A place where shelter is acquired
To keep you safe from what would harm
A place where forges are refired
To bring a weapon of alarm
To keep you safe from what would harm
So you can slay the demons in your life
To bring a weapon of alarm
Forged from the fires of toil and strife
So you can slay the demons in your life
You've acquired a weapon that's divine
Forged from the fires of toil and strife
It's a sword that lasts throughout time
You've acquired a weapon that's divine
The word of God that is so true
It's a sword that lasts throughout time
Defeating what once had held you
The word of God that is so true
A place where forges are refired
Defeating what once had held you
A place where shelter is acquired
there is the knower and the known
where the known would know the knower
to which end he does then atone
by making all movements slower
the knower is wherefrom flows will
so how is the urge to know born
that seeming voids within may fill
when through cessation ego’s shorn
borrowed is creative instinct
though not quite choice not to react
whence bliss vibrance in the void inked
forges then with God a firm pact
no one ascends though it seems so ~
this truth is known in stillness slow
It has been said you are all just bricks in the wall -
confined and coffined in concrete, your moments
magnified in mortar, souls stone-stippled.
But listen: you are as flowers, individuals efflorescing -
shy eyes of violets, fragile forget-me-nots
unforgettable in pews of blues, sunshine celandines
beaming from sunless corners, strident daffodil trumpets
with everything to tell. Some will grow apart -
wayside wanderers, wayward and cast out.
Some forever up against the world-wall.
You unfold as petals, to sing in tongues of the sun,
in golden tonals, corolla contraltos, a floral choral,
soprano sepals, hibiscus hymns to him and her.
Flowering through stone, blossoming through gloom,
though shadow-dusted with dusk's lilac bloom.
Baptised in the dew of the new which forges
a world anew, transformed by the higher light
which highlights your days, gilded pollen-gold.
Days lengthen as rays warm walls, edges and corners
sun-softening, souls becoming sun-stippled.
Listen: these are the petalled messages to you.
springs growth forges through
pushing winters decay out
cycle of nature
technology, specifically AI
forges ahead at the speed of light
those who would pause it
inhabit chambers of pitch-black night
flickering space teases
we wonder what lies beyond
as with bliss blob on head
heart forges a bond
from root to medulla
looping crown and third eye
energised up to the navel
completion draws nigh
crown connected to the sky
feet grounded with earth
as ineffable peace fills form
healing palms assert self-worth
nose chakra transforms breath
toroidal heart expands
magic underway
is as presence demands
that heart pounding moment
risqué of midnight negligé
his hunger satisfied
the quake of furniture
pearls glistening on floor
candle flame flickering, flickering
language of love
making tongues swoon
surreality of being one
coalescent couple burning
conclusive kiss, sigh, satisfied
the dewy, unresistant words
that come with completion
simply expounding love
that remembers
that forgets
that forges the future
When considerations turn to judgment
And ego forges a cold empty throne
Where every reason of truth turns pungent
A mirror will be the kingdom we own
In the soul stirs an essence of value
To judge the concerns and worries we face
Where our wisdom is gathered from virtue
And gives us guidance and purpose in grace
Allowing our emptiness to feel full
When bliss fills the void with its burning glow
To shine a silent light so beautiful
Allowing the basis of truth to grow
Giving us time to breathe and forgive
So, the light of life can expand and live
Earthen motte mounds and bailey burg
Sludge strongholds severed for siege
Norman castles cut of stone surge
Vowed vassals, the lords of liege
Round refuge tower of ashlar
Lured strums of Celtic cither
While they tend to tiers of mortar
Howling high waters hither
Gemlike blades grassy shades of green
Sailing seas beckon smartly
Hair to partly pare ployed the teen
Pirate Queen awaits Bartley
Homeland hush weave no words but mum
Forum flouters of gainsay
Dark Lady of Doona they hum
Legend of the Blacksod Bay
Fortress chieftain forges her case
Ní Grace unbowed by Bingham
Royalty rises face to face
Let them lie Ó Máille clan
Lyrate luck of her Irish pride
Aside vassal villeins sought
Herstory harmonized resides,
‘pon castles cloaked earthen motte
The war drums roared,
the combat declared.
The roar of India’s lions
now enemy’s nightmare.
It is not about borders,
but our nation’s pride.
Son of the soil fierce and wide,
forges ahead with pride,
with the flag in their heart and the nation as their guide.
They came here with unholy blood,
We would answer with thunder,
each shot a promise, no mercy, no pause.
The eyes dared to look at my Mother
shall regret the day.
Our silence is broken- hear Jai Hind thunder wide.
Each heart a battlefield, each breath a reply.
©Chitra Arun
PIROUETTES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
autumn, poised, dances,
a ballerina en pointe,
forges leaves to gold,
listens for rustling music,
performs graceful pirouettes~
cherishing her earth-bound gift
crisp leaves swirl and twirl
golden whispers touch the ground
autumn's grace unfolds
Poem written for “Tanka-Haiku Poetry Contest,” Oliver Mckeithan, sponsor, July 30, 2025
I wake—
each dawn
a slender promise
shoulders gilded,
by hesitant sun.
The world, wide as longing
real as the air I breathe—
crests of mountains waiting
horizons keeping their counsel.
My heart, uncertain…. ventures
like a melodic wind carried on—
searching for a sign
where wonder grows wild within.
Between the strums of my old guitar
and laughter in morning dew
I surrender:
each note of yesteryear
kindles today’s quiet lesson
A single osprey rises—
a brushstroke across blue morning
its wings folding around me.
The summit is not a distant peak—
but something brightening inside
Love lays a quiet hand
on places still becoming
healing as patient
as a meadow’s slow green showing
Each blade a testimony
to what endures.
From deep inside me,
between the first prayer
and the stillness after waking,
I find myself turning—
in the rhythm of becoming
the quiet rhyme
of being.
So I walk—
with songs for company
promises for courage
letting the day reveal its poem
one grateful step
where hunger and holiness
are the same ground.
Geologists say ‘by your leave’,
we’re famously polite:
we wear our heart upon our sleeve,
rejoice at rhyolite.
We’re very patient people, but
I tolerated stuff before
that I’m not taking any more:
up with this I will not put.
Don’t bring to me your xenolith,
preposterous, fantastic:
I’m done with make-believe and myth:
my ire is pyroclastic.
Don’t tell me pressure makes a gem,
discomfort forges what’s sublime:
the aimless drip of frameless time
creates a speleothem.
Some things improve with age, it’s true,
while others just feel dated:
to sleight of hand, to me and you,
I’m simply indurated.
I’m wise to every move you make –
I’m distanced from your wiles,
meanders, stratagems and smiles -
a placid oxbow lake.
Each path we walk, it forges something,
a step within a stair.
A line part of a rhythmic pattern
and we’re unaware.
We’re so wrapped up in what’s before us,
like it’s all there is.
As back and forth we pace, uneasy.
I promise you this -
The time will come when you will see,
the scales will disappear.
In that moment look around you,
it will all be clear.
Then from atop that stair, look down.
You will know the weight.
Where lines and lives have finally brought you…
You will know your fate.
I'm a human
being, and thus, emotional;
I can be selfish or giving and kind.
I am optimistic,
and realistic: traits imbued in our species.
I am a man of compassion, conscience, and heart;
struggling with internal conflicts
that differ from the reality I perceive.
I'm a poet;
a wordsmith who forges feelings
out of experiences and shared truths.
I am an observer,
and a participant in this mesmerizing
journey through life, with hope, love, passion, and desire.
And I've an inquisitive heart,
which often leads me to question God and blind faith.
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