Garland of fragrant buds in my neck,
Saffron-mixed sandal paste softly smells,
Upon chest cuddles heart-stealing love,
Heaven’s happiness here as if dwells.
___________________________
Translation (quatrain, anapaest meter) | 31.08.2025 | heaven, woman
Note: Here is a verse (in Rathoddhata meter) from Bhartrihari’s Shringaara Shatakam (hundred verses on love and romance). The poet lapses in imagination: A garland of fragrant buds is in neck, the saffron-mixed sandal paste on body, and she, who abducts your heart, hugs like a garland herself. Ah, it is as if heaven has descended down. Here is the transliteration:
Maalati shirasi jrmbhanot-mukhee
Chandanam vapushi kumkum-anvitam |
Vakshasi priyatamaa manoharaa
Svarga eva parishishta aagatah || 49 ||
Border surveillance female scouts
their warnings unheeded about
an attack, imminent, from Gazan Hamasniks
IDF superiors pooh-poohed the risks
Prime Minister Netanyahu ignored their reports
on Yehudah and Shomron he focused his every resource
Yet ‘Bibi’ survives as PM to this day
the surveillance report long since filed away...
O, Justice, Justice, have ye fled underground
~ where Hamas abducts innocents all year-round
________________________________________________
'Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue' - Deuteronomy 16:20
Hamasniks - members of Hamas, whose 1987 constitution
mandates the killing of Jews in Israel and worldwide
IDF - Israel Defense Forces
Yehudah and Shomron - Biblical lands the media refers to as
'the West Bank' (of the Jordan River).
'Bibi' - Prime Minister (PM) Netanyahu of Israel's nickname
That man alone seems charming,
Who a fancied lass finds fascinating,
That poem is a piece of art
That captivates a reader’s heart.
____________________
Translation |12.01.2025| man, woman, poem
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. Which man can be called truly charming? As per this shloka, he who’s found attractive to a woman, to whom a woman is drawn. Okay, what type of poem abducts a reader’s heart? That which is found interesting to a reader who knows poetry; forget all the critics. The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:
Ramanieeya sah hi purushhah,
ramanee yatra eva rajyate vidagdhaa |
Shlokah sah eva su-bhagah-chittam,
saktam hee yatra rasikasya || 217 ||
A placid dose abducts barren perceptions,
wherefore virtue departs in the nakedness
stretch passionately, dawning motivations,
transcendent intrinsic structuring success.
Epic fuse a star--at sea--sunk translations.
Refuse I to believe A Virtuoso
Is also A Most Dreaded Caposo:
The man dealing with us: Hot Petito,
Three times Award-Winning Maestro
In some quarters “Another Castro!”
Cud simply chewing while faking invoice
That would ring true in the falsest voice…
Petito: Just as he big sums deducts
School Children with Heavy Escorts abducts:
Wonderfully Christ’s Fellowship conducts,
A thousand born-again Christians products…
Right now Petito in wished Trinidad
To kidnap Lovely Lorraine, Dog and Dad
Raindrops descend, puddles form,
A stream engulfed, a river is born,
A course is set, the sea to reach,
Meandering ponderously to a far off beach.
The sea reclaims its myriad young,
Kidnapped by clouds, thunder-slung;
The storm is long past with calm all around;
Albatross glide, with a whisper of sound.
Seagulls circle, dogfish sleep,
Gannets dive and dolphins leap,
But black clouds return and lightning flashes
O'er storm-tossed seas, as thunder crashes.
Once more a stealthy cloud abducts infant water,
The sea's own offspring: a son ... a daughter;
The thief sets off at a wind blown pace,
The anguished mother unable to chase.
The criminal finds refuge in a partisan crowd,
A formless body in a vaporous shroud;
The cloud has no guilt, shows no remorse,
But heads inland on a predestined course.
A hill stands guard, like a customs post;
It stabs the guilty, but allows past the host;
The rogue cloud is ruptured, severed seam and pleat,
Releasing its captives and accepting defeat.
Raindrops descend, puddles form,
A stream engulfed, a river is born,
A course is set, the sea to reach,
Meandering ponderously to a far off beach ...
Attractive apple
angry agile ape~
ate an attractive apple,
abducts another
Brimmed basket
black beauty brings big
bright blue berries, brimmed basket~
bestows beloved
Calm colleen
cosy cotton coat,
cuddles crazy classy curves~
carried calm colleen
18-7-2020
Second Place in the contest.
Note:Let the Pens Flow - Alliteration Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Jenish Somadas.
Wet as rain
Touch grips pain
Once again
Time feels slow
As hurt grows
Hollow show
That and this
Hit and miss
Crumples ease
In a daze
A harsh maze
Anxious face
Loss flings art
Pain now starts
Heavy heart
Odd this poise
Flings hurt voice
Abducts choice
Not in vain
Bear with pain
Yet again
Leon Enriquez
30 August 2019
Singapore
aah…
you say
a tensed note
almost unheard
but in that one moan
time comes to a standstill
for rapture forgets the past
needs no future to give it hope
it simply is, expands, fills, abducts
takes us to an edgeless place and beyond
I start dulling on seeing a lady
I hide like she is a bear
Like she abducts like LRA rebels do
As naive as a church brother
I know a lady is a woman
A woman means someone to suckle at
I tell a lady who comes to my hiding
That I don't want to breastfeed because I am satisfied
I needn't suckling
Before she speaks
I think she will say
Let me carry you in my ark or baby carrier
I don't know why men run after them
For I can cook if cooking
I will marry later if marriage
If they will not force words into my mouth
To say the meaningless, I love you!
To sit with her and never run to my hiding
To look straight into her eyes and never say, I needn't suckling
They will chase, catch and persuade me beforehand
I fear a lady like a vampire
I fear her like a beast
I fear her like a bear
I fear her like a lion
I am naive
Because I am virgin
I fear ladies
Because I am virgin
The numbers were going up
and hallowed men were no-
more saints.
You find that your shirt
was stained. Now fear creeps-
under the skin.
You come near each other in-
dark. Reverting yourself you talk
to strangers.
Against the wall of water as
high as your ego. Epidural abscess-
a silence of unknown.
Now, every hour you die. Light
abducts the dreams. Nothing to-
talk about the blitzkrieg.
Satish Verma
"Everlasting Love"
love abducts two hearts to fly
beyond blue umbrella sky
encircled in gold
fabric fused till Life fleets by
whispered words as kisses sigh
embraces enfold
winsome wings of magic try
erase tears lovers may cry
perfection behold.
love cascades to warmth from cold
kidnaps spirits ever bold
passion laces feel
vows invoked to have and hold
trust and truth without cajole
emotions appeal
romance speaks a special mold
flavor of love story told
masks cannot conceal.
love cherishes moments real
treasured memories reveal
rare Reality
darkness perishes to heal
light flourishes lovers squeal
etched in Destiny
love revolves upon Life's Wheel
passageway to final deal
breathes Eternity.
*For David Williams Virelai Contest ...
...