Long Metre Poems

On the need to avoid being envious: Canto XVII, K161, K162 of the THIRUK-KURAL, Translation with Commentary

[ ENVY, of course, knows no racial nor ethnic boundaries, but I wouldn't be wrong, I dare say, ...

Read More

IT’S A MAD WORLD In a Lancashire Accent.

I went to the Confectioners today, there was a long queue outside, a metre apart, and it had started to rain. 
The assistant behind the counter had shiny...

Read More

K373 and K374 of the THIRUKKURAL: Translated with Commentary

The poet's name, THIRUVALLUVAR [Thiru = Sacred and Valluvar = the name of the priesthood caste of the « Pariah » (whom Mahatma Gandhi prefered to call...

Read More

Poets Collective multi-site network 
Canzone
The canzone is an Italian form with strong similarities to the sestina. There are no rhymes; instead there are five keywords that determine the structure of the poem. Every line of...

Read More

Now in my decline from a time back then
  I remember the days in a life when I was ten,
when we lived in a shadow much greater
  at the foot of the mount...

Read More

Telling tales or stories is a favourable pasttime;
But using pictures to tell stories of past and present,
Yours remind me of days back in time,
Would not be all very  recent,
Last ones of grateful recline
To golden...

Read More

The Anatomy of a Kural: Maxim Number 245 (taken at random) of the Thirukkural, the Tamil Classic on Ethics by Thiruvalluvar 

allal arulaalvaarkku illai valivalangum

mallalmaa naalam kari (K245)

“The teeming earth's vast realm, round which the...

Read More

Niitthaar Perumai, The Fundamental Role of the Ascetic: Canto 3, K29 and K30 of the Thirukkural by Thiruvalluvar
(In these kurals, I give both the "unrefined" versions using connective particles and modified post-positions (in Tamil: according...

Read More

RHYME SCHEME abcb

Thick mist / sharp rocks cut
Dense rain / strong wind whips
Vast drought / weak build folds
Trade boon / graft wrecks ships

RHYME SCHEME aaba

Thick mist / sharp rock strips
Dense rain / strong wind whips
Vast...

Read More

1. The Welkin
Wind blows / clouds race / vast blue sky
Breeze tugs / trees sway / great green hills
Sun scourged / sand glares / small white beach
Skip stones / thoughts nag / mind fug stills

2....

Read More

What are words other than coffin nails be?
Who does it belong to when it rails me?
An empty vessel at best that bails thee.

Lend me your ear and draw your heart near;
my words might seer, but...

Read More

I have seen many writers of late, (who struggle
To be taken seriously), interject "big" or unusual
Or fancy words into their prose in an effort to be
"Profound", or seem like they have a grand knowledge

Of just...

Read More

The root word for religion is not kind – 
Latin verb that means to tie or to bind – 
as it tends to play tricks on anyone’s mind. 

For some, the edicts lash; they mercilessly...

Read More

Ooh a scented grape graphic. Now that's wisdom. Contained a logical pattern in a juice cup. Heron haven heaping. Wisdomstic of a Judas flaw. Consealed in Sanskrit. Heavenly heaping cream on a very large bun....

Read More

The chilled musky air torments the aging Saxon stone;
whistling through the aisles, the sound reverberating
as it sweeps along the colonnade.
Moonlight penetrates ancient glass stained windows,
initiating reflected shadows, as an innocent mind pulsates tempestuously,
he who was...

Read More

Metre in the THIRUKKURAL: Kural 35 of Canto 4, a random example.

alukkaa ravaavekuli yinnaacchon naangku
milukkaa viyanra tharam (unrefined, given in the original state of  
         ...

Read More

Unquotable quotes: Olympic Antics – XXXIII

Why do Judo-kas bother to wear anything at all since all they do is to try their very best to undress one another before hugging themselves on the mat?
Wrestlers at...

Read More

The fast beat of Lindsey Stirling’s track - ‘Shadows’ - aptly describes what all poets would be familiar with. 
Sit back and prepare yourself for a fast trip down poetry lane to the beat of...

Read More

Smoke signals rise from Sitting Duck cavern
In town the Pitt gang are trashing the tavern
John Wayne strolled in and he ain’t here to dance
They say that he walked like he just sh*t his pants

Don’t be...

Read More

Just taking notes as I walk for the perhaps of a poem later. Fun to share real time first drafts.

Walking from out of town to into town
Passed a churchyard with no church
Only steps remain where...

Read More

 I am poetry  a nightingale stringing blues 
               Of medieval lyrics---swords sliding bows.
      ...

Read More

Mnemonic Devices: Rhyme and Alliteration in the THIRUKKURAL, a random example: Canto 4, K35 by T. Wignesan

alukkaaru avaavekuli innaacchol naangkum
ilukkaa iyanrathu aram (refined, shorn of connective particles)
The way of vileness, self-congratulatory aid, ire and foul-mouthing...

Read More

Did Shakespeare ever fall in love?
A rose by any other name would 
stink as sweet!
What would Y'eshua say if indeed 
Magdalene was his favorite disciple?
What miracles would he impress her 
with
So as to savor her...

Read More

The rising of the seventh moon in an ornamental lampshade is equivalent to a nice round smiley dinner plate that had been recently washed,
Recently washed is neither a rotating wimpy wishing walker and neither is...

Read More

Villanelle: Whose terse lines lie entangled in the colophon
  
 for the author - male or female, prince or pauper, playboy or priest - of the
   THIRUKKURAL*, the reputed "bible" of the...

Read More