Spiky and Prickly

Spiky and Prickly
Two brothers in arms
All thorny thrusts
Of aggression
In potted islands of their own.

Cacti have a quiet intimacy
An arrogance of their own
More graceful than flowers
Embedded upon gracious lawns.

I fear Spiky is impotent
For he refuses to bud and blossom
While Prickly blissfully multiplies
Out of his potted throne.

But Spiky is cozy and content
A surreal thimble
Of sheer elegance
I can quite believe
Why the sheer poetry
Of His Beauty
Mustn't be repeated.

Prickly is a try hard go getter
Less privileged and
Yet luckier
Blessed with confidence
His fecundity
Is truly pluckier.

And now
I'm thinking
Whether people
Or plants
It's truly getting clearer
We need to appreciate
Them as they are.
And Thank God
For they're dearer

When we let them live
And let them be
Just watch the show
How each will grow
And bask in the sun
Of their own beliefs.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017

Thoughts on Prickly.

Bravery sticks it's neck out.
Exploring options
slender stem blossoming buds
Ardent quivering anticipation
Of sunlight and rain.

My cactus grows
In quaint silence
More eloquent than words
Tiny undefeated it abides
Gracing my hearth
And thoughts.

Prickly I called it
Christening rite
To make it feel at home
Freedom is sunlight
And hope
Is well nourished
In waters plumbed
Out of depths unknown.

Life will
Find a way
No need for
A welcome mat
Just sprinkle water
On soil
And believe me
That's love enough...

(c) Amrita Valan 2017

Bespoke

Heart so lonely that never loved
But Coveted desired fretted for
Chosen objects collected art
empty misery is their part.

Heart a desert a great fire pit
Burnt out cold and hard as lead
With an acid core of discontent
Disconnected from compassion's shade

A bitter fire that burns like bile
Guilty innards full of gall
Desiring only to possess, devour
Smiling houri Instant guile.

In the end the soul crumbles
Into fine desolate particulate
All that's left
Of elaborate assembles
Deceptions dissolved
Blandness numbs
Blank walls are heart
Which don't cherish the ones
They hold.

Heartbreak hotel's pretty chambers
Walls papered with hearts and roses
Fire place full of burnt-out embers
Repeating patterns of paper posies.

Velvet curtains that curtail light
The mind too tired to contemplate
A dreadful dead weight beats inside.
Lost not in love but loveless fate

Hearts have queens and jacks and knaves
And some of us can still turn in aces
But a fool for love
Is a wildcard joke
And she will do
Au naturel bespoke.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017

  

Grief

Grief crushes churns powders
regrets for dreams that died
stillborn, unviable.

The sunlight still the same
The shadows lengthen
Grief leans in
Like the third one
Who walks amidst us
Silent,
Sinuous as a snake.

I will let it
All...Out
Someday soon
With a glorious shout
Heartbreak heartache
Smashed by the ardour
Of my daring.

And watch the sunlight melt
Away
Caramel regrets
The miasma of all
Unfinished business.

I will bask in the
Golden yellow
Of timeless here and now
Forever forget
The heart beat
Of yesterday.
.
I will give you away
Precious.

For your memories
Are too dear
For me.
Too soul searing
To hold
Indeed.

Hiss and sizzle

As you Slither out
Of my way.

Or boil and bubble
Into vacuousness.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017

Love and Hate

Hate is not clearly demarcated from love. We are not capable of hating what we're indifferent to. Great love can turn to hate if not reciprocated/betrayed/misused or abused.
Hate is a strong primal passion a driving force that can propel us to great heights. It's well said that the best revenge is living well.
But once that has been achieved and the purpose served often hate finds it has become insufficient/redundant/futile.
Love and happiness can and must, then become life's objective. Or the person loses bearing, meaning and essence of humanity.
In that sense love is greater than hate.
It's the way of Life and precondition to it, but hate is not always destructive. It's a instinct in its purest form.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017

In a reply to a FB comment on Delano Johnson's thread.

Simple Fool unedited longer version

I am not religious
I am not deep
I am so simple
In one adage
I believe.

As I sow so shall I reap
I must look before I leap
The world can be
A beautiful place
If we strive to embrace
Peace and grace

Love and light
Winning all the wars
The best of us
Ascending
To connect redeem and
Heal our scars

Kindness above all
To thine self be true
And do unto others
As you would like them
To do unto you

I know this mish-mash
Is a cut copy paste
But in cultural
Echo chambers
Of insanity
Perhaps a reconnaissance
And return to roots
Is what would
Serve us best.

I am a fool for love
A simple tool
Not the brightest in the shed
And quite often
An obstinate mule.

But I bathe in the sun's heat
Frolic in the cool winds
The rain sprays my soul
Holiest of oil
And in such  radiant joy 
Am I
Baptised anew.

I know this mish-mash
Is a cut copy paste
But in cultural
Echo chambers
Of insanity
Perhaps a reconnaissance
And return to roots
Is what would
Serve us best.

I am a fool for love
A simple tool
Not the brightest in the shed
And quite often
An obstinate mule.

But I bathe in the sun's heat
Frolic in the cool winds
The rain sprays my soul
Holiest of oil
And in such  radiant joy 
Am I
Baptised anew.

Simple Fool

I am not religious
I am not deep
I am so simple
In one adage
I believe.

As I sow so shall I reap
I must look before I leap
The world can be
A beautiful place
If we strive to embrace
Peace and grace

Love and light
Winning all the wars
The best of us
Ascending
To connect redeem and
Heal our scars

Kindness above all
To thine self be true
And do unto others
As you would like them
To do unto you

I know this mish-mash
Is a cut copy paste
But in cultural
Echo chambers
Of insanity
Perhaps a reconnaissance
And return to roots
Is what would
Serve us best.

I am a fool for love
A simple tool
Not the brightest in the shed
And quite often
An obstinate mule.

But I bathe in the sun's heat
Frolic in the cool winds
The rain sprays my soul
Holiest of oil
And in such  radiant joy 
Am I
Baptised anew.

(c) Amrita Valan 2017