Times of trouble

          Poetry of Sanjay
          Author:Sanjay Banerji
          1965  -   2012

Cheeky Little grim

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

“ Are you my darling sweet little child ?”

I heard mother say.

“ NO” I said with my cheeky little grim

And tried to run away.

“ Will you come and sit in my lap ?”

My good mother asked me.

“ NO' I said with my cheeky little grim

And tried to struggle free.

“ Can I give you a hug and a kiss ?”

My loving mother said.

“ NO” I said with my cheeky little grim

And tried to hide under the bed.

“ Do you love me ?”

She frowned and as she asked.

And I knew she was sad

And that I had been bad.

So I climbed in her lap

And kissed her cheek

And hugged her tight

With all my might

And said “Yes” with my

Cheeky little grin. 

Refections
      ...............

 

A wise man's words come back to me -

“The eye sees not itself but by reflection”

I find a mirror and gaze there deep

To see relentless scrutiny reflected back to me.

Every step in life I took it traced therein as residue

Of scars and frowns and smiling days

Composing lines and features of outward “I” I see. “ Not yet” it mocks

“How dare you try to read a book before its time.

Your secret I will not reveal until you are dying hour,

Only when that page is filled can you alone make sense of me.”

Abandoning the incompletion in my eye that I perceive

I join a crowd of revelers gathered in the street

Where every eye I now encounter

Hold my tiny image freed from facts that come with knowledge

Of the steps that bring me there, distortion built on residue

Of scars and frowns and smiling days

Composing tales from lines and features of the outward “I” they see.

“ Not here”, I think, “ how can I try that lack  to se my sole
        In others eyes that lack the love that I must find
        Before myself can stand revealed for
        Only when that space is filled
        Can another's eyes enlighten me".

       A wanderer on this planet I come across
       A grassy knoll where cradled by the earth
       I lie still seeking but one true refection
       Beyond the realms of fact and friction
       And above me bends of the dome of sky
       Refecting in my searching eyes.

 

Times of trouble

For Moses on the mountain top
Yahweh's word was seal of Law,
to Pharoah's grief on death of son
Amon-Ra replied.

When Arjuna from battle shied
Krishna showed him path of light,
and Lamas dream of Buddhas
if restless be their sleep.

Mighty Titans heard the cries
from flames engulfing burning Troy,
it was Jupiter that Caesar saw
as he fell at Brutus' side.
When Christian martyrs questioned why
an answer came from Mary's child,
and Mohammed guides through deserts dry
his faithful to Medina.

Though 'cross the ages names have changed
an inner wisdom speaks,
so at night, in times of trouble
who will come to Thee?

POETRY

 

It may come as a single word,
a phrase or an idea
that slowly seeds like crystal spars
a latticework of thoughts.
Through patience see the thousand sounds,
suspended glowing notes
reflecting substance, space and structure
of the shape that now evolves.
Then tease the thread of words
that wind from start to very end.
A garland taut with tension
strung 'cross racing streams of consciousness
sending echoes in harmonic tones,
vibrations of the sun.
Let lens of self release its soul,
and lo, a poem has been born,
engendered by a source sublime,
the art of making beauty rhyme.

Sunset

 

Ardently the azure sea
welcomes the sun back home

Gloaming golden honey bees
in fields no longer roam

Hot orange glows the palm leaves
and wave as if to fly

Bloody crimson dies the day
and soaks the painted sky

Languid lilac creeps into
the space 'tween mountains' knees

Pale green the sand lays jaded
by what it always sees

Passion purpled sea and sky
embrace and intertwine

Somber blue the shadows sigh
as starlight sparkle chimes.

 

Ode to the Shadow of Immortality

 

Know that this my diamond
is built with many flaws,
inclusions of ambition,
of pride and hope and fear,
with intentions of nobility,
of endurance, fame and art
alive in monumental heaps of stone
or a hand print on a cavern wall
to stay the motion of the stars
toward oblivion.

I join the quest of countless minds
since eloquence embarked,
seduced by glow of fiery brand
of immortality,
to embrace the living Universe
ablaze against the silent Dark
consumed to cast that sacred Light
on one eternal page,
unblemished by this mortal voice
that language bound must whisper,
from ashes faintly call,
confined to casting shadows
of Thy shadow in my thought.

The Sentencing

 

The guilty man stands in the dock
with shackles on his limbs,
the courtroom wears a muted hush
as lawyers ply their trade
with words of fear and innocence
and mercy and remorse
as flying pens strive to record
the details of the scene.

The lawmen men look upon his face
with hardened steely gaze,
the crowd shares thoughts in whispered tones
and shuffles restless feet.

Condemnation in the air
is joined by sorrow's rending cries
heard through tear stained handkerchiefs.

The prisoner notes with a sullen stare
the tableau set before his eyes,
in heart he even feels the hate
of the murdered victim's kin,
but the only words that breach his ear
and penetrate his mind
are spoken by the man in black
who grimly seals his fate.

All else is but untextured sound
to a man upon whom is pronounced
the final sum of his accounts -
"I sentence you to eath".

Basic

--------

Though luxuries I never had
once well fed enough I was
to contemplate the world without,
seeking beauty and morality
and the promise of a future.
Now shriveled, shrunken stomach hangs
untouched by food
for many days,
its need immense
with emptiness.
In this strife torn land
from a roadside ditch
my hollow gaze discerns the shape
of soldiers struggling by.

I know not why the bullets fly
over fallowed land
where winds of famine
bring carrion fowl
to join the dance of death.
A crust tossed from a passing truck,
a softness white in the ochre dust.
Swollen tongue parts oiled lips,
entrails twist sawtooth edged,
entire being in vice like grip of jagged pain,
my universe is hunger.

A Father's Lullaby

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

Slipping gently into dreams

The infant sleep on his father's chest

And matching movements of their eyes

See a group of mourners gathered.

As dirt seals in the father's grave

'neath a weeping willow in a shady glen

And now the child is a man holding infant son

With a wreath and teardrop marks the site

As he sadly thinks of this very dream

He had to the sound of his father's heart.

Their black grab blows in the sun-kissed breeze

As they turn their backs on the silent tomb

And their tears fall from a lesser height

As the weight of sorrow bows their heads.

The gone and the living merge in thoughts

Each through their piece of chosen time

All Parts of a life that now grows cold

And the man - both a child and a father- hears

The voice of ages softly speaks 

With the love and the sound of his father's heart.

On day grieving you will see

My body laid to rest

Let not silence reign your soul.

Hear these wards you know my son

The line of love is in your charge

As burden and as guide

And strength will come from this memory

To speed you on renewal's path

A cleansing and purpose born

To carry on your shoulders high

This dream that we share that I first had

         As I slept to the sounds of my father's heart.

Inside Out

********

Engorged, distended veins await

Ch0aked by strangling tourniquet

Glint of metal beveled edge

Dipping down to touch my skin

Flash of pain, momentary, sliding by

Hallow bore seeks thin walled prey

Finding, jabs, connection made

With inner world so seldom seen

The forbidden city forever sealed

From I on the outside looking in.

Now angry red climbs coil of tube

Exultant, rushing outward flow

To coat enclosing walls of glass

Frothing, foam tipped surging waves

Fills the space with new domain

Blushing darker a crimson shade

Of penance, trying to atone

For prodigal haste in leaving home.

The sample drawn, invasion ends

Slipping out with practiced ease

My gaze rests on the tiny breech

Where almost drop quivers, poised to greet

The outer stranger with inner warmth

When fleeting glimpse enlightened strikes

Form visceral depths entrances mind

My senses share a rare communion

With most intimate possessions.

BREATH

******* 
 

Breath

A misty phenomenon

That provides

A medium of expression

Of our thoughts and sensibilities

With greatest immediacy

And proof that the Universe

Allows our existence.

The inward rush

Traverses down the maze of deep within

To trade the secret commerce

The very elements of life.

Then the choice is present

Of configuring its shape

To alter the space between humans

As the rounded from the words of love

Of the choking wet of sorrow

Or laughed aloud with open fears

As howling, baying rage of pain

or rusty blades of cutting cords

Battered through in anger.

The alternative is

Not to impede the flow of turbulence

Permitting passage with impunity

Sending not a trace

Of the thought that was its twin

And now remains

To alter the space of mind.

Omitting the enigma of sleep

These are your choices

Until yours very

Last breath.

Created By

***********

With words one builds a novel

Another bends them into verse

Some sets free shapes locked in stone

Or paint on canvas boldly ply

Maybe song or music in your muse

Or your dancing speak in body moves

Perhaps a cinematic feature where frame in motion whirl

Designs in lace and fabric that floating down the catwalk
                                                      down the stride

       Reflections in a photograph from interplay of lens and light

Or a crayon colored drawing tacked upon a wall.

It matters not the medium

Of expression's choice voice

Whether harshly judged or lauded loud

By fashion of times.

A work of mind is a casting forth

From islands on tide

Whose bottled message simple reads -

My imagination's child.

 

Chromosome

***********

The charm held in a dimpled smile

The form of nose and thrust of chin

The shape of hue of human eyes

The lanky stride of sturdy limbs

The strand of hair that floats like silk

On a bearing straight and regal

The rosy blush on a dusky skin

The outward grab of supple skin

The waving hand that volumes speak

With a voice for every self distinct

From our chambered hearts that numbered beat

To the wrinkled temple of the brain.

All these traits must trace their roots

To the fertile egg where we began

From coiled perfection deep within

That six and forty cryptic lies

Like poems poised, awaiting

                      Their transcription as a lifetime.

Rhymes For Children

Author: Sanjay Banerji

Date- 2000. 

The Name Of A Thing.

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

The name of the thing is a puzzle to me

It's strange that we all can agree

They a ball is a ball and a bat is a bat

And dog is dog, not rat or cat,

And a ham is not a chicken or cheese.

For confused we would be

If a mouse were a tree

And a bee was a car

And you were Richard or Sally or Lynn

Unless of course, you are

So the name of a thing is where we began

It is a place that all can agree

Childhood's Gone.

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

My Brother's gone

To school now,

He won't be back all day.

My sister's gone

To college,

Where she goes every day.

My father's gone

To office,

I saw him yesterday.

If my mother's gone

I wonder,

Am I alone today?

No they're not gone,

I hear them.

Hooray! A Holiday!

New Toy

*******

I've got a brand new toy

A feeling of wonderful joy

To push it and roll it

And gleefully show it

To friends as they walk in the door

And sleeping at night

When out go the lights

It nestles in bed

By my slumbering head.

It's sad that it takes

So little to break

To bash it and smash it

And totally trash it

And leave it in pieces

All over the floor.

Oh well, that was dumb

But a new one will come

Bringing joy for a few hours more.

See - Saw

*********

See – Saw

Up you go

Then you stop

And look below

To see your friend

Begin to rise

As you go down

To touch the ground

That up again

And stop once more

To see the same

You saw before.


                  Simply   Put
                    ************

These words I write

Should cause no fright

They are simple and they are true.

Complexity

Does puzzle me

It's more than I can chew

Why use ten words

Of hidden meaning

When two can give

An equal feeling.

These ideas small

Could reach you all

I wouldn't find

You've closed your mind.

One Down And......

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

If I cry, they jump

If I drool, they smile,

If I wet my nappy

It makes them happy

And if I am sleepy

They go softly creeping

But nice sneeze

Makes them shake

Like trees in the breeze

I may be small

But the center of it all,

One day old

And it is great to be me.

Ouch!

*****

The brush with the nasty thorn

Just stuck me

The bee with the nasty buzz

Just sung me

The cat with the nasty claws

Just scratched me

The dog with the nasty bark

Just bit me

My sister who's a nasty girl

Just hit me

Now I'am so banded up

You can't see me.

A Little Bit Scary

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

Monsters are not scary.

Well, maybe just a bit

But if you look them in the eye

They shrink a little bit.

Goblins cannot harm you.

Well, maybe just a bit

So bite them hard and run away

Before it's you that's bit.

Ghosts, they are not real.

Well, maybe just a little bit

Of all the things around us

We know such a little bit.

The poem should not scare you.

Well, maybe just a little bit.

Bad Cat

*******

Ten tin soldiers

Mounted stood

On horses made

Of sturdy wood

When cat attacked

And broke their backs

Except the one

Who dropped his gun

And ran home to

Be safe with you.

Too bad the cat

Will not confess

When mother finds

This awful mess.

Run Worm Run

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

Mamma a bird has caught a worm

That jiggly, wiggly, squiggly squirms.

Her hungry little babies wait

With beaks as wide as dinner plates.

Why did the worm not run away

And live to see another day?

He ended as a tasty treat

Because the worm did not have feet.

Earth And Sky

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

Above is blue

Below is green

And in between

A bird and me.

We both can stand

On grassy land

The bird can fly

So why can't I ?

Eat

*****

Eat a hungry mouthful
                  Then eat a spoonful more

But please be careful not to

Spill any onto the floor

For in will coming marching

Of tiny little hunger ants

Followed by hundreds of spiders

Spinning their webs as they dance

Leading a chorus of croaking frogs

And meowing and barking cats and dogs,

Loud honking geese, donkeys and bray,

Zebras and horses that prance as they neigh
                  Lions and tigers that growls as they roar

As trumpeting elephant break down the door.

So eat a hungry mouthful

Then eat a spoonful more

But unless your house is big as a zoo

Don't spill any onto the floor.

Sleepy Rhyme

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

Sleep is a wonderful thing.

It comes in and steals

My worries and ills

And leaves in their stead

Sweet dreams in my head.

Where nothing is bad

And no one is sad

And everyone thinks

In happy and pink

If you don't believe

Close your eyes and you'll see

That sleep is a marvelous thing!

Johnny   Looks  A   Little   Blue

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

  Johnny Looks A little Blue.

Johnny looks a little blue

He looks a little red,

Shades of green and pink that

Make him sick in bed.

With orange hair and purple nose

He doesn't look too great

And empty lies the box that held

The crayons Johnny ate.

Splish - Splash.
                -----------------

Oh, I had quite forgotten

What pleasure could be mine

As I sit in a bath tub

With water so Divine.

All my toys around me

And bubbles in my hair

I could sit forever

In a tub without a care.

Of course, I will get dirty

And run around and play

Until they catch and drag me back

To take one every day.

The  War  Birds

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

I live in a land

Where the war birds

Have come.

Night brings the sound

Of the planes

And the guns.

The choice isn't mine

It's the grown ups

That fight,
                   Maybe in time
                   I'll learn

Hate and spite.

For now, I 'll be good

And play

In the yard,

I hope your life's better,

Mine is

So hard.

Emily Emptied The bag.

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

Emily emptied the bag

Her mother had carefully packed

To take to the beach

That they never reached.

She went in and took

The blanket and book

And water and food

She dropped where she stood.

Her mother frowned

And kept Emily home,

Now the hallway she roams

And thinks of the beach
                   She never reached

Because Emily emptied the bag.

 They  Just   Moved

************ 

  They Just Moved.

The movers had come

And now they have gone

And empty lies the house next door,

They took everything

But the kitchen sink,

They even took apart the floor.

My neighbors have gone,

Evelyn and John

And Tommy my friend from the start,

I wish they'd come back

Light the windows now dark -

I miss my friend deep in my heart.

Don't shoot

*********

I heard the shot

I saw his eyes

And I was dead

Before my head

Could touch the floor

I was gone.

I didn't have

The chance

To say the word

“Goodbye”

And dead I' ll stay

Without a say.

I wish this world

Were rid of guns,

I wish I knew

What I had done

To deserve to die

While looking in

A stranger's eyes

Without love.

        Golden Days

      ****************

 

My grandpa walks in through the door
                  With presents in his wrinkled hands

And smiling lift me off the floor

Though bent and stooped with he stands.

We share a birthday hug and kiss

As love shines in his eyes grown dim,

I hope that I will know this bliss

When birthdays make me old as him.

Mixed Up Tree

***********

Sitting in a mixed up tree

I see the world of fantasy

Where flowers fly and try to land

On bees that grow on bushes

And ants as big a house

Trample tiny elephants.

Where cows are fed

On milk and steak

And cocks find bed

As morning breaks.

Where water stands up tall and straight

And liquid mountains flow and lakes.

Where children go to work all day

While parents stay home and play.

Yuck!

I close my eyes and blink to see

My loving mother holding me,

All right now it would seem

I'am glad that it was just a dream.

What you Want to Be When You Grow Up

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

Miss Lucy goosey jangles

Fancy bracelets on her hands,

Master Norbert's parents put

Suspenders on his pants,

Little Tommy swaggers by

Dressed in his sailor suit

Bossy Betsy clicks her heel

In pointed leather boots,

Well dressed Willie always wears

His matching socks and shirts,

Brave Diana paints her face

With streaks of sweat and dirt,

Long tall Tammy only eats

Salad, fruits and seeds,

Egghead Eric's brains are filled

With all books he reads.

One day they will all grow up

And travel very far,

It's funny how as children

They know exactly who they are.

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