The day begins: a cold curtain shivering in the sun and rain.
A stone wall covers the rising sun.
So still and quiet;
the crow sits beyond the window pane.
Why does the crow not make a single sound?
The hummingbird comes and flies away.
The cobbled path looks like calligraphy
begun meticulously by some hand in the night
and abandoned in haste as the day strikes.

The whole of the night was lost in a game of chess, 
where the rules kept changing to encode
the victory of the hand of God.
The hand of God, the land of God
where I fall like a meteor 
and rise like a curtain flowing in the wind
REPLY
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Originally shared by Tanya Dimitrova - 1 comment

Once upon a time there were three penguins: By Vibodh Karnik: Age 8 years

Once upon a time, there were three penguins: Jim, Jay, and Jake. They were brothers. They lived in Antarctica. Their best friend was a turtle named Timmy.

One day, they were sleeping on a piece of ice that had a weak connection to the mainland. When Timmy woke up, he noticed that piece of ice they were sleeping on had broken off. Timmy had a huge shock. “Jim!! Jay!!!” Timmy squealed. “Jake!! Wake up!!!” When they woke up, they all realized that they were stuck in the middle of the Antarctic Ocean. “HELP!! WE'RE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!!!” They all cried. Suddenly, Timmy’s eyes lit up. “Ice can float, right?” Timmy asked. “Yes.” Jim, Jay, and Jake said at the same time. “Then maybe   you could push the ices back “Then what will you do?” Jim asked. “I will captain you.” So they all agreed. Jim, Jay, and Jake all dived down and got ready to push. “GO!!” Timmy yelled. SPLLLAAAASSSSSHHH!!!! After 3 hours, Jay told Timmy: “We’re all hungry and tired.”   “I suppose its fine to catch a meal, but be back soon!!” Said Timmy. So they all dived down to get some food. 5 minutes later, they all resurfaced the water. They had bought a small group of fish so the ice would not sink. They ate all of it happily. Later, Timmy’s stomach started to gurgle. “I will be with you in a minute!!” Said a hungry Timmy as he dived down into the water. 3 minutes later, Timmy resurfaced the water with a jellyfish. “Yum yum yum!!” said Timmy as he helped himself to some delicious jellyfish.

The next day, Jay resurfaced the water, and yelled “LAND HO!!!” Into Timmy’s ear. Timmy woke up with a startle, and yelled: “EARTHQUAKE!! EARTHQUAKE!!! LANDSPLIT!”  “Calm down, calm down.” Said Jay. “Then what’s happening??” Asked a half-asleep Timmy. “I just said land ho.” “Oh. Now everything makes sense.” Then Timmy looked to the west. “Now I understand.”

They all clambered off.  When they went to the docks, they overheard people talking about these floating things called ‘boats.’ When they found one, they found a genius way to propel the ship and store food. They found out that you push the ship by using things called ‘oars.’ So they all climbed on.   Swish, swish. Went the sound of oars pulling water. Swish.                                                             

Later, Jim figured out they were low on food supplies. So he went above the water, and said: “Lunchtime!” And with that, a hunting frenzy was triggered.   SPLASH!!!

  After that, it was nighttime. “Goodnight everyone!! Good-night!!”                            

The next day, when they had all woke up, they all thought: ‘oh how long do we have to stay in this place?  Oh how we long to be home!!!’         

Then a familiar voice came into Jim, Jay, and Jakes minds. “It’s not dreamtime anymore!!! Wake up!!!” It was Timmy’s. “Come on!! We’re not home yet!! Get up you big whales!! Get up!!!” “Okay, okay.” The penguins grumbled. “Say, you don’t look much rested, do you?” asked Timmy. “BECAUSE YOU WOKE US UP!!!” they all yelled. “Aaaaggghhh!!!”  Yelled (or screamed,) Timmy as he dived off board. “Timmy?? Are you there?” Suddenly, there was a huge BONK!!! “Ha!”Timmy said under water. “Grrrr!!”  The penguins said.    Then there was a fight underwater. But during the fight, Jim looked up and saw that their boat was being paddled away. When Jim told everyone, they all went: “BAARRRGGGLLLLUUUUHHHH!!!” So they all swam up, and Timmy screamed at a very high pitched sound, causing the captain to close his eyes, and clog his ears.  And at that very moment, Jake smacked the captain in the face, making him fly into the air and land on another boat. BANG!!  

After Timmy, Jim, Jay, and Jake got onto the boat, they let the warm sun dry them all off. “Never let anything like that happen again!” said Jay, panting.                             

After that, they all got prepared for hunting. “Ready, set, GO!!!” SPLASH!!!             

Later, after they all ate what seemed like a unique meal, the Antarctic crew started to row. When the team began to get hungry, they had stocked on food after the hunt. Munch, munch, munch, was the sound of the crew eating. Then, it was night. They had decided that Jay was on the lookout for the night.                                                            

During the day, Timmy had found some paper in one of the ship’s seat-drawers. He decided he would write about the day at night.                                                                

The next day, everyone was bright and cheerful for no reason at all. Maybe the crew was just confident that they were going to make it back home.                                         

The minute the crew all woke up, Jay said: “Hunting time!!” SPLASH!!!                    

The day’s catch was plentiful, and it seemed like the food supply would last for, maybe, around 13 days.                                                                                                             

Now Timmy, Jim, Jay, and Jake had a feeling that they were going to make it back home.                                                                                                                                     

That day, the team of Antarctic animals had seen many unique things. First, there were these islands, right outside the mainland, that had buildings called lighthouses that help boats come back to the port. Second, there were big ships called ‘icebreakers.’ They were supposed to clear the way for other ships.Third, there were people riding around shores with things called ‘snowmobiles.’                                                                                             

The crew looked at all the things they had never seen before while munching on their food. “Man, these places are cool!” said Jim. At 8:30, the crew realized how time was flying, and their eyes were droopy. “Come on, we’re all tired. We better get some sleep.” Said Jim. “No, no, I could look at more stuff.” Said Timmy.  “Right guys?” “Guys?”   But the others were already fast asleep. “Fine.  I’ll get some sleep.” But Timmy secretly started writing in his ship’s log. “Hey, no writing!” said Jim. “Man, you see everything!” complained Timmy.                                                           

The next day, the crew saw land. Well, not exactly land. It was an island, with a huge cave right next to the island, which was almost impossible to avoid. So the crew voted on the problem. “Whoever wants to go through the cave put your hand up!!” said Timmy. Only Timmy put up his hand. For some reason, the penguins were shivering. “Why are you shivering??” asked Timmy. All the penguins did was point at something in the water. When Timmy saw, he screamed and started paddling. It was a big fish, with spikes down his back and was greenish-blue. And it smelled like it had been in a shark’s belly. “Come on!! What are you waiting for!! Getting eaten?? Start paddling!!” screamed Timmy. The group grabbed the oars and started paddling like maniacs. SPLISHSPLASHSPLISHSPLAAAAASSSHH!!! What the crew had not realized, was that they were all heading towards the unwanted direction, the cave!!                                                                                                                                            

After a few minutes of crazy paddling, Jake broke the silence. “Huh-hey guys?? Dontcha realize that we’re in a cave now?? The dreaded, unvoted, cave?? I mean, we didn’t vote on this one, right??” They all gulped (except for Jake, who already knew this was coming!) and fell faint.                                                                                         

After Jake had smacked everyone in the face with a wet hand (because he had dipped it in freezing cold water.), he revived them all.  “Whew!! I thought I was a goner!!” said a thankful Timmy.                                                                                                   

When everyone woke up, it took a few minutes for all to realize where they actually were! Standing in the cave! “I HATE YOU CAVE!!!” said Jim. “Cave…cave…cave…ave...ave.” was the echo that answered back. “I got it!!” shouted Timmy. “How about we use echolocation?” “Nice try, but we’re not bats.” Replied Jay. Timmy looked sad. “I’m sorry Timmy, but the only things sound could bounce off is those jagged pointy rocks.” Said Jake.    Suddenly, the team heard an “EO! EO!” followed by a “RA! RA!” The team turned to different places several times. Finally, they all saw creatures with balls for bodies, and little eyes placed on top. “What are those things?” Jim muttered. “KWEEL THWEM!!” Yelled an important looking creature. Suddenly the creatures reappeared with bows and arrows. “ATTWACK!!!” The chief creature yelled. SWISHHH!! SWISHHH!!! Went the arrows as they all flew past them. Luckily, Timmy had four wooden shields in his little hands. “Here!!” he yelled. “Use these to protect you!!” THWACK!! THWACK!! Went the arrows as they hit the shields.                                                                             

When the battle had stopped, they all had paddled the boat to safety.                       

The boat, however, had been damaged quite badly. It had several arrows stuck in it. It actually was quite amazing that the boat had survived that. “What?? I thought most boats couldn’t survive that!!” said an amazed Timmy. “Forget the boat, most importantly, we’re alive!!” said Jim.  Everyone nodded. “I mean, what in the world are those little ferocious creatures??” “WHWO CWALL UWS LITTWUL FEWOSWISH CWETUWS?? One of the creatures yelled as his voice echoed throughout the cave. “MWASTER!! THWOSE THWINGYS CWALL UWS LEETWUL FEWOSWISH CWETUWS!!” “WHWAT!! THWEY CWALL UWS FEWOSWISH CWETUWS??” yelled another ‘cwetuw.’ “YWES MWASTWUW!! THWEYW CWALL UWS LITTWUL FEWOSWISH CWETUWS!!” “WEW!! THWOSE THWINGWYS SHWOULD BWE ASHWAMED OF THWEMSELVES!!  WE AWRE PWART OWF THWE MWOST ADWANCED CIWILIZATIOWUN!!” “Well, they don’t seem advanced to me.” Muttered Jake. “WE WORSHWIP THWE PWAINTINGS OWN THWE CWAVE WALLS!!” the chief creature continued. “Well, get ready for a battle.” Said Jay. And with lightning-fast speed, Jay quickly grabbed four swords and four sets of armor he had seen earlier. And as he zipped Timmy, Jim, and Jay, they flung on the suits of iron armor.   “Prepare for battle!!” Jake said. “ATTACK!!”                                     

When the creatures had finally realized what was happening, they dove behind.  

For a while the team was confused and they didn’t know what to do. “I wonder where they all went,” Jay said. The team searched around for a while. A few minutes passed, and they had found nothing. “Well, I guess that’s that.” He added.                                                                                                                                               

Later, Jim, Jay, Jake, and Timmy decided that they should all move on.  They all took off their armor with CLANK!                                                                                               

After they all took off their armor, they all realized that they no longer had a boat. “First, we get lost,” Timmy said. “then we lose our boat!”                                     

The team all started searching for their precious boat. “WAAAHHHH!!” Timmy cried. “Now I don’t have my ships log!” “forget the silly ship's log!” Jay said. “we should be looking for the boat!”                                                                                               

One day passed, and they   (To be continued)

Can The Doughnuts...

Can the Doughnut be Whole Without the Hole?

A Doughnut, I think,
is the best of the tropes
for all the philosophical ambiguities.
the centre of  a fatty circumference, an empty  greed
a dot, a speck, then empty space
widening and pushing its stubborn boundaries without breaking
the soft, luscious insides of its heart.
the greater the greed , the greater the widening of the circumference,
and equally greater
the postponement of pleasure.
And that is the metaphor for Aesthetics.
I think Kant would envy
the bite into that elusive Beauty.
And now with that formidable problem of definition
we are steering into the domain of dissatisfaction.
My doughnut is waiting impatiently on the platter
for me to be done with the definition.
But there I go; my weakness for definitions
is far greater than that for the doughnut on the plate.
How do we define that empty space?
"A blank space, or an entity unto itself?
A zero, a nihilistic zero , or the infinite zero of infinite
entities and possibilities?
And my dear little doughnut is looking pathetically small in the trappings of metaphysical uncertainty.
Is it the absence of presence,
or an eternal presence that we habitually ignore in familiarity?
And I forgot that there is Alice sitting and staring at me,
one eye scanning my perplexity and the other fixed on the platter
sneaking up to it for a greater proximity.
By the time I give up my scuffle with philosophy
the appetite is flagged and gone.
I offer the single unique undefined gastronomic delight to beloved Alice with equanimity.
Alice sits glumly, face averted, a staunch refusal to look at me!
I don't give up so easily.To all my exhortations
she finally responds.
Dipping her finger into the empty heart of the sweet nothing,
she says, "This, give me this; the hole at the heart of the void,
the void that's not the doughnut.

LIVED IN TRANCE

And all those days after you left
I have lived in a trance
where memories streamed,
and that was the strand that ran between us
making us alike in the dream.
 I leave my window always open at night,
a lantern burning on the window sill.
The season that comes in is full of tears
and the season that leaves is me
like a whiff of breath passing away
on the drift of breeze.
I am like the vacant room
that once upon a time
belonged to you,
Every evening
when the dark swamped in
and I went on reading,
oblivious of how
the afternoon ended in solitude,
it was always you who came on silently
and quietly lit the lamp for me.

Image credit fawzie hejazie

Wishing happiness
Is often not meeting
The right spot
For someone
Who has gone
To a place
Nobody else
Can see.

No poem, just words
Freezing down
From a molten mind...

I shall send your wishes for happiness to the person. He had promised to meet me soon. He is reborn as a child to our son. Suma Ro,
Your words touched me. :-))
May your life be a mission fulfilled, and may peace and love fill your path always.

Thank you so much dear, Sushama
I am happy to hear such good news,
And am wishing well for your grandson,
May he continue with the spirit of Maitrī !

That is the best prayer for every newborn. And to pray that this prayer may extend to every living being, will be the highest prayer of all. Thank you Suma, you who know the spirit of Maitri in the true sense.

A White House

A luminous presence hovers
in the bright sunlight
Where are all the people gone?
I agitate in silence
over the absence of all content.
The house stands like an answer I do not want to read.
I am enslaved to the memories of the houses;
houses that stand in a shadow perpetually,
or those which stand in the light eternally
defying shadows, forbidding entry
to life in its ceaseless traffic.
The white house stands alone in shadows,
a strange kind of peace
of someone whose understanding of Time
has blurred the line between here and now.

The white house stands alone in shadows,
a strange kind of peace
of someone whose understanding of Time
has blurred the line between here and now.

The white house 

A WITCH SHE WAS

A WITCH SHE WAS

A witch she was
only the magic potion from the sealed vial in my hand
could let you talk to her and catch her words in half of their length.
Now she is lost,
lost to sea and submerged under the waves.
I do not know how to break the seal;
I do not know if she abides still
in the tiny space inside this vial.
Be content now to admire the exquisite workmanship
of this delicate, fragile vial in my hand.
Letting her out, even if I can, may spell a havoc
I cannot measure as of now.
What storms raged
over the sea and the land,
how the oceans were ravaged by mad hurricanes!
Who can tell how it was in the wind and the storm and the rain?
Let her remain caught in the vial
and let the mouth remain sealed,
and let me too
lie asleep
at the bottom of the ocean's floor.

Sushama Karnik.

Image credit: Tanya Dimitrova

A Method of Perception

A Method of Perception

Colour and clutter,
and the palette holds
patterns of life in between.
Outlines remain
with space empty inside the lines,
freedom awaiting in that space
to be painted in any tint you wish.
On the margins of memory,
leaves of a diary are strewn,
with a smell of ink,
and pages turned to a sepia hue,
and piles of proofs that have no links now
with the truth which I extracted from life.