somewhere beyond

junction.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:28:00 +0000

' the pub owner '

the brackish taste of his own sweat
begs a parole from the gulag
of daily drudgery,
of the mayonnaise
the ploughman's grub
the bittersweet cocktail,
served to the visitors
filling his space ,
where laughters intersect
the inside atmosphere ,
so he moves outward
to throw birdfeed
to the passerine
to the meadowlark
perched on their cherished haunt
a tree without a leaf
without a shade
of schadenfreude ..

/ original / z.g.

[ .. to everyone-everywhere -

` a very merry christmas ! ]

spider-web . osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:56:00 +0000

' idiomatic '

then - , pony tail flying
' dancing in the dark '
garbed as spiderman
her weird tomboyish ways
couldn't make head nor tail

of spider- phobias -

now - , spins into a maze
her silken flowing hair
the fear of spiders
and a teacher's utterance -
cobwebs in the head ..

/ original / z.g.

( Ed:- Line 6 - of arachnophobia )

- ' dancing in the dark '/ Springsteen / rock
: - arachnophobia - the fear of spiders

lighthouse.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:11:00 +0000

' the ( immigrants' ) lighthouse '

like all my sorrows
they start from the earth
in pristine africa
hit by the winds and the waves
smuggled like chattels
dumped on a broken raft,
they melt , like contrails
behind the reality
of some aircraft in the sky,
like flotsam on the sea
drifting through the dusk
and into the night ,
to find an abode of light
on a distant shore
bright as hope in the heart ,
unaware
that the rationale of being
must tie them to handcuffs ,
and deport them
to where they come from ,
like all my sorrows

they stay inside me ..

/ original / z.g.

[ human smuggling from africa to The EU or The US
takes its own toll of human life - people die in transit.Gangsters charge app 1500 USD per illegal immigrant.Millions have migrated while others keep trying - and the light house beckons ]

migration.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:15:00 +0000

' migratory birds '

_ ( to medecines sans frontieres )

they come to claim the planet
without passports and visas
winters, not of their making
just question their life on earth

birds fly , sans frontieres
in their world without fences
above the limitations
of conflict and survival

where , another war is on
a son would die in combat
the population would run
to a point of no return ..

/ original / z.g.

creative.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:10:00 +0000

' relationships '

together

holding the broken journeys

tidbits rocked the rocking chairs
ploughed through the writing tables
confession boxes echoed
to the taps on a dead tree

whether cut , crafted or burnt
in the fireplace,or elsewhere

where, without any body
what simply lay on the earth
was kind of spiritual
the calming shade of a tree

holding the broken journeys

together ..

/ original / z.g.

[ Ed :
Line 5 - confession boxes , listened ]

reincarnation.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:25:00 +0000

' calling names '

theta tends to zero
before resurrection
something must have died

in the calculus of life
death entered the equation
like a partial fraction

didn't kill our ' yesterday '
that was already dead
' today ' was a phoenix

dead hallucination
live actuality
wings of agony & joy

you called it perception
they called it a ghost
i called it life

was it civilization ..

/ original / z.g.

[ Ed -
Line 6 :- it didn't kill ' yesterday '
Line 11 :- sums of agony or joy
Line 15:- wasn't that civilization

:- restructured stanza 1 /
re-titled - - ' calling names '
( IST 14:10 nov.17. tues.2009) ]

[ Web Ref - - Theta / :-

1. Theta is most often used to represent unknown angles, especially in the study of trigonometry.

2. In Scientology, theta means thought or life force

3. theta n. The eighth letter of the Greek alphabet. / Greek theta , of Phoenician origin

4. Also called time decay. theta - - financial-dictionary

5. as the time value declines - - the theta tends toward zero - -Robert T. Daigler - 1994 - Business & Economics

6. _ theta tends to zero _ Mathematics / Calculus ]

departed.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:56:00 +0000

' missed calls '

mbote na bino
hello to you all

it speaks every language
russian, chinese, lingala
bridges minds,connects hearts
civilization's toy
responding to touch
unleashing life

' iko kufa - birth is death '

the horizon splits
to reality and dreams
on five million tombstones
of heat tolerant coltan,
another cell phone
toys with civilization

bonjour tout le monde
hello the whole world ..

/ original / z.g.

{ Ref :

In The Democratic Republic of Congo DRC ( Official Languages- Lingala & French )
Coltan Mining [ Heat Resistant Mineral required for Capacitors used in Cell phones , Laptops , Pagers Etc ] has caused the Deaths of More than Five Million People -
surpassing the number of lives lost in World War Two }

shift in time.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:33:00 +0000

' syncopation '

skipped circadian rhythms ,
listened to a busker
right time , a speaker cooed
i heard his song , still

a moment of harmony
rummaged through a lifetime
holding what had been

at sixes and sevens
with all status - quo
clocks at the terminus
reflected , what is

my train had gone
another would come
that's what , would be

i kept getting lost
to timelessness ..

/ original / zg

[ / Stanzas - Restructured /
-Ed : -
Line 3 - right time , they announced
Line 4 - i heard a song , still
Line 5 - that moment of melody
Line 7 - and held the had been
Line 10 - those digits on a clock ]

elusive.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:17:00 +0000

' relic '

not even an iota
i am
of the earth
my whim is a mountain
splattered by the rain
slashed by a waterfall
grazed by the moaning winds
pierced by the grass
creation and corrosion
elude each other
the scree and the debris
allude to me
a jot and a tittle
pebble on the foothill
i'm the reliquary
of a sacred thought
that is life ..

/ original / zg

[ Ref:
Jot or tittle
A tiny amount.

Origin

The phrase 'jot or tittle' is somewhat tautological, as both jot and tittle refer to tiny quantities. It has passed into English via William Tindale's translation of the New Testament in 1526. It appears there in Matthew 5:18:

A jot is the name of the least letter of an alphabet or the smallest part of a piece of writing. It is the Anglicized version of the Greek iota - the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, which corresponds to the Roman 'i'. This, in turn, was derived from the Hebrew word jod, or yodr, which is the the smallest letter of the square Hebrew alphabet. Apart from its specialist typographical meaning, we still use the word jot more generally to mean 'a tiny amount'. Hence, when we have a brief note to make, we 'jot it down'. ]

conquer .osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:45:00 +0000

' one '

surrender , to the rain
filling thirsty rivers ,
to the spark of a firefly
enlivening the night ,
a canorous bird call
alive in a symphony ,
imagine
a raven saying hello
dream
of a wild rose laughing
feel
the heat of a forest fire
embrace
a starry moment
from the timeless galaxies
that need to conquer nothing
nobody
but simply belong to me
as i belong to them ..

/ original / zg

postman

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:31:00 +0000

postman

a paper plane

chasing
butterflies
finds a boy

unfolds
a message
no from no to

what if
love be
an accident

courtesy
serendipity
a drunken postman ..

/ original / z.g.

[ not happy with my original post > Here /
edited the same to find that it sounded like a bad joke made worse
then rehashed it into something school - boyish ..]

Ref : Sr No.19 / gotcha babble - linked > / >Here /

( :- the donts of poetry )

talisman.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:35:00 +0000

faith

wanting a talisman

but finding a leaf

still dancing in the breeze
a dead leaf swirling in the whirlwind
its miracle of life ended
consecrated by the sunrays
that moment of green
was an anonymous breath
inside somebody's chest
letting live

wanting a talisman

but finding a leaf ..

/ original / z.g.

descent.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:10:00 +0000

seesaw

clad in a white haze of transience
watch the glorious niagara
falling simply to rise again
water descends but clouds ascend

fragrant agonies burn inside
the petals shrouded in the mist
a tear from heaven is the dew
water descends but clouds ascend

what pearls of sorrow in those eyes
to reach them i just want to sink
like a river into the sea
water descends but clouds ascend ..

/ original / z.g.

colors.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:12:00 +0000

refraction

her changed contact lenses
transparent as truth
see through opaque lies
the charred black surfaces
of burnt out grasslands
till a green alphabet
sprouts on the parched earth
the goldenness of the corn
makes breakfast of the day
the porcelain cup of the moon
serves a drink of purplish grapes
her vision is colorless
like pure water or air
colorless
as the prism of my mind
it could bend the truth
or find a rainbow
in the black and the white
of her eyes that i read
like the verse that she is ..

/ original / z.g.

fog.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:15:00 +0000

fogs hollywood

leafless branches and twigs
craft out a sign language
delicate fingerwork
weaves patterns into the mist
the autumn lexicon
articulates loneliness
the wind voices that story
a smoke without fire
descends upon a city
of burnt desires
a cloud understands
the fall of spirits
renounces the sky
and settles on the earth ..

/ original / z.g.

" Fog has a mystical feeling.
Like the heavens have come down
to envelop the world and soften it "
~ Lisa at Greenbow
( excerpt from her cmnt at sandy carlson's poem for this prompt )

[ Ed -
Lines 1 to 6 - Rearranged
Line 3 - that delicate fingerwork
Line 7 -the wind voices their story
Line 13 - renouncing the sky
Line 14 - settles on the earth ]

thirst.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:22:00 +0000

thirst

these breakers are granulated
wave after wave of them
sands shift like liminal spaces
primitive skeletons
question life and death
in the kalahari of existence
i play with the illusion
not to let a hope die
drinking in the mirage
in search of what is real
on the right side of the mind
i believe as you do
clear waters of the soul
flow as a brook there
what's left of the brain
remains unquenchable ..

/ original / z.g.

[ Edit :

Line 5 -form surreal images / deleted
Line 6 -questioning life and death
Line 7 - like goya's black paintings / deleted
Line 11 - going after that vision / deleted
Line 12- seeking what is real
Line 18 -what's left of my mind ]

romance.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:43:00 +0000

^recession_ (2009)..

read between the wrinkles
oneirophrenic tales
in the cafeteria
geriatric voices
discuss the recession
i pretend not to hear
won't last long, she says
might outlast us, he laughs
an argument ensues
over chicken rolls
her favorite dish
but wants his ordered
fall's almost here
must save for the winter
she explains,he yields
like a leaf in autumn
to a living gravity
my cup of coffee, like life
blends into a romance
the bitter and the sweet
around me ..

/ original / z.g.

(editing- line 17 -to the pull of a being ,
like life - moved from line 19 to line 18
added line 21 -around me )

blue .osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 08:55:00 +0000

' stones , flowers and blues '

you are right
life can't run on poetics
the porridge and the soup
that's real substance
lapis lazuli
the hair of the sun god re
a solar promise , that's it
but the pendant
has a price tag on
me and my blank verse
for a moment go blank
'cause i'm but an abstraction
a mere thought
almost nothingness
like thin air
turning to dew at times
on your morning glory ..

/ original / z.g.

{ lapis lazuli_ is a blue, greenish blue or purple blue rock ..

_ lapis lazuli stones are considered a stone of universal truth and friendship. A power stone for those who seek spiritual development ..

( source - web )

morning glory ..
blue colored flowers }

allow.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:19:00 +0000

' cosmos '

their blood has tainted the sky red
their hunger burns like many suns
the birds speak a prayer for them
it's their thought on the door pharaoh

allow

the day crumbles into shadows
of depression , like anthracite
till a nebular spark somewhere
should burn this coal to dawn somehow

allow

/ original / z.g.

( just words _ dedicated to poverty )

copse . osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:23:00 +0000

' living on an oak tree '

oneiric scenarios
the badinage of birds
eyes like tranquil ponds
where otterish thoughts dwell
racoons scavenge on boredom
listlessness like sluggish hedgehogs
the impishness of rabbits
the toil of the beavers
the craft of the tailorbirds
the tenderness of fawns
the storybook mysteries
of li'l red riding hoods
in ordinary houses
girls ,wives,moms,grannies
whenever the chips are down
come up with the acorns
of laughter or other goodies
that they hide like squirrels
in the copse of their small worlds ..

/ original / z.g.

ocean.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:38:00 +0000

^{yo también espero} ( i also hope )

ocean to ocean
palindromical tides
on this shore of nescience
i crush my tibia fibula
build the keel and the hull
with a drop of my blood
draw one heart
on this paper-boat
sailing into the unknown
only to sink and drown
become the ocean
for that moment of trance
when you hear me in the wave ..

/ original / z.g.

[ Ed : Line 2 - the meaning too , a palindrome ]

windows.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:15:00 +0000

window

defenestrate the darkness
ofcourse
but some times you need the darkness
away from the glare
when you require sleep
or try to meditate
it becomes a bridge
to your own self
till a tchotchke brings you back
the windchimes jingle
one returns to the world
or the world returns to one
a bumblebee trapped in the lotus
finds release at dawn
so open the sashes
blossom ..

/ original / z.g.

[ ref:

in ancient sanskrit literature it is stated that a bumblebee gets prisoned inside a lotus flower
... at first light when the lotus opens there is hope of freedom .. but then an elephant uproots the lotus , alas ..
( ie - no release for the bee ) .. but in the above writeup - yes ]

{ Ed : line 6 - or when you meditate }

fragrance.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:08:00 +0000

' of woods in the winds '

walled by a silken tablecloth
'neath the dining table
its carved legs of oak
her susurrus woods
smell of deodorant and varnish
from that dreamy retreat
as life woofs and wefts
a toddler crosses the patina
of those ' wonderland ' silks
breaks free of the chrysalis
facing the hints and the scents
of thyme, birch, or balsam
holding inside her lungs
that forest in the breeze

( in about half a breath ) ..

/original /z.g.

inner voice.osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:52:00 +0000

' no contest '

shape shifting thoughts transfigure
like chameleons camouflage
a trial is on
blindfolded , the heart , adjudicates
there is no colored vision
blows away that smoke screen
my breath
a plea is moved
of nolo contendere
the din of arguments dies
standing on the shores of time
i touch a grain of sand
washed by the waves of life
it coruscates with emotions
seems silent and speechless
speaking the lingo
of every inner voice
seeking a song of love ..

/ original / z.g.

thinking .osi

zg.next@gmail.com (zoya gautam) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:47:00 +0000

' dishwashing '

coriander and cardamom
a dash of ajinomoto
the thought'd been deep or shallow fried

morsels of dust from shooting stars
aromas of rain-drenched fresh grass
the salt of the high and wild tides

a solar grace had cooked it all
the dessert of moon was optional
every yummy breath was savored

she washed her dishes with laughter ..

/ original /z.g.

[ Ed :her pulse cooked like a solar flame- line 7 \
the dishes were washed with laughter - line 10 ]