Meeting Point – Haibun

We wander in Al Seef Road, Dubai, taking in the exotic scents of Gum Arabic, Flowers of Maryam and Saffron. I am drawn towards a museum, which displays old typewriters, mud pots and carts. My child points gleefully towards a century-old rusty children’s tricycle. Intricately designed Pashmina shawls and carpets light up the dusty streets of Al Seef. Women of various ethnicities hover around a roadside Henna artist in wonder, admiring her floral designs while awaiting their turn. Their patient men linger around with smiling lips and bored eyes. 

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clouds convene 

everybody smiles 

at a toddler’s non-stop babble 

The Scent of my Town

The buildings are tall, stacked like Dahlia pink

with traces of delicate red and white.

The aroma in each house has a link,

permeating the lonely scent of the night.

I name a cicada and a cricket

that saunter the palm tree’s pale green branches,

croon a peppy tune in the night’s blanket

and spread leafy scent on empty benches.

The southern wind carries the paint of church

with the fragrance of the temple’s sandalwood,

moving past the sycamore, pine, and birch,

breaking the secretive night’s dark-green hood.

Now the scent is replaced with toxic fume

and the new name is ‘industrial boom’.

Being Together – DOUBLE ENNEAD

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  Photo by Cindy Gustafson on Pexels.com

The quilt of earth shields an
unborn silver plant.
The soil rejoices as it imagines
unified leaves topped
with a purple crown.

This was written for Colleen’s Double Ennead Challenge No. 7. This week’s challenge is to use the poetry Oracle to create a Double Ennead.

Saddle Up Saloon: Thrush Travels

The poem below was written for Colleen’s double ennead challenge No. 6. The Double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES, NO MORE, NO LESS! During this month, poets were challenged to use the image below to compose their poetry (ekphrastic poetry).

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Lone thrush flies with the breeze,

floats in the wind’s song,

wavers and shivers at the sound of thunder,

calms at the sky’s blue folds

and their white patches.

Lone thrush flies with the breeze,

looks for life in hills,

stills at the urgent cries of pouncing eagles,

rubs wings with a goldfinch,

croons with small songbirds.

Lone thrush flies with the breeze,

stares at earth’s colors

flies to join golden finch in the red maple,

cuts into samara

finds home in lush warmth.

The Butterfly’s Journey

The poem below has been written for Carrot Ranch Double Ennead Monthly Poetry Challenge No. 5, conducted by Colleen. This challenge starts with the double ennead of 99 syllables reduced to 48 syllables to 24 syllables to finally, a haiku (12 syllable poem).

Double ennead (6/5/11/6/5)

The pale green butterfly

seeks a pale green leaf

wanting to spread his body on his shelter

fluttering his wings and

breathing the leaf’s scent.


Breathing in a way that

only the leaf hears.

His tiny chest heaves and falls to the music

of the dark, roaring sea

and his eyes quiver.


The butterfly travels

alone to his land

of hazy dreams where he drinks from pale flowers

that has a shade of green,

the leaf unaware.

48 syllable poem (3 stanzas 4-7-5)

Pale butterfly

spreads his body on the leaf

breathing in her scent

His chest rises

to the music of the sea

as his eyes quiver

Butterfly soars

in dreams and drinks from flowers

the leaf unaware

24 syllable poem (1 stanza 6-6-6)

Pale butterfly finds home

in leaf only to chase

his unfulfilled yearning

Haiku (12 syllable)

flailing summer

he leaves life

finds home in mirage

Double Ennead Challenge – When the Night Disappears

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The songbird croons and hums

expressing an ache

for the waning night from the depth of her soul

as she glides to the hole

at the break of dawn.


The rose shrinks its petals

and clings close to leaves

holding on to the last traces of the night.

blushing at dawn’s bright light,

dew oozing to stem.


The boy pretends and squints,

hiding in his quilt,

eventually, he picks up his school bag

and adjusts his class tag,

walks the sunny path.

The double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES. This month’s theme is to write a double ennead based on a magical experience. You may choose the end rhyme scheme you want. Thank you, Colleen, for this opportunity.

The Spring Music

The earth gently opens

to show frail patterns

of leaves, green and purple, basking in their poise

before pulling back to

guard their sibling blooms.

Quails chatter in a calm

extinct birds’ language,

showing off their tanned wings to partners, hushing

at the delicious spray

of dew on their beaks.

Huge mountains and plains still

while oceans whisper,

as skies pour down, drenching tiny and huge lives

soaking the brownish sand

in colors of joy

The poem above has been written for Carrot Ranch Double Ennead Monthly Poetry Challenge. Thank you, Colleen, for the opportunity.

Unremembered

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  Photo by Umberto Shaw on Pexels.com

I sit in the General Hospital, waiting for my turn when I hear a loud wailing. Expecting to see a child, I am shocked to see an elderly lady in a wheelchair, crying with her eyes tightly shut. I am deeply disturbed and could see that the other patients are uncomfortable too. This incident reminds me of an old cleaning lady in our condo whose eyes glistened as she told me how lonely she felt as her children and grandchildren lived far away. There is another instance of a man in our neighborhood who is dreadfully scared of dogs but has to walk his daughter’s dog, as she is too busy to do so. As I walk away from the hospital, I see an elderly man staring into space.

His treble

the language

of wrinkles

The Wooden Chair in CHO

Hi Friends,

The Wooden Chair was the first haibun I had written. This was published in Contemporary Haibun Online’s July issue, 2013, Vol 9. Please find below.

My Wooden Chair

I stroll restlessly in my new house as trees outside are being chopped for construction. Lifeless new buildings are sprouting in the neighbourhood. I wonder mildly about deforestation as I lean back in my chair.

my wooden chair screeches–
memories of a
felled tree

When the Light Barged in

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  Photo by Wallace Chuck on Pexels.com

I stood in the corner

of my tiny room,

scared of the light

that followed me

wherever I went.

I pulled my curtains,

hiding inside, holding

on to darkness, taking

comfort in misery

when sunlight crept in

through the tiny opening

in my curtains.

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  Photo by Jonathan Petersson on Pexels.com

Terrified of the light,

I buried my face in

my hands.

Sunlight colored my fingertips,

pricking my eyelids.

I felt the light

with closed eyes,

flooded by its warmth,

its positivity and grandeur.

No longer fearful,

I shed the comfort of darkness

and stepped on

the path of light.