Poetry: Mereena Eappen

Mereena  Eappen

1. Our Perfect Makeup!

Makeup layers one after the other

hid our anguish and pain

therefore, our real faces are undiscovered.

Shells and bombs filled our days

we strained firmly to mask our tears

with enough primer and foundations 

to hide the blemishes of our war-torn lives.

Our winged, tearful eyes started to lose its sparkle,

got loads of concealers to cover the dark circles and it functioned glow.

Palettes of eye shadows were used frequently and

ladies created beauty vlogs to conceal the real-life trauma.

Lipsticks and lip-glosses made enticing lips

but no sweet words were voiced from them,

smokes filled the air; mascara has been applied 

but no highlighter was obviously evident.

Can I achieve a new makeup set?

So that I can share it with them

the other ladies of the war-torn world.

Men of the world, what do you use

to veil those sorrows?

Is it a jam-packed life

that holds you back from a perfect makeup?

Miseries come and go

but Horace says carpe diem!

Apply a bottle of setting spray,

let the masked face look contented and cheerful

for this is your life, 

you deserve to live and smile more,

but no joy of righteousness ever,

beauty and makeups are no more

vanished from this soil where tanks and boots fill the space.

***

2. Existence

Existence is like a marathon

that cannot be forbidden, we must track

this incessant route that we travel at particular points

the track is hard, occasionally it is enjoyable as well.

Yet the journey is extensive

we don’t compel to do it unaccompanied

by your side.

I’m ferocious and I’m fragile

with you I can steer through the indefinite road.

This road is all-embracing and bristly

but we requisite bash progressing.

Stepping bygone hinder

and observe the past of the discomfort ahead.

Don’t halt and yell at the nuggets that made you fall.

If you can’t grow up, at slightest crawl

you got to move headlong

and not once be restricted

by the views that shaped an imperceptible edge.

Life is firm.

Life may leave several blemishes,

but not ever be scared

of what lies gaining.

You dismiss and become concluded.

You just prerequisite some guarantee

and the trust that work out for the best.

When survival is miserable, you eschew and recoil up.

No trouble, you have to catch up.

Being may be hard,

but this one can also be exciting.

Discover diverse trails

and grip up your flag.

***

3. Snowflakes

The snowflakes in the photograph were like 

drops of rain,

the finest being chopped and cropped 

fast, 

but turned frozen into icy sands, 

and slackened down just adequately, 

that they meandered

leisurely through the clouds.

***

Bio: Mereena Eappen is a doctoral candidate from the English Department of St. Thomas College- Palai, India. She lives in the mountain ranges of Kerala. Her poems are housed in The Alipore Post, Poet’s Choice, Madras Courier and upcoming in the Borderless Journal. Musings on life, photography; and content writing are her further interests.

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Setu, January 2024