AJ: Favorites

Sep 2014 AJ

Hand Signs

Sep 2014 AJ

Erenn

It’s not easy when I was five
It’s not easy to grasp everything
Learning these new ‘signs’
So others would empathize
Demoralized only to be scrutinized
Wondering why they always laughed
I never knew how it sounds like
But it hurts me deep inside

It’s not easy when I was ten
They wrote on the board
How I always pretend
I keep smiling despite everything
I did pretend
Pretending tomorrow
Everything will end

It’s not easy when I was fifteen
Almost everyone doesn't comprehend
These hands I use to eat & speak
I can read their lips saying,
"FREAK, FREAK, FREAK!!!"
But this time I didn't pretend
Mama always told me before she left
"Your voice is louder than the rest!"

It’s easier now that I’m twenty
It actually gets better if I believe
I found true friends along the way
They get furious if I get played
Diminishing negative thoughts to dust
I know now life has its eminence
There are more others like me

What my mama meant before she left
Help those who are in need
Especially to those who are-
*Special like me.

(I didnt expect it to get featured as the daily poem! I'm so happy I get to share this message with everyone. A better understanding to these gifted individuals:) And if u have a friend who's deaf or learning ASL. Let them read this:)
And once again. Thank you so much To everyone who liked and comment!)
Give your love.
Even if you're the one being received.
I just had to write about this.
And i don't see it as a disability,
I see it as a gift.
(Dedicated to this young girl i saw in the train helping a guy in a wheelchair. She was showing directions! I stood there appalled in awe)
P.S: I need a suggestion whether to name this title 'Gift' or 'Hand Signs'??
I think both stood out.
Comment below.
And I also would like you guys to check out this website.
If you buy their headphones you would be giving hearing aids for the less fortunate.
http://www.lstnheadphones.com/pages/givingbackamplified
And I'm not sponsored to do this. I just want to make a change and help to raise awareness:)
If you can help them, please do.:)

#pain #perfect #suffering #awareness #gift #deaf #special #asl #signing #handsigns

Sep 2014 AJ

The Night It Rained

Sep 2014 AJ

Shruti Chakraborty

The Night It Rained

The moon lulled itself
Into few second-long naps,
The winds whispered the smell
Of the oncoming rains
As ants did a tight-rope
On the tree's sleeves.
The dog pricked its ears,
Each time the tiny hurricane
Of dried leaves whirled round.
The spider attempted to balance itself
On the maze of its own making,
As the web threads strummed
A happy tune
In response to the wind.
The lull before the storm,
Was becoming too much of a bulk
For the clouds to bear,
Before a slant of water droplets,
(Some drying midway through
The atmosphere's layers,)
Stamped their arrival
On the parched layers
Of land, leaves and minds.
Streaks of lightning
Conducted a survey
On the distribution of downpour
Clicking vintage tinted photographs.
The rains slowed down to a drizzle,
The insects buzzed through a banter,
The moon tried to
Sneak through the clouds,
Surprised at its reflection
In a puddle on the street.
The morning wakes up
Smelling a misty presence
Of the (previous) night it rained.

#poetry #nature #night #earth #monsoon #rains

Sep 2014 AJ

Identity

Sep 2014 AJ

Shruti Chakraborty

Identity

They, you and I.
Are?
Interpretations, opinions,
Fears and convictions,
Likes-dislikes,
History and anticipations,
Of life.
All, save the living of it, maybe?

A song heard months back in time
You mused over the major & minor,
I'd pondered over the rhyme.
Each of us
As convinced about its presence.
Winter tastes different in my memory.

Epilogue:
You must choose between
His bespectacled vision
And my retrospective conclusion
But you must know
Which you chose
And why.

Context:

We live but one interpretation [actions being interpretations] of our experiences, chosen on impulse at times, shortlisted by some preset path on other occasions. Is it about the choices chosen and lived? It isn't so much about 'your' life really, that being a myth for we are constantly interacting with many other lives every day. An interaction of interpretations hence, converts to fears, beliefs, and so on. But what about our identity in essence?

Is life to be described in terms of the experiences [and their interpretation] that I may have had [hence unique to me and to the world] - like the difference in reflections of convex and concave mirrors of the same object, for instance. And how those experiences molded me [or I let them!], my beliefs, and preferences, since that too is a unique cluster held together under the umbrella of a name?

What about the infinite lurking before and after - Are we the entity or the impressions?

#life #reality #interpretation #identity #fears #beliefs #experiences #retrospection

Sep 2014 AJ

Untitled

Sep 2014 AJ

wordvango

Untitled

I think therefore I am
writing
therefore to me I am
writing.
I think?

Sep 2014 AJ

don't blame yourself.. -love, always

Sep 2014 AJ

caroline

don't blame yourself.. -love, always

im sorry i didn't answer my phone
that night. i told you "i'll only be a hour,
i promise," but you didn't inform me that you were leaving too. twenty missed calls. one text.
"i can't do this anymore, please
pick up, what do i do?"
im sorry i got mad at you that one day, screamed, left, and cried. you always told me i was too emotional and to toughen up inside. you said you'd always be by my side, although i think you failed to define always, and mention, that soon, you'd be saying goodbye.
im sorry i wasn't as bubbly as you on the days you smiled with your teeth. the days you got confident and decided you were free. the days you came and tugged my hand, got this idea, like school was something we could afford to flee.
im sorry that when i questioned
you about the cuts and bruises, i allowed you to tell me "it's nothing, don't worry about it, i'm fine."
im sorry when your mom left
you home that night, you looked
but didn't find. you said you called exactly after an hour, but i wasn't anywhere around.
im sorry they teased and picked on you, called you names, pulled your hair, and kicked you down.
im sorry, i swear i ran as fast as i could after i was done. my mile takes me ten, maybe fifteen minutes, at least.
im sorry i got there too late and understood all your pain after you put it in ink.
YOU KNOW IM NO GOOD WITHOUT YOU, GOD YOU KNOW IM ******* WEAK.
WHY DID YOU LEAVE? I CANT DO THIS ON MY OWN, DON'T YOU THINK?
im sorry... im so sorry... im right
here, you see? can we talk about this? rethink it?
just please, promise you'll visit me tonight while i sleep.

suicide is something that has a great impact on my heart and something i feel very seriously about. this is in honor of anyone who has dealt with a loss or experienced suicidal thoughts.