Arindam Das: Favorites

May 2012 Arindam Das

Raj Arumugam

OK, I can no longer say
I’ve got a receding hairline
and sure everyone can see
the plain fact, the bald fact -
but there are pleasures, you know

I’ve saved heaps on hair gel
and shampoos and conditioners
(enough I think
to fund my retirement)
and I can actually feel the cool air
(no one can call me hot-headed)
and the great thing now
is everyone says with all honesty
I’m **** as Sean Connery
(what they actually think
or say behind my back
is none of my business)

but the best blessing of all
is I never need to look for my comb
(I confess I was always misplacing it)
and so I don’t need to reach for my wife’s comb
and so she lies as still as a cat
and she doesn’t need to roar
like a lioness
first thing in the morning:
Don’t you dare touch my comb!

Ah, the blessings that linger
like so many halos
in eminent baldness

WARNING: Hair restoration vendors making any offers will not be tolerated...
May lice and dandruff drive such creatures mad!

May 2012 Arindam Das

~ Optimism ~

May 2012 Arindam Das

D Koroma

~ Optimism ~

I try to be optimistic
They tell me be realistic
I tell them that I am
This world is a sham

They accuse me of being lazy
I accuse them of being crazy
I live life for the day
You live life to make pay

Is it possible for me to be free?
While advancing in this society
When you must work hard to maintain
Yes, because reality is in my brain

While I must fulfill my duty
I also recognize life’s beauty
All the elements of nature around me
Love from friends and family who surround me

This way, at the end of the day
I can confidently say
That I am living life to the best
Even when I may seem stressed

This is the world we are given
It is ours to freely live in
Too many have lost sight of the true meaning
Simple life is at the essence of our being

May 2012 Arindam Das

Expressions of a metallic paintbrush

May 2012 Arindam Das

Nicholas Rew

Expressions of a metallic paintbrush

She was bleeding, crying, and queazy
Fear alone kept her from leaving
Knee deep in lonely; emotionally depleted
Bluntly touching, there was no loving
Indifferently *******, he was no husband
Drunkenly cussing; brokenly crumbling

She'd grown cold, old, and withered
Blankly staring into the mirror
In which a spider had grown upon
Not even it could escape his palm
Ready to fold; she no longer quivered
Figuring no one would even miss her

She looked through bruises, hate, and hopeless

Paint brush loaded;

sharply focused

Fingered trigger;

predicting scriptures

Abusive liver;

idle dither

Quondam shadows become formless

To be adrift in that unknown ocean..

May 2012 Arindam Das

14 Years

May 2012 Arindam Das

Kirsten Martin

14 Years

If you do not leave my bed,
I will not leave your side.
Just stay,
Please, please, please...
Just stay.

You've always been here,
And now they say you're leaving.

No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
p.s. Not really a poem, more of an explanation for why I won't be on the site for a while. Probably. Sorry.

May 2012 Arindam Das

~ She Cries ~

May 2012 Arindam Das

D Koroma

~ She Cries ~

Nature, I beg Her to take Her course
The only true sustaining life force
Apparently we have evolved too much
Seems we no longer respect Her as such

I can feel Her turning up the heat
Counting the days to bitter defeat
Worst part is, we know what we have done
Yet we continue to have our fun

The few that created a plan of action
Receive little political attraction
Forget the poor; there is no money for Earth!
Do people really wonder what She is worth??

If so, this world really is disgusting
Who are these leaders that we are entrusting?
They do not think of the future generations
Who will have to live through all their complications

This beautiful land that we all adore
Is the only life they cannot ignore
Their blissful ignorance will create their demise
Mother Earth warns us every time She CRIES!

May 2012 Arindam Das

Kadambari

May 2012 Arindam Das

Raj Arumugam

Kadambari

I walked past and I heard
you play the sitar, Kadambari;
and I waited at the side in the streets
as I heard the soothing tunes and the notes
and the playfulness and the pleas and eloquence
and the pain and the joys and the ecstasy
O I heard the coming to of each note and raga
and I heard each improvisation
and I stood at the gate, hidden behind the green vines
not allowed in, always the outsider
always left outside, marked by clear boundaries;
but I heard each turn and each leap and fall
and I saw you in all your beauty, Kadambari
I saw you in my mind as I stood outside
and I heard each note
as you offered each note to Kama, the Love God
Kama with his bow and arrow of flowers;
and the jasmine plants around me bloomed
and the trees in the street and the vines over the wall
they all bloomed, as you played, O Kadambari -
and so did my being, so did my being open like the sunflower
so it did, as you, O Kadambari,
as you had your fingers on your sitar
as you made music

poem based on Kadamari, painting by Ravi Varma....

May 2012 Arindam Das

Her Virtue

May 2012 Arindam Das

Chintan Shelat

Her Virtue

From all around
They come crawling like crease on the bed sheet
Deeply plunged in me, I
Have held a corner a bit higher with my teeth
I should lift my self too
But my abdomen is heavy
And navel is tied
---
After shower
It is ecstatic to burst into flames
Long hairs falling on the ear
Feels like roots in the head
You can fall out if you shake it off
You are constantly transforming
****, rug, beats etc. etc.
---
Now you are expert
In how to walk on water with your nose closed
It is dangerous to keep your foot in the ring
Hoping for walls made out of flammable dust
There is spark in the snap of fingers
Dark cold in the chest
Speed is like snail
Slowly slowly
******* is natural
---
After the morning yawn
Everywhere falls very delicate leaves
I want to treasure them
I'll put them under my pillow
Tiring courting of night is sitting beside
At the end i counted total spinal vertebra,
Total was 22
Still i needed help to wrap my leg around
'Limitless' saying waves you up on high oscillation
Loneliness is blissful
Silence is for you to fill
You are allowed to catch your breath if you can
---
You have to loose width of your chest
In attempts to be singular
There is ally full of black color
Red at twilight
Glowing silver at midnight
They come to see, from far countries
And some princess dips her legs in
You start dripping from her heel
Just like a sweat
You have to leave your blackness on her body
Cause only white sweat is allowed here
She gives you a mesmerizing kiss
You keep unfolding it
With both your hands between legs
Both legs are in north and south
And navel
Navel is already tied.