Daily Verse
Week 1, January 2025
The Evergreen Sigh
By Ketaki Mazumdar 1st January 2025
Forever love in stars
of a cold winter sky
shimmers of nostalgia wrapped in
frosted memories,
trying to survive
the bleakness of aloneness...
the surround sound of life
is painfully muted...
the quilt we shared
is thin, unfluffed, lacks your fragrance,
lacks the warmth of togetherness...
frosted in hibernation
cocooned in me
are pine aromas...
Xmas cakes, mince pies and freshly baked cookies...and our laughter...
colours of oranges,
red apples,white chrysanthemums and poinsettias...
obsessions we shared,
gift wrapped with red, white and green,
angels, stars, fairy lights, music...
sweetness of soaring carols and church bells...
shimmery silver snow flakes...
laughter and kisses we had shared.
Winter's embrace
By Peter A Witt 3rd January 2025
Her breath etches the crisp morning air,
as she twirls circles on the glassy surface, her eyes
a pair of sleighs tracing whispers of gossamer wings,
promises of winter spun in her gaze.
Frost blooms like cobwebs on her fingertips,
each blink scattering powdery stars,
her lashes weave whispers on the wind,
as she catches the shimmer of drifting flakes,
tongue tasting secrets of the cold.
Beyond the lace of glittering hills,
clouds of laughter ripple across the valley.
She hears the swift, sharp cut of blades,
the wind carrying dreams, currently out-of-reach,
but almost ready to touch.
Gliding, she watches, quiet and still,
ice her canvas, hope her guide that
one day she will become an ice dancer
twirling within winter's crystal arms.
Poems on frosted memories
By Jennifer Gurney 2nd January 2025
one after another
poems nascent in my heart
newly born
a poem leaks out
through the threadbare spot
of my newly healing heart
between the margins
a word here, there
before a patch seals it closed
Haiku & Tanka
By Victoria Crawford 7th January 2025
Window Sill
Tender flame long waits
on window sill, faint stars fade
as the East lightens
I will puff out the candle flame
and scrape dry wax in the morn
Winter Winds
Kogarashi stirs
Kyoto red leaves shiver
winter winds arise
Kestrel
A wild bird of prey
kestrel hovers overhead
rapacious haiku
Undead
By Radha Chakravarty 4th January 2025
drowned moments refuse to die
beneath the frozen surface
of willed forgetting
lies a chill dark lake of guilt
where undead memories lie in wait
at night through sudden cracks
in that smooth, hardened crust
we skim so glibly in the day
dark secrets rise like twisted claws
to clutch our souls
and drag us under
too late
we realize
skating on the thin ice
of falsehood can be
fatal
Biographies of Poets
Ketaki Mazumdar is an educationist and a poet. She is a recipient of many awards. Her poetry reflects her excitement with the beauty of nature, emotions of grief, joy, love and also gently touches on the spirituality and mysticism of life.
Jennifer Gurney lives in Colorado where she teaches, paints, writes and hikes. Her poetry has appeared internationally in a wide variety of journals, two of her poems have won international contests and one was recently turned into a choral piece for a concert. Jennifer’s first book of poetry, My Eyes Adjusting, has recently been published.
Radha Chakravarty is a widely published writer, critic and translator. Subliminal: Poems is her recent collection of poetry. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She contributed to Pandemic: A Worldwide Community Poem (Muse Pie Press, USA), nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2020.
Victoria Crawford is a poet living in Thailand. She enjoys writing short form poetry, particularly haiku and tanka, about all forms of nature from her pocket-sized garden to hiking in northern Thailand jungles. Her poems have been published in many journals and have followed the natural worlds of all the countries she has lived in.
Peter A Witt is a Texas poet and a retired university Professor. He is a two time Best of the Net nominee. His poetry has been published on various sites including Verse-Virtual, Indian Periodical, Fleas on the dog, Inspired, Open Skies Quarterly, Active Muse, New Verse News and Wry Times.
Week 2, December 2024
Gelidity
By Sanjeev Sethi 9th December 2024
Chill drafts itself on the palimpsest of my inurement
in a font I fail to grok. Security in stealth is a muse.
The openness of reckless impulse arrays inner jewels.
It unsettles me. The fallout of finality spins a cyclic
run. As in an alcoholic binge: One more, then another.
Patterns follow the same path. There are winters and
winters. Their unstudied gaze draws me to them, but
ab initio, they offer the frost without remedial feelings.
Poems
by Neena Singh 10th December 2025
two ravens
on a bare tree
filtered twilight
winter chill
an urchin sells
Santa caps
bare tree…
a yellow warbler
awakens dawn
Winter in Doraville
By Gopal Lahiri 11th Dec 2024
This morning the wind is blowing from the north,
I open and shut the glass doors many times.
The blurred shadow of the maple tree is frozen,
in the hall the prayers that are made remain silent.
Clouds thicken and the snow flurries begin to fall
into the pine top and wood houses below.
Just above the sand at the bottom of the cold water
the fish that loves us, go to sleep.
Through the neighbour’s hedge an awestruck deer
comes out and vanishes again in the forest hill.
It’s freezing. Yet I want to see, to hear, I want
to loosen myself inside this soft fluffy snow world.
And that lonely hummingbird slowly turns itself
before me into an all-white dress, into pure snow.
*Doraville is a suburb in Atlanta, US.
Poems
By Susan Burch 12th December 2024
the missing nose
of the Sphinx
this desiderium
for places
I’ll never go
things I’ll never see
1,000 calls a day
to the Billy Graham
prayer line
how we all need
something
to believe in
a wild yak
on a high, steep
slope…
how you relish
looking down on me
A Winter in Madras
By Geetha Ravichandran. 13th December 2024
Come December, the eponymous flowers
appeared in bushes outside the door,
violet or pink, papery, without fragrance
and unfit for worship.
Our winters did not yield
to lyrical descriptions.
But the house stopped being a furnace
and at dawn the leaves were laden with dew.
Past the early twilight,
distant stars and a swollen moon
filled clear skies, although
it was meant to be the season for rains.
Those imperceptible changes in the weather
registered, even when transitions were seamless.
Music resonated in the air,
a banquet laid out by erudite artists.
In many homes, the tanpura and the veena
would be dusted, displayed
and children made to
recommence music lessons.
The music continues
even now, riding the heat wave,
the acoustics louder by several decibels.
But we no longer see
the stars nor the dew
nor the December flowers.
​
Poet's Note: The December flower- Barleria cristata or the Phillipine violet was once very common in Madras, blooming in the month of December.
Biographies of Poets
Sanjeev Sethi has authored eight books of poetry. Legato Without a Lisp is his latest (CLASSIX, an imprint of Hawakal, New Delhi, September 2024). His poetry has been published in over thirty-five countries and has appeared in more than 500 journals, anthologies, and online literary venues. He edited Dreich Planet # 1 India, an anthology for Hybriddreich, Scotland, in December 2022. He is the joint winner of the Full Fat Collection Competition-Deux, organized by Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK. Sethi is in the top 10 of the erbacce-prize 2021. He is the recipient of the Ethos Literary Award 2022. In 2023, he won the First Prize in a Poetry Competition by the National Defence Academy, Pune. He was conferred the 2023 Setu Award for Excellence. He lives in Mumbai, India.
A Touchstone nominee in the Shortlist for Individual Poems in 2021, Neena is a banker turned poet. Her haikai poetry—haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, cherita & rengay are regularly published in international journals and anthologies. Neena has won many awards for her poetry. She has published two books of poetry—'Whispers of the Soul: the journey within' and 'One Breath Poetry- a journal of haiku, senryu & tanka. She runs a non-profit for quality interventions in the education and health of underprivileged children in Chandigarh.
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 30 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than one hundred journals and anthologies globally His poems are translated in 18 languages and published in 16 countries. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021. He has received Setu Excellence Award, Pittsburgh, US, in poetry in 2020. He has been conferred First Jayanta Mahapatra National Award on literature in 2024 for his significant contribution in Indian English Writing. His collection of poems ‘Alleys are Filled with Future Alphabets.’ has received Pan Asian Ukiyoto awards.
Geetha Ravichandran is a retired IRS officer. She writes a monthly column on contemporary issues for The New Indian Express. Her poetry has been published in various journals, anthologised and featured in The Yearbook of Indian Poetry for four successive years. She has published two collections of poems, Arjavam and The Spell of the Rain Tree.
Week 3, December 2024
Scotopia
By Frank William Finney 16th December 2024
I stand
in the dark
at the edge
of the dock
watching
moonlight
ride the ripples
of a wintry lake.
After all these years
the light grows dim
and yet your
beauty’s bonfire
burns through time
and never fades.
Winter's Embrace
By Jerome Berglund 17th December 2024
chill breath
accosts me suddenly
this shadow
ground frozen
surviving upon remains
starving time
shadow of tassel
resembles bell
soon a new year
Whispers of the Frost
By Lalita Vaitheeswaran 18th December 2024
The crevices of the heart lay frozen
Waiting for the blooms of spring,
The white dry and cold snow lay scattered
The birds hibernated and folded their wings!
The mountains were barren and far spread
As they lay inviting sleet on their chests
The trees stood tall with intricate lacy branches
With misty twigs and empty nests!
The air was crisp and sharp with a scent of pine
The ponds froze like a beautiful mirror of ice
The icicles shone as the ornament of a bride
Everything stood standstill against the grey skies!
While the blossoms and the blooms wait outside,
Tis time for a pause, to heal and look within,
A silent symphony of quiet beauty, a silver whisper,
The beautiful quietude, a respite from the din!
The white blanket drapes itself around every being,
The frosty scars in the gorges are silently embraced,
Tranquility and calmness sooth chilling hearts
The tumultuous soul now harmony awaits!
Haiku on Winter's Embrace
By Giuliana Ravaglia 19th December 2024
light snow...
last caress
my father's
solitude -
a bed of snow
on the sidewalk
fog on the hills...
his distant tenderness
Winter's Embrace
By Umayal Subramaniam 20th December 2024
In the land where the year is filled with Summer,
The embrace of the winter for a month or two,
Is an oasis in a desert, the traveller resting,
Winter is rejoiced with music at dawn,
A hot filter coffee as the first rays light the morn,
Colourful decorated mandalas at the entrance,
The fresh winter flowers not only adorning temples
But the long braids of womenfolk,
The dew drops shine on the tips of the leaves,
The fragrance in the garden envelope the air,
Festive spirit hangs about, the winter solstice,
Shorter days, colder days and
Still wintery nights,
A beautiful pre dawn before stepping into the day,
Creating balance and stability before the moblity
Keeping the roots intact, let us fly high in the sky.
Biographies of Poets
Frank William Finney is a poet and retired lecturer from Massachusetts who taught in Thailand for 25 years. A recipient of the Letter Review Prize for Poetry, his work has appeared in numerous international journals and anthologies including Brussels Review, Little Leaf Literary Journal, and Loft Books (UK), Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences, The Wise Owl, and elsewhere.
Dr. Lalita Vaitheeswaran is a gynaecologist by profession and a bilingual writer by passion. She has published 7 books of poetry both in English and Hindi and a book of short stories in English. She has been the editor of 2 anthologies and one novel. She has received a number of awards and accolades for her writing ventures.
Giuliana Ravaglia was born in the province of Bologna (Italy), is a former primary school teacher and has a great love for poetry, especially haiku. His poems have been published on websites and online magazines: Otata, Troutswirl, ESUJ-H, Asahi Haikuist Network, The Mainichi, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Haikuuniverse, Cold Moon Journal, Akita International Haiku Network, The Bamboo Hut, Take 5ive, Haiku Corner, Memoirs of a Geisha, HaikuNetra, Haiku World, Failed Haiku among others. he received Honorable mention in Haiku EuroTop 100
Umayal Subramaniam is a fourth generation educationist and an Early Childhood Educator with nearly two decade of experience and runs a playschool called "Squirrels". She loves seeing the world through little eyes and she looks forward to inspire people and to give back to the society in ways that matter.
Week 4, December 2024
Twilight
Supatra Sen 23rd December 2024
Time to return
Walk the mist laden paths
Strewn with leaves of fall
In rich hues…
Precious and priceless
I gather them
My autumn leaves
Till I can hold no more…
I have seen it all
Birth and death
Bonds and freedom
Love and loss
And I wish no more
Time to return
To the hearth
From where I had flown
Long long ago
It was then spring…
Soaring higher and beyond
Dreams and more
Summer….
But now the final destination
Or destiny
The home…the hearth
The warm caress of winter
Journey to the very own
The self…
The soul…
Winter's embrace
by Deborah A Bennett 24th Decemeber 2024
releasing
to heaven -
lanterns on the lake
to wake alive
even in this world -
white chrysanthemums
forgiving the body
its brokenness -
prairie storm at dusk
Orion
By Belinda Behne, 25th December, 2024
Taking out the trash
on an ink black winter night
I hear the stars
they call my name
Look up! they say Look up!
My dear old friend Orion
from childhood winter nights
waves to me
inviting me
to join him in the dance
I burst out laughing
I drop my trash
what can I say but Yes!
His sparkling belt surrounds me
I fly into his arms
we whirl together
thru the heavens
with a trillion dancing stars.
Haiku on Winter's Embrace
ByGovind Joshi 26th December 2024
new year
checking the calendar
for photos to frame
deepening winter
slowly the street lamp
dying
winter sunshine
home office
in the garden
A Romantic Winter
By Joseph Ogbonna, 27th December 2024
In my cozy room by the calm, gentle
and romantic feel of the fireplace,
I relish greater warmth with Hanna's
delightful presence in the Advent season.
Together we spent a vacation in my
own winter inn, designed specially
as a magnificent winter palace by both
of our worlds subsumed into one.
Where we had our own seasonal
picturesque warmth from the frozen
salt and solid water that adorn the
wintry landscape for a Yuletide's sleigh
ride.
We lit our candles to extend the limited
daylight, reminiscent of a romantic wintry night.
Our small winter palace rendered the much needed shelter in the ice storms
caused by freezing rain. A little distant from our warm and refreshing fireplace is our lavishly
decorated Christmas cedar, which I had hewn down from the
reindeer's freezing habitation, which had become slightly devoid of
plant life sprouting from wintry plains.
In the warmth of our cottage, we enjoyed a romantically created
heaven of some sort,
where we remained to evade the developing
blizzards that typically characterise the exciting season.
Biographies of Poets
Dr. Supatra Sen is an Associate Professor And Head, PG Dept of Botany, Asutosh College,Kolkata. She loves reading and writing poetry in her spare time.
Deborah A. Bennett is an American poet whose poetic work consists mostly of haiku and senryu. Her poems have most recently appeared in Acorn Haiku, Fresh Out Magazine and The Mamba, Journal of the Africa Haiku Network.
Belinda Behne grew up in the midwest, but she has spent most of her adult life in the vibrant culture of New York City. Her first career, as a teacher of special education, led her to the love of art, literature and theatre. She has pursued her passions of acting, writing poetry and performing professional voice-overs for more than three decades. She currently enjoys living on the edge of a salt marsh, where life continues to inspire her in new ways. Her poetry can be found in LEAF Journal, The Wise Owl, Scarlet Dragonfly, and Cold Moon Journal.
Govind Joshi is a mariner and navigates ships around the world for a living. He lives in Dehradun, India and loves nature, gardening, travel and poetry. His Japanese short form poetry has been published in many fine print and online journals including Frogpond, Presence, cattails, chrysanthemum and The Wise Owl.
Joseph C Ogbonna loves reading and writing poetry. All his spare time is devoted to reading and writing poetry.
Last Week, December 2024
Microcosms
Supatra Sen 30th December 2024
Another year draws to an end
Another cycle done
An intricate collage of moments and memories
With fragments of my being
Each a story
Microcosm…
.
Buried deep
As seeds beneath the earth
To grow anew each spring
Nurtured by time
And dreams
Sprout to rain and sun
And seek beauty in wilderness
The winding path ahead
Still beckons
And so the yarn spins
The web…
Ever and ever more
Life’s countless cycles
Winter's embrace
by Steliana Voicu 31st December 2024
sandalwood notes -
your arms
my Milky Way
Christmas drink -
marshmallows stars blending
with cream drops
winter solstice -
my blanket, your windowsill
and New York cheesecake
Poems on Winter's Embrace
By Snigdha Agrawal, 31st December, 2024
virginal white outside
snow blushes with moonlight's glow-
throwback to wedding night
flock of cranes take flight
wheelchair-bound
clings to his sweater's warmth
frost-kissed silver gleams...
bare branches hold quiet strength
wisdom's winter blooms