I heard that there was an angel in the town

I searched the town upside down

Dejected, one eve as I was sitting wearily

My daughter came home and sat on my lap merrily…

She cuddled me, she gave me a kiss

Her kiss gave me an ultimate bliss…

I looked silently at her heavenly eyes

And discovered it was my eternal paradise!!!

Her fairy-like poise had a soothing calm

Her actions had a majestic charm!!!

Like a happy star I saw her face twinkling

Soft words from her lips were jingling!!!

Her loving touch made me realise

She had always been my angel in disguise…

While I was hopelessly searching in Paris and Rome

The angel was silently perched in my sweet home!!!

I hugged her and I took her in my arm

I let myself free in her angelic warmth

So lucky was I to have her with me

Finally at peace - I smiled with glee.




Neelam Saxena Chandra

Drowns out my voice to your symphony
Into fathoms of thoughts to accompany
The chords of heart, plays every string
When I sense you, like daffodils in spring
Blooms bright smile, as my eyes beseech
For your presence, in silent melody speech
Besotted with you, in bosom of this moment
Seeks a ripple of pleasure ambient
Freeze oh time! When I reflect deep
In his charming eyes, in his arms as I seep
                                                                           -Basilia

Name: Shaziya Shaik
Pen name: Basilia
Email Id: s4shaziya@gmail.com
Country: India

The veined
Dry
Brown leaf,
Unhooked
Suddenly
From a bare
Tree,
Off the black highway,
Wanders off
Directionless,
In humid air
Full of exhaust---
Like an unemployed
Youth,
In formals,
Blank-eyed,
Moving around,
Aimless,
Searching hope,
In the crowded alleys,
High-rises,
Of the lunch-time
South Mumbai,
Yet not sure,
Uncertain,
Tentative,
He---
Like the 
Drifting 
Yellow
Leaf.
 
---Sunil Sharma

There is a softness

to the air of

morning…

before the harsh

realities of the day

begin to intrude.

The sun,

new risen,

is warm as a

lover’s embrace,

not hot and

scornful.

The wind whispers

secrets in a

playful tease

instead of

howling its

anger.

Early morning

holds the promise

of eternity.

The trees lift

twisted limbs

in supplication

to any listening

god--

“Make us dance

as we did when

we were

young!”

But their trunks

have grown too

thick

for such cavorting

and even the wind

can only whisper

comfort.

Withered flowers, broken stems;
Torn leaves, lying like fallen gems.
Innocent trees, now fallen dead
A mindless battlefield, a forest that bled.

I heard them today, those terrifying sounds
Wrecking and felling homes to the ground
This is just the start, I hear the animals say
They will come, they warn us, for your forest another day.
I flit my wings and fly above the carnage
Precious life destroyed by a human and machine barrage
Do they not see? Do they not hear?
The shrieks and cries of my friends, so dear?
Where are those chirps, those sweet melodies?
Those heartfelt songs and amusing parodies.
Oh! The fun that we had, the games that we played.
How I wish these memories will not fade.
Fade, like the forest that I see down below,
A lush haven it was once, where the river did flow.
Now a barren, hate filled land
With only murderers and thieves, and other such clans.

The tears will not stop, the pain will only grow;
Fear in our hearts; what next, will they show.
The law of the jungle is dead and gone,
For the law of the man is now born.

By Sumira Khan (khansumira@gmail.com)

Shimmering lip gel
Vermilion redness of a setting sun
Tembling, charred lips camouflaged
Favoured tissues, smothering the lips
Rejoicing every signature
Bruised heart, jinxed fate mourning
Lonesome soul, a few cigarette crushed
Sunken eyes, purple scars
Bed sheet scrambled, old scotch trampled
Sleeping pills, diamond rings,
Wet old pillow choked to tears
Placid purse, flock of cards
Stardom left
Some overdose pills
Some leftover sins

Another broken soul on a heavenly trip
Life was a battle underneath the luster
And you said “I was a star”

Lyndon Seitz
lyndonseitz@gmail.com

My Religion
Take a pinch of the dust of the stars,
Place it under gravity’s pressure
And within our microscope’s vision
To find bottomless echo canyons
Between rows of multicolored grains
Of new sand, no two alike except
Two half parts of a spiral center
Split and separated at two end points
Of a universe. Place the slide in
A small capsule and send it to sea,
Return, place your footsteps in the sand.
Wait, witness the magnificence of
Nature and its timing of all things
Within a single fused grain of sand.

Death showed up again Today
As he does every day
We just don’t notice unless he
Breathes down our necks
Taps on our shoulder
Dances macabrely on our doorstep.

How easily we throw away 
Friendships, relationships,
 Commitments, dreams
Expecting them to stay
As we cast them aside
Like clothes discarded,  
Out of favor, until we choose
To return
Only to find that
Death has come 
And stolen Tomorrow.


Valerie Chisholm-Letkeman
nfocus@shaw.ca

 Amidst
Whispers of  ‘rest in peace’
vibrating entire cosmos
a departed soul watching
curiously from the above
a body below 
surrounded by wailing people 
mournfully
spelling out all the words
available in praise
staunch opponents
eulogising white deeds
ignoring the black ones
wiping crocodile tears
and laughing in sleeves
friends, foes and family
come to remember
a  departed soul
which
wishes to be the whole
but for its KARMAS.
-----------------------------------
By Tribhawan Kaul
Freelance writer-poet
kaultribhawan@yahoo.co.in