Daily Verse
Week 2, January 2024
The Sweet Continuity of Hope
by Santosh Bakaya 8th January 2024
"As she staggered on arthritic feet, her walking stick fell down.
"Ouch ", she exclaimed, staring into a bleak, bottomless pit.
Just at that very moment she heard a tiny chuckle.
It was the maid at the gate,
with her two year old.
With a happy smile, the toddler stretched her tiny arms towards her.
The old woman smiled.
She felt like a skittish youngster, pulling a shawl around her, with the swiftness of a 'quick change' artist,
with a springy step, lively eyes, incredible vivacity, and a confident gait, she walked towards the little one, arms outstretched.
Soon she was mollycoddling the toddler.
Resiliently she clung to the sweet continuity of hope. Lo and behold !
Her mind ran away at a canter.
She was in an enchanted garden, dancing and pirouetting. Hopping and skipping, tripping over pebbles. Ah, she - a tiny rebel !
The transparent innocence of four eyes lit up the surroundings.
Even the comatose birds burst into song. The drooping and slothful leaves rustled along.
Poems
by Mona Bedi, 9th January 2024
painting
dad's old trunk
reviving memories
tasting the rain
with my granddaughter
her first monsoon
kintsugi --
I decorate the broken
pieces of me
The Revival of Spring
ByAditi Lahiry 10th January 2024
That time of the year arrived mystically
The songs of the cuckoo enchanted one and all amazingly
A while ago , the chilly Northern Winds froze the thought ink within the core
They preferred to bury themselves deep inside the store
Alas! The Spring chariot arrived early with a dozen of flowers and hues of rainbow knocking the door
For a while during those freezing days , the thoughts went numb as if they were hibernating for days on end
The thoughts draped in the Spring hues appeared refreshed continuously
They gradually rejuvenated, their renewal and resurgence announced the revival of Spring gradually
The hopeful thoughts poured in , took shape of a story or a verse coincidentally
Spring watched it's revival ,spreading its magical hues on frozen thoughts genuinely
The couplets, ballads, sonnets and ode along with magical stories thawed the layers of frost meticulously
Oh ! Spring , the season of rebirth , revival , rejuvenation and resurgence, be the Muse of many poets and writers
Entangle the webs concealing the beautiful thoughts
Help them take a perfect shape, with your revival let the rejuvenated thoughts flow like the river
Bubbling , babbling , blissfully blooming amidst all the wilderness.
Poems
by Jerome Berglund 11th January 2024
gray dragon
adrift on ocean
the skyline
​
Poet's Note: Besides 2024 being the year of the dragon, clouds in the sky reminded me of the "dragon ships" in which Norseman first crossed the ocean and communed peacefully with the indigenous populations of my nation. A return to more healthy traditions of fellowship, an embrace of a world without borders, would be ideal for future generations!
christmas lights
blink on and off
Vegas baby
​
Poets' Note: In the most depressing season of the year the allure of holiday merriment signals the new year to come, promising opportunities, pleasant interactions with friends and family, perhaps gifting and enjoying of home cooked meals! It's astonishing how bright lights can transform the bleakest mood into uplifting and jolliness.
new paint
on the door
things we can
​
Poet's Note: A fresh touch up literally and figuratively is something we all do our best to accomplish whenever possible, some things we are unable to change despite our best efforts but within our small personal spheres of influence we can accomplish a great deal, and are always learning new tricks and improving ourselves throughout our diligent lives... :D
in the dirt
where old train tracks let up
spotted knapweed
​
Poet's Note: They often say when someone shuts a door they open a window. Where train lines have ceased to function and gone to seed, nature and new life reclaims the space and wildflowers proliferate, natural flora nourish the ecosystem and feed bees and butterflies.
The Turning
By Rupa Anand, 12th January 2024
we
worked and worked
at a frenetic pace
till emptiness hit us
straight in our face
we travelled and partied
we feasted and gorged
then tired and disgusted
we turned away bored
we searched the world
for that ancient wisdom
that an exhausted brain
would adopt as its system
done with the stupidity
of the foolishly stupid
we started to assemble
how life could be rooted
the fools who entice us
with lies are respected
while the vision of purity
is spurned and rejected
but the seekers succeed
with Truth by their side
being mild and brave
the gross world override
Biographies of Poets
Santosh Bakaya is a Ph.D., a poet, essayist, novelist, biographer, Tedx speaker and has authored as many as twenty-three books across different genres. She is the Winner of Reuel International Award for poetry [2014] and Setu Award for her stellar contribution to world literature [2018]. She has been acclaimed for her poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Ballad of Bapu. Her biography on Martin Luther King Jr. Only in Darkness can you see the Stars has also been critically acclaimed. Her latest book is Runcible Spoons and Pea-green Boats. She pens a weekly column called Morning Meanderings in Learning and Creativity. Com.
Mona Bedi is a medical doctor in Delhi, India. She has been writing poetry since childhood but a few years back she started writing the Japanese form.. haiku. She has authored two poetry books published by the name of 'they you and me' and 'dancing moonlight.' She received the Grand Prize in the 3rd Morioka Haiku Festival, 2021 and four haiku of merit in the World Haiku Review 2021/2022 alongwith an honourable mention at the Japan Fair 2021. Her haiku, tanka haibun and Haiga has been published in various journals of repute like Presence, Modern haiku, Haiku dialogue, Haiku in Action, Triveni haikuKatha, Drifting sands, Failed haiku, Stardust, among others.