General

Every person who writes and shares their writing with others is selling a point of view, so in that sense, every blogger/author/social media poster is well-versed in rhetoric. Rhetoric isn’t new. It’s been around since before the written word, when prehistoric humans sat around fires and told stories. I wonder if hieroglyphs on cave walls contained rhetoric? Hey, isn’t that a rhetorical question?

In the electronic age, we are inundated with rhetoric. I feel like I’m drowning in it. Where are the islands to rest in this swarming sea? I would say graphical art is one place, even though much of it springs from the politics of the artist. Poetry can also be very political. Nature is respite when a subject of any creative expression. Do you think that nature art/writing/poetry can contain rhetoric? I think it is more than a rhetorical question. The answer is a resounding yes. An…

Would sharing my grief,

Lessen my burden?

Would sharing my secrets,

Invite trouble?

Would sharing my thoughts,

Pave way for ridicule?

Would rendering my opinion,

Call for telling off?

Would any departure from ordinary,

Render a taunt?

Would a seemingly harmless situation,

Manifest to regret?

Questions,

Would I ever get an answer to, or,

Would I ever remain twitchy before putting my foot forward?

65 words.

Acknowledgements :- Thank you Reena Saxena for hosting the Reena’s Exploration Challenge # 120. The challenge is to write a piece focussing on the current week’s prompt :- Rhetorical Questions. For rules please refer here. Thank you all for stopping by and reading.

तुम बिन जिया जाता नहीं
पर तुमसे कहा जाता नहीं
क्या यही प्यार है ?

क्यों लगते हो अपने से
जब तुमसे कोई नाता नहीं
क्या यही प्यार है ?

अपने दिल के राज सभी
कोई यूँ ही बतलाता नहीं
क्या यही प्यार है ?

कैसा यह ख़ुमार है
क्यों यह उतर जाता नहीं
क्या यही प्यार है ?

ले गया यह नींद मेरी
क्यों चैन मुझे लाता नहीं
क्या यही प्यार है ?

In response to: Reena’s Exploration Challenge # 120

No two people are alike. A known fact. But, would we be surprised if we realise we have different opinions for the same situation that we encounter on different days? Probably yes, probably no. Is it that we are growing/ learning with time? Is it our different emotions at play? Is it that we have learnt the art of keeping our opinions to ourselves? I don’t know if I’d find an answer to these questions. Who knows! After all, opinions are bound to change with time!

Fingerprints fade as,

we age, so do opinions,

varies with time, change.

Acknowledgements :- In response to Reena’s Exploration Challenge #119. The challenge is to write about two character/ mind sets with the names Thinking Brain and Feeling Brain. For rules please refer here. Thank you all for stopping by and reading.

Patricia’s challenge this week is

Using the word cry
Write a story or poem of 5 Lines or Less

Tactless, cruel and thoughtless, it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
You were no better than I, but thought you were above everyone else.
Your hurtful words cut deep, but you did not defeat or better me.
I stood tall and would not give you the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

सोचता भी तुम्हें हूँ, चाहता भी तुम्हें हूँ
दिल-ओ-दिमाग़ पर इस कदर छाई हो तुम ।१।

कुछ और तो ज़हीन ज़ेहन को भाता नहीं
जब से इस पागल दिल को लुभाई हो तुम ।२।

कितनी दूर तक तुम चलोगी साथ मेरे
हो रूह मेरी, या मेरी परछाई हो तुम ।३।

क्या करती हो अभी से ज़िक्र रुख़सत का
कर लूँ दीदार कि अभी तो आयी हो तुम ।४।

कैसे करूँ तुम को लब्ज़ो में बयां अमित
फ़कत ढाई अक्षरों में समाई हो तुम ।५।

In response to: Reena’s Exploration Challenge # 119

After a long meeting that followed a longer day, Susan P. and I approach Mr. J.

He says that our program is “out of compliance.” He won’t say how he knows, just that I should know. I check my anger multiple times as he double-talks—and insults—me.

After the meeting, I carry that checked anger home. Hold it through the night.

And bring it into the next day.

stiff shoulders
ignoring the need
to walk away

Photo by Bethany Legg

first published in Image Curve, January 23, 2019

for dVerse Poets’ OLN #258 (pubtended by Linda Lee Lyberg)