Roots

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Why Poetry

Why poetry?
Because beauty
Because mercy
Because perspectives
Because arguments
Because theory
Because philosophy
Because aesthetics
Because beauty 

Why poetry,
Why, why, why poetry?
Because children
Because animals
Because trees
Because birds
Because sea
Because rain
Because rainbows
Because beauty

Why poetry,
Why, why, why, why poetry?
Because war
Because hunger
Because disease
Because floods
Because misery
Because wailing
Because songs
Because beauty

They read today
They cried today
They related
They understood
They learnt today
They unlearned
They forgave
They smiled today
They laughed 
They danced
They angered today
They frothed 
They organised 
They petitioned today
And all of it
All and all of it
Was poetry
Oh, simply poetry!
Some called it God
Some said, "Oh goodness!"
Some just fell silent 
But blessed
Blessed, blessed, 
Blessed are those
Who know poetry
Who see poetry
See life
Life and poetry
Life through poetry
Poetry through life
Blessed, blessed, 
Blessed are those
Who pause for poetry
And mad are those
Who breathe for poetry

So if you haven't begun
Start today
Begin your riyaz
And keep at it
Once you taste 
Taste the nectar
You will want to go on
You will go on
And won't help saying,
Why,
Why, why, why,
Oh, why so much beauty, Poetry?
-
Chandni Girija

Day 30 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

A sincere argument for poetry from this small human. Try reading out loud, with heart. I suspect it might reach your heart. 
Signing off here. The journey of 30 days, a month, April ends here. Thanks for reading and being along. Kudos to everyone for existing, for making it through, for forging, for being! Much love and much warmth! 

Friday, April 29, 2022

Cheetahs in, Adivasis out

मैं तेज़ दौड़कर आऊंगा 
कूनो में बस जाऊंगा 
शायद न भी आऊँगा 
तुम्हें जरूर हटवाऊंगा 
यह बोली न मेरी 
न तुम्हारी 
यह बोल-बाला हैं 
दलालों का  
सुन्ना हैं 
झुकना हैं 
हटना हैं 
मर जाना हैं 
यह ग्रह न मेरा  
न तुम्हारा 
यह हरियाली सिर्फ 
हरी नोटवालों का हैं 
-
चाँदनी गिरिजा 

दिन २९/३० | ३० दिनों में ३० कविताएं | राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महीना #नापोरिमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022


A painful addition in the series of human-animal conflict. Adivasis of Kuno being displaced in the name of making way for the African cheetah. It is always the most voiceless that pay the price.  
Title of the poem is same in an attempt to honour the report and PARI's work. Do spare a glance.

Thursday, April 28, 2022

नील बट्टे सन्नाटा

परिवार खून से नहीं बनता
घर से निकल कर
इससे ढूंढो
जो तुम्हारे हिस्से में
एक टुकड़ा धूप का
जोड़ते हैं
वहीं अपने हैं
वहीं परिवार हैं
उनका मिसाल लेकर चलो
सूखे पत्ते में लपेटकर
धागे से बांधकर
गले में डाल चलो
उम्र के साथ देखो
देखो
यह माला कितनी सजती हैं
इसी को अपनी
अपनी एक कामयाबी समझो
चलते रहो
मगर चलते रहो
पानी की तरह
अपना घर 
केवल अपने अंदर बसाओ
-
चांदनी गिरिजा
दिन २८/३० | ३० दिनों में ३० कविताएं | राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महीना #नापोरिमो

#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

पुन्हा, पाऊस


हे डोळे आहेत ना 
हे रंग आहेत ना 
मला दिसत आहेत ना 
आणि 
नि नि नि 
आणि 
डोळे मिटल्यावर 
हे रंग माझ्यावर 
वर्षाव करत आहेत ना 
कृतज्ञ आहे मी
-
चांदणी गिरीजा 

दिवस २७/३० । ३० दिवसात ३० कविता । राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरिमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Photo by Matheus Bertelli, procured at Pexels 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

भवतु सब्ब मंगलं

Sometimes
The best of our intentions
Twist in the wind
And become
Papercuts
Chandni Girija

Day 26 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimi2022

Monday, April 25, 2022

ओली


अंगावरून गेली एकच ओळ
आणि झाली आंघोळ
-
चांदणी गिरिजा

दिवस २५/३० | ३० दिवसात ३० कविता | राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo 2022


Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding procured at Pexels

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Have You Seen Bats Sleep?

Folded like small black 
Garbage bags lumped 
With waste and the fold
Angling straight on one 
Side as if the bag held 
A long bone like a femur

If you had to glance up
To be shocked by small
Black garbage bags on
The wide tree branches
And wondered whose
Dumb idea was it to 
Decorate the trees this
Way, who had the hustle
To take this much effort
And what sort of sombre
Celebration was this and
Then have it dawn upon
You that those were not
Small black garbage bags
Those were breathing
Living phenomenon of 
Life and nature and life
And nature and if anyone
Were dumb it was you! 
-
Chandni Girija

Day 24 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Saturday, April 23, 2022

When they say 'Godspeed'

A bead of sweat 
Hangs on his brow
Unable to resist
Drops to join the tar road
He is happy in his toil 
The toil is his only god
He doesn't notice 
The wetness he creates 
In his wake the ground 
Moistens in tiny circles
Circles that slowly join
Hands and push back 
Trees that slowly get 
Burdened by fruits that
Drop to ground one by one
Eaten by ant, rabbit and man
He notices nothing
He is happy in his toil
The toil is his ecstasy 
The toil is his only god
-
Chandni Girija

Day 23 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022


Friday, April 22, 2022

९:३२ ची लास्ट लोकल

माझा बीज मला इथून काढावा लागेल
तुझ्या गटारीत काय
माझा कमळ फुलणार नाही
-
चांदणी गिरिजा

दिवस २२/३० | ३० दिवसात ३० कविता | राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Thursday, April 21, 2022

अब्रू

This is to announce in public awareness
The Bulls are in full throttle today
And they shall be herding through
You are to lie down quietly 
Your honour is for nation's stake
Your intelligence, your dignity
Your sensitivity, all your soft parts
Are mandatory sacrificial offerings
For our nation's image
You are to comply, to obey
Later,
When the Bulls are done
You may cry in a jail
Or you can flee at your will
Trailing your blood-soaked dupatta
Chandni Girija

Day 21 of 30 | 30 Peoms in 30 Days | Nation's Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022


Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Origin of my Axis

My zero-zero is lost!
My graph now begins 
At random point, jarrs
Breaks, starts again!
I do not make sense to me!
Give me, my math back!
I do not sit well 
In the world of words!

I am knocking at your door 
Again
You let me in
I gravitate to my usual spot
My body cowers
In the force of the question
That hangs in my eyes
That I ask you stealthily
In a glance
That keeps falling onto you
That keeps falling onto you
Askance
Like a crazy magnet
I am a
Picture of a fishhook
Being pulled towards you
Do you not notice the sea-storm?
How in hell, are you so calm?

My menstruating crotch
And my dandruffed scalp
In my sly, pendulating glance
Are asking you just this, my beloved:
Do you
Do you really want me?

The ghost of words 
Has followed me out
I know there's quietude in your house
And I know
That I have left behind
A stain on your sofa
-
Chandni Girija

Day 20 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

The Streetlight

Pulsing in the night
A little broken streetlight
Fighting feebly with darkness
A small hearbeat
Punching holes
In an atrotious blackness
Stamping its will to live

Decades later 
Three Everest conquerors 
Put a bouquet on its grave
They carve an epitaph 
"Thank you for your light
You saved us in the dark."
-
Chandni Girija

Day 19 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Monday, April 18, 2022

एवढच

रातांची मजा
पुन्हा कळायला लागली
चांदणी पुन्हा
हसायला लागली
-
चांदणी गिरिजा

दिवस १८/३० | ३० दिवसात ३० कविता | राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो

रचीत

When all names are nouns
You stand out alone
As an adjective
-
Chandni Girija

Day 17 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Fullness

Inch by inch
Drop by drop
She filled up
At thirty-two
She realised
She had 
Come of age
Of all uglinesses endured
A thing of beauty had sustained
Sustained, blossomed, strengthened 
She was fully in her skin
She was fully comfortable 
She carried herself
She carried
Pride and confidence
She took no notice when
No one took notice
She loved herself
Secretly, softly, sensually 
She loved herself 
Fully 
Of all ugliness endured
A thing of beauty had sustained
Sustained, blossomed, strengthened 
Magnificent as a banyan tree
Not for wise men to seat their arses
A walking banyan tree 
She chose whom to give her shade
Of all ugliness endured
A thing of beauty had sustained
Sustained, blossomed, strengthened 
A thing she fell in love with
Everyday, everyday, each day
And when she forgot
She remembered
And realised
She had 
Come of age
She was a woman 
Fully, fully, completely
Of all ugliness endured
She realised
She would forever love
That
She was a woman
Her womanness 
Was her forever love
Her full love
Fully hers
Chandni Girija

Day 16 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Friday, April 15, 2022

The Tit- for-Tatters


Brackety bark
Hark hark hark
Here come the schemers
The tit-for-tatters
You might have burned them
Once or twice or multiple times
You might have been rude
Reactive
Or simply just existed
Fetter not
The schemers will come
The tit-for-tatters
They have a plan
To roast your buttocks
Fetter not fetter not fetter not
Fear not!
Tread as carefully as you want
You shall walk in
You shall walk in
You shall walk in a waltzing elephant
Into their grandiose trap
Set up for tomorrow
Next week
Even years later
The trap shall lay
The trap shall wait
Like a faithful dog
And when you do
When you fall
When you fall
And get roasted
An elephant with roasted bum
A roasted bum elephant
The expression on your face
The expression on your face
Will be the highlight
The highlight of their day
Their week
Heck
When you fall
And get roasted
An elephant with roasted bum
A roasted bum elephant
The expression on your face
The expression on your face
Will be the highlight
The highlight of their life
So fear not
Fetter not fetter not fetter not
Hark hark hark
Brackety bark

-
Chandni Girija


Responding to #napowrimo 's prompt 'to write a poem about something you have absolutely no interest in.' I have absolutely no interest in this, I cannot do this, my brain wiring does support this, I am absolutely dumb at this (but at least over the years I have grown some intelligence in recognising this) and I will spend a lifetime in getting away from people who do this.
P.S. If you are someone who does this, please, it's just some poetry month gibberish; please forgive me and please, please, plissss don't keep one in store for me!!! And happy Vishu!!


Day 15 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo2022

Thursday, April 14, 2022

भिंगरी

कुटुंब गोल असतं 
एकाच भिंगरीच्या त्रिज्यात
गोल गोल फिरायचं असतं 
त्याच माणसांसोबत 
मग ती माणसं रोज तुम्हाला 
गुदमरत असतील तरी
हळू-हळू तुमचा लहान-छोटासा 
सळपा कापून खात असली तरी 
त्याच भिंगरीत रहायचं असतं 
त्याच भिंगरीत फिरायचं असतं
पण धाडस करा 
भिंगरी तोडून बाहेर निघा 
जग गोल नाहीये 
जग प्रचंडपणे चौही दिशांनी 
पसरलेलं आहे 
अस्तित्व मात्र खूपच लहान आहे 
म्हणून आजच निर्णय करा 
पुढे माणूस म्हणून जगायचंय  
कि समाजाचा पाळीव कुत्राच राहायचंय?
-
चांदणी गिरीजा 
दिवस १४/३० । ३० दिवसात ३० कविता । राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

The Colony Sweetheart

If I could take a bite out of the moon 
How would it appear?
A bitten moon shining in sun's light 
A poor bitten moon 
That does not have its own light
Would they still want the bitten moon?
Have they ever wanted asymmetrical things?
The poor moon would hang there lonesome
And would now become 
A receptacle of hatred and controversy
Everyone wanted a bite
And all I did was really take a bite
Haha
-
Chandni Girija

Day 13 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022



Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Love by Design

I want us to be simple
Like leaves
With even the veins of enjoinment
Clear as palm lines
Visible where you end and where I
And where we mesh
When we go swimming
You could bob away
Float in your own peace 
And even swim away
I want you to have adventures
Big, fast, slow, small
I want to be one of them 
And when you get tired of them
I could be your home
A home by your logic
Not the diktats of society
I want us wedded to the present
And not the abstraction of eternity
And when you look back
I want to be one of your truest loves
When you look back
I want you to smile
Involuntarily
-
Chandni Girija

Day 12 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022



Monday, April 11, 2022

आज समुद्र बोलका आहे

आज समुद्र बोलका आहे ...
बोल, बोल जितकं बोलायचंय तुला
ऐकते मी
कैद होते ना मी दोन वर्ष
बेरंगी सीमेंटीच्या जंगलात
सुटले आज
आणि इतक्या दिवसांनी
भेटत आहोत आपण 
बोल, बोल जितकं बोलायचंय तुला
ऐकत आहे मी
रात्र होऊ दे आज
उद्याची सकाळ होऊ दे
बसुयात आपण 
साऱ्या जगालाच विसरून
सकाळ होता होता
कंठ दुखायला लागेल तुझा
तेव्हा मात्र कुशीत घे मला
वाहत ने मला
त्या तटाला ने मला
इथल्या काळोखानंतर
तिथला सूर्योदय पाहायचंय मला
नेशील ना, सखया?
तुझ्या अक्रोशात शांत होत आहे मी
बोल, बोल जितकं बोलायचंय तुला
ऐकत आहे मी
-
चांदणी गिरिजा

दिवस ११/३० । ३० दिवसात ३० कविता । राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Eva

Could I live in a world
Where my language isn't known?
Swashbuckling with penguins
Diving with dolphins?
Hugging snake-filled trees?
Could I feed orphaned baby elephants
Tend to old cows
Have roosters chase me?
Could I float while hippos bathe
Blow bubbles as the crocodiles wait
Crouch in the bushes as the tigers pass?
Could I shake hands with chimpanzees
Play an instrument for the foxes
Could I sit with sparrows?

Could I stop waxing my legs
Forget toilet paper and sanitary napkins?

That, in my opinion, 
That, that, that in my opinion 
Would be my perfect heaven
I could forget my language
And I could learn theirs 

Languages of this world
Could never be dead
-

Chandni Girija

Day 10 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

This poem is inspired by one of most favourite novels - 'Eva' by Peter Dickinson. The title of the poem is same as that of the book - an attempt to honour the work, a dedication, an expression of my utter love for the book! If you haven't read it yet, do give it a try. It was ahead of its times and it still is a bit; however, it is very relevant! 


Saturday, April 9, 2022

The Bystander

In all her meticulous appearance
Her ironed clothes and manicured
Hands, trimmed eyebrows and
Perfectly shaded lips, her two slim,
Simple, elegant bangles, her brown,
Flat heels, straight-cut pyjamas and
Sweetly contrasting chunni, a hue for
Each day, her perfectly kohled brown
Eyes and her dangling earrings
Shimmering in black, silver, blue or
Gold, hid one stray strand of hair,
Peculiarly untenable, which she stuck
Sometimes with two hairpins and
Sometimes just let loose
One little streak of her wildness
That she allowed to be, with which
She beckoned subtly, very subtly,
"Come hither," she said, "Come
Hither, you little madness out there,
This is a small hook to climb inside,
Climb inside my imperfect world"
Just a strand of hair, one little comma
One little comma, buried in square 
Brackets
-
Chandni Girija
Day 09 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Friday, April 8, 2022

Peeling

They stand facing the streetlight
Bathing individually in its light
The car arrives and they get in 
One after the other, carefully
The car leaves
They forgot their shadows 
They remain stuck to the sidewalk
The morning sweeper finds them
She sighs and unsticks them
She carries them on her back
She hangs them on her clothesline
Here they dry and finally weep
In the evening they slip down
Join hands and walk away 
They rent a house in the sweeper colony
And here they live contently
In a simple house beside a streetlight 
-

Chandni Girija

Day 08 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022


Thursday, April 7, 2022

सडपातळ

मला विचारू नकोस 
दुपारच्या तीन वाजता 
मला चिमण्यांचा विचार का येतो 
येतो रे विचार 
मला काळजी वाटते त्यांची 
माझ्या लहानपणाच्या अंगणात 
ते उदंड, विपुल, अमाप प्रमाणात असायचे 
आता विखुरलेत 
कोठे, कोठे गेलेत रे चिमण्या?!
कोठे गेलेत चिमण्या?!
अश्या अभिजात इमारतींत 
सुसंस्कृत बाई म्हणून 
नाही राहायचंय मला!
गचाळ आहे हे सगळं!
अनावर आगळिकीला घडी घालून 
सभ्यता म्हंटलेलं आहे 
माझा विरोध आहे रे 
म्हण, म्हण मला वेडी 
मला मूर्ख म्हण 
पण मला बोलायचं आहे रे 
मला ह्या भिंती फोडायच्या आहेत 
नको, नको आपला हा फाल्स सीलिंग,
हं? 
तोडते मी 
मला पळायचं आहे रे 
मला वाचवायचंय 
मला चिमण्यांना वाचवायचं आहे रे!!!
-
चांदणी गिरीजा 
दिवस ०७/३० । ३० दिवसात ३० कविता । राष्ट्रीय कविता लेखन महिना #नापोरीमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

संदेह कि वफादारी


तालियों को सिलसिला 
अब बस शुरू हुआ हैं 
मुझे तो सिर्फ यहीं देखना हैं 
तेरी ताली कितने जोर से बजती हैं 
क्या मेरे घर में गूंजती हैं 
क्या मेरे मोहल्ले में 
मेरे शहर में 
या 
क्या तेरी ताली 
मेरे लिए बजनेवाली तेरी ताली 
क्या मेरे देश में गूंजती हैं 
तय कर ले 
तू आज तय कर ले 
दोस्त, 
तू कितना कायर हैं 
या तू कितना अटल हैं 
दोस्त मेरे,
आज तू तय कर ले 
क्या तू मेरा दोस्त हैं 
या मेरा दुश्मन हैं? 
-
चाँदनी गिरिजा 
दिन ०६/३० | ३० दिनों में ३० कवितायेँ | राष्ट्रीय कविता लिखन माह | #नापौरीमो 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Image: A still from the movie 'Gangubai Kathiawadi.' Source - IndiaToday

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

ചിരിക്കാമോ?


 'പൊട്ടിച്ചിരിക്കുമ്പോൾ' എന്താ പൊട്ടുന്നത്?
വളകൾ ആണോ?
ബലൂൺകൾ ആണോ?
എന്തോ പൊട്ടുന്നുണ്ട് 
ചിരികേട്ടവർക്കു അറിയാം 
ചിരികേട്ടവർക്കു പറയാം 
ശബ്ദം സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ 
ശബ്ദം നശിപ്പിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ
എന്റെ മുറ്റത്തു ഇന്ന് ഞാൻ 
എന്റെ മുറ്റത്തു ഇന്ന് ഞാൻ ഒരു
പൂകളം ഉണ്ടാക്കി 
പൂക്കള്ക്കു പകരം വള കഷണങ്ങൾ
പൂക്കള്ക്കു പകരം
വള കഷണങ്ങൾ ഇട്ടു 
കണ്ണുകൾ വെറുതെ ചിമ്മിയാൽ മതി 
നിങ്ങളുടെ കണ്ണുകൾക്ക് പിന്നിൽ
കണ്ണുകൾക്ക് പിന്നിൽ
കാലിഡോസ്കോപ്പ് 
കണ്ണുകൾക്ക് പിന്നിൽ
കാലിഡോസ്കോപ്പ്
നിങ്ങൾക്കും ഉണ്ടാക്കാം
കണ്ണുകൾ വെറുതെ ചിമ്മിയാൽ മതി 
സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത് നല്ലതാണ്
സങ്കൽപ്പിക്കുന്നത് നല്ലതാണ്
ചിരിക്കുന്നത് നല്ലതാണ്
പൊട്ടിചിരിക്കുന്നത് ഏറ്റവും നല്ലതാണ്
ബലൂൺകൾ പൊട്ടിക്കാതിരുന്നാൽ മതി 
ബലൂണുകൾ അങ്ങനെ പറന്നു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കട്ടെ
-
ചാന്ദിനി ഗിരിജ 
ദിവസം 05/30 | 30 ദിവസത്തിൽ 30 കവിതകൾ | ദേശീയ കവിതാ രചനാ മാസം #നാപ്പോരിമോ 
#napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Image Source: Pixabay

Monday, April 4, 2022

Feeling

 Let us push through 
A sliver of glassy sunlight
Through the set skulls 
Of empiricists
Let us kill them
Let us kill them slowly
Let us kill them swiftly 
Let us kill them with poetry
We could scoop their blood then
We could scoop their blood and 
And hydrate the right-angled
Hydrate the right-angled shrivelled
The right-angled shrivelled oaky trees
Shrivelled oaky trees of masculinity
The trees would spruce up perhaps
Bosom up a bit?
Perhaps even fruition
And drop their loads
Onto the acidic land 
The acidic land with high blood pressure
This pulsing land 
This cracking land
And sweeten it a bit?
Who ever knew
Who ever knew
The blood of the objectivists 
Had such suppressed feminity?!
-
Chandni Girija

Responding to Soul Craft's prompt of 'Killing Them With Poetry'
Day 04 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022 #soulcraft

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Laughing


The songs of Beirut are calling to me
Beirut, my darling, I miss you too
Your chirpiness, your noises
Your aura of liveness
Goodness, all of it, boxed in 
Boxed in a corner of my brain!
Your laughter, today, jolted me
From my melancholic stupor
Your laughter, today, jolted my
My melancholic stupor
Look at it, look at it!
Uncoiling onto the ground
Uncoiling and falling 
Falling to the ground
Like Cadbury chocolate
Like the chocolate in Cadbury
Cadbury chocolate 
Cadbury chocolate advertisement
How gracefully you fall
How gracefully, melancholy
Melancholy, you ghost!
Be gone from my my-land
Melancholy, you ghost!
Be gone, be banished!
I had forgotten happiness
I had almost forgotten 
I had forgotten the possibility
The possibility of happiness
Melancholy, you ghost!
Be cursed!
Thank goodness for laughter
Beirut's sun peeks out at me
I am reminded again
Again of my Beirutness!
Beirut, my darling
Come hither and hold
Hold my hand, hold my waist
It is such a long time
Such a, such a, such a long time
Since we walked
Walked together 
The streets of Beirut!
-
Chandni Girija
Day 03 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Image Source: Pixabay


Saturday, April 2, 2022

Smiling

Let songs fall unbidden
From my throat that is 
Sore from sensible talk
I want to ache with 
Happiness and fall
Asleep with laughter
Dying in my throat
Tonight my heavy 
Eyelids slur in a smile
Tonight, yawn, tonight
I glimpse hope

-
Chandni Girija
Day 02 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022

Friday, April 1, 2022

Crying for a Gallbladder

The sun rose from the
West today and sank 
In the East, the sun 
The sun, the sun sank
Through her belly button
And frolicked inside
Her right side, her right
Side it burns and tingles
And hurts, her right belly
Side, her right belly side
Burns and tingles as the 
Sun plays inside her and
She cries tears unbeknownst 
Unbeknownst to her
Clear, fat, innocent tears
Tears of a child 
Tears of a mother whose,
Whose child, whose child
She knows will die, will 
Die in her womb tonight
She cries for her child
She cries for herself
And with no one to hold
With no one to hold her
She leans against the 
Kitchen platform and 
Allows the tears
Realising, surprised 
Realising, surprised
Such a rare, such a 
Rare occurrence they 
Were, she smiles, she
Smiles a moment later
Realising, surprised
Realising, surprised
So pretty,
So pretty they were 
-
Chandni Girija 

Day 01 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo #napowrimo2022