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.
stripped forest stands bald
cacti buds hold their heads high ---
restless vezhambals
N.B:
In Kerala Vezhambal bird suggests the endless waiting for rain
Rani Chandra born in seventy-six
was a gorgeous Hindu actress
winner of the Miss Kerala pageant
famous throughout India and now the world
our country cheered her on with glee
Which is the easiest way to make two
Indian states to fight?
One is to throw power, language, water-
Issues on their face.
So you’ll have got two Dravid states
Fighting eternally,
O’er slight and petite things for decades
Meaningless, mundane,
So that your Aryan Empire in the
North will have its way
Of flourishing and bringing in caste and
Sect-bred troops set free.
Not one but multiple such issues
Let loose on the south
On the twin sister-states of Tamil Nadu
And Kerala have worn
Out sistership, brotherhood and good-
Will among these two
Peoples, and eroded their history
Of a common past.
Mullapperiyar Dam Water Issue,
Imposing Hindi,
And Koodankülam Atomic Power
Plants are but a few,
Devised by central government to
Keep them warring on
And smoth’ring each other instead of
Pooling their resources.
We will examine each and weigh how
Hampered they progress,
Before we’re onto the treachery of the
Telengana State.
(Written and first published on: 08 December 2020)
Can also be read in full here: https://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/2020/12/224-hindu-anarchy-coming-to-india.html
watching parrots eat
mangoes hanging from trees ~
cool breeze caresses
_____________________________________
Based on a visit to mangrove forest in kerala. In summer season mango trees bear fruits. Parrots love mangoes and usually live in mango trees.
29.06.2021
Submitted to Summer Haiku, Tania Kitchin
Syllables checked with PS syllables counter
“Kerala Man Hides Lover For 11 Years, In His Home While Living With Parents”
How dare you, hypocrites, poeticizing true love,
And, damn, dare to hate me for choosing my love mate!
How sweetly you speak of splendid graces above,
When caste-color-sect-taboos, like coops, you create!
What jungle-nation, ruled by laws of the Stone Age!
What rulers! Orangutans of the age-old hell!
What society! What culture! Like rusted cage!
What humans-like animals! And prayers-like knell!
And you, dumb idiot! A kid inside! Grown man!
Cocooned from depicting your pure love to the world!
The hell with you! Like spider long spinning love plan,
Yet allow this love, like autumn leaves, to die furled...
If you, nation, do not know what's love learn it soon!
If you, man, cannot love, hang, you're a sheepish goon!
24 June 2021
Reminders of Venice, mnemonic of undying love of Romeo and Juliet,
Were masks a barrier for two lovers, when encountered each other?
Elaborate masks concealed the identities,
Without hindrance, love bloomed no matter.
Masks are mysterious, masks are enigmatic, masks were fashion.
Imagine extravagant costume balls in the time of Shakespeare,
envision the exciting Venice carnivals! if masks didn't exist,
would the fascinating drama touch people’s hearts for hundreds of years?
Honestly, masks are not my most favourite item!
But enigmatic masks can be turned into delightful accessories!
With a little bit of imagination, and a little bit of fun,
Masks save lives, still emanate a romantic charm!
Kathakali dancers! Masks are inseparable pieces of Epic story plays,
The expressions come alive through intricately designed masks,
Blend of music, epic, story and art -
All coming together! In a captivating platter!
Venice, or Kerala, masks are complex, masks are enchanting!
Make it vibrantly colourful, create one undeniably your own, model it fervently artistic!
July 24, 2020
You were
neither a destroyer
nor a preserver
like Shelley’s west wind.
You were
a native signal
to harvest the taro and tapioca.
You were
a swing for the shore,
and my soul too.
You weren’t
just a parching wind
for me.
My still leaves
were energized
by your verve.
Moon shines.
Henna plant blooms.
Ghost of a love loiters
in the old melody
from a CD.
If you blow now,
a heaven will open
as in the past.
Climate has changed
like generation.
Vrishchika and the present
are passive,
poker-faced.
Season of stirring wind
is no more.
An Ockhi of havoc howls
instead.
Vrishchika,- a month in Malayalam calendar, noted for continuous
wind in some parts of Kerala
Ochkhi – name of a cyclone
First published in The Curlew
Performers painted like tigers and hunters dance to drumbeats
on the fourth day of Onam, an annual harvest festival of Kerala.
Dancing Tiger
Many farms have been buried,
yet the harvest fest is dazzling.
He’s one among the hundreds
of human tigers in the street.
A coat of varnish and tempera
powder conceals his skin. Pain,
paint odor, itch…he endures.
Drumbeats begin. He pounces,
shaking his hippo-belly. A
tumor also dances like death.
His fatigue and nausea vanish
in the artistic fervor. There’re
hunters with bows and arrows,
dancing around him. As night
grows, waves of music abate
to end. Spectators go home
with the stars. Now he sits
in sweat under the bare sky.
First published in Typehouse Literary Magazine
Sound bursts from the Nasik Dhol.
Son calls it, ‘Exciting!’
Dad finds it mad.
Teens are receptive to the trends of time.
Frenetic dance in the dry sand,
kindled by the cannabis and its cousins.
Dust rises from the present.
Chenda loses its human fence.
New drum shatters the eardrums.
But don’t cry it’s violent or wild.
To be modern,
one must hear music even in dynamite exploding,
and see beauty in a rock scattering.
Nasik Dhol – a big drum, producing thunderous sound, recently introduced
in the festivals in Kerala.
Chenda – a traditional cylindrical percussion instrument used in the state.
I am a huge tree, originating from the soils of God's Own Country,
Made by my land's children,
But now, the God is testing me on my inventions, through rains and winds,
The soil is slipping past my roots
The winds are breaking down my branches,
The leaves have our cultures written, our pasts inscribed, they are shedding,
The grass around me is submerged.
But I shall not get uprooted,
I shall pass His test,
I have help and prayers from my fellows everywhere,
I have belief in my roots, hope in my soil,
The leaves are trying to hold on,
The branches are facing the rains with dignity,
We all are together, we are united,
We will fight, again and again,
With your prayers, with your help.
Pray for us, help us,
Pray for God's Land,
Pray for Kerala.....
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.)
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."
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.
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.
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