Sprightly walk on landing,
then I step down each rung,
with habitual due dispatch,
an enthusiastic heart beats,
mind awash with apt fervour,
whilst fixating on elation,
that weaves rose bud tints,
to dawn townscape purliue,
on a fair earthborn agenda,
whose brief a germ kernel,
mission sprouting benign,
seeds among the coterie,
red sunrise street dwellers,
who sense crimson aura,
a fond radiant saunterer,
that tonic touchstone,
oops .. watch the last step
When we see a baby’s smile…what is it we actually see?
Is it their beauty, their trust in us…their innocence, their joy, their purity?
Do we see happiness, satisfaction, peace and serenity?
Do we see comfort, virtue, delight…do we see love and harmony?
Or, perhaps that baby’s sunny smile… is a little more than what it seems…
Perhaps we see the shadow of our hopes…a reflection our dreams.
Perhaps their smile is there to remind us who we were…
when life was comfortable…when we were trusting, innocent and pure.
Perhaps that smile is a touchstone…a chance for us to see
who we have become…and wonder…is this the person I want to be.
A chance to revel in the moment…happy we’ve come so far….
satisfied with our life, our loves, our choices…and exactly who we are…
And if we’re not…a chance to do something about it….a time to rearrange…
A baby’s smile is an innocent way of showing is…it’s not to late to change.
A reminder it is our job…our duty…as members of the human race….
to do our very best…to put a smile on every baby’s face.
Eight long decades I’ve taken
To know this life’s touchstone like truth:
Man loves to live anywhere
But at life’s battle-hardened booth.
Yea, we scarce want to be
Where life for reason has brought us,
And wishing to migrate
There, there to fish for no cause.
Old age, as is inevitable,
As it brings me to brood,
And mind being unstable,
Ambles back to my childhood,
Which, without the least of doubt,
One of the pleasant most,
Though not always sugarcane sweet
That be chewed till void of its boast.
I recall still when I was there—
A child in flesh and blood and mood,
Not an apparition of thought,
My thoughts centred oft on adulthood.
Today I wonder, not just childhood,
Life’s every stage is such a swell time,
Which, when one gets older feels good,
But mind meanders, reason nor rhyme.
Not at life’s battle-hardened booth…
It’s taken me eight long decades
To know this life’s touchstone like truth:
Leaving all jewels, man chases jades.
__________________________
Musings | 06.05.2026 | age, birth/brood, childhood, old, quatrain
In seventies, bare seventeen you look,
To me, forever in your teen you look.
Just one more year and all ready to wed,
One, ever playing youthful bin, you look.
Wallowing in youthful wealth, scarce without,
Of happiness and content, queen you look.
Secret? Fate nor fortune comes in your way,
Work as worship can be seen in your look.
Sweet touch of breeze, and wetness mischievous,
Life’s golden touchstone, yen and yin you look.
______________________________________
Ghazal | 07.02.2026 | humour, life, wife
Note: Humorous ghazals are often known as Hazal.
To keep one’s better half in good humour is half the battle won, they say. Now at this late age if the rest of it is lost it matters little, I hope.
Touchstone is an honest fool
He is considered as a comic tool
He often speaks about impractical love mockingly
But falls in love with a shepherd girl shockingly
Shakespeare’s character in ‘As You Like It”
The golden line of sanguine heart
That noble friendship sets apart,
I wonder what’s the test,
If indirect at best,
As touchstone be in a gold mart.
_______________________
Translation |29.01.2025|gold, friendship, test
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. The poet of this verse wonders on the friendship of two hearts on the same wave length. What could be a dividing line to test their closeness? These golden hearts are then compared with gold in the market, where a touchstone tests its purity. The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows (sandhi duly separated):
Sauhaarda svarna rekhaanaam,
uccha avacha bhidaa jushaam |
Paroksham iti kah api asti,
pareekshaa nikasha-upalah || 201||
Dream peep of early gold rim halo
August riser gleeful in exalted chant
Yield to dulcet chirp from ornate winger
Sunburst orange red splash of heaven
Taunt and tease ocean blue mist eyes
Amber warm rays dazzle pearl clad beach
Revere the hue-rich magic spectra veil
Designed by glow world spirit apt
Aligning deft nirvana enigmatic
You’ll embrace a stunning touchstone
Strewn amid solid crystal bounty
Traipsing vivid emerald paths ahead
Amazed by wondrous vista woven
Redolent of chalk mark visual rife
Dabble in the morn’s first usher
Archway to vibrant wakener within
Yen for ample stimulus astride
Sensory luxuriance devoid of match
Tangled web surfeit found epic
Aching surge of tinted aspect
Rhythmic ripples on beaded brow
I AM a Warrior, I AM a King
I AM a Soul of Sovereignty,
I AM a Champion, I AM Unique
I AM a Product of my Beliefs,
I AM a Conqueror, I AM Pristine
I Rise Upright Spiritually,
I AM a Solar Zenith, I AM Divine
I AM a Touchstone Apex of Empyreal Light,
I AM the Epitome of Glory, Royal by the Fire
I AM a Solar Storm, Burning Ever-Brighter
Golden by the Virtues, Heroic by the Blood
I AM Triumphant, Sound the Trumpets and Drums
New Year Same Quest, I AM Resilient
I AM Persistent, I AM Ebullient
Never Ceasing, I AM Perpetual
Ever-Enduring, Ever-Unconventional
Against the Grain up the Mountain Tops
Ascending Peaks like a Juggernaut,
I AM a Paragon
I AM a Luminous Phenomena,
Forging Epics on this Quest Like...
I AM Iron Legend, like Ancient Times
COLLECTIONS
elegant effervescent
stylishly
arranged
savoured
in complexity
encounters
with the past
tenderness
interacting
with
enthusiasm
throughout
to
become
a touchstone
of
human cost
of the
realities
of sheer desperation
yet
the magnetism
lives on
in
warm memories
for
who has a winning hand?
Slowly, I draw a deep breath before closing my eyes,
then picture I am floating on a white wispy cloud.
In my nebulous vision, I am not veiled in disguise,
for I've no need when riding high above the crowd.
Is there a touchstone on which my alignment is founded?
And is my mind too inundated with life's trivial details?
Sometimes I'm uncertain if my thoughts are grounded.
When traveling forward or backward, often serenity derails.
I debate myself over goals with serious contention,
and it's an ongoing battle, trying to decide... yes or no
to questions I don't want to answer. I need an intervention
about my dueling opinions. Neither of them will let it go.
Is it possible I can just continue gliding along above it all?
I'm not interested in chasing rainbows to find a pot of gold,
or losing what's important, if from this cloud I should fall.
If so, I'd enjoy blissful contentment every day, tenfold.
You're the only thing that seems real
By Michelle Morris
13/08/2020
You're the only thing that seems real
in this crazy universe;
A touchstone of pure when
everything is in reverse...
I look into your eyes and see
my love for you returned;
Of passion and friendship that
will continue to burn...
Like a cleansing flame
that cannot be doused;
We're soulmates together always,
like the fairy tales espouse...
© Michelle Morris, 2020
You are the uncompromising truth
You are the fearless lover of the Messenger of Allah
You are perfect, you are the pure believer
You are the sacrificed being to the honored Awliah
You are an indomitable soldier in the realm of true knowledge
You are the only preacher of all truth
But still, you fear those whom you accuse as liars
Yet you fear those whom you have judged to be hellish
Yet you fear those whom you despise as hypocritical wise, adulterous believers
What do you want Mr. Perfectionist of everything?
Confirmation biased or weakness of faith is your fear
It is your fear of ego that has raised you to only judge others
Your fear is what makes you quick to judge others
The true light of knowledge can allow everything equally
The true light of believers can allow everyone equally
As the touchstone method, the truth can change all
No fear, no judgment in the truth works as a troll
©Mahtab Bangalee
Chattogram
05/06/2023
I am very blessed to live by the ocean. The ocean is an amazing place that we as humans know very little about. It remains a beautiful mystery.
The ocean
By Michelle Morris
09/04/2020
I watch the ocean
Every day;
From tranquil to stormy -
Always constant,
Come what may.
Reflecting the truth
That life will go on,
No matter the season,
No matter the qualm.
Depths unknown,
Mysteries thrill;
Never ceasing,
Never still.
I watch the ocean
Every night;
It is my touchstone,
A visual delight...
Speaking to me directly;
My soul's core.
Always a reminder of
Heaven's power.
© Michelle Morris, 2020
sawed-off on the
crimson emerald from a cloudy sky
squeal
and, at times, the reason
low-slung why
sparkles of a pearly salver
modicum of encrusted damask mist
befuddles me
albeit
moon, amber, and opalescence
spawn a charming sight
the perspective
strikes each crevice of the flesh.
and psyche advise
shrouded in a cinereous cloud
hapless and helpless, a glum-blue wolf
growls out a bluesy bemoan.
creating a lacuna
of gallivant love touchstone
leaden wails of anguish
rhythmic echoed refrain
plainchants of auric yearning
reminiscent of challah
aiming for eleemosynary seeds
cahoots to germinate and thrive
2nd place contest winner
Written: March 20, 2023
A Strand No 1201 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
My Poem is-
Stale flowers of barren lover
No touchstone water, no fertilizer
-Poem is empty wine bottle
No one is interested there
-Poem is withered leaves
West wind blows away far
-Poem is breathless corpse
All are busy to bury in sham tear
-Poem is glittering dew
Under sunshine it’s fading bare
-Poem is yellowish spring
Winter cell strips off sly wear
-Poem is defilement of outraged girl
Stuff of enjoyment in cheap censure
© Mahtab Bangalee
Chattogram
January 23, 2023
Sub Categories
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