Poems written as part of the National Poetry Month Challenge 2024.
Food Memory
There was this time, when I went back home,
the first time after I had left for my own.
My mother made me my favourite meal
at four in the morning! So that when I entered home
after a late-night flight, I would be welcomed
by the aromas of my favourite breakfast
and my mom's love. Scents of love, I call it.
Then there was this time when we would run through
three different dishes, sometimes in an hour,
just so that we could identify something
our child could eat and hold down in
a chemo ravaged body.
Manakesh, lamb chops, gummy bears, spicy chips,
potato fry, chicken curry, cool, cool ice cream, and
her last meal of homemade sushi.
Chemo diet is an odd mix.
Most of her leftovers found a home in my body
where they would comfort me, in my grief.
My relationship with food is so fraught with drama;
I love it and I hate it... all in one go
I have had all these items many times since,
like an offering to the Gods.
Hoping my child partakes in these meals.
Sharp
Memories,
so like those fluffy clouds
one sees in sci-fi films.
From a distance,
cotton candy sweet and pretty.
Then as you walk in
and they envelope you,
the cloud reveals its fangs.
Sharp and incisive,
digging into your skin, either regretful or painful,
even our happy memories
are touched by the apprehension
that we'll never be able
to repeat today
tomorrow.
Learning – A List Poem
A pink bead that I swallowed,
the two besties who went silent
when I walked in,
Christella ma'am who taught me
the difference between doing well, and
doing your best.
My mom standing up for me,
My dad riding his scooter
through peak hour traffic to console me.
Falling in love, falling out of love,
breaking up like a bull in a china store
A friendship renewed, full of grace.
Having dreams, chasing dreams,
succeeding,
and failing.
Making right choices.
Making wrong choices.
Learning, learning, learning.
Finding a life partner, learning.
Becoming a mother, learning.
Having my heart and soul opened,
imitating a hamster
running on a treadmill.
Pausing...
and learning
Having my heart and soul broken,
piecing myself together again.
Learning
Life is a list.
The Artist
The masterpiece
had a coconut tree
arching protectively over a modest house.
One with two eyes and a mouth.
The river that flowed by the modest house
snaked down from between
purple blue triangular peaks.
The sky smiled a brilliant blue,
and the yellow sun shone
with earnest rays singing out -
"Here, take my light, be happy, be glad,
it's sunny and a great day to be alive."
That is how the family looked -
Kirigami people - happy as they
stood outside the modest hut.
Mother, father, brother and I.
It looked
like a million other such sketches
but won first prize,
because I coloured
within the lines.
The tree now curves
seductively
over the artist's empty beach
the colour of peach.
The waves are a virulent yellow, and
the sky
a bright pink with a few blue clouds
that look oddly, like daffodils!
You will never see a beach like this
or a painting of it.
Singularly unique, it lies unseen.
Ordinary
All the simple and ordinary
moments,
adding up to a life...
an ordinary life.
A life spent watching, sunsets
paint the sky
with cloud strokes of red, pink
and white.
A life spent watching the sensual
whorls
hiding within whorls of the blood
red desert rose.
A life spent seeking the straight
star-line
of the hunter's belt in a light
polluted night sky.
A lifetime spent smoothing out
the rough edges of you and I.
Tread softly,
and don't judge.
This quiet, labouring breath
caged in a humble chest,
is most precious of all
cosmic gifts.
- Binu Sivan
PAPER DREAMS 