Shalini Samuel writes

Dark days

A bang, my window pane breaks down

I run to the door that’s locked tight

Blind I become or the key gets invisible, I know not

More sounds threaten me from far and near

The old neem tree bends to crash a wall

I shiver in fear, when I hear a roar from my backyard

Is it a cyclone or an earthquake? 

Is my death near or is the world destroying itself? 

Screaming my heart out, I kneel to surrender

No food, no water I tremble as my hope shatters 

Let the fury be calmed, I say to myself

Slowly the sounds fade away as I relax

The door unlocks itself to green pastures

Akin to a thirsty deer that finds water

I run to feel the safe mother Earth’s hand

I wonder was it all just a dream

The traffic was moving on silently

My neighbour was still fighting with the milkman

Everything and everyone were in their destined place

With no signs of any turmoil, the earth revolved

And I, I wondered was it just my imagination

Which one – the storm or the calm! 

I knew then

The day you come out of  illusion 

The fear, the hopeless tunnel

The dark days just disappear

And yet again I was trapped in a illusion – happiness! 

Ancient Storm -- Igor Khalandovskiy

Shalini Samuel writes

Times are changing

The touch of God’s own country

Those green leaves bathed in monsoon shower

The contented smiles of wrinkled faces

The moderate pleasant atmospheric blanket

The melody of gushing streams

The chirping birds on big trees

The cranes and pelicans waiting for prey

The dancing beds of full-grown paddies

The silver ponds brimming with water

Green algae coated broken forts

Everything slowly recedes

From the narrow shore of human vision.

Oh, Nature, where have you hidden your treasures?

The majestic Western Ghat ends here

Two seas and a magnanimous ocean meets here

Chitharal, Thanumalayan, Kanyakumari Devi

Bagavathi Amman, St Xavier’s Church, Dargahs

Vivekanandar, Thiruvalluvar, Gandhi Mandapam

Gods and eminent personalities reside here

Sun rises and sets at Cape Comorin - BUT

Human intrusion, everywhere, even inside old ponds

And dead forests. Man-made structures explode

Akin to a message bomb that crashes the system

Buildings booms into the lush green locality

The flavor still lingers hoping to be redressed.

Shalini Samuel writes

The antidote to sadness

I 
As he stands alone on an empty terrace
The wind swooshes by
Inflating his hollow heart
A minute passes by
Again another wind
This one from the west
A fiercer one in the recent past
Deflates his hollow heart
His hand tries to be a veil
Yet it punctures his face
Smile undresses revealing the frown
Upset, tired, he sits on the floor
Every time the wind blows
The empty terrace haunts him

He wished her to be the breeze
That would caress his heart
Did he carve her with his finest chisel
Did he ever care to beautify her beauty
She wants him to love her, crave her
She wants his attention and respect
She is his most beautiful ladylove
The most sensible and the most caring girl
A little imbalance makes her restless
Once disturbed, she might disturb him for life
Her vengeance is the most dreadful poison
She is the best when she is sweet
She is the worst when she is unsettled
Did he love her? Why is she killing him?

II
Oh dear, who is she, he asks himself?
Lost in scary past, he cares her not
Yet she pierces his mind, engulfing every broken bone
His tears do move her a little
She goes to him again as his first kiss
His first day at office, his first child
Bringing a smile on his dead face

Recognizing her real heart, he begs her
Sweet memory, reside with me forever
Dear never think of turning my life bitter
You are the one I desire to be with
You are a million smiles I see in the world
In my solace and in my best days,
You are my companion,don't abandon me, oh love
He cries for her love and for her grace
Oh love... leave me not
Come into my heart, enter my home in tears
Wipe away the trauma, be the angel of change

III
Will she enter into his life again?
Let us not be a loser like him
Gather sweet memories like a bee
Gather sweetness from flowers of Neem too
Better late than never
Let your life be a honeycomb without a tinge of bitterness.
Come, let us create sweet moments
For they would become sweet memories
And the best antidote for sadness

--Amira Mimi

Shalini Samuel writes

Triveni Sangam (the confluence of three water bodies)

At the old Cape Comorin, a turn in the coastal line

A well-planned international conference unfolds

The Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean

Brings forth a million tales and tears from afar

The war in Syria, African pain, the howls of rape

Poverty, lavishness, the secrets of warships

Polluted air, the dwindling greenery, nuclear weapons

The silent melting of void land and icebergs

Every hue and cry comes here for the confluence

They come together in unison for a grand gathering

Discussing issues ignored by men and Gods

They argue day and night, their roars heard for miles

Their vendetta marked by their own limits shimmer

They come rushing like a Kingdra for a silent battle

They clash and crash, before going back

Never ever had there been a consensus

The tales from the east, west and the south 

They never had a chance to stay together in peace.