Transient
by Ainne Frances dela Cruz In my old age, my parents have decided to give me space: a room of my own complete with a bed and a view of the woods beside our house. As the body grows older it grows inflexible, it seems either that or my bed is […]
To The Serpent
by Aime Cesaire I have had occasion in the bewilderment of cities to search for the right animal to adore. So I worked my way back to the first times. Undoing cycles untying knots crushing plots removing covers killing hostages I searched. Ferret. Tapir. Uprooter. Where where where the animal who warned me […]
To The Nameless Soldier
by Afzal Moolla Your orders may come now, or at 19h45 this evening. ‘Shoot to kill’ ”Engage the enemy’ ‘Hold the line’ ‘Break up the gathering’ ‘Ready, aim, fire’ But you have felt too, the stab of hunger, the bite of thirst, the bayonet of loss, the wound of despair. […]
The Woman And The Flame
by Aimé Césaire A bit of light that descends the springhead of a gaze twin shadow of the eyelash and the rainbow on a face and round about who goes there angelically ambling Woman the current weather the current weather matters little to me my life is always ahead of a hurricane you […]
The Wolf039s Postcript To 039little Red Riding Hood039
by Agha Shahid Ali First, grant me my sense of history: I did it for posterity, for kindergarten teachers and a clear moral: Little girls shouldn’t wander off in search of strange flowers, and they mustn’t speak to strangers. And then grant me my generous sense of plot: Couldn’t I have […]
The Riddle
by ahcene mariche I dressed a lot of persons I patched clothes to many others The rich as well as the poor I took off thorns To the sick I pierced boils I also pierced plenty of ears Most people need me They can’t do without me I adorned too many […]
The Queen
by Ahmed Mohammed The Queen When she was fifteen She was the Princess You have got to confess The Queen is keen You can’t say she’s mean Her children run And have fun In the sun. She stops fights In the nights In time she stops crime She ate a tart And […]
The Poisoned Present
by ahcene mariche The present you offered me is poisoned You should know this oh! The beneficent! It shines like a star A frame as nice as a parapet You admire it so much For me it is worthless You need to impress others Always looking for someone prestigious But I […]
The Markets Are Down 2 Amp A Quarter
by Afzal Moolla banish the hubris, toss away the choice words, spoken by rotten broken tongues, silence the chorus of appalled shock. shred the sermons, burn down the gory edifices, the churches, mosques, temples, for mutedly hushed their Gods they mock. drain the sewage, […]
The Maharishi And The Baby
by Ajmer Rode The Maharishi whispers: the flesh is Maya, the lie the soul is eternal, the truth. The baby inside a starved womb insists it must come out, needs more flesh. The maharishi and the baby in the womb stare across into each other’s eyes. Blue […]
The Immigrant
by Afzal Moolla Seeking solace. Seeking a home. The immigrant finds, Rotten prejudice. Fungal anger. The immigrant, alone, hoping for, A solitary chance. To belong. The immigrant, alone, always, An outside entity. Eternal outcast. A viral threat. A reeking odour. […]
The Fallen House
by Aju Mukhopadhyay The Fallen House I was in my prime youth when I left the house flooded by different hues in different rooms- satin blue of the sky and pinkish love-rose blooms bright yellow of the sun in the stairs youth-wild green in the balcony; ‘twas a grandiose affair […]
The Poetry That Is Life
The theme of the traditional poet Was not of life. In the barren expanse of his imagination He conversed with his mistress and wine Living in an imaginary world He was a captive Held by a beloved’s funny tresses. As for others, They held, in one hand a cup In the other A mistress’s […]
Take My Hands
by Ajmer Rode Take my two hands make eight feet of them give them to the spider I soaked in hot water in my kitchen sink. I will hide my arms in long sleeves, will finish the last painting with brush in my teeth but take my two hands. If the […]
Tablet
As the dark cloud passed, I in the crimson shadow of the moon viewed the square and the streets an octopus stretching a languid leg in every direction toward a black swamp. And on the cold cobblestones a crowd stood, so many and in the midst a prolonged aticipation bordering on despair and weariness. […]
Stroll In A Particle
by Ajmer Rode If you can find a path into it there is enough space in this particle to stroll for a lifetime. Blue Meditations Poetry Monster – Home A few random poems: External links Bat’s Poetry Page – […]
Stones
by Afzal Moolla Making tea for two, alone. Tears mingling with the Earl of Grey, desolate. A heart shredded, leaving only wasted murmurs, wasted breaths. A soul hardened, all alone. A heart aching, to beat. The heart slips, among scattered stones. Afzal Moolla […]
Spanish Banks
by Ajmer Rode The grey sands invite me to follow the receding sea water to recognize a clam shell that could be the house where my ancestors began. I walk slowly with respect. Blue Meditations Poetry Monster – Home A few random poems: […]
Somber Song
In a leaden dawn the horseman stands silent, and the long mane of his horse is disheveled in the wind. Oh God, God, horsemen should not stand still when things are imminent. By the burnt hedge the girl stands silent, and her thin skirt moves in the wind. Oh God, God, girls should not […]
Poem65
by Ai We smile at each other and I lean back against the wicker couch. How does it feel to be dead? I say. You touch my knees with your blue fingers. And when you open your mouth, a ball of yellow light falls to the floor and burns a hole through it. […]
Playing With Big Numbers
by Ajmer Rode The human mind is essentially qualitative. As you know, we are easily excited by pinks and purples, triangles and circles and we endlessly argue over true and false, right and wrong. But quantitative analyses rarely touch our souls. Numbers were invented mainly by men to trick each other. […]
Percy Janes Boarding The Bus
As the bus rumbled on I continued under my breath “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Percy Janes, Newfoundland writer, poet, just boarded the number something-or-other.” If this was Portugal, a plaque would be placed over the seat where he sat. As it is, you have me mumbling in the street like a tourist in […]
One Word
by ahcene mariche Words are like bees They have honey and vemon Sometimes they are so sweet Sometimes as wounding as knives A word can bring you up Until you reach the top Then, you will know Fame and wealth Glory and power A word can knock you down The […]
Once She Dreamed
by Ajmer Rode Once she dreamed she was Mileva, the long haired Serbian girl who married Albert Einstein. She quietly watched when Einstein twisted the absolutely flat space with his hands. She watched when Einstein broke the absolute flow of time into pieces and spun them around at different speeds. She was […]
O God
by Ahmad Shawqi O’ God ! I wander all day and pine through time, And seek some comfort in my rhyme. The noblest of rhymes overflow with love, The sweetest line – the musical and pure – Are written down for the heart as a cure. Men turn as they pay to […]
Notebook Of A Return To The Native Land
by Aimé Césaire At the end of daybreak. . . Beat it, I said to him, you cop, you lousy pig, beat it, I detest the flunkies of order and the cockchafers of hope. Beat it, evil grigri, you bedbug of a petty monk. Then I turned toward paradises lost for him and […]
Night Words
by ahcene mariche Night words are like butter They melt at the breaking of dawn I advise you the virtuous! Never rely on them! Go to seek for your happiness Beware of lack of will and laziness Hearing soft words Leads to a deep sleep Once you close your eyes You […]
Negligence
by ahcene mariche If we could make of negligence an arm It would cause disaster Pains and wounds And lead us to despair and failure No one can tolerate it It is the ruin of all hopes We want to keep away from it When we see its doing From our […]
Mustard Flowers
by Ajmer Rode If you see an old man sitting alone at the bus stop and wonder who he is I can tell you. He is my father. He is not waiting for a bus or a friend nor is he taking a brief rest before resuming his walk. He doesn’t intend to […]
Meditation With Feet
by Ajmer Rode Father meditated with feet in a pan of warm water before sleep every evening He never expected my mother who brought him the water to kneel. Rather than wash in hurry he wanted his feet left alone let the dust particles loosen as he quietly thanked his feet and […]
Love
by Ainne Frances dela Cruz Lion-like this mane of hair he combs for dandruff man- -this must be love. Strangeroad.com Copyright ©: 2011 Poetry Monster – Home A few random poems: External links […]
Little Talk
Don’t you think it’s probable that beetles, bugs, and bees talk about a lot of things – you know, such things as these: The kind of weather where they live in jungles tall with grass, and earthquakes in their villages whenever people pass. Of course, we’ll never know if bugs talk very much […]
Light The Festive Candles
Light the first of eight tonight— the farthest candle to the right. Light the first and second, too, when tomorrow’s day is through. Then light three, and then light four— every dusk one candle more Till all eight burn bright and high, honoring a day gone by When the Temple was […]
Levitation
by Ainne Frances dela Cruz In dark girls I see your skin. The lines of veins delicately whispering on the underside of your arms. The graceful motion of your fingers, how you always seemed on air, entrapped with wings; you who only had to rise to fly. I, in another time, […]
Labor Pains
I am sick today, sick in my body, eyes wide open, silent, I lie on the bed of childbirth. Why do I, so used to the nearness of death, to pain and blood and screaming, now uncontrollably tremble with dread? A nice young doctor tried to comfort me, and talked about the […]
Labels
by Ajmer Rode The baby just born into this world has been greeted, and well taken care of. Already a variety of labels have been etched on him. One for race. One for color. One for religion and maybe one for a caste. at the same time he is told you are born […]
Kalli
by Ajmer Rode Kalli followed me eight miles to the market where animals were traded like slaves. Cows goats bullocks camels Kalli was black beautiful and six prime age for a water buffalo. She was dry. Repelled bulls as if she had decided never to go green. Hard to afford, my […]
Insect039s Nest
by Aju Mukhopadhyay When it came and built the frame on the wall, briskly I bruised it by a finger. Twice it came again I ignored it then. Now on the wall it has a shelter at the back of my computer; a frail one inch hollow tube upside open downside closed […]
In This Cul De Sac
To make sure You have not said: “I love you,” They smell your breath. They even smell your heart Trying times are these, my darling. They flog love Tied to the post of the cul-de-sac We must hide love in the closet. In this serpentine maze This crooked cold corner They feed the fire […]
I See Chile In My Rearview Mirror
by Agha Shahid Ali By dark the world is once again intact, Or so the mirrors, wiped clean, try to reason. . . –James Merrill This dream of water–what does it harbor? I see Argentina and Paraguay under a curfew of glass, their colors breaking, like oil. The night in Uruguay […]