General

My verandah is basking in sunshine;
Sunshine that feels like molten butter,
That which flows freely
In its desire to reach out
and swamp everything
With unbridled exuberance.
Warm, playful, extrovert sunshine,
Like a lover’s passionate impatience,
Like a child’s unabashed playfulness,
Falling over my shoulders,
Running all over my face,
Happy to have found me
after many a decade.
Happy to have found
a willing friend,
Who wants to give in
To its friendliness.
Happy to reach out to all those
who are bereft of its reach,
while at work in dark cubicles
and living under artificial illuminance. 
Sunshine that deluges my face,
reminds of God’s assurance,
To dispel the dregs of loneliness
And provides much needed solace!

Copyright @ Goutam Dutta

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #163

बदल गया है ज़माने का चलन
घर पर हूँ पर लाचार नहीं हूँ
अपनी ज़िन्दगी से बेज़ार नहीं हूँ

मिल नहीं पाता हूँ अब उनसे
मुनासिब है भूल जाऊँ उन्हें
कह दो उनसे मैं तैयार नहीं हूँ

मिला है वक़्त सोचने का मुझे
जो भी किया अच्छा बुरा
अपने किये पे शर्मसार नहीं हूँ

करता हूँ कुछ ज्यादा काम
खटता हूँ रोज़ सुबह से शाम
शुक्र है कि बेरोज़गार नहीं हूँ

रखता हूँ अपना ख़याल ज्यादा
एक ज़िन्दगी तो हज़ार नेमत
मनाता हूँ खैर, बीमार नहीं हूँ

In Response to: Reena’s ~Exploration Challenge # 163

Someday, this will be over–
Only remembered like some half-felt and fading nightmare

Can this stuff kill me?
Possibly if I don’t take care
Staying home that is the key
This stuff I cannot see
And yet it is pandemic

Lockdown and no shopping spree
Be calm and say my prayer
Can this stuff kill me?
Washing hands thoroughly
Social distancing is required

Home office as I drink my tea
Some news virtually I can share
Staying home that is the key
When will this stuff be stopped?
If we don’t spread it to anyone else

I hope you are taking care of thee
Wherever you are don’t be scared
Can this stuff kill me?
Together we will find the solution
If we work for the common good

Nowhere is safe even at the quay
So I watch telly and sit on my chair
Staying home that is the key

Another day, like the one gone by

so not unlike the others before

segueing shamefacedly, silhouetted against the abnormal new normal

held captive, not by oppressive heat or gelid winds

but fear and concern

loneliness, my unwilling mistress

sometimes drowning me in a downpour of misery

at others keeping me awake staring at the skies through the polluted haze

my craving for human touch is intense

I look around the room

well, I have a picture pinned to my wall
an image of you and me and we are laughing
and loving it all

seems from another lifetime

memories etched deeply on my fragile heart

I am on the edge, teetering towards the inviting oblivion

clinging desperately to a modicum of sanity

the phone rings, shattering the frangible silence

“join zoom!” hisses harried sibling,
her tone dripping with blame

as my mind weaves between reality and fantasy

I see mom…

Image Credits – Unsplash
#1 CDC
#2 Hello I’m Nik
#3

Lonely comes from knowing you

liked morning to kiss your lips

lulled from dream drenched slumberings,

little aware of my heart

longing for your mulled murmurs,

lured into sweet pain of hope.

Lonely comes from knowing you

***

Mindfills of s.s. for

dVerse Pleiades – This week’s Poetics Challenge – Write a poem using the PLEIADES FORM (clickHEREfor MTB 16/10/14 post on this). Pick a ONE-WORD TITLE then write a SEVEN-LINE poem of SEVEN SYLLABLES whereby each line begins with the FIRST LETTER of your title.

Reena’s exploration challenge – lean into loneliness

dVerse OLN hosted by Sanaa

The country or atleast most parts of it is heading towards a re-lockdown. Though I understand the reason behind it, it pains me to look at the small time businesses that are heading for a shutdown and daily wage workers struggling to cope up. Whenever I read news of people ending their lives with the hopelessness of the situation strangulating them, I feel helpless and sad.

I wrote these few lines keeping them in mind.

For Reena’s Exploration Challenge #163

Reena is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge

Welcome back to explore the innermost recesses of our minds!

PROMPT #163

We are getting ready for a re-lockdown here, after a sharp spike in the number of Covid cases.

Here’s a video depicting a poet’s interpretation of life in lockdown.

https://aeon.co/videos/lean-into-loneliness-like-it-is-holding-you-a-poetic-reflection-on-life-in-lockdown

Take us into your inner world., and let us see how you view this unusual space.

The piece you generate can be fiction, poetry, essay, art, photographs, or anything else that your creativity brings forth.

Write a post on your blog, and copy-paste the link in Comments. In case you are using a pingback, do check back to see if it has worked.

~*~

There was a world before COVID

We all remember how we lived

A life where restrictions were unheard of

We were free to come and go as pleased

This disease has turned all…