don't want to battle the crowds to get on the train
Don't want this drudgery that addles the brain

Don't want to tussle with a surly teen
Don't want to put up with her being mean
Don't want to always prop up my better half
Don't want a morose partner who cannot laugh

Don't want to listen to others' tales of woe
Don't want them to tell me what I'd rather not know
Don't want to see the bills always pouring in
Don't want to deal with life, is that such a sin

What I want is solitude, to do what I love best
I'll be happy enough to roost in an empty nest
Just leave me alone with words to warm my soul
All I want to do is write, it's what makes me whole


© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Cloudburst

Tears in my soul

Welling up 

like an ocean

At high tide

Engulfing my heart

In an avalanche

Of emotions

Submerging me

In a deluge 

Of feelings

Flooding my mind

Drowning all sense

But the dam

Of reason

Holds back 

the torrent

Till it bursts
in an

Outpouring

Of grief

Drenched, 

I let myself

Be swept away

By a raging

River in spate

Which spends itself

In a surge of rapids

Until I float

On the calm
Waters of peace


© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

The Other Me

I have in me
another me
who talks to me
constantly

Her ceaseless patter
drives me mad
She won't even
let me be sad

'You're an idiot'
'Are you nuts'
'You never learn'
'you're all ifs and buts'

Pointing out my flaws
Is what she does best
She goes on and on
never needs a rest

I try not to listen
I close my ears
But she makes me face
all my worst fears

She's cruel
but she's kind
she has my welfare
on her mind

She says bitter things
that hurt me so
Though I don't want to hear
It's what I ought to know

She has the guts
to say what no one will
Her words are like
a bitter pill

She knows me best
How could she not?
She is the other me
And she's all I've got

© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Travelling light

The big red suitcase

Lying open on the bed

Isn’t that the one 

We’ve taken 

on countless holidays

Packed it with

Love and laughter

Crammed it 

full of memories

Spilling out joyously

Wheeled it through 

Innumerable years

Of togetherness

Thrown it thoughtlessy

Infinite times

On the conveyer belt

Of life

Nicked and scratched

Dented and taped

And yet trundling

Through on rusty wheels

Now it is

full of clothes

Piled askew

Are we finally 

Going somewhere again

A surprise trip

Down a well-traversed road

To revisit happier times

But all I see

are shirts and trousers,

Coats and ties

Dress shoes, black socks

Not the usual

Shorts and tees

slippers and sunscreen

And there’s no space

For my things

Do you not mean

To take me along

I get my answer when
You shut it with

A resounding click

That rings in my ears

And wheel it out

Leaving me behind

like lost luggage

you don't want to find

Or excess baggage

you want to shed

Ilyanna Kreske

Aug 26, 2013

MODERATOR PICK on Poets of G+
I am selecting this poem for three reasons:
1) beautifully wrought metaphor
2) great storytelling
3) delightful use of language and vocabulary

© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

In this time

In this time
time stops
so you and I
can find
eternity
in a moment
ecstasy in
an embrace
everlasting

In this time
hours fly
when I am
with you
lost in our world
oblivious
to the passing
of time

In this time
I count the minutes
We share
Not wanting
it to end
Trying to stretch
the time
to last forever

In this time
seconds tick by
telling me
that our time
will soon be
at an end
You will be gone
And I will relive
the time we spent
together

*Written to fit this brief: As I continue to seek to help us explore being mindful of the moment, I went back to using starting a poem with a specific phrase that, on the surface, may appear to be super easy but can be deceptively challenging.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write a poem that starts with the phrase "In this time..." Your poem can be about any topic, but must start with the exact phrase (not a paraphrase, or a play on the phrase).

Not starting your poem with that phrase will make your poem ineligible for competition.


© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Kindness

A long hard day

Spent on my feet

Thought I’d get myself

A well-deserved treat

Piled my plate high

Queued up to pay

No money in my wallet

What was I to say

I’m sorry, I said

I can’t take the food

My empty stomach rumbled

As I suppose it should

The girl at the counter

Smiled and made my day

When she said, eat it 

And pay me another day

I sat at the table

A tear in my eye

Such a kind act

So hard to come by

*Written to fit this brief: Ok, your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it, is to write a poem about personal kindness of the main character of your poem (could be you, could be fictional) personally performs or sees performed. The character can be the initiator or the recipient or see it happening in front of them. It must be personal and it must happening in the poem.

Please, no poems about how great it is to be kind, that's a given. This Prompt is for writing a poem about personal kindness that is actually going on within the poem by the main character of your poem (you?) or someone around him/her.

Not meeting those two conditions will make your poem ineligible for competition.


© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

Stillness

Silver pinpricks
On the black silk
Of the sky
Starring a
Milky white moon
Slashing pearly light
Into the room
Casting an ethereal glow
on her, flitting
across the floor
In a gossamer gown
Gazing at her pale face
In the mirror
With a stranger's eyes
A peaceful countenance
hiding the turmoil within
Scarlet-tipped fingers
smear ruby red
on her lips
Pinch colour
Into her cheeks
Her azure glance
Pierces the door
That she knows
Nobody will knock on
Impatiently seeking
Her company
The splash of water
From the overflowing tub
Pattering on the
Tiled floor
Draws her gracefully
Into the depths
Rippling, her
Hair spreads
out darkly as
Bubbles pop
The surface
And then all is still


© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved