When all of eight, the sole measure was age
To gauge stature, I scarce could wait to grow
To be ten, get entitled to the rage
Of wearing long trousers deemed nigh high-brow.
When ten, to reach the ripe age of thirteen--
To wear the badge of a teenager’s stance--
Tempestuous age of acne-marked skin,
Angst and (what else?) adolescent romance.
No looking back, head that looked just ahead,
And soon I was eyeing three scores and ten,
Found me on wrong side of my mid life’s dread,
Janus in me tried looking back if can.
That’s what we all are-- never here and now,
In search of a wish tree, Kamdhenu cow!
_____________________________________
Sonnet | 04.02.2026 | age, cow, future, now, past, (wish) tree
Note: Man is a strange animal. When cozy and cool in winter, he dreams of spring and summer. Now when warm enough, he thinks of cool showers of rain. Anywhere but here and now. Kamdhenu (Sanskrit, kaam=wish, desire. dhenu=cow) is the proverbial cow of plenty.
On move seldom in a preset sequence,
Life unfolds with its own whims and fancies
As day gets dawned-- a gift of existence,
In whose own rhythm everything dances.
A life is no novel read page to page,
It gets read, unfolding onward as goes,
I bow to past for wisdom, for its age
As it gets past its graveyard of shadows
To be ready to take on new journey
With an empty bag and an open mind
That I take on challenges uncanny
And still keep options on, to peek from hind.
The year past by let be Janus-headed,
Life evolves only when it looks ahead.
____________________________
Sonnet | 11.01.2026 | future, life, Ney Year, past
Note: This is in continuation of the poem ‘Old memories, new dreams’.
Your head of two faces
In the spiritual realm
You are evasive
A head in the front
A head in back halo
Awesome you react
You forget what's behind
You wander why you remember
What's before you, you are two fold
You are double faces
Multifaceted your pride
Evasive you are the wind
a Burning flame you were giving many.
chances, your name Janus
1/1/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2026
Tendrils twist and dance, guiltless, unblamed,
getaway vehicle, of the flame-
uncharged of previous transpyre, that's your game.
Like a serpent you shed your skin of the shame
of the red-handed fire.
You greasy sleaze, you leave yourself lingering,
advertising yourself on the byways,
but coy- like a transmitted disease.
Perhaps Prometheus will give you a place to lay low
till things cool down.
Maybe Haefestus knows what to do with your sort.
I think you should go to Hades,
for swaying every which way the wind blows,
you two faced liar.
But wouldn't it also be fitting if you went back to Aphrodite's Temple and returned to those
choking on the burnt offerings-
of their lust-
choking out true desire.
She's a goddess, true poetry in motion.
The kind that has you sacrificing yourself in devotion.
Hypnotised, I move her sway.
With no question of acceptance, live to dance in her ballet.
I found a light, a beacon of perfection.
Then once I'm at worst I find it's lies and misdirection.
Two faces; two juxtaposed deportments; two qualities;
On one hand, past pains; on the other, future jollities
Janus, the Roman god of progress and dualities
Dwells with keys of the door, gate, and threshold formalities
I have it. Each one has. One is true. The other is false.
Safe like love and hope; heard-earned treasure-like brings many walts
Springing like hemlocks from mental mud insecurities
Brings manipulative and deceptive impurities.
Trust erodes; communion corrodes; inner turmoil is born.
With anger, fear, and sadness, equilibrium is torn.
Vocation is jeopardized; calm communion is curtailed;
Energy and synergy quirks and smirks are veiled and failed.
Confidence, compassion, and creativity are must.
Together with honesty, loyalty, love, hope, and trust
Learning from the past and flourishing into the future
And living and letting live be our monistic nature
Forward or backwards, left or right
Lean on, lean off, dark or bright
Life has some bends and turns
Go away from glory or endure the scorches and burns
Resolution, hesitation
Lay still or go in motion
Life has choices to make
Choose well now, your sunrise is at stake
Tame your mood, choose one at a time
Two diverge roads do not rhyme
Face one now, the other later
And then settle for the better
Every coin has two sides
There are climbs and there are slides
Just try to make your best flip
Maintain your balance, be careful not to slip
“I hold a delightful being and an undesirable being inside of me.
It’s up to you which one you meet”
~~The Poet~~
dismally destructive
yet charmingly creative
unabatedly chaotic
obligatorily perfection
unsophisticatedly naïve
graciously worldly wise
uncouth and ill-mannered
poised etiquette
audaciously rude
enticingly eloquent
unsuitably slovenly
exactingly efficient
decked in Shabby attire
styled with cultured couture
disheveled, dingy
polished, well-groomed
in company of many in ill-repute
thoroughbred acquaintances
robotically draconian
artistically graceful
JANUS FACE
When looking to my right
I see images of yesterday
Once sharp, now blurred
Yet comfortable in a way
And somehow preferred
But will it always be night
When I’m looking to the left
As today becomes tomorrow
And seeing a hint of sunshine
Dispelling all traces of sorrow
Prospects should now be fine
No longer to ever feel bereft
Looking straight ahead at you
The present moment freezes
You cannot see my two faces
Yet neither expression pleases
I know that your heart races
Can your future I see be true
"The Janus Sacrifice"
Janus
opens and closes
the ebbing time
greeted by
two faces
justice
on a coin
flipped
betrayal
loyalty
scepticism
trust
belief
disbelief
truth appears
through
those eyes
walk-ins
two mirror images
stand in judgement
like night and day
light and dark
leaping priests
embedded in the helix
of all of us
rationality and
the illusion of choice
free trials
to taste credence
a final meal
tokens waiting on a table
unconsecrated before a
sacrifice
(LadyLabyrinth / 2023)
Ianus
doorway
Patultius
the Opener
Iancus
the Gatekeeper
Ianitos
keeping track of time
The sky looks today like an old bone
not just gray but unearthed and burnt by long eons.
Yesterday was as fresh as a meadow daisy
it made every eye gleam
what happened?
Did the world grow tired of living with us
or am I weary of these see-through heavens
wrapped in a mare's tail of hades?
Just like humans, Janus
Juxtaposes two sides
Jared in the same vessel,
Just the name, “gatekeeper”,
Jettisons his salient
Justly potent power,
Janus is lord of time.
Syllable count: HMS
February 26, 2022.
Said a passing year,
Janus, look not to the rear,
Life’s lived forward gear.
Still, past’s such a lure
And no less so is future,
‘Now’ grins to endure.
And Janus lives on
In everyone from there on,
On dilemma’s horn!
_________________________
Haiku |32.06.2021|
Dear Janus-mirrored face,
Sometimes when I feel alone
and highly self-invested,
sometimes when I don’t feel heard
or I do feel under-appreciated,
I also discover
that my challenges are a bit less about Other,
what we are and are not doing correctly,
wisely,
with integrity,
A bit more about me
and my limited wisdom,
possibly compromised integrity,
lack of cooperative and curious
contentedness.
In what ways am I willing,
in what ways am I unwilling,
to cooperate
with a shared Positive,
WinWin strategic
mythic logos?
When we are both,
Ego MindLeft and Eco BodyRight,
learning to follow
our mutually-held integrity
of EarthTribe healing grace
Resonant singing minds
in resilient dancing bodies
enjoying our Janus face.
Blessed with two heads
Welcoming new aims to view
Review-renew old
Quietness all around
Secret actions in full swing
Impregnating soil.
+++++++
May 7, 2014
Form: Haiku
Dr. Ram Mehta
Fifth Place win
Contest: Two haiku on January by Irma, Skat-A
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