Madhumathi, INDIA

SYMPTOMS

There is one ailment, a magically healing one

She loves and longs for

That never has a symptom but frequently attacks...

The viral infection of writing!

Spread by myriad muse, enters the mind and heart

Keeps her awake at odd hours and laughs at her plight

There is no cure but writing and writing

As the mercury rises with the words

A woman caught between her (sometimes mundane) tasks

Of cooking, cleaning, organising, serving, and

Her passion with pen that sprouted at the age, when two plaits swayed

Finding the balance, was challenging and tiring

The milk is about to boil and knocks a muse

To write or not to write is not a choice

For she may lose the flavour of thought 

Before the coffee is made and served, so

She wears the chef cap of words and tosses up a verse

''Oh, what an impractical person, unmindful of the chores!

 Writing can always wait, while a lot more to be done'', voices from snobs, heard

Well, at the end of the day

If a sparkling house, partying, shopping and gossips are their wins

Then, she is proud of the mess around, while GIVING BIRTH TO POETRY!

''Creative mess'' coined her sweet friend, for the unattended tasks

And even if just a few souls, she is contented with those genuine empathetic hearts around

Nothing to justify, not an excuse, but just the raw status of a desperate woman...

In the corner of her wall a thin cobweb sways, the spider stops by

And asks her, ''Are you not well today? Where is your pen that dances on the paper?', seeing her nonchalant state

Oh, the sweet syndrome of writing, forgetting the world

Her dear spider knows, the symptoms of pure joy

While the real cobwebs are smeared upon some minds...

THE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT 

Unfolding like a luminous flower

As the dawn blossoms

A doting Mom fills the home with the aroma

Of her affectionately brewed filter-coffee 

There begins a woman's task of sowing love

While there are unsung heroes too, genuine men
Shouldering and handholding women in their journeys
A She is often laden with lists
Of tasks and responsibilities, unending...
Meticulously multitasking souls, wearing a smile as a permanent jewel
Hiding their woes, and weariness
Defence, Science, Sports, Politics, numerous fields of victory stories
Artists, Revolutionaries, Padma awardees, making women proud
Breaking barriers, waking up to fight obstacles
Crossing hurdles and laying paths
From the ashes rise thousands of Phoenix...
Celebrities apart, true power sparkle in the eyes
Of my kind hardworking helper, flower-seller, and the little girl
Selling cotton candies
Struggling to make their ends meet
Fatigue had never bothered their souls
With a smile they work, and leave
Often speaking in contentment, of how blessed they are
Teaching more humility and gratitude...
Squeezing crowd in suffocating trains and buses
Amidst all the chaos in the mind
The Shakti in each She, glows from the inside
Spreading sunshine, and hope, catering to the needs
Of the world in each one's nest
While only a woman knows another woman better
The bitter truth kindles painful tears
That often, a woman becomes another Woman's foe too...
Like unpardonable predators, abusive men prowling upon the poor souls
The patriarchal stench causing nausea, forming stumbling blocks
Women failing to empathise, denying to be heard, refusing to shoulder
Are worms and diseases in the roots
Stopping the growth of a woman, by a woman, too
Time to be more loving, gifting warmth for each other
Each being a home, to unwind on a mother's lap...
Running from dawn to dusk
Fading gradually, as time dissolves
Unmindful of the clock, a woman keeps functioning
There are aches she never talks about
There are scars she never reveals
Tears unshed, and gulped down
Fearing, she might be judged
Voice never raised, some of which
would only be muted...
From kindly serving a cup of filter coffee
To using a Joystick on a plane
Shovelling all the challenges
A truly empowered woman
Blooms like a dew-kissed rose in winter
With a heart full of Sunshine...

S(HE) IS *SHAKTI

Like a pillar of strength

A shoulder to lean on

A tender-hearted, strong-minded **Sakhi

Let us evolve

Blossom

And 

Become more humane

A generous giver 

Gifting love, sharing knowledge

Sowing compassion...

And

Being a woman

Let us celebrate

Humanity 

Man, or a woman 

Respect the honesty in souls

Forgetting the gender

Be truthful to ourselves

Embrace the goodness

In each other 

Together 

Boldly remove the weeds

And 

Let us admit

A woman 

Is often another woman's stumbling block 

And 

In men 

Are the plenty unsung heroes, too

Genuine, and trustworthy...

Let us shed the isms

Let us stop wearing the crown 

That only burdens 

Is, a woman, special?

Or, a man?

Or, a soul noble is so? 

We are all souls

Human beings

Ought to be on the journey

Of being human 

Together

Becoming the voice

Of courage, and compassion

A She sparkling

A He dazzling 

Together as gems on the crown

Of a collective kind humanity...

(*Shakti = Indian Goddess of Strength & Courage, **Sakhi = a Sanskrit word meaning female friend)

Madhumathi, a nature lover, and passionate about photography, and poetry (English and Tamil), believes, writing is a soulful journey of weaving one's emotions and thoughts, exploring, and learning from life each day; she experiences a metamorphosis of the self, through her poems. Madhumathi's poems are published with the Poetry Society India, in the AIPC anthologies 2015, 16, and 17, and the multilingual anthology Poetic Prism 2015, and in e-zines Muse India, and Ratemyliterature.

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Women, Power & Creativity :: Setu, March 2019