By Smeetha Bhoumik
Step outside the frame of fear ( a sestina with the six title words)
A magic burst of cirrus slowly floats along as I decide to step
outside frozen notions that enclosed me in shells, and outside
is a whole new world of beginnings, of ends, of new shells, the
crusts of which wait to be broken open; much like this old frame,
flying around in mystic, circular symbols of
love, whispering wordless fiery old odes that dissolve fear.
Out in the open everything is serene and quiet and no fear
chokes out life, my breath is a cool & easy flamingo step
playing with a truant breeze ! There is so much to think of,
so much to do, all new, invigorating notions of ‘outside’
& also very much ‘within’, delightful conundrums in every frame
now that I see them in true light, every direction clear, the
light is a soft glow of knowing. Clouds form and melt away, the
seasons come and go, moments stay seeped in love, no fear
touches inner sanctums where thoughts birth. This frame
exalts itself in a vivid lucent widening embrace with every step
erasing boundaries, bringing the inside closer to the outside,
and the other way round too, so there’s no difference to speak of !
Meeting you in those mysterious woods, by the stream of
moonlit dreams, was it a fragment of my imagination ? The
scent of flowers on my breath say otherwise, they’re outside,
but seem to be centred in my very being. No fear
shuts out their fragrance and with each passing step
a heady scent wafts skywards into the Cirrus, outside the frame.
Chalk out a plan, draw a map then crumple and throw the frame
into the sky, wait for it to slowly circle back with words of
love, inking the right path, blocking out the rest, so you step
gingerly at first, for you wanted something else, didn’t you? The
best awaits you without your knowing as you circle the fear
going around in devastated circles seeking happiness outside !
It is inside of you, you knew it all along too. Outside
is just a chimera, a mere shadow of what is within, its frame
a bulwark of old habits that die hard. Difficult to let go of fear
though, so sail on a cloud, ride a dream, catch a handful of
rainbow and never let it go, no matter the
dark forces that threaten and thwart your every step.
Spread your sparkle with every step as the frame lifts fear
far above distant horizons, in invisible tiny specks,
your feet treading Cirrus, Cumulus, and you’re blessed !
When the World Locked Down, I Lived in Verse !
This good earth
of verse
we’ve tilled together
our minds deep furrows.
April mornings
looking skywards
pledging presence,
pledging words,
the promise of love.
smiling through our sorrows.
The days wore off
our backs, in rolls of verse,
planting new worlds.
‘To see’ anew
we planted seeds :
of new thoughts
sprouting imagined
equal worlds
soon to be real !
soon to be be real,
This good earth
of verse
we’ve tilled together
our minds deep furrows.
mornings
looking skywards
pledging presence,
pledging words,
the promise of love.
smiling through our sorrows.
Our world will live as one (Sestina)
Walls will melt. In erasure of scorn, our
wild hearts holding up love in a world :
will ring in the new; will
ring in luminous dawns! We shall live
in peace, in glorious love, as
people gathered together as one!
Flying high, our dreams as one,
into blues skies, new horizons, our
love will sustain yet, dark & storm, as
we place in this throbbing world –
acts of love, kindness, compassion. Live
beautifully synchronous lives. We will
Hold up each other – known/unknown, will
stand together, loved or torn. Any one
passing through the spring of ’20, will live
in the knowledge of temporality, our
collective impermanence in this world
starkly evident, and sudden. As
Love extends to all beings, as
rapture includes trees and springs, will
not a shift to paradise loom, this world
but its shadowy dream? As one
walks this treasured path, our
hearts entwined, hands joined, we live
An enchanted awareness of love, live
in the moment, live in peace. As
fear disappears, strength gathers, our
heightened humanity no doubt will
touch & heal. This is the one
promise we make for our new world :
Heal. Heal & let heal. My new world
will be a circle of compassion, we live
by new rules of kindness towards one
& all. All beings are sacred. No war as
per new rules of kindness, only goodwill
spreading like scent of wild flowers, ours.
As we enter the sacred haven of love
our new world, in new ways
will live as one…
I have been facilitating poetry during the Global Poetry Writing Month of April for the past three years (#CeWoPoWriMoWE) and this year it proved to be providential. I can definitely say for myself that poetry has let me transition safely from a very difficult and turbulent time into a quasi normal state of being.
During the start of a deadly chronic illness that would take me over, bring me down, lock me up, wings and all, I discovered Glopowri w the missing slate. I couldn’t believe. From illness and isolation I was in the midst of a lively young group, all as much in love with poetry and writing as I was. Suddenly I was no longer alone or isolated. Like young fairies with wings, they flew into my lonely house and said Join us! Write! Poems! And I did! What fun it was I became young again, discovering poetry, and falling in love with it all over again. The effort broke the dead earth around. Flowers bloomed. It was the Gift of Life!