Best Tiffin Poems
Flying Saucers, Flake, Bar Six
Country Style, Gobstoppers, Twix
Arrow Bars and Sherbert Dabs
Sweet Tobacco, Lucky Bags
Toffee Crisp and Dairy Crunch
Grand Seville and Milky Lunch
Beta Bars, Loot, Candy Floss
The mysterious chewing gum flavour loss
Golden Crisp, Nut Crisp and Fuse
Extra, Bliss and Trebor Chews
‘99’ Flake ice cream cones
Zooms and Fabs and Toblerones
Coffee Break, Bitz, Victory Vs
Cadbury’s Special Recipes
Swisskit, Gold Mine, Apple Jack
Tiffin, Feast and Caramac
Welcome, Skippy and Sultana
Nutty, Banjo and Cabana
Chewing Nuts, Cough Candy Twist
Butterscotch and Butterkist
Crunchie, Topic, Fudge, Mintola
Super Mousse, Crazy Joe Cola
Golden Cup, Fruit Flavoured Rocks
(The secret of) The Black Magic Box
Floral Gums and Cherry Lips
Olde English Spangles, Walnut Whips
Kinder toys encased in plastic
Necklace sweets linked on elastic
Butter Mints, Fruit Polos, Yorkies
Sherbert Lemons, Sherbert Strawberries
Bazooka Joes and Liquorice pipes
Lollipops with swirly stripes
Texan Bars and Funny Faces
Mint Cracknel and long red laces
Winter Mixture, Rainbow Drops
Jazzies, Kit Kat, Pips, Ice Pops
Toffee Bon Bons, Drumsticks, Rolos
Amazin’ Raisin, Aztec, Mojos
Barley Sugar, Chocolate Limes
Daims that changed their name from Dimes
Jelly Babies, Jelly Tots
Milk Gums, Munchies, Mars, Pear Drops
Coltsford Rock and Anglo Bubblies
Sugared Almonds, Frozen Jubliies
Peanut Brittle, Prize, Ice Breaker
Dolly Mixtures, Old Jamaica
Kop Kops, Wine Gums, Laughs and Treets
Jap Desserts and whistling sweets
Fishermen's Friends and Hacks and Zubes
Pineapple Chunks and Cola Cubes
Everton Mints and Pontefract Cakes
White chocolate mice and jelly snakes
Refreshers, Teacakes, Swizzles, Pacers
Toffee Logs, Fruit Gums and Waifers
Rumba, Dipped Flake, T Bar, Tunes
Fry's Five Centres, Macaroons
Bars and boxes of Milk Tray
Milky Bar and Milky Way
This ‘Pick and Mix’ is yours to share
With all sweet lovers
everywhere.
Categories:
tiffin, appreciation, candy, heart, love,
Form:
Rhyme
Such dusty mats of coconut, and hats,
and wicker chairs that creak; and chats, and cats
on sills that suck the early sun that spills
through glass to pass into the frills and twills
that talk and twitter, pass the time till tiffin,
pass the time of day this way until
the chills of morning pass; and cups and saucers
clink and find the sink.
The daily round’s
begun and yarns are spun in sun and shade
until the fading light brings night; and glass
that’s black as peat reflects the hats and cats
upon themselves while vats of black-tar dark
and bats are kept outside; and clinks announce
that time again that brings the hour for drinks.
Categories:
tiffin, drink, good morning, good
Form:
Iambic Pentameter
Lines more lunatic than the sun – 7
playing on the raw-coal
the under-clothes of the airhostesses
continue to sing a song
even-then the germination of the almonds
can never become the sugar-candy
made of palmyra
may be they don’t want so
until and unless any night-guard comes
and deposits the RBCs of the jack-fruit-leaves
within a wrinkle-free hand-glove
you do absorb all colours
from the soil of the earthworms
and thus unfold your open hair
along the air of this cloudy day
then none but the gughni-sellers
will get back their names and titles
there is from the sky of the timber of hog-plum
it has rained even last night
the streets are wet
the trees are wet
there is splashing mud in the low lands
those all full-of-incidents
if you wish
you can send them
to the introduction of a proposal against war
i’ve never heard that
to take the responsibility
of the starving south-east
the rain has put down its crown
Lines more lunatic than the sun – 8
all on a sudden
one day again
i face the isabgool
the own fountain of vraj-kishore
may be, wants to fly away in such a manner
to another afternoon
my tiffin-expenses cann’t discover that valley
till now
from where
it is said
all night-gowns begins
then i’m sitting
with my hands and legs spread
in the sun-light
filled with
the sound of chopping of cabbages
on the flowers of the sun-plant
that are in-between the wife and her mother-in-law
i exercise my intelligence very much
if the question of my security is raised
it is only a ‘for-God’s-sake’-like adjuration
the knot of a white handkerchief is so much heavy
i don’t know earlier
my knowledge of using prosody
getting amalgamated calmly
with the stamen used by the sleep
Categories:
tiffin, allegorysun, proposal,
Form:
I miss those days when my lips really smilled
Eyes were sparkling and words didnt lied
The moment i woke and brushed my teeth
Ticking clock didnt worry me for my punch time sheet
Breakfast served was to fill my heart and not my tummy
Now i miss the magic from hands of my mummy
Worries of work loads were nowhere to be seen
Few blank pages of homeworks was all the worries there have been
Now i feel tierd of waking from sleep
But alarm clock rings like hunters wheep
Friends now discuss work and people
Lost all talks of childhood those were ambitious yet simple
Now smile wore on lips is all faked
Logic are been found in the jokes been cracked
Ticking of clock marks hours of lunch or work
At the end of year i wait for hikes and perk
Birthday wishes now come as reminders on facebook wall
And friends never remembers to wish me well on call
Presents that once overfilled my little heart with joy
Now sometimes come from dear once in hands of delivery boy
Weeks and months fills boredom in year
Dreams now a days are filled with worries and fear
Lost are stories of inspiring superheroes
Those are replaced with conspiracies of back ers
Pleasent those memories grew between pages and tiffin boxes
Left only to strengthen my soul between heeds of corporate foxes
Bonds of life long brotherhood those once were sworn
Could it remain simply there whole life long
Dreams and ambitions that left our eyes with glitter
Lost them on the ups and downs of corporate coster
Vacations that braught fun time whole day
Whether be it rain or burning heat of may
Nights those bought sound and sweet sleep
Have now counted millions of imaginary sheep
Now booze fails to fade thoughts that make me worry
Those once stories of magic wond Simply burry
Now i am all grown that once i imagined i would
But i do really miss my all gone days of childhood
Where every day new sun shone the cloud
Score of cricket when made teams proud
Once so young and care free was i
With the age mirror would reveal the wrinkles and scars
Would i be able to live the same days once more
Categories:
tiffin, childhood, memory, youth,
Form:
Rhyme
Thirteen books! And you are in class one,
And the answers to the difficult questions
Are my brother, long!
In the bushy country near the low hills,
Kids, calves spring in delight;
Cows and goats graze whole days.
The cowboys enjoy warm sun,
Wild meadows, cool blows of air!
My boy, you have to be indoors all-day,
Behind wide walls, airtight and high!
And ah! Grassy school-ground be guarded by numb tutors.
I see the suffering of your tiny soul…!
My boy, a bird with trimmed wings,
Can’t fly in the fair sky?
A hobbled horse can’t race in a pasture;
Fastened tight with tie,
You can’t shout open in the open outdoor.
How can a caged parrot like
Even if given golden grains—
You are returning your tiffin, always half-eaten.
I will hug your beating baby-heart
And rub long with my chest;
Kiss your fear-laden face;
Help you lifting the hefty bag;
And shed a tear afterward…
This is what I can do for you, my boy-brother,
Everyday.
Categories:
tiffin, children, feelings, nature, romantic,
Form:
Free verse
STORIES IN POTTERY
Bluebirds above the azure lakes
Burleigh cups - willow pattern trees in gold leaf -
Once with mashed Sichuan oolong,
And on their side plates, shortbread tiffin,
While nephews in white laughed loudly and played tennis on the lawn.
George V Silver Jubilee mug and plate (1910-1935)
Found by slum clearance machines
In a small kitchen overlooking the slipway at Wallsend -
The mug was dropped once and chipped
On the stone floor, toasting the returned Mauretania -
The plate was never used again,
The Mauretania was never used again.
Chipped but uncracked ; dust coated, but loved.
Shapes and pictures that hold more than hot tea.
Saucers deep and smooth, or shallow and scalloped
With painted delicate petals.
With oolong long cooled,
Cups with flared bell-mouths buried
Under crumpled newspaper stuffed
In soapboxes advertising Daz flakes
Categories:
tiffin, memory,
Form:
Free verse
gone r the days
when the school reopened in june
& v settled in our new desks & benches.
gone r the days
when v queued up in book depot
& got our new books & notes.
gone r the days
when v wanted 2 sundays & no mondays yet
managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.
gone r the days
v learnt writing with slates & pencils
& progressed to fountain pens & ball pens & then to micro tips.
gone r the days
v began drawing with crayons & evolved to color pencils
& finally sketch & tube colors.
gone r the days
we started calculating first with tables
& then advanced to calculators & to computers.
gone r the days
when v chased one another in the corridors in intervals
& returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.
gone r the days
when v had lunch in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds,
under the trees & even in cycle sheds.
gone r the days
when all the colors in the world
decorated the campus on the second saturdays.
gone r the days
when a single PT period in the week's time-table
was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons.
gone r the days
when cricket was played with writing pads as bats
& neckties & socks rolled into balls.
gone r the days
when few played "kabadi" & "kho-kho" in scorching sun
while others simply played "book cricket" in the confines of the classroom.
gone r the days
of fights but no conspiracies
of competitions but seldom jealousy.
gone r the days
when v used to watch live cricket telecasts
in the opposite house in intervals & lunch breaks.
gone r the days
when few rushed early to
"conquer" window seats in the bus.
gone r the days
while few had tiffin, others had "kulfi ice-cream",
"vada pav" & "pepsi" in lunch hours.
gone r the days
of sports day & the annual school day
& the one-month long preparations for them.
gone r the days
of tenth standard when v spent almost
the whole year writing revision tests.
gone r the days
v learnt,v enjoyed,v played,v won,v lost
v laughed,v cried,v fought,v thought.
Categories:
tiffin, childhood, life, social, school,
Form:
Light Verse
Along the stream we gently float,
The little boat knows where to go
Our fingers trail where water drift,
While kisses gift our love to grow.
A fleeting touch where our lips meet,
As tongues greet the moistness within,
Those dark clouds form high above
Distract not love from its tiffin.
And as the rain begins to fall,
My whispered call to shelter you,
And though my skin is soaking wet
As yet there’s naught I’d rather do.
I give to you my loving heart
With this simple verse as a start.
Form: Cymraeg Soned
Parameters: Written over of 3 stanzas written in the awdl gwydd form with a closing cyhydedd fer couplet.
Categories:
tiffin, love, love,
Form:
Verse
Three pancakes mom gave
One I save ... your lunch box fell
Two fills my stomach
01/03/2019
A childhood incident ,when my friend was hungry in the lunch break.
Categories:
tiffin, child, childhood, memory,
Form:
Haiku
There were meadows free to the far,
Clean, green and quiet calm.
Pebbles and stones, scattered,
As in the blue sky’s stars’ view.
On a remote-side grew wild thorns high,
Played the bees and b‘flies and I;
And the good dog passing by had watched us
On his hurried walk
From an afar village
To the distant one.
By the broken-burnt mulberry,
Lone, half erect and half down,
Goats grazed with caws and sheep
And the old herdsman with his tiffin and cane,
Called, cried, whistled and ran.
Categories:
tiffin, love, nature, remember,
Form:
Free verse
Time crawled silently on soft paws.
After years of anxious waiting,
Our little nest became alive,
With childish pranks and prattles
Two adorable boys ran round playfully,
Making our silent nest ring with noise.
Still remember those hectic days,
When my hands were so full
From tidying the house to keeping ready
Their school uniforms washed and ironed.
Helping them with their homework,
Packing tiffin, clearing the mess,
And being off to office for work.
By evening, came back dead tired,
For another round of mechanical cooking,
Queries like “are these the only snacks to eat?”
“Where is my workbook” et al make one truly mad.
Life wasn’t easy, with struggles rife.
During those years, how I longed,
For a little rest and quiet,
But at the same time, frolicking in the beauty
Of dreams built around our kids
Time speeded away so quick.
The boys grew very fast and flew away,
From the shelter of their comfort (?) zone
To far off places for study and later for work.
The house is back to silence once again.
Now how I long for the good old hectic days.
Memories sprout like pale shrubs,
In a famished backyard!
Our life is now immobilized in a coma of stillness.
On lonely evenings sitting in our empty nest,
We wait intent for their phone calls.
Often our hearts are set ablaze,
At the prospect of their coming home.
Parenthood is nothing but loving and losing!
May.7.2023
Empty Nest Poetry Contest
Sponsor- Cooper Etheridge
Categories:
tiffin, absence, home, how i
Form:
Free verse
Tug of war, Arm wrestling, Rope climbing,
Wildest dance party, all dressed up smartly!
Slashing water upon each other in the front room and then trembling!
We and the floor Sodden perfectly!
This is how, I stepped into my 13 finally.
Dad’s poised guests arrived,
Oh! We had no place to hide!
Looking at dad’s scary hazel eyes,
Out of the corner of my eye, I wanted to have my mom’s sight.
Mom’s cutest wink, was a great respite!
Jumping for joy, We sneaked out to take another flight.
Beginning of 13 was a great delight.
Friends, studies and fun,
My class room was perfect heaven.
We were a group of 7.
Hands up on the bench, out of the class and teachers criticize,
Punishments were the most honoured prize!
Passing the tiffin under the trench,
And then standing up on the bench.
No burden of relationship,
The purest form of friendship.
13 was surely my best of teens!
Stepped on 16
Life is now all about,education and sophistication.
Meeting friends just on weekends.
Me and my nook, is the latest trend.
Formulae, equations and theorem,
Production and reproduction, a big problem!
Why 16 is so sweet? I often think.
I have been on the fastest spin!
It’s the highest tide of the life,
What will I be, my 16 will decide!
I love you 16, You will be my sincere guide.
My maturity, My sincerity, My focus and determination.
It’s all your fight!
Probably it is right,
That 16 will take me to new heights!
I love you sweet 16,
Missing you toooooo much dear 13,
Forever you shall be my dearest queen!
Categories:
tiffin, 12th grade, adventure, best
Form:
Rhyme
Let me tell you
Let me tell you matter of days
I was young enough just to play
Running without shoes in tiny legs
Collecting multiple wounds and scratches
No comparison I can make writing phase
Honestly guys those days were heavenly phase
No risk of loss in mind having fear
Only win win and laughing phase
Let me tell you meal of a day
No carrying bother was in tiffin boxes
I was free like wind in spring
Run everywhere monarchial state
Simple boy innocent was title
If I break or throw utensils
Love of sister and excuse from brother
Mother's sake was in heavenly phase
A kiss from father on spongy cheek
With sweet words and with evening sweets
Honestly let me tell you guys
I was the monarch of all I survey.
5/1/2016
Deepak Chalise.
Categories:
tiffin, true love,
Form:
Blank verse
The familar ways
That are the school ways
Now become other's way
The unfamiliar ways
Where we fear to go
Now became familiar ways
The friendship with stapu.and cricket
Now turned in the friendship with COC and Candy crush saga
The last bench masti
Now became bunk of classes
The home at last bench
Now became college ground
The friends of life
Now become friend of whatsapp
The friendship with chalk and duster
Now became friendship with notepad
The friendship with tiffin
Now became friendship with Mc D and Dominos
The long group discussions
Now became confrence discussions
Mom and dad become strangers
And stranger became friends
Home became PG
And college became home
Things changed
Categories:
tiffin, 12th grade, school, student,
Form:
Free verse
Late autumn -
Evening twilight;
The market lane
herds of shoppers,
In front of her small hut,
she lays the
stainless steel vessels
on the mat...
She,
her hut,
her mat,
her vessels,
her hope -
Autumn ceasing
All over...
Late night -
The lane deepening into
deafening silence;
Spoon by spoon,
tiffin box by tiffin box,
plate by plate,
she carefully places them
inside the jute sack
knowing tomorrow will
dawn again.
Categories:
tiffin, hope, autumn,
Form:
Free verse