Author: Reena Saxena

For this week’s Xploration Challenge & Moonwashed Weekly Prompt, Reena & Eugi have encouraged us to compose a poem on JANUS (God Of January) & the word: EVOLVE respectively. Below lies my contribution: 👇👇👇 Hope ye enjoy the read! 🙏🤞😁📖

THE TWO FACES OF NEW BEGINNINGS

Janus!
The 2 faces of January
God of endings
And new beginnings!
Gates and doorways
Transitions & passages
And ultimately… Time!
But can I trust him?
This God of duality?!
To help me start again
Help me evolve
Into the person I want to become.
Help me make the most of my time?
Which face is he going to show?
How’s he going to frame it?
And where will the doorway lead?
Down a dead end; cul de sac
Into my old self
Or through the gates of new; unexplored possibilities?!

Should you wish to participate in the prompt then you can access it…

Looking back,

A shadow follows,

Matching in tandem.

.

The past rings, mistakes swing

At the dawn of spring.

But the sun glows,

Its warmth clings.

.

Shallow nights arrive.

Water comes down,

Forming shallow pools.

But the Earth beckons

The music,

That comes with it.

~ Kunjal Gupta

This is a Quadrille ( A poem of exactly 44 words) written for Reena Xploration Challenge:

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Janus isthe god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings.He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus.

We counted backwards at midnight on 31st December 2022.

How should we go forward now? I need to know how many months, weeks, days I have to make my life or this world a better place to survive. I may not die at the end of this year, nor will the world end…

Janus

Which face to wear?
Looking forward
or back? The past,
both blessing and weight,
does not cease to be,
even as what will be
approaches. To know
both is not possible,
yet one gives insight
to the other. I wear both.

This is my response to Reena’s Xploration Challenge # 264. It’s January, and Reena asks us to consider Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings, who is depicted as having two faces.

Shared with OpenLink Night LIVE at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #264 & Moonwashed Weekly Prompt #126 – Evolve

While this is not a new creation, both Reena and Eugenia prompted me to revisit this piece and bring it new life. 🙂

birth delivers an unknown entity
and life begins yet again 
you start to exist

the business of life
is to evolve
into your best form

the goal is to reach
a physical peak
then head to the inevitable conclusion

during your stay
your personality
the essence of you
continues to be shaped
by the experiences, tools, and influences along the way

daring to live
requires enhancing it
doing it your way
requires courage

i hope you find joy in it along the way 

Originally published 5/23/2018 on I Write Her. Presented here with revisions.

Shuffle every second or every moment

My life in different manifestations

Standing side by side every component

Like broken legumes of a loment

Or powdery rooms in some stations

Shuffle every second or every moment

Shoulder to shoulder with my opponent

In silence or different sensations

Standing side by side every component

Again doing things spur-of-the-moment

Nearly getting some expectations

Shuffle every second or every moment

Wrap myself warm on my enrollment

Having dinner with my relations

Standing side by side every component

Being logical my proponent

Life is full of hope and fluctuations

Shuffle every second or every moment

Standing side by side every component*

(c) ladyleemanila 2023

*A Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem consisting of a very specific rhyming scheme: aba aba aba aba aba abaa.

For: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2023/01/19/reenas-xploration-challenge-264/, https://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/2023/01/15/wordle-588/

Reena asks us a question this week:

Janus isthe god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings.He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus.

Source: Wikipedia

We counted backwards at midnight on 31st December 2022.

How should we go forward now? I need to know how many months, weeks, days I have to make my life or this world a better place to survive. I may not die at the end of this year, nor will the world end. But it will be criminal to lose time.

Or do you prefer going with the flow, and letting life unfold on its own?

I would love to see your take on this.

A Story of Arrogance Sponsored by Greed

Shelly was excited to get busy!
Her major in Earth Sciences had prepared her for a career…

Time changes everything, as when I was younger, I always went with the flow, and let life unfold on its own, but now that I see that my time on this Earth is getting shorter day by day, I have a very different outlook on life.  I had a live for today philosophy, not worrying about what happened in the past, or fearing what the future would bring.  I tried to live in the moment and enjoy what life gave me.  When I was young and healthy, all I ever thought about was having fun.  Life is full of surprises, and the only certainty is that one day we will all die whether we are healthy or sick, rich or poor, or happy or sad, as death is inevitable.

Recently I discovered that I am like a non-stick pan, which is a pleasure to cook with, but they must be taken…

Welcome back to another week of January!

We counted backwards at midnight on 31st December 2022.

How should we go forward now? I need to know how many months, weeks, days I have to make my life or this world a better place to survive. I may not die at the end of this year, nor will the world end. But it will be criminal to lose time.

Or do you prefer going with the flow, and letting life unfold on its own?

I would love to see your take on this.

⏰⏰⏰

As I saw the countdown posted by Reena with the prompt, it seemed to be the longest minute ever.

I was born in November

Have seen 61 new years

At first we used to be excited

Then we grew apprehensive

With age worries overtook excitement

Now approaching old age I’ve found serenity

Life is unpredictable, no matter…