A humming word

An old man sat at a coffee shop by a long table in Milwaukee. A bagel and a cup of coffee would keep him company.     Every Sunday, he’d occupy the same chair. He’d draw a stroke here. A stroke there.   Lakes from his memory. He’d sketch them, keenly.   One Sunday, I sat beside him I scribbled on my scribbling pad. And he nodded, lifting his hat.   Since then, we’d sit together every Sunday morning Drawing and writing, in silence, till evening And we’d head our own way. Only to meet the next Sunday.      

Mornings, when the city is dressed in sunshine, and people scamper -- holding on to steering wheels, or purses or briefcases, or yesterday. Amidst these blurry faces, is his smile as bright as the summer sun that enters balconies to water potted plants. headphones on, and bobbing his head to music, he hums and relishes every moment. Illustration: Raaga katta 

  This city has as many tombs as palaces. Its narrative of our presence on this land: our arrival, departure, and sojourn, magnificent and grand   And here we are ... to piece this city Rummage for our own stories Amid bean-shaped rocks and stucco roofs, domes patterns of the ornate windows, doors of old homes   Dakhni, also spoken in rural Karnataka and Aurangabad   Today, grapples for space in the poetry of Hyderabad

Poets are seldom disliked, Says a prose-lover friend of mine who chooses to dislike poetry about rhyme, he whines   Why are these lines so concise? Why can’t they be expansive? Why don’t you let words out like confetti? Why are the lines so pithy?   My friend, otherwise, is a sweet-natured person He loves words and its camaraderie with a human But poetry is a puzzle he can never solve of his intelligence, he feels absolved   Now I introduce him to poetry and its various forms, shapes Whisper: depends on the choice of words that you’d like to drape Poetry can be set to meter or like a river, can flow It unknots our internal puzzles and underscores things we know   He smiles and says, after a while Poets are never disliked But I am. I will choose to dislike it. And from it, stay away for a mile.    PC: Unsplash                

The song Humra Bihar Mein moved me and I took the help of my fellow poet, Shekhar Jha, to understand the poem and write this. So thank you, Shekhar Jha.  The song is from the series Bihar Chapter: Khakee which focuses on a true crime by Mahto in 1998. The story focuses on many aspects that make a criminal: caste politics, personal anguish etc. And this poem is a voice of the same. I believe that we can, in our own way, be kind and good to each other and let every one feel that we are different but the same.  Poem :  On the land of Buddha Are farmed guns Once the children of peace Now our rights are seized Even a child cannot dare To miss a bullet’s stare   We will shoot you directly in the head No one across districts can question me about the dead Dare you stare at me Like I am a double-barreled gun We are all insane stripped out of basics, I am not the only one ** Transliteration-Translation: Buddha ki dharti ki parti Par ugal raha bando...

  Sip a Pinkie in the corner of a bakery When an old friend misses returning your call  And when life throws a curve ball  Sip a pinkie in the corner of a bakery  When someone you once loved returns to hurt you  Or when an old bruise returns as a ache, new  Sip a pinkie in the corner of a bakery  The pinkie doesn’t blow away your grief But the bubbles let you breathe with relief  & some space to think  For things happen in a blink  But there’s always room for: A pinkie in the corner of a bakery PC: Edward Hopper FB Page

B e Strong.  F ight back. If you disagree with the above two ways of living then say Hello to Sensitivity and Vulnerability! Whoever said vulnerability isn't good, must never have met a poet or an artist. For a long while, the definitions of Strength and Fight gave me pictures of Combat but only when I began reading poetry, I realised strength is holding each other gently - being there for one other, no matter what (my grandfather endorsed the same) and giving each other space no matter how urgent it is for you to barge in to the corridors of their space. And understanding a poem with a sensitivity makes your understanding deeper.  Padraig O Tuama, from Ireland, is a shelter for sensitivity. A theologian, a poet and the host of the podcast  Poetry Unbound,  he unpacks poems -- rather, he takes us with him through a poem, understanding its essence, its scent, its meaning, its rhythm, the thought behind it. His process is not perfunctory but like a poem in itself....