CPC’S ONLINE MEET!

Chennai Poets’ Circle- known as CPC is indeed a great and lovely Literary Association of poets great and small(like NVS), young and old, academicians and non academicians. Besides gala Annual Meet, every month the poets meet, greet each other in person and present their poems and members discuss wherever there is a need.

Thanks to CORONA last two months Meet takes place ONLINE! Members sit at home and enjoy the proceedings  very ably handled by Smt. Hemaravi- a leading poet and the Secretary of the CPC. June Meet took place on Saturday the 27th at 15.30 hrs. and lasted  up to 16.45 hrs. In all 22 poets participated and their poems are shared here for the benefit of those who could not participate.

Dr. Kannan, President of CPC welcomed the poets and  also proposed Vote of Thanks.

CHENNAI POETS’ CIRCLE – MONTHLY MEETING OF MEMBERS ON 27^th of June, 2020

GERANIUM

Honey dripping from the turned wood,
on the pinkish purple of the petal,
the weight coercing it into a soft bounce
drop falling on the wet earth.
Hair twirled around a single finger
chin tilted slightly to the side.
The eye of the storm
an ashy gray
mixed with the twilight of the darkened skies.
The warm rush of the summer breeze
as the light glistened against the pale gold of her locks,
her eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks
dancing and chasing each other in ephemeral bliss.
Drops racing along the valleys and hills
soft splatter of paint across her face
as she looked into the depths of my soul.
A smile that played on her lips
like a whisper that she longed for me to hear
the stolen secrets and a shroud of mystery.
She spoke the language of the breeze
that kissed the blades of grass
that destroyed the dandelion’s might
that carried the thistle on a ride..

@Thryaksha A Garla

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I MUST GO…..

I must go the lands of the west

And must enjoy my life to the best
I must fly to London   and Paris
And must dine in my hotel Morris.
The towers of churches call me back
And ask me a flight to take
To smell the roses and daffodils
That bloom in seasons bright .

I must swim across the Atlantic ocean
And must do boating in Rhine and Rhone
Shall I not taste the wines of France
And get the flight of fancy in a trance
Rome and Moscow Tiber and Volga
These are my dreams and visions at night
Shall I not drink the Russian Vodka
And move my soul to a height of the delight
To watch the corn  fields in bright summer
And crush he grapes in glass trimmer
Has been my aim and I shall miss
These pleasures due to corona virus.
My soul is the soul of the west
And it takes rest only in cuckoos’ nest
The music of Salzburg and sound of Danube
These are Joys of my tourist flight.

@Dr. M. THIRUMENI

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WHOLESOME WHOLE

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever’
Words of Keats one can forget never
What is beauty – beauty is where
One can enjoy here and there, every where!
Grecian urn a beautiful piece
Niagara falls a beautiful place
Silver streaks of water brings us peace
Hills and dales sure nature’s grace!

Does beauty lie in the objects seen
Or lie in the eyes of the seer keen?

Beauty seen in the scorching Sun
Beauty felt in the biting cold
Beauty heard in the melody of birds
Beauty smelt in the fragrance of rose
Beauty tasted in the bitterness of neem
Beauty found sure in every mean(s) !

‘Beauty is truth and truth beauty
That is all what ye know on earth
And what all ye need to know’
Words of Wisdom
From votary of beauty
And a devotee of Almighty!

Creator of noble beauty
Harbinger of peace and piety
Bless me with those eyes and mind
Beauty in ugliness that they can find!

Beauty of the mind and beauty of the soul
Sure makes one the wholesome whole!

@Dr. N.V. Subbaraman

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Sunlight

Drops of brightness
That fall on us
Every now and then,
Giving life its distinction.
Quietly passing by
Every tiny being,
Revealing secrets and sorrows,
Promising a tomorrow.
Succumbing to reason
For every defeat.
Its straight lines
Give our reflection
Create our versions.
A dear friend,
Never failing to visit,
Nor forgetting
To say goodbye.

@Vishnu Priya S.L.

************************************************************************The Elephant and the Dragon

1.In encounter the Dragon and our Forces !
Forces augment ! Army reinforces !
Ģovt.in vigor endorses !
As for Dissensions, nationalìsm divorces !

2.Dragòn swallowed
Mangolia,Tibet !
Targeted Taiwan ! Our soil in threat!
Our boundary they want to reset   !
Facing the valour, the Dragon upset!

3.The world countenances us!
People there,ìn simmering upsurge!
Their trade in peril! “Corona
Spreader” allegation befalls!
Dragòn ìn risk! To extricate

Their position, they to prevaricate !

@Dr. Pon.lakshmanan

************************************************************************

INVISIBLE PLAY

Suspicion at peak at all
Kith or kin, no welcome call
Turning stoic like a doll
What a steep human downfall
No time for emotions now
Massive change happens somehow
Compassion gets fatal blow
Life has lost its sheen and glow
Privacy thrown to the wind
For gossip there is no end
Sensitivity is lost
Values frozen like the frost
All scared of the faceless play
Humaneness fully at bay
Unabated severe stress
All around despair, distress
Chasing humans like a ghost
Who run from pillar to post
Gloom and panic rule the roost
No medicine to give boost
Social distance only way
Self-discipline needs to stay
Empathy should hold the sway
Mutual trust should not stray
Time to follow social norms
Help others in many forms
Follow law in its spirit
Never do fail to hear it
Hope to live for a long time
Like a poem with apt rhyme.

@Dr. Kannan

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ROUNDING OFF

Saturday dawned, day of weekly chores
Cleaning when done we go to the stores
Cleaning is not fun, but shopping’s a nightmare
Especially when you pay up the fare.
Clothing comes at no cheap price
Can run into thousands in a trice
Billing’s always a trouble in store
With no change you pay up more.
Price of shoes is fifteen ninety nine
Not sixteen hundred, for a happy sign
Have you ever seen that one rupee
Returned to you in your shopping spree?
Same is the case in any store or mall
Rounding off is always higher, that’s all
Returning any change is just a big ‘no’
Be happy, move on, if you know.
The Fruitwala selling in ten and twenty
Is fine with three hundred rounded from three twenty
Who do you think has a larger heart,
Big shops or street vendor, know in your heart.

@Ramesh Narasimhan

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Nonet

Cursing the fate, pain overrides everything
The door of esteemed Death knocking
At the deft hands of surgeon
Had a comeback with legion
Of love and affection
As in true fiction
She begot babe
Long live
Both!

@M. Annamalai

Nonet is a fixed form of poetry.None line starting with nine syllables, with the number of syllables getting  reduced successively  , viz., 9,8,7 ,6,5,4,3,2,1 (rhyming is optional)

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HOME-HERO VIRTUALLY HOME BOUND

Corona making our lives home bound
Crying media only on number count
Course of WhatsApp messages dominant
Curse of pandemic globally evident
Alas! Corona turned home-hero life upside down
Admiringly turned nicely too as home-maid
Walk-the-talk with broom stick in broad day light
Talking point for home-makers in Zoom delight
Water usage surely found some austerity
While vim bars melted excess day-in-day out
Smile of kitchen vessels become sparkling bright
Homemaker rejoiced in home-hero learning curve
Home-hero did not get service extension
Home duty extends with lock down extension
Homemaker being casual on servant-maid incoming
Home-hero fears overflow on home-duty ever extension
Home-hero curious on extensions to stop
Not a tinsel town hero to do heroism too
Homemaker too needs servant maid for gossip updates
Both sat distanced to release Anti-Corona policy
With hygiene settling, Corona to unsettle
With social discipline, epidemic to fumble
With Govt. guidance, pandemic to cripple
Gets out of human race with Creator humility

@K.S. RAVICHANDRAN

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ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!

I never knew until I met
You helped me with examples at the best
Anytime anything I come to you first
Never seen like you to challenge a bet
I lost my joy with my pet
Sitting with you makes my parents give a threat
Talking to anonymous makes me sweat
You engage me always busy without any rest
Don’t know what I am doing without sleep yet
Limited love with you, my happy life comes to set,
All because of you- INTERNET!!!

@S.Nivetha

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“WHY DO I WRITE POETRY?!”

(Miles to go…

 “Katradhu KaimaN aLavu, Kalladhadhu UlagaLavu!”)

I do not know how to live, without poems
For Poetry, is the womb inside which
My mind, heart, and soul coil up
Take birth each day, a new-born
Curiously meets the universe with
Tiny marveled eyes, and a hopeful smile
I write poetry, like opening the windows of a dark room
To let the warm fingers of the sun
Gently stroke the hidden aches of the dilapidated walls
To let the frozen teardrops, thaw melt and flow like rivers
Thirsty for ocean’s love
I write poems, wrapping each one with gratitude and love
To the universe, to the Almighty, for
Allowing me to metamorphose through words
I write poetry, as a prayer, penance, and meditation
Surrendering to Nature’s divinity, and eternal abundance
I write in humility, to plant seeds of hope, and love
To gift a smile, or wipe a tear or two
To shoulder the aching souls through words, dissolving distances
To be the voice of a myriad mute hearts
Observing the world, through the several pairs of eyes
I write, to become a florist
Creating bouquets of poems, fragrant with joy, and peace
Poems are all I have, to build
A home, a nest, a swing, or a cradle through words for the world
And, I write poetry, for myself too
For, in this unpredictable life
If someday I feel stranded, desolate
I would still have my poems, waiting for me
With open arms, cry for me, and with me too
I inhale life, trying to exhale poetry
Inhale poetry, to eternalise moments inked with love
I write poetry, to shed the “I”
And
Leave heart prints behind, on the sands of time…

@Madhumathi. H

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I STOLE A SHINING STAR

Discreetly, unknown to anyone
I stole a star from the night sky
and kept it in my room for fun.
When I wrote I used it as a table willow
While taking bath used it as soap
When sleeping, as pillow…
Played football with it
inside the room on the trot.
lovingly fondled it a lot.
When hungry, ate a part of it,
Used it as teddy bear for playing like a child
Smelled it and smiled.
Sat on it while thinking and reading books…
When loneliness hung me in hooks
It turned a granny telling old tales
Never, never  used it as light
Even when the current was off
For I knew if I had done it
World will know I have stolen a star…

@Ravi Ranganathan

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ME WITHIN THE US

When THE ONE that breathed bloom into the budding rose
And put sweet into a stalk to make it sugarcane
Who put wings on the birds and honey into flowers
Breathed sentience into a bundle of elements
This me was born – through that, for that, and to that to return
After my tenure in the service of that divine will.
And yet am not quite complete with me and only me
A single dot cannot be all by itself complete.
Only with universal love, the elixir yarn
Weaving all the dots into a fabric divine
Does each dot find its place and purpose.
Each with every other and all together as one.

@Padmini Janardhanan

************************************************************************NIRVANA

Constant break through in technology,
Drove need for adaptability.
Changes did herald obsolescence,
Adrift, very soon, went common sense.
The spherical world also became flat,
Harnessing technology for growth.
A virus, unknown landed to say,
I am the Lord of all I survey,
Sending the world into a huddle,
As things became too hot to handle.
The virus soon set a scorching pace,
Sparing no one who came into its space,
Bringing the “mighty” world to its knees,
With infection rising manifold,
Mounting death, traumatic and uncalled,
And leaving those living, very scared.
Containment for a start was the key,
To make the world a bit virus free.
Social distancing once looked at with scorn,
Soon became the safe and trusted norm.
With all world over locked out in fright,
Permanent solution not in sight.
It spread fast, a disease pandemic,
With quarantining the patients, sick.
Oh! It is the dreaded Corona,
From which we seek Nirvana.

@S Sundar Rajan

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THE SECRET OF THE DARK!

Ah! Finally, dear moon, you appeared where I could see you,
Even though from behind these iron bars!
All track of days and dates, I have lost;
I know not how many long years have passed!

They came asking me for my very last wish,
I whispered your name, though I have a long list;
One last question to you, before forever I go:
Why did you have to hide, the truth that you know?
You saw it all, the secret of the dark:
I was yet a small boy, but playing in the park,
And my mother feeding me, under your brilliant light…
And suddenly it happened, that twisted my fate!
To know why they caught me, I ‘m still at a loss,
They bound and brought me here, within these high walls!
I cried! I tried, I struggled with all my weak might
But failed to loosen those heartless hand- locks.
They tell me I killed, someone, and with a knife!
Have you seen me harming a fly, all my life?
One said he saw me do it; he lied!
And my mother stood transfixed, frozen to ice!
You were the only witness, right above, in the sky,
Watching it all, and hearing her shriek and cry;
Why didn’t you defend me, why the stubborn silence?
Were you afraid, or ashamed, to proclaim to the world my innocence?
My time has now arrived; for another’s crime,
My childhood got crushed in these cursed confines!
My neck will kiss the noose, tomorrow, before sun rise,
As death has kindly agreed to take me out on bail!
All alone in the world, with not a soul to wipe her tears,
My mother will weep and weep, the rest of all her years!
Would you go and console her, and give her my last love,
And tell her, they killed a boy, who was gentle as a dove!

@ Gulnar Raheem Khan

************************************************************************TAKE A BREATHER

Take a breathing break, take a breathing break
Heed to the comforting feeling of being awake
To the monotonous dictates of moneyed pressure
Say nay, though not necessarily altogether.

When shuffling your feet in a queue eternal
Or stuck in traffic, the clock ticking away to infernal
When kitchen fires work to profusion
And the not-so-neighborly next-doors sound to intrusion.

When data exceeds the functions of Excel sheets
And our phone makes too much irritating bleats
Say nay, though not necessarily altogether
To the monotonous dictates of moneyed pressure.

And heed to the comforting feeling of being awake
By taking a breathing break, taking a breathing break
And heed to the comforting feeling of being awake
By taking a breathing break, taking a breathing break.

Wake up to breathing, breathe into sleep
Breathe in the aroma of morning readiness deep
The pain of depression and fatigue unfortunate
Breathe with love as a friendly smile or motherly hug affectionate.

Breathe in music, breathe in colors
Breathe in the nothingness that pervades the Universe
The favorable do breathe in as do the adverse
But now take a breather for reading this verse.

@Vidya Shankar

************************************************************************HAD I KNOWN

I’d have lingered longer, had I known
that an isolation, chasmic so
would long keep your whispers
from my toes.

The ears roar
with the silence of walls.
Lips sip the sting of brine
off a faraway heart.

What chases my eyes to smart
with a heave of silver memories
as I delve into my depths
like you, for a turbulent peace?

The spray that startles my cheeks
must be your song.
The world echoes within its hollows
But our music must carry on.

What times have we come upon?

What times have we come upon
that they yank no more
the sand beneath my toes
to thrust them headlong into tomorrows.

Tomorrows of which nobody knows,
float in feather-like indecision.
Had I known, I’d have lingered longer
with the dying coals on your horizon.

My grilled sky clouds over with concern
but its rolls cannot carry me to your shore.
Had I known, I’d have lingered longer.
I’d have lingered longer had I known.

@Anju Kishore

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“Whaatchu Mittaai”

My first watch : of elastic rubbery candy,
With a bow on its watch face, tied with flourish
His expert hands, deftly tying it on my hand,
While I  stood mesmerized by his doll,
Who too looked like made of candy..
Her glossy frock, curly hair and rosy cheeks,
Made her look like ‘made of icing’,
Though a tad dusty from  the day’s exposure..
My mother cringed visibly: “I bought you those lovely toffees and lollipops yesterday, didn’t I?”,  She muttered.. she was deftly ignored..

“Will it tell the time..”, I asked.
The candy-man laughed..
All time is good time for you, paappa”..a fond pinch on the cheek..
Some cheeky boy- children gathered around him..
“We want scorpions” , they demanded..
The candy man frowned..
It meant he had to draw out more sweet,
From that sticky rainbow-hued rope extending from the doll..
But business was business,
Fascinated i watched,
As a whole scorpion materialized, sting and all,
On the boy’s wrist..he began to eat it greedily,
I too had my first taste of my ‘watch’..
It was too sweet..unlike anything I’d tasted.
I fell in love with it then and there.
My mother sighed..resigned,  she set aside
Ten paise a day for this clandestine treat
(We didn’t tell my dad..)
When I was tired of eating watches..
I asked for butterflies,
Sometimes pretty ribbon bows;
By and by, I stopped waiting
For the waatchu-mittai man,
At the street corner..I had grown up,
My ‘digital’ watch from HMT
Now graced my strong wrist.
Years later, when again I searched
For the candy-man, it was his son in his place,
He of course didn’t remember me,
And looked at me mockingly
Asking if such a grownup girl wants the candy:
I blushed and rushed away..
But I still recall that first watch I wore.

@ Kamar Sultana Sheik

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TANKA

milk man agog-
bereaved cow and dead calf
when dusk falling
you are only passive
the influx of Time’s doing

@ Dr. S. Radhamani

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I AM PEACE

I pulsate with life
The atoms make me
The plan brilliant
Made by a Soul
Or a Science
I breathe accordingly
Coinciding with leaves
Complementing light
Balancing fragrance
A part of the wheel
I seem to be slow
I seem to be fast
I seem to lose
I seem to win
It is a game
I am the universe
I represent a part
Billions of us
Are making it
Possible everyday
I am the peace
Of the silence
Of the quiet
Minds that think
I live on and on

@Sridevi Selvaraj

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PERFECT PACE

Let it all go, move on and on;
I dwell in  perfect pace this day,
Wandering wildly in wintry night
That seemed moving on endlessly.
The moon melts in the dark sky
Embracing stars like autumn breeze.
I let go my past in dark’s simplicity
And rise glinting in moonlight magic.

@Geetha S.

************************************************************************THE FLOWER SELLER AND THE FLOWERS

Her hands busy, her mind filled with dreams
The hard work wins her the daily bread
Prevents from getting split at the seams
Stands her in good stead
She asks for help from no one
Many a battle in life, She’s won.
The fragrance of the floral assortment
Fills the entire compartment
Subtly plays into the psyche
The flowers say – Be like me!
‘I bend and ply as she strings the strands
I add beauty to her gnarled hands.’
“Even though my life is short
my smile till the end I sport.”
‘Winning even the hardest heart
having played to the fullest, my part!’

@Hema Ravi

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 The Meet was enjoyable. This is for this week’s Sunday story and we shall meet tomorrow as usual. Till then BYE!

Gurubyonamaha, on this auspious Guru Poornima day, my respects to you & greetings , & wish a wonderful year ahead.