Five poems by Belinda Subraman

Belinda Subraman

Breath on the Face of Water

on cold waters off Alaska

peace is amplified or found

immersed in a 5 D calendar page

burning a memory as ice floats by

stars are more visible on an open sea

for now no internet or tv

breeze and ghost kisses

cool and calm whispers

spirit excels

pines aspire

everything is alive and moving

even ice bergs shaped like whales

cosmic white noise

submerged in sea air

life above and below

the rocking foam

everything evolves

every atom revolves

our solar system is not visible

in the naked eye of infinity

slowly we realize our unimportance

as we are lifted higher

life flows as an ocean

eventually we breathe with the sea

***

Homage to Dali

Our remains nourish the earth

and all that grows.

We’re all part vegetable

as well as flesh.

Thought cauliflowers

sprout into space

as the brain shrinks.

The big picture is a feast

with unlimited choices.

Time is butter.

***

Any Reason Sometimes

A metaphorical sun

is always trying to rise

but doesn’t.

Flat blue butterflies

wing gracefully but in circles.

A quarter moon shines brightly

but from the ground.

I alter vibrations on purpose

stuck with anxious energy.

My kitty keeps checking on me.

I’m old and my friends 

and family are dying.

I’m also growing

toward the ground.

I’m wanting to connect

but needing to numb

trying flow therapy

while grasping words.

I am pushing through

aware I’m fighting chemistry.

My kitty keeps checking on me.

***

Earth Report, 2022

heat advisory

fire danger

air quality alert

a new strain of virus

killing the innocent

monkey pox striking

the intimate

WW3 in progress

politicians trading liberty

and empathy for riches

as houseless numbers grow

weapons of war killing civilians 

anyone can buy  

out of the trunk of a car

gun show or store

as if killing was encouraged 

mass shootings everyday

for sport or fame

our pettiness and politics

and hormones

unknowing in our infinite smallness

that we’re toys in the brain of the cosmos

indifferent to our egos

that keep us alive

and disillusioned 

we send out signals for connection

hoping for answers

we’re unprepared to hear

***

Zen

death is lights out

like a coma or surgery

but we won’t wake up

the self imposed suffering

of not mattering enough

to live forever 

in movies, books or legend

any lasting alter of love

degrades our lives with pangs

we are comforted knowing

our dead loved ones 

will reach for us as we die

hallucination or hope

we like it

we choose to believe 

in magic and forever

to smooth the jagged edge

and illusion of finality

one of many realities

we fail to discern

as every molecule 

around us prickles

beams life force

sparks

and radar’s connection

we clutch

still we fade away

into the cycle

of mattering

where everything is enough

***,

---

Setu, September 2022