Saturday, December 15, 2012

springtime in poetry-land


springtime in poetry-land

the poetry-cart
enters the lazy township of words
on wheels of time
scattered, sleepy words
strangers to each other

poetry coaxes, cajoles
and befriends them

a touch of magic!

capricious words wake up
from dreams
turn decisive and traverse
the invisible walls of distance
to converge at a happy reunion
“allow us a voice” they say
and join the train of reflections

poetry pens new desires
and melodies of the soul
on a fresh page of thoughts
the township rejoices
in the spring-time harvest
of nascent poems
the poetry-cart becomes a caravan.


my first-born


my first-born

 a red sun seeks refuge
 in night’s embrace
i travel through my body
to reach you
i live each breath of yours

through winding tributaries
of arteries and veins
i race to keep pace
with the flow of my blood
your blood
i shiver through contractions
of every muscle in the womb
their finer movements converge
in your tiny being

in  creases of smiling thoughts
i live a secret dream with you
sharing unspoken words
i turn the needles of my clock
for dawn to step in early
weaving tomorrow’s face

magic in your first cry
in answer to the call of the world
in touching you
i touch the face of god

today another sun rises
alongside the diurnal morning star.


the other reality..written post 26/11 after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai


the other reality
rita malhotra

dazzling spotlights
enhance velvet skin on chiseled selves
preparing to walk the ramp
on shapely legs in delicate balance
on floor-piercing eight inch stilettos

fashion walks through decades and styles
smiles constructed to hypnotize
complement
the state-of-the art  cameras
in a world of seeming reality
a world that claims continuity
with the world outside
even as
transient fashion statements
shut out the fire of hate
the ruthless business of gunshots
holding the city to ransom
disrupting an era
as the soul oozes blood

reality forgets its signature
puzzled lines on its forehead
try to discern
between  inside and outside
between the reality of illusion
and starkness of  the other  reality

cameras inside continue to focus
on the next aspiring model
outside, fear prevails
like an unknown monster
to save the soul of the city.


phenomenon


phenomenon

the  poet turns
wilderness to gardens
trapped sometimes
in the endless chaos
of life’s aberrations
he implodes
in metaphor of time
in similies of dumb wrath
blind to truth
to light
to darkness
lost in the war of creation
and destruction.

awards 2012


Malhotra has been conferred the Honorary Award for  outstanding merit in promoting Romanian and Universal Values in International Relations,2012 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Romania on the occasion of The Romanian National Day at Claridges Hotel,New Delhi.

Malhotra was also awarded The WP Almanac Award 2012 for her special contribution to World Poetry by World Poetry Almanac,Mongolia,

Saturday, June 16, 2012

partition


Riot
crippling acts of treason
reason lost in unreason
on streets of time and history’s lanes

ravenous earth swallows coffined loves
flames engulf countless pyres
garden greens turn crimson red

silent gods in holy drape
watch through stony chiseled eyes
helpless chaos in sacred shrines
as hate conspires to feed the fire
wild vultures pepper the sky

healing notes from the mosques
restful chimes of temple chants
fail to soothe fear-filled minds
and eyes blinded with stinging tears

a dazed moon roams the sky
in search of hope and harmony
stars lie scattered
like wings of dying moths

time remains a sad witness
to countless broken shadows
and mourns the gaping black-hole
that partition left behind.