Sunday, November 8, 2009

Gangrape

dumbstruck time
stands motionless
head hung in shame

broken thoughts fragment
the child-woman’s dreams
dreams woven across time
since the first stirrings of passion
when love’s frenzied pulse-beats
went racing through her veins
disbelief breeds in the
blood-soaked sheet
evil lurks in every drop of air
howling winds pound on
the lone window-pane
hailstones rain ruthless

as dead dreams fall heavy on her
she staggers out in tatters
bruised breasts smell of raw flesh
the soul weeps in the ashes
of burnt apparels of dignity

a feeble futile attempt
to unwrite the story fails
time stands stone-still
wondering whether to
usher in the next moment.

note:this poem is published in JOURNEYS, S.Africa.
Surrender

holding rusted memories
in my palm, I look into
the mirror of my poems
the mirror smiles away my lament

a second look
into the mirror and
I smile away the mirror’s lament,
of time racing past
leaving only a barren trail behind

I, my poem and a new emerging I
now grief, solace and strength
resume our search
for a slice of happiness
only to dissolve
in the flow of life
alongside barren lands

a thousand moons hence
we continue to remain
the progeny of time.

note:published in Journeys,S.Africa
HIV Positive
by
Rita Malhotra

a sunless universe bent double
under grief-jammed clouds
twigs fall off the broken nest
from the farthest branch of
life’s desolate tree.
wicked winds scatter them
like straw in the wind
thoughts take shelter
in the dark cave of solitude
the last drop of a lacerated existence
rolls out,
a stranger to the hostile world
life crosses yet another tedious milestone
across the smouldering debris of love.

published in the the Long Islands Anthology
,2009
Stone-smile

the riverside rock
laments its mute existence
eyes open, it watches
the riverbank come to life
as lovers nestle
in the shelter of darkness
between walls of the winds

burbling waters wind their way
past the mute riverside stone
touching teasing
sometimes mocking

time arrives,beckons,summons
in a momentary lapse of reason
the stone uproots itself
to embark upon
its course of destiny
obliging time

forging desires, it races ahead
in search of new land
where stones too can smile.
Dr Rita Malhotra under the aegis of POETRY ACROSS CULTURES initiated by her in 2007 had her 8th programme in the series on Italian/Indian poetry at the Italian Cultural Centre,Embassy of Italy, N.Delhi,India on the 3rd of Nov.2009.The earlier poetry programmes have been Indian/Finnish,Indian/Serbian,Indian/Romanian,Indian /American,Indian/Portugese poetry and A World Poetry Programme viz Poetic Perceptions.The literary evenings aim at Global appreciation and understanding through poetic dialogues and to highlight convergence of thoughts across cultures.