Guest Editor’s Note: Best of Women Poetry

Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

Dear SETU readers and my poet friends,

Here I am again, invited to guest edit the special March’20 issue of SETU – the ‘Best of Women’s Poetry’! The Editor (English) Dr. Sunil Sharma suggested that I select the 40 best of women’s poetry from across the world! A tough call for me as I know so many women poets who write exceedingly well! Equally, I don’t know many women poets who perhaps write better! Well, within these limitations, I present here the 46 ‘Best of Women’s Poetry’!

As the poems came in, it was as always, pure joy for me to read them! Ah, so much variety and so much learning for me from each of these women poets and their poetry!

I was awe-struck when poet Mallika Chari from Wardha, Maharashtra, India sent me her
senryu (a genre of haiku poetry) on women! Sample this:

space
the orbiting Mangalyaan carried
women power

I believe, this is perhaps, one of the best tributes to the women scientists who helmed the path-breaking Indian Mars Mission (Mangalyaan)! Another interesting one was this:

back and forth
she swings hooked
to the morals

How true! And this one from my friend Magie Faure-Vidot Vijay-Kumar of Seychelles, to which most of us women can relate:

Be patient Magie
I became resilient
But remained a civil guardian
Wore my different caps
To absorb the heavy downpours from
various taps

And another one by my friend Alicja Maria Kuberska of Poland, that resonated with me as I am sure, it will with other women too:

The woman's handbag contains
a few items
and the whole world of the owner

And finally, this by my friend Ambika Ananth of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India:

They are her mind screens
flashing her aspirations and yearnings…
The beautiful secrets in a woman’s eyes
You can perceive only when
you open the sealed eyelids of your mind.

My dear readers, as you read each one of these 46 ‘Best of Women’s Poetry’ in this issue of SETU, I am sure, you will revisit the poems as each one of them speaks beyond what it seeks to communicate, and with each re-read, you will discover something new and something refreshing and unfathomable too…immediately…

These poems have come to soothe you at a time, when we are all indoors under a national lock down by most countries of the world, as our healthcare professionals and respective governments are grappling with the Corona Virus. Let’s all take care, stay safe, stay indoors, and reflect by turning the light inwards and say a silent prayer of gratitude!

I thank Dr. Sunil Sharma, the Editor (English), SETU for once again giving me this great opportunity to be the Guest Editor of this ‘Best of Women’s Poetry’ issue and for the rewarding experience! Last but not the least I thank all the women poets featured here (and also those who mailed their poems but for some reason whose poems couldn’t be featured here), for readily responding to my call, SETU’s call, with their excellent poetry!

Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

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Best of Women Poetry: Featured Authors

Ms. Alicia Minjarez Ramirez Ms. Alicja Maria Kuberska Ms. Amanita Sen Ms. Ambika Anant Ms. Anju Kishore Dr. Anuradha Bhattacharyya Ms. Avril Meallem Dr. Barathi Srinivasan Ms. Brenda Mohammad Ms. Devi Nangrani Ms. Elizabeth Kurian ‘Mona’ Ms. Geeta Varma Ms. Geethanjali Dilip Ms. Hema Ravi Ms. Jyoti Kanetkar ***

Ms. Kalyna Temerty-Canta Dr. Kamala Wijeratne Dr. Ketaki Datta Ms. Lilian Woo Ms. Lilla Latus Ms. Magie Faure-Vidot Vijay-Kumar Ms. Mallika Chari Dr. Margaret Saine Dr. Maria Do Sameiro Barrasso Dr. Maria Miraglia Ms. Marian Eikelhof Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra Ms. K. Pankajam Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick Ms. Pramila Khadun ***

Ms. Preeta Chandran Ms. Pushmaotee Subrun Dr. Raja Rajeswari Seetha Raman Ms. Roula Pollard Dr. Sangeeta Sharma Dr. Santosh Bakaya Ms. Seena Sreevalson Ms. Shernaz Wadia Dr. Sigma G R Dr. S. Sridevi Ms. Srishti Sharma Ms. Sumita Dutta Shoam Ms. Swapna Behera Dr. Varsha Das Ms. Vidya Shankar Ms. Vinita Agrawal

Setu, March 2020

Vinita Agrawal, INDIA

Exclusive: Best of Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

Vinita Agrawal

GIRL TO WOMAN

The journey from girl to woman

is a hundred slivers of a whole.

The spot of red at thirteen,

iconic of a finished girlhood.

A strange silence sweeping the body.

Girl to woman,

a knock on the door of something.

Innocence dissipating

like life from a corpse.

Something harsh

listening to the tangle of her growing up.

A wolf listening for a rabbit.

But once she comes into her own,

she preserves the light of early morning in her hair.

Sets aside an infinity of space for lunar madness.

On those days she curls upon herself

and lies on dreams soft like grass beneath a body.

Her lips, a precipice,

her voice, a shape that fills heads.

She is

what she left behind in your eyes:

an unclouded face.

She won't trade touch for love.

but if love is what she feels

she might fill her womb with your life.

Vinita Agrawal, a Mumbai-based author of four books of poetry, was the editor of a women’s journal for three years. She is the recipient of the Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award for Literary Excellence-2015, USA, the second prize at the TallGrass Writers Guild Award-2017, Chicago, the third prize in the Hongkong Proverse Poetry Prize-2017, the All India Poetry Commendation Award-2014 and The Hour Of Writes Award.  Her work has been widely published and anthologised. She has curated literary events for Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2020. She curates a literary event every month for PEN@Prithvi. She is on the advisory board of the Tagore Literary Prize.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Vidya Shankar, INDIA

Exclusive: Best of Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

BABY IN THE WOMB... ME

‘It’s a girl,’ the midwife’s words woke me.  

I smiled. Sucking my thumb, I elbowed and turned

My knees drawn about me, I was slipping back to sleep.

But those voices — angry, threatening, vicious —

Why did I feel my mother shiver with fear? 

A cacophonic discordance of pleading and abusing

Why did I feel it was all because of me?

A lurch, a fall, a bump against the ground

A foot kicked my mother’s belly — wasn’t me!

‘Noooo,’ wailed my mother, protective arms around me

Was she crawling? No, someone was dragging her 

By her hair...a forcible shove, and the bang of doors...

All was dark as the night thrust upon us, our tears 

Flowing greater than the rain soaking up our skins 

Was it wrong being a girl? I cringed. But my mother

She stood as Shakti, stoicism mingled with tears, braving 

The dark, the rain, the thunder ― her strength became mine.

Morning brought the sun and my travelling father home

His bellows louder than the roar of last night’s thunder

Challenging his kin who dared lay their contemptible hands

Upon his sweet princess. I stirred. And smiled again. Safe.

A foot kicked my mother’s belly — was me!

And, as nurturing maternal hands swaddled me

Daddy’s determined girl rose to take on the world.

Shakti: the female principle of divine energy

Vidya Shankar, a widely published poet and writer, is a motivational speaker, yoga enthusiast, and English language teacher. An active member of poetry circles, she is the recipient of literary awards and recognitions. Vidya Shankar has two books to her name―The Flautist of Brindaranyam (a collaboration with her photographer husband) and The Rise of Yogamaya. She has also been on the editorial team of three anthologies. A “book” with the Human Library, Chennai, Vidya Shankar uses the power of her words to create awareness about environmental issues, mental health, and the need to break the shackles of an outdated society.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Dr. Varsha Das, INDIA

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RESOUNDING ECHOES

A border, a boundary, is it a line, a fence or a wall?

or is it a mountain, a valley or the sea?

or is it a mere metaphor, for a different identity?

Yes, I speak a different language,

eat different food, wear different clothes,

the colour of my skin is different,

but I was born exactly the way

the girl across the border was born,

was breastfed, as she was,

and was loved by my parents, exactly as she was.

Love across the boundary, is not different

The heart throbs with the same rhythm

and the blood of the same colour

flows in similar veins, going in and out

of the heart of the same size and shape.

And when in trouble,

we all look up for love and protection

trusting that invisible, yet known and visible,

in my heart, in your heart, in the hearts of all those

who seem different, who live on the other side

of the so-called border.

When border divides, we look at dissimilarities,

when love unites, we look at commonalties.

Let’s call out with love, and hear resounding echoes,

from all the ten directions

no matter how long and strong, are the borders!

Dr. Varsha Das writes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, radio plays and also for children in Gujarati, Hindi and English; and translates from Bangla, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and Odia. Her journey as a writer started in her teens, and the first award she received when she was 18 from the Government of Gujarat. She is the recipient of several awards from organizations like Kendra Sahitya Akademi, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, Soka University, Tokyo, etc. Her poems are included in several anthologies in India and abroad. She is the former Director of National Book Trust, India and after her retirement served as the Director of National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Swapna Behera, INDIA

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WHO IS MY MOTHER?

the baby in the womb

where is the time for foreplay or euphoria?

sperms and ovum implanted 

nomadic dreams in money making zone

the woman is secluded for nine months

swallowing tonics under observation

husband at home of rags near the graveyard

cooking rice for four daughters

the mutual deal was to earn money from surrogacy

hormones, homophones and dream home in circle

Inside the womb a story of combination and permutation

Mr and Mrs came from abroad

tested the babe with penny eyes

alas! the baby has only one foot; so rejected

poor lady with tears

now   to feed the fifth mouth;

husband sans job

the baby asks ‘’who is my mother?’’

Is the baby a commodity?

now that she becomes a huge liability

the innocent tiny eyes with queries millions

sings universal song

I am life, I am life

but who is my mother...?

Swapna Behera is a former teacher, bilingual contemporary poet, author, translator and editor from Odisha, India. She has penned six books. She is the recipient of the UGADI AWARD 2019, International Poesis Award of Honor for Literature as Jury in 2015, The Enchanting Muse Award 2017, Pentasi B World Fellow Poet in 2017, The Life time Achievement Award, ATAL BIHARI BAJPAYEE AWARD-2018, Global Literature Guardian Award 2018, and world Laureate in literature from Kazakhstan. Currently, she is the National President for India of Hispanomundial Union of Writers UHE, Peru and the Cultural Ambassador for India and South Asia of Inner Child Press U.S.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Sumita Dutta Shoam, INDIA

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LOVE IN RHAPSODY

Dawning Sun adorned blushing Sky—

Pastel blues and bronze swirled alight.

Older Day, tribulations swamped,

muddled the colours white.

Midday Air sweltered, whipped

Minds and contused bodies taut.

Purple lacerated and blood stained

Firmament numb, Day smothered Sun.

Sky screamed inflamed black and blue,

but blinkered man ploughed on.

Carrying boulders of knotted muscles,

He cleaved to all-encompassing Love.

Fiery nurturer, she wished to succour all

But strictures twisted her splendid form.

A new Sun begets a new Day;

Will Day love today? Sky shall paint

In ecstasy and Breeze dance in symphony.

Let Humanity bloom sans judgement, thrive

In Nature’s bounty. Let each love themselves,

Celebrate, and honour their individuality.

Let them search within and find splendour—

Treasure trove worthy of Nature’s progeny.

When Day ensconces Sun abed with Night

Let Love rhapsodise Earth with joyous life.

Sumita Dutta Shoam is the founder of Adisakrit, a publishing house that takes pride in publishing a variety of genres. She enjoys most creative mediums of expressions. She has a degree in Fine Arts and loves photography. Writing has been a passion from her teens, growing out of her obsession with reading. She believes that there are three necessities that enrich this world and her writing is usually tossed with these ingredients—compassion, beauty, and humour. She is the author of ‘The Heart of Donna Rai’ a historical fiction set in 1975 Bengal.

She has her blog:  https//zippythoughts.wordpress.com.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Srishti Sharma, INDIA

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BRAVOS!

Call me brave,

Before you call me beautiful.

Call me strong,

Before you call me stone-hearted.

Call me strong-headed,

Before you call me fragile.

Understand the pain,

Before you body shame me.

Every woman,

Goes through a lot,

Of pain, struggle.

Some negative,

And useless comments,

Let’s salute her undying spirit.

And,

Support her.

Respect her.

   

Srishti Sharma is Mumbai-based poet and a writer. She has finished Masters in Business Economics from Birla College, affiliated to the University of Mumbai and currently working as an auditor with the State Bank of India.  She believes in the immense power of women in this man’s world. Her poems are published on various social networking sites and the prestigious Setu Magazine and Destiny Poets.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Dr. Sridevi Selvaraj, INDIA

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BOTH THE WORLDS

The fort was strong

Built with iron

Decorated with arrows

Entry was restricted.

The flower bloomed

Unseen, unsung

She smiled and smiled

Cried in private.

I need to walk

To jump up

To touch the clouds

To smell the ocean.

The stars spoke

The wind agreed

The grass understood

‘She needs a break.’

The iron fort

Was only conceptual

The bronze doors

Were only ideologies.

She rewrote them

Made them flexible

Walked when necessary

Stayed in when needed.

Dr. Sridevi Selvaraj is an English teacher in a college under the University of Madras. She writes in Tamil and English.  Her poetry collections in Tamil are: Aduppadi Kavithaigal (Poems from the Kitchen) 2009; Naan Sivam (I am Shiva) 2012; Pennin Paarvaiyil (In the eyes of a Woman) 2013; Penn Enum Perunthee (The Great Fire called Woman) 2016.  Her poetry collections in English are: Reservations: Rambling Thoughts (2010) and Heralds of Change (2016).  She has also translated the Tamil classic Thirukural’s Part I ‘Akam’ as ‘Values’ into English (2010).

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Dr. Sigma, INDIA

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NEVER ANSWERED

When she woke up

from the centuries old sleep

She felt hopeless

 and it never broke her stress.

She wrapped her feelings

in her egalitarian self,

and she flew to the world,

she always loved.

Silence in her began to

speak

the dreams of desire...

Woman in her never answered anyone...

And she continued to swim

in the mysterious present, past and future.

Does any woman answer anyone?

Dr Sigma, a widely published Indian poet and article writer in various national and international arenas and a resource person, is currently an Asst Professor in English. She worked for Oman Ministry of Manpower as a lecturer for five years. She has authored four poetry books, edited one, co-authored one and co-edited two. She is the recipient of the 'Mirabhai Literary Award' from the Organization of United Working Journalists Forum supported by Public Relations Department, Puri, Govt of Odisha on National Press Day-2016, and Cochin Lliterary Fest Prize-2018. She is an invited poet delegate at several prestigious national and international poetry festivals.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Shernaz Wadia, INDIA

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THE SPHERES OF OUR LIVES

                                 

Out of this milieu of denials, humiliations and gender biases

We emblazon a new horizon of strength, resilience, intelligence

Rising from the sacrificial altar, we zoom into infinite space,

Our constant chant — a litany of female prowess!

Feathers spreading our wings will defy resistance,

the weight of injustice outstripped by the wind beneath

the night of our frost will awaken to the azure of a perfect dawn.

These spheres of our lives must not be construed in dreams

With fire in our bellies we will rocket towards the rainbow,

splash its colours on the humdrum canvases of our reality

Enlightened, self-owned, we will walk confidently through

antiquated checkpoints of forbidden frontiers; bulldoze bulwarks,

don new avatars beyond obscurity, beyond cramped roles

of mother, wife, nurturer, protector, anchor and many more

Exposed, vulnerable to centuries of neglect and abuse

With the burden of male dominance on our yoked shoulders

we build a cairn. Each rock a prayer for restoration of balance

Harnessing our own yin and yang we turn the soil

of old constructs and weed out gender- specific paradigms.

Someday every woman will harvest a fresh crop – mowing down

the thorny thistles of patriarchal restraints and sexism.

Respect, justice, freedom, empowerment must blossom for all!

To Shernaz Wadia writing is an inward journey. She has been published in many e-journals and anthologies. She has published her poems in “Whispers of the Soul” and “Tapestry Poetry - A Fusion of Two Minds” (2012) plus a second collection with the same title (2018) with her poetry partner Avril Meallem. Tapestry Poetry is a novel form of poetry writing developed by these two poets. Website:  http://tapestrypoetry.webs.com.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Seena Sreevalson, INDIA

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THE DUEL

                                                         

Sometimes in dreams

Your moustache calls me for a duel.

I accept it.

When the bell rings

Unknown spectators howl and scream.

The distance between you and me

Will be shorter and wider.

Sometimes it all ends to begin.

The string of words

Tied to my heart bursts.

A legacy of burdens

Throbbing in the vein

Now gone forever.

And I will walk towards

The victory stand

Hands up.

Seena Sreevalson is a bilingual poet, translator and editor and writes poetry in English and Malayalam. Her major themes include feminine sensibilities, nature, ecological issues and social issues. She has presented her poems in several national and international poetry fests. Her poems have also been featured in many international poetry anthologies. A teacher by profession, Seena is an accomplished classical dancer who experiments in visual aspects of poetry. She has compiled and edited two poetry anthologies, The Current and Global Poetry, that showcase poems from 40 nations across the Globe. She successfully organized the International Poetry and Art Fest-2019 at Kodungalloor, Kerala and the Prime International Poetry Festival-2020 at Mannarkkad, Kerala.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Dr. Santosh Bakaya, INDIA

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BLOOMING UNFETTERED

I walk in beauty, blooming unfettered,
basking in my femininity; glowing,
flowing freely.  I often slow down,
frowning at the world’s entrenched prejudices.
But, fragility, my name definitely is not.

Yes, I often burst a fuse, am pathetically confused,
amused at myself as I froth and fume,
but at work, can be a hard task master,
blasting slothful workers and pathetic shirkers,
perking up at the sight of a kite flying, untethered 
But, fragility, my name definitely is not.

 
In my femininity, I revel, although bedeviled by pitfalls,
I walk with a well- earned swagger; often stagger,

bogged by diffidence, cocking a snook at stereotypes.
When I totter on stilettoes, I do not panic,
but goad myself onwards on the potholed road
gaining a surefootedness; weaknesses I have many,
but, fragility, my name definitely is not.

In the kitchen, I love to cook up a storm and also some stew.
I am not a damsel in distress, but, believe me, I need my man too.
Many a time, I melt into a puddle of untrammeled warmth,
clinging to my inherent tactility, I shine like a star. 
Nothing bizarre, but I revel in my power.
 The power of a woman! The exceptional woman.

Dr. Santosh Bakaya, an academician,  poet, novelist, essayist, creative writing mentor, editor and a Ted Speaker,  is the  recipient of several awards and accolades notably: the Reuel International Award (2014), The Setu Award (2018) for “a stellar contribution to world literature” and the  First Keshav Malik Award (2019). Her critically acclaimed published works include her poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘Ballad of Bapu’, ‘Songs of Belligerence’ (poetry) and ‘Only in Darkness can you see the Stars’ (a biography of Martin Luther King Jr.). Besides having compiled and edited several poetry anthologies, she runs an immensely popular column, “Morning Meanderings” in Learning and Creativity.com.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020

Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, INDIA

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Sangeeta Sharma

THE WOMAN

She is the Durga

Who combats evils

She is the Kali

Up in arms,

Annihilating the iniquitous,

Swaying her sword n scimitar,

She is Saraswati,

The goddess of knowledge, music and art

Revered all round.

She is Draupadi

Who was publicly shamed,

Yet could not be disrobed

She is Sita,

Who stood the trial 

By fire

Through trials and tribulations, comes out top, strong n triumphant

She is the Mother

And she is the Nature

Both progenitors 

And both nurturers -- who help create, sustain n proliferate...

(Durga, Kali and Saraswati are Indian Goddesses. Draupadi and Sita are characters from the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana respectively)

Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, a widely-published critic, poet and writer, authored a book on Arthur Miller in 2012 and another collection of 76 poems in 2017. She has jointly edited five anthologies on poetry, fiction and criticism. A free-lance journalist, she currently heads the Department of English at a Mumbai-based college. A recognized Ph.D Guide in English Literature by the University of Mumbai, she was invited by universities in USA and China in connection with her academic work. In May 2019, she participated as a poet and organizing secretary of ‘Setu’ International Bilingual Literary Fest held in Toronto, Canada.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020