Best Kerala Poems
May stretched its legs into grave.
The thunder heralds the rains.
A hut on the bank of Kanoli canal
Is not re-thatched this year.
Her infant’s illness made the doctor gay
With all the wages she had kept.
Summer takes the last breath,
But the coconut leaf thatched roof
Is not re-thatched this year.
As the widow stands on the threshold,
The rain clouds gather over her sky,
And the wind scatters terror in her corridor.
Will the tattered roof be flown away?
Will the rain drops make pores
On the roof of her life?
Where will her child crawl and smile?
Question waves are thus getting high;
Her canoe is ready to be tossed.
(The summer season ends in the month of May and rainy season begins in the month of June in Kerala)
Categories:
kerala, inspirationalrain, rain,
Form:
Verse
Boated through the tantalizing Kerala backwater
in a pleasant summer morning;
Coconut groves were adorning
our way and perky fishes were chased by river otters
Cacophony of the swaying lofty coconut trees
and the nearby evergreen plants
produced a mesmerizing chant
that certainly consoled the chaotic minds and appease
Majestic banyan tree with its spiraled pillar branches
enthralled the endemic birds
and the migrating animal herds
on the river bank, renovated the place into the ranch
Suddenly the boat entered into the hollow way
where tangled trees made archways,
and fallen flowers filled our pathways
welcomed us, it was such an unforgettable day
Reflections of the slender palm trees on the waters,
painted a flawless picturesque picture
with the kaleidoscope of colors and mixtures
Which was untapped only in the perpetual back waters
Coots and cormorants swiftly plunged into water
When they heard the sound of the boat
Tranquility of the place calmed the hysteria
and it led to the apocalypse of worldly emotions
Sep-9-2017
POTD on Sep 11 2017
I was so happy and I felt so blessed as I received this honour on the death anniversary of my favorite poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar.
Categories:
kerala, beautiful, nature,
Form:
Free verse
I am ... I am the land of Ashoka the Great, of Kwaja E Hind,
Sachin's Sixer, of Sania’s Stoke, of Aryabhata & Abdul Kalam,
Tan sen and AR Rahmans,Lata Mangheshakar & Mohammed Rafi,
of Chanakya & Ghalib, of Amitab Bachan & Shah Rukh Khan,
the Varity in Colors of Holi and the fast of Ramadan, of Bhagat Singh of Ali Brothers
I am the Holi waters that flow into Ganga, the waters that washes at Haji Ali;
I am Tirupati. I am Taj of Hind; land of Mahatma Ghandi & of Tipu Sultan Shadeed
I am the Gem of Green valleys of Kashmir, I am the Coolness at the backwater of Kerala,
I am India I am Indian ... diversity flows in my blood, unity in soul
....................................
Written on India's Independence Day...
Happy Independence Day:)
Hindustan Zindabaad –
Jai Hind
Categories:
kerala, celebration, community, culture, memorial
Form:
Free verse
Let its light of peace
Not be shaded by
The bullets and bombs.
Let the wounds cut and shot
By some senseless
Not scatter terror around it.
Let a few blind
Not choke it, locking it
In private drawers.
Let its words, ’’To slay one innocent
Is like slaying all the humans.’’
Put your guns down.
Let its fields, where
The truths and miracles ripened,
Be reaped by all.
Let this holy bloom,
Bloomed in the boundless desert,
Fill its fragrance in the rotten valleys.
FABIYAS M V
(Dedicated to Mr.Abdurab,a social worker at Maranchery,Kerala ,India who requested me to write on this theme.)
Categories:
kerala, religion,
Form:
Free verse
Guarded by towering hills on the East
And flanked by the Arabian Sea on the West
With its easterly shore of stretching sandy swell
That lulls the restless waves to sleep,
There is a land, my land of green vegetation
Nestled among palm trees and paddy fields.
Oh! I am in love with this narrow strip of land
Of rugged hills and meandering rivers
Of placid backwaters and blue skies
Of gibbering monkeys and singing cuckoos
What rich diversity you graciously provide
A land dotted with temples, churches and mosques
Where Hindus, Christians and Muslims cohabit
Where diversity flows through her arteries
And unity beats through her throbbing heart
Here souls dance to the timeless rhythm of music
Of diverse genres, vocal and instrumental
Classical and folk, sung either as solo or in groups
With the accompaniment of (2) 'veena',(3) 'tanpura' and violin
Their varying pitches beautifully synchronized!
In the serene dawns and dusky evenings
The atmosphere gets abuzz with the soft strains
Of (1) ‘Sopana Sangeetham’, the ethnic music of Kerala,
It comes floating from inside the Hindu shrines
Flooding soul’s enchanted shores,
And opening the floodgates of piety
In healing murmurs and throbbing notes,
As the symphony builds up its circuitous round
It descends down as a stream of blessing
Drenching devotees in its moistening sweetness
Like the drizzle of dew drops from heaven
Making hearts ride in the palanquin of joy!
May.21.2023
If your Birthplace- Country was a Poem Poetry Contest
Sponsor - Anoucheka Gangabissoon
This poem is about Kerala, a small state in India, which is my birthplace and its geography and culture.
1.Sopana Sangeetham is a form of Indian Classical music, developed in the temples of Kerala. It is sung, sitting by the holy steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum of a shrine.
2.Veena- a stringed musical instrument, one of the oldest of Indian musical tradition, played sitting cross legged, capable of producing all oscillations of Carnatic music
3. Tanpura- a drone instrument of Indian origin used mainly in a concert of classical music, creating a melodic background, but not a melody.
Categories:
kerala, appreciation, home, music,
Form:
Free verse
1. Valsa (means in our language 'loved' or 'dear')
2. I rate myself as sincere, humble, compassionate and conscientious
3. I am the proud Mother of two sons-Thomas and George
4. I long for peace, wish to have strong family ties and keep a child- like
fasciation for flowers, often getting lost in natural beauty.
5. I feel saddened by the pain of the less privileged and those stricken with
misfortune, find joy in the company of friends and keep a grateful heart for
God’s blessings.
6. I fear most, the ill health of the family members, disruption of family ties and
unexpected natural calamities that plunge many into misery.
7. I live in a suburb of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala, India
8. George
When days become messy with problems rife,
He helps me learn how to savor life.
He stays as a pillar by my side in all my strife.
I am ever content to be his adoring wife.
Categories:
kerala, character, introspection,
Form:
Bio
As I walked into a family restaurant,
My nose got tickled all of a sudden
By a familiar aroma that entered my nostrils.
It transported me back to the years long past,
When I was a child at my far away home
In my mother’s kitchen on a Christmas day.
The smell of chicken stew and *‘appam’
And the intoxicating taste of steaming tea,
Raided my memory with deep nostalgia.
The spicy aroma of her kitchen still haunts me
And how I miss her culinary talents!
Amid this smell, pops up her smiling face.
When I catch such scent, how my mind runs to my mother.
Though she is not with me now, what sweetness is there
For those memories that tie me to my mother
And wish those smells should never fade away.
It gives me the feel that she is with me, so close.
When the smell of Jasmine wafts through the air,
It always brings memories of our first night,
When I timorously entered my husband’s room,
Carrying the delicate texture of a dream,
Lending romance to the still night.
His bewitching presence and endearing words,
Filtered down into my mind, making me feel
Both of us being lodged and lost in a fairy land.
When we mingled and melded into one,
In a spark emitting sensuous indulgence,
Never thought we would be together all these years
Drinking from the same cup, the bubbling wine
And the bitter, acidic potion of pain, alike.
Holding on to those honey dripping memories,
I re-live those heavenly moments.
Is it not strange that "memories buried
in the wavering wash of time" are stirred,
that lie ash laden when olfactory senses activate,
the neurons of our brain from time to time!
* Appam- a Kerala( Indian) delicacy.
Categories:
kerala, how i feel, memory,
Form:
Free verse
This poem is dedicated to all my friends,
The loyal pals who came up to me with royal relationships
who encouraged me always in my performances,songs,dramas,poems and speeches.
And particularly my schoolmates of Sentia and Silver Oaks.
Maharashtra to Melbourne.
Jaipur to Jamaica.
Jharkhand to jersey.
Himachal to Hamilton.
Lakshadweep to Lanka
Kerala to Cape town
Shimla to Sydney
Manipur to Malaysia.
Antartica to Karnataka
Andaman to aucland
Ameerpet to Antarctica
Pune to Portugal.
Sikkim to Singapore
Warangal to Washington
Andhra to Argentina
Telangana to Trafford.
Our bliss should be visible.
Our teasing should be audible.
Our way should be walk-able.
Our mistakes should be meltable.
Our sneer should be sensible.
Our intention should be amiable.
Our rhythm should be rock able.
Our fun should not be lock able.
Our harmony should be beautiful.
Hence our life should be delightful
and hope my poem will not be painful.
And it will be meaningful and this is dedicated to all my pals.
Categories:
kerala, best friend, blessing, boyfriend,
Form:
Epic
Kerala,
God’s own country,
The weather here is excellent,
Though it is hot and sultry.
Tapioca is the staple food.
It tastes quite good,
When it is cooked.
The sea is quite wide,
And is located in the western side.
There are many ponds and lakes,
And the hills are higher than three-tiered cakes.
One can find only blue and green,
Not a spot of brown can be seen.
So dear people you must know,
That it’s up to you to preserve the country,
Which God made his own.
Categories:
kerala, nature
Form:
Free verse
A rainbow arch appears
Over Kerala island...
A salute to its colorful past,
To freedom attained at last.
As night falls, the heavens are
Starbright.
May 26, 2016
My 5 words
Island, Starbright, Freedom, Rainbow, India
Titles of my best poems:
Island Spirit
Starbright
Freedom
Rainbow Tree
India
*Note: Tim said it was fine to have one of my five words in my title.
Categories:
kerala, freedom, places, stars,
Form:
Light Verse
Black beauties in chains-
Before the ticket counters,
A long queue does creep
To scatter near the black wonders.
Ears and tails always move,
Ruminating the rhythms of forest.
Elephants are inside the fort,
Exposed to the sky barest.
I hear the hushed emotions
In the clinking of chains.
Hearts smoulder in;
Eyes emit lava of pains.
Burning red wild flowers
And tickling streams,
Each elephant longs I know:
But chains kill dreams.
FABIYAS M V
(Anakotta(a fort for the elephants) at Punathur, Guruvayur, Kerala,India is a tourist
place, where you see a large number of elephants together. All are chained.)
First place winner in 'Your(own) Favorite Poem' contest by Destroyer A poet(PD)
Categories:
kerala, animals
Form:
Rhyme
His brain’s barren like
the surface
of the moon – alphabet
could never
grow there. I fill up the
money order
form at his request. Our
tongues are
diverse –doesn’t matter –
necessity fumbles
and finds its way. He’s
one of the
inter-state coolies sweating
for our state.
I decode the signals from
his mind –
he’s soft within a hard shell
like a coconut.
He stares at the strange
words falling
from my nib. He rewards
me with a
smile like a cashew nut.
His ‘thanks’
drops into my mind, and
makes a sweet
ripple. It’s an illiterate, who
truly values letters.
(Tamil Nadu and Kerala are neighboring
states with different mother tongues in India.)
Categories:
kerala, life,
Form:
Free verse
You have killed me.
Save yourself--eat me.
Nail me to a pretzel
Hang me by my feet
Drown me in molten sugar
And you may eat
My candied fingers.
My eyes will linger
In the brittle as bubbles.
But if it isn't too much trouble,
When you're done,
Bury my bones
So I can go home.
*AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title is a saying among Malayalees (those who are ethnically from the South Indian state of Kerala) to help them rationalize the fact that they must kill to eat meat. It roughly translates to "the sin of killing [something] ends with eating [it]."
Categories:
kerala, introspection, me, me,
Form:
Blank verse
Life lays mines of challenge on his way,
but Karithandan is a tough warrior.
An English engineer whirls in the current
of confusion at the foot of the mountain.
Enchanted by the white smile,
Karithandan climbs down slowly.
The tribal hero scrapes through the mist,
which looks like death, and unlocks
the padlocks of the shrubs and the wild roots.
The engineer follows him, uttering, ‘Wow!’
A familiar knock. She opens the door
of the tribal hut, when a dark shape,
clad in white dhoti, disappears in the distance.
A deep love works transient miracles
even under the eaves of death.
Columbus discovered America, I studied.
Karithandan’s discovery of the way to Wayanad,
but I read nowhere, for the engineer
bartered his two bullets for that credit.
Bullets could shatter the chest, but couldn’t the truth.
Pendle War Poetry, U K has published this poem in Selected Poems Anthology 2013
(Wayanad is a natural paradise and a bio-diverse wild region among the
mountains in Kerala, India. During the British rule in India, a
British engineer discovered the way to Wayanad with help of a
tribesman called Karithandan. To take the credit of the discovery, the
engineer killed Karithandan.)
Categories:
kerala, inspirational,
Form:
Free verse
No land or sea would ever be so vast
To prevent us, my dear brother, my caring sister,
From building the blessed by heavens bridge of peace and love
That humanity for centuries now yearns to construct
So as, after so many millennia of painful separation,
Able we to be, into each other's arms to throw!*
© Demetrios Trifiatis
05 January 2017
*Dedicated to the young girl, Niranjana, from India who recited my poem: " We Are Brothers II" in a school youth festival on peace where she won the first prize. This news item was published in today's newspaper "Deshabhimani" in the Malayalam language from Kerala. It says, "Between Demetrios and Niranjana there are several seas, continents, but only one sky."
Categories:
kerala, love, peace, world,
Form:
Free verse