bhairo in the morning

After Ghalib [couplet]

2012-01-28T07:50:00.003+08:00

When so proximate to the nest your snare was hidden
Before even our wings could spread we were in prison

Semi-Similitude [gnomic verse]

2012-01-28T07:46:00.001+08:00

Everything is like itself
and somewhat like things other
is a human like an elf?
a daughter like her mother?

Fab Four Pedagogy [ditty]

2012-01-23T07:30:00.001+08:00

"It's been a hard day's night"
quoth the Beatles pedagogue
adding (avec delight)
"and I've been working like a dog"

Lily-gilded RSVP [rubai]

2011-12-01T22:54:00.002+08:00

Other coast but many a thank
happy trails with nary a spank
here in the ocean of our existence
who'll water-walk with nary a plank?

FB v. G+ [ditty]

2011-12-01T14:16:00.002+08:00

If comfort is the mother of convention
habitués of Facebook won't be swayed
allowing Google Plus offers contention
its case: 1 sandwich shy of being made

"Time seemed a river?" [rubai / gnomic verse]

2011-12-01T10:22:00.001+08:00

Deadlines like rules are made to be broken?
poems like jewels gleam best when bespoken
time seemed a river that never ran back?
dreamers like fools transform when awoken

Eight Adages [gnomic verses]

2011-11-28T22:08:00.001+08:00

Tweets are sweet / but letters are better
while emails are great / real visits out-rate
to blog is fine / to jog? divine
plugged-in there's share / unplugged there's prayer

than updating status / more lofty to date us
to scribes we're beholden / but silence is golden
an eBook while handy / a book book proves dandy
bright adages gleam / dark radishes dream

"O lion of silence" [rubai]

2011-11-25T13:08:00.001+08:00

Though silence dies when we name it
it gleams where poetries frame it
O lion of silence roaring!
who grasps a method to tame it?

Links [ditty]

2011-11-06T07:50:00.000+08:00

A hyperlink is seen on screen
a hypolink remains unseen
and what might be a hypolink?
a microcircuit in what you think!

The Cell Phone Speaks [song]

2011-10-30T00:25:00.005+08:00

I went for a bath in the Goan sea
no longer is chatter my stock in trade
from language's babble at last I'm free
who'd think I'd gain this from a simple wade?

I went for a bath in the Goan sea
the network of fishes seemed lithe & bright
it's hard to say quite what attracted me
to dive into water devoid of fright

I went for a bath in the Goan sea
the custom of bathing though not my wont
who seek the dim object of liberty
must hazard chill paradox & cruel taunt

I went for a bath in the Goan sea
the going gets tough when the bluff is called
no jabber remote now ensorcells me
in measureless silence my soul enthralled

===============
Poem's 1st line borrowed (with modification) from Nitoo Das

Here, There, and Everywhere [rubai / ditty]

2011-10-20T17:01:00.001+08:00

Do you hear that I am here?
are you aware that I am there?
although I'm not quite in the clear
potentially I'm everywhere

Culture [quatrain]

2011-10-13T13:30:00.002+08:00

Starting to cultivate a gotee again
summer approaching its late close
crickets resounding in the atmosphere when
night is composing its great prose

"Tuning the sarangi"

2011-10-08T11:00:00.004+08:00

Finally tuning the sarangi
after many a moon's neglect
hope blooms again in the ferengi
that some raag he might yet perfect

when the shishya's ready the guru's there
quoth the wise who on such reflect
when the swar grows tuneful amid the air
can the puzzle's swaroop connect?

================
a little lexicon:
sarangi
ferengi (Urdu/Farsi): foreigner
raag (Hindi) = rāga (Sanskrit)
shishya (Hindi/Sanskrit): student
guru (Hindi/Sanskrit): teacher
swar (Hindi): note (sound)
swaroop (Hindi): essential/inherent nature

"They're selling God" [ditty]

2011-10-02T13:27:00.000+08:00

They're selling God on eBay
the bidding's off the charts
while Meher Baba ki Jai
unbidden steals the hearts

Moksha [gnomic verse]

2011-09-30T06:42:00.004+08:00

The degrees of freedom while daily diminished
a prisoner of hope am I
shall we be demolished before we are finished?
who truly lives before they die?

========
[Riffing on an utterance by Pragya Mishra Thakur]

American Buddhist Limerick

2011-09-21T11:36:00.001+08:00

When the Lama paid visit to Nashville
did his begging bowl morph into Cashville?
when you peer hard at life
from the edge of a knive
all the flowers with aspects of ash fill

Bird Tattoo [ditty]

2011-09-20T14:15:00.002+08:00

Woman of many birds | a tweeter on each extremity
humans may tweet in words | but avians hold the remedy

"Prediction" [gnomic verses]

2011-09-18T09:25:00.000+08:00

Life is unpredictable one said?
life is not depictable I've read
those who strive to marshal a depiction
shall at best fail beautifully (prediction)

"After long delay" [gatha]

2011-09-17T17:20:00.000+08:00

Finally settling to sit after long delay
life is dappled with multiple things to do
lacking either the wit or the time of day
still I'm bringing my vacuous mind to you

"Vituperation" [gnomic verses]

2011-09-17T08:25:00.003+08:00

Vituperation that verbal regurgitation
betokens surplus emotional information
emotional assimilation when accomplished
the urge for vituperative purge is largely vanquished

=======
Vituperation [Merriam-Webster online]

"The orchid" by Ni Tsan [translated from the classical Chinese]

2011-09-15T08:30:00.002+08:00

The orchid lived within a lonely valley
its inverted image limned its own reflection
when no one had beheld this subtle beauty
the vernal breeze expelled a little laugh

"Turning the pages" [villanelle]

2011-09-14T09:40:00.003+08:00

Invisibly turning the pages
perusing invisible ink
the tale is developed in stages

inscribed over epochs & ages
each letter a thought that you think
invisibly turning the pages

the birds are released from the cages
aflutter outside of the clink
the tale is developed in stages

who heeds the dark clue of dead sages?
who spies in the wall the bright chink?
invisibly turning the pages

projected on screens of Pantages
the film won't be missed in a blink
the tale is developed in stages

regrets are pernicious as rages
desires as noxious as stinks
invisibly turning the pages
the tale is developed in stages

===========
Responsive to David Hykes:
"Just want to be an open book with transparent pages and invisible ink, and then just see how it goes." [Facebook status update]

"Via a touchscreen" [gatha]

2011-09-13T22:27:00.000+08:00

Were War & Peace enscribed via a touchscreen
it'd take more than a lifetime to achieve
while in one's earthly tenure there's been much seen
in which Janus mask may one at last believe?

"Adorned" [ditty]

2011-09-13T22:20:00.001+08:00

Across from Sunset Park
the afternoon serene
each day concludes in dark
each tree adorned in green

"Thumb-centric" [ditty]

2011-09-09T23:27:00.004+08:00

Android Facebook so thumb-centric
(erst touch typing with twain hands)
this the norm? it seems eccentric
dialogue amid headstands

"Culture is always..." [ditty]

2011-09-07T01:10:00.000+08:00

Culture is always something that grows
yeast or love or yoghurt
when it is living watch how it flows
just ask Humphrey Bogart!

==========
An answering verse, responding to this:
Culture is always something that was,
Something pedants can measure,
Skull of bard, thigh of chief,
Depth of dried-up river.

--Patrick Kavanagh, "Memory of Brother Michael"

After Rumi (couplet)

2011-09-05T22:25:00.000+08:00

When you dwell in my eyes peering through them see me
my abode who espies far beyond what eyes see?

==========
Based on this (presumably literal) translation from the Persian (provenance unknown):
Come into my eyes, and look at me through them,
for I have chosen a home far beyond what eyes can see.

Blue Danube [nonsense verse]

2011-09-05T07:50:00.001+08:00

The Danube's not blue but the Kona is red
with premise not true the conclusion is dead
Picasso's guitar proved Stevensian blue
but who told the Who what Parvardigar said?

"Touchscreen verse" [ditty]

2011-09-04T21:53:00.001+08:00

My first touchscreen verse
with toothpick for stylus
for better or worse
O universe! dial us

===========

But not (as yet) a smartphone; the T-Mobile [HTC] Touch is a loaner (till my likewise not-smart, but also not touchscreen] replacement LG phone arrives in mail a week from now. The presumed glories of smartphonedom remain in a vague, putative future for this versifier.

"The stage whisper" [gnomic verse]

2011-09-03T00:44:00.001+08:00

The stage whisper has stages
ageless through many ages
with neither book nor binding
a universe of pages

Carl Stone's Pilgrimage [limerick]

2011-09-01T00:01:00.005+08:00

When Sir Stone made his way to Assisi
would you say that the going was easy?
as he reached the Portiuncula
those who deemed him half-drunkula
were crazed wags playing rounds of Parchisi

=======
For Carl Stone (Wikipedia)
Parchisi (Wikipedia)

Matcha soy frap [rubai]

2011-08-31T23:46:00.001+08:00

In this matcha soy frap Far Eastern sanskaras delight
granting life is a trap it's pleasant to ponder at night
my first paycheck today (five years since I left the last job)
has allowed me to map far regions now hidden from sight

========
Matcha (Wikipedia)
Soy (Wikipedia)
Frap (Wikipedia)
Sanskaras (Wikipedia)

Illusion meet Truth [gnomic verse]

2011-08-29T09:44:00.001+08:00

Truth lands at your door without seeking it
while Illusion finds me without labor!
where grain grows the bird is found beaking it
Great Illusion meet Truth! your old neighbor

"Purple Sunbirds" [ditty]

2011-08-26T04:49:00.003+08:00

If it's not difficult to spot Purple Sunbirds in Delhi
can it be all that hard to glimpse Fushia Moonfish in Goa?
if it ain't impossible to hide the Sky in your belly
why's it so far a stretch to find Nothingness in Samoa?

=====
Purple Sunbird (Wikipedia)
Moonfish (Wikipedia)
Would I invent these things? :-)

"Ways & means" [shi]

2011-08-26T04:30:00.002+08:00

When the sun hides over the hill the palms loom dark
the radio shares a modernist music strange
you sit again in your car beside Sunset Park
considering all of the ways & means of change

At least it's possible now to again proceed
at length may the puzzle's pieces fall into place?
am I not a man? if you prick me don't I bleed?
will I never glimpse the sight of your candid face?

"To be an artist" [a quasi-contrarian ditty]

2011-08-25T20:48:00.004+08:00

To be an artist one must first retire
from water (if one seeks the art of fire)
from earth (if one desires the art of air)
from self itself (if art equates with pyre)

to be an artist mint a saying terse
the phrase to be might twinkle in your verse

========
Playfully responsive to this Mocha Arthouse dictum:
There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it.

Dog Walk [gnomic verse]

2011-08-22T22:42:00.002+08:00

A palimpsest of pee
that dogs alone perceive
arouses canine glee
no human can conceive

Mario's Mot [gnomic verse]

2011-08-16T21:50:00.002+08:00

Campaign in poetry govern in prose quoth Cuomo
remain in poetry wiggle your toes say I
the aim of poetry baffles the major domo
the house of poetry's built upon dream & sigh

"

A version from the Urdu

2011-08-12T22:28:00.006+08:00

Astute connoisseurs of letters claim
this alone in my favor
it's useless to seek within meaning's frame
whence flows my poem's flavor

========
Based on this:

Connoisseurs of literature / say only this in my favour:
The beauty of his verse / is not in its meaning.

--Shahryar, trans. Baider Bakht & Marie-Anne Erki
[according to Vivek Narayanan's Facebook Status Update]

Modern Living [ditty]

2011-08-12T09:37:00.002+08:00

Claking at the keyboard
texting on the phone
snacking at the seaboard
yes you're not alone

======
For Kendra

"Melding" [rubai]

2011-08-11T09:34:00.017+08:00

An amalgam of memory and grief
an interfusion of doubt with belief
an emulsion melding zest with ennui
an illusion long-protracted but brief

==========

The poem's first line is borrowed from Sharanya Manivannan.

"Mythologies" [boomerang poem]

2011-08-10T22:30:00.002+08:00

Cars pass without surcease
pedestrians are seen
mythologies of peace
hide nestled in the green
sun glints amid the trees
the pool hosts carp & geese
I've pocketed the keys
cars pass without surcease

=============
Sunset Park (Beverly Hills)
August 9, 2011

"Remind me" [gnomic verse]

2011-08-09T14:00:00.000+08:00

Who among us can teach a dog to bark?
who in our midst can make water be wet?
remind me who compels night to seem dark?
I forget!

=====

Responsive to a tweet (comprising 1st line, above). Hat-tips: @KGrey_Com
Verse's terse final line was occasioned by Twitter's 140-character limit.

14th Way of Looking at Happy Birthday [song]

2011-08-04T14:20:00.001+08:00

happy birthday Barack Obama
why are you dubbed Mr. No Drama?
may great peace today fill & surround you
not unlike your pal the Dalai Lama

The title alludes to this: 13 Ways of Looking at Happy Birthday

"When things don't fall apart" [boomerang poem]

2011-08-03T13:02:00.003+08:00

When things don't fall apart
perchance they fall together
what darkness in the heart
prefigures stormy weather?
life ventures with a tether
the horse plods with a cart
all things emerge together
when things don't fall apart

for David Hykes

Sunset Park Redux [gatha]

2011-08-03T10:49:00.004+08:00

Back with cigar in the car in the park again
back with a gig in the firm in the town of charm
back in the game of the heart & the hands & brain
back in the effort of doing more good than harm

the game of the heart & the hands:
alluding to a Sufi saying, "Heart with God, hands for work."

"Quietude" [gatha]

2011-08-03T09:55:00.004+08:00

In Sunset Park toward sundown water splashing
the fountain is a feature of the pool
cars roundabout make noises with their dashing
yet here the quasi-quietude grows cool

July 11, 2011

“antiquity’s game” [shi]

2011-07-22T13:16:00.004+08:00

Fresh seaweed salad & organic green tea
while sweet old rock’n’roll is playing
plug in the laptop & return to the glee
of antiquity’s game just saying
chess is a pastime bringing comfort to me
in nocturnal cool hours the fraying
webs of ambition having worn out thus free
is the movement of pawns like praying?

"prayer flags" [gatha]

2011-07-22T04:58:00.011+08:00

A man in a car in half-lotus mid-morning
in a parking lot
a window descends to half-mast as the season
is becoming hot
the din of a saw in near-distance the cawing
of a crow above
the yelp of a dog colored prayer flags bestirred by
a fluttering thought

silence [gnomic verse]

2011-07-17T22:40:00.001+08:00

Sunday sans George sans park
Jesus sans Luke sans Mark
sentences auger chains?
silence dispels the dark

Enigma & variations [gnomic verses]

2011-07-15T16:41:00.004+08:00

Is nothing yet a mystery?
is everything now known?
who hides amid our history?
what might we call our own?
where every disappointment
obscures a nascent peace
perchance life's strange anointment
anticipates release

Neruda's Poser [couplet]

2011-07-13T04:43:00.003+08:00

Neruda's poser brews this guess:
the rose is dressed in nakedness

============
Responsive to:
Tell me, is the rose naked or is that her only dress?
—Pablo Neruda, The Book of Questions (per translation of William O'Daly)

Worlds & Words [riff]

2011-07-13T02:25:00.002+08:00

Within a word are worlds
within a world are words
when reading through the words within the worlds within the words
while living in the worlds within the words within the worlds
I who know the worlds within the words am never worldless
I who know the words within the worlds am rendered wordless
as I reel and I whirl
I am real in my world
I am whirled by the words in the worlds
rendered wordless by the whirldness

Fugitive Sleep [ditty]

2011-07-12T04:23:00.004+08:00

And still Sleep only waveth from afar
despite my week-long wakefullness alas
perchance Sleep takes a nap on yonder star?
wake up O Sleep! that I might sleep at last

=============
First line borrowed from Kavita Keswani (FB status)

On Silence Day [ditty + rubai]

2011-07-11T06:56:00.022+08:00

1
Had SMS existed back in Meher Baba's day
would he have textèd messages en masse?
Life Circulars & Family Letters slowly made their way
on Silence Day who sees time's river pass?

2
We were nurtured on shi in bygone births today
we continue to search for poetry this way
on the radio Bach describes the realm we've sought
where does poetry hide? alas no tongue can say!

3
A girl with red hair hurries by in a parking lot
another leaves in a red car while you idly jot
black words on a red mobile phone in your pocket rests
a pen of red hue a blue bus passes lost in thought

4
They're showing a film but instead you go to the dome
to sit for a spell with your lord the notion of home
is human the notion of love is human the same
the ocean is hidden! where hides the ocean of om?

In Oak Park [limerick]

2011-07-09T03:47:00.009+08:00

In Oak Park Julie Bass’s front yard
so hospitable to tomatoes and chard
holds a singular illustration how
eco-suitable dedication now
can be beautiful even when the road’s hard

========
Riffing on a post, "Does Michelle Obama Know About This?"
See also: "Julie Bass may face jail time for planting vegetables" (Washington Post blog)

Once upon a time [ditty]

2011-07-09T00:56:00.003+08:00

Had to Google CalenGoo
only own a less-smart mobile!
in LA or Timbuktu?
CalenGoo is clearly global
for such apps if friends go gaga
pray discreetly tweet a saga
who’s your hero? tell me who!
some shrewd chap named CalenGoo?

A secondary subject [limerick]

2011-07-09T00:35:00.004+08:00

There once was a bright dissertator
whose thesis on hamburgers made her
acutely aware of
the alternate dare of
expounding the worth of the tater

21st Century Doctorate [rubai]

2011-07-08T00:32:00.002+08:00

To tweet one's dissertation?
'twere sweet an inspiration!
with orals via Skype
win Ph.Digitation

Sunyata [rubai]

2011-07-07T01:51:00.005+08:00

Red & blue on green
lyrical the scene
camera clicked by camera
space is in between

Ek Doppelgänger Nouveau [ditty]

2011-07-01T22:03:00.002+08:00

When an also-ran poet
meets a has-been starlet:
"Been there done that?" "You know it!"
"Sambar secret?" "Garlic!"

========
For Akira Yamashita & Gopalakrishna Damodar

"Not all roads" [boomerang poem]

2011-06-29T14:29:00.004+08:00

Not all roads lead to Rome
only the road one uses
not every house is home
only the house one chooses

having superb excuses
heaven itself my dome
this thought my brain produces
not all roads lead to Rome

13 Ways of Looking at Happy Birthday [song]

2011-06-28T10:59:00.011+08:00

1
Happy Birthday to you
life though fleet -- you're not through
even if time's an illusion
there is a lot here to do!

2
Happy birthday to thou
there is no time like now
may your days pass in wonder
at the great cosmic wow

3
Happy birthday my friend
heed the prayer I have penned
filled with thanks for life’s blessings
may your joy find no end

4
Happy birthday old chum
lest you deem our song dumb
we’ve a few humble presents
may they not prove ho-hum

5
Happy birthday you nerd
do you feel life’s absurd?
from philosophy’s vantage
what is gold? what is turd?

6
Happy birthday young dreamer
we’re aware you’re a schemer
when time’s joke is discovered
we heartell it’s a screamer

7
Happy birthday old-timer
are you a social climber?
in society’s structure
is there room for a rhymer?

8
Happy birthday mine sweet
this is not Easy Street
amid struggle we’ll snuggle
can’t you hear my heartbeat?

9
Happy birthday ascetic
am I being poetic
when I offer you cookies
claiming they’re dietetic?

10
Happy birthday great Om
you're all life’s hidden loam
every day is your birthday
every heart is your home

11
Happy birthday Nirvana
I will meet you mañana
in the meanwhile I’m going
to enjoy a warm sauna

12
Happy birthday little baby
do we love you? more than maybe
in the playground of existence
may delightful all your play be

13
Happy birthday impersonal city
you are exciting but it’s a pity
I’ve not more friends in your goodly precinct
who recognize when I’m being witty

seen & hidden [gnomic verse]

2011-06-25T13:10:00.006+08:00

In car beside Sunset Park
(end of day end of week end of season)
the sun is yet seen the dark
being hidden behind every reason

"in the Gehry cocoon" [ditty]

2011-06-25T06:33:00.004+08:00

O Zakir’s due to visit the Disney next spring
tabla-wizard in the Gehry cocoon
been wandering the globe pondering everything
what should one make of the sun & the moon?

==========
Photo of Zakir Hussain (borrowed w/ thanks) from The Times of India

Coexistence [gnomic verse]

2011-06-22T02:32:00.008+08:00

Planted lemongrass & basil within the same tub
a felicitous cohabitation I would opine
both are valued for preparing meriting-fame grub
to be ladled up preferably with wonderful wine

"the moon on a stick" [song]

2011-06-22T02:24:00.003+08:00

I want the moon on a stick
‎& the sun on a string
I want eternity quick
like an infinite sting

I want to fly in the swing
where the sky has grown thick
with cool cosmic bling-bling
I want the moon on a stick

========
Note: the first & final lines of the song are borrowed from Marc o'Guiotto (Facebook status update)

"calibration" [rubai]

2011-06-21T06:07:00.003+08:00

If one were guaranteed a conversation
having a scintilla of scintillation
mightn't this (arguably) beg the question
how does one deal with such fine calibration?

"can you explain?" [song]

2011-06-21T05:33:00.004+08:00

This photo was taken the year I took birth
in Washington (where I would later reside)
things happen by happenstance here on the Earth
where rivers are lengthy & ocean are wide

what makes the man smile? & can you explain
how little true knowledge gets held in my brain?

"in a parking place" [gatha]

2011-06-20T10:27:00.005+08:00

To sit in my car & meditate even in sunlight
in a parking place off of Ocean Park is a pleasure
few have grasped your ocean's infinity! with the one light
always hidden away who can discover that treasure?

========

Ocean Park: i.e., Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, California

Old Rover's Lapidation [news / ditty]

2011-06-18T06:41:00.005+08:00

To expire by lapidation --
this a dog's life would be truly
even canine reincarnation
seems to stretch things out unduly

if the court that cursed its critic
to incarnate as Old Rover
were entangled with a tzaddik
did they think the story over?

========
Responsive to: Jewish court sentences dog to death by stoning (Agence France-Presse report)

"suddenly" [limerick]

2011-06-17T12:10:00.008+08:00

A brilliant sitarist from Kyōto
long practicing his zazen per Sōtō
quite suddenly discovered
reality uncovered
was nothing else but fiction in toto

==========
For Akira Yamashita [a persona in virtual reality]

Metaphysical thoughts on Melrose Avenue [boomerang poem]

2011-06-17T08:25:00.002+08:00

The world is but a bubble in the mind
though mind may seem a bubble in the world
as mystery gives rise to humankind
humanity in mystery is curled

we come & go as destiny decrees
“what makes us laugh & weep?” inquire the blind
though all have eyes how rare the man that sees
the world is but a bubble in the mind

"When Anjan Ray reaches L.A." [twain couplets / Hinglish ditty]

2011-06-17T03:46:00.004+08:00

When Anjan Ray reaches L.A.
will he have bilkul lots to say?
Los Angeles awaits his visit
with anticipation is it?

"Total lunar eclipse!" [twain couplets]

2011-06-16T08:16:00.006+08:00

‎Total lunar eclipse!
(total lunatic quips)
Moon's a grape in the sky!
No escaping it! Try!

========
image borrowed from photos-lunar-eclipse (Toronto Sun)

“Fortune cookie” [boomerang poem]

2011-06-16T07:40:00.001+08:00

If you don’t program yourself
life will program you

if you’d just program your elf
little left to do!

fortune cookie knew
you’ve got no talent for pelf?

life will program you
if you don’t program yourself

========

Verse’s 1st couplet lifted from cookie text.

"dark matter" [ditty]

2011-06-15T15:04:00.005+08:00

If chocolate's truly dark matter
while matter per se's espresso
what brews on the cosmic platter?
a mochaccino? I guess so!

========
Verse occasioned by an observation of Rachel Dacus's, viz.:
"The definitive answer has been reached: there is not enough chocolate in the known universe ... but I do think we should take another look at that dark matter."

eye and I (enigma & variations) [rubai]

2011-06-15T05:06:00.003+08:00

With flowers in bloom the season grows bright & cheery
dispelling your gloom no matter the body's weary
we sleep & we dream & wake to the world anew
yet "I" can't perceive itself! the eye grows bleary

========
written in Sunset Park (June 13, 2011)

where's Nirvana? [gnomic verse]

2011-06-14T06:23:00.004+08:00

Chinese dal Manchurian gobi
this world's all the work of a dhobi
round & round & round it goes
where's Nirvana? nobody knows

=======
For Salil Tripathi

Ditty for Murthy-san

2011-06-14T03:03:00.001+08:00

He is like this only
or as Uncle Elvis
quoth only the lonely
all are but themselves

"hackers" [boomerang poem]

2011-06-14T01:52:00.004+08:00

Pro-Palin hackers seek revenge
by targeting Twitter tit for tat
the newsline brews a tawny tinge
electro-cyber-hacker spat
you barely glimpse the Cheshire cat
there’s little left except the grins
while phishermen are getting phat
pro-Palin hackers seek revenge

========
Riffing on this: Pro-Palin Vandals Hack Twitter in Revenge for Email Release

"Born to dance" [boomerang poem]

2011-06-12T23:45:00.004+08:00

Born to dance & prone to prance?
even though you're not in France?
loving every happenstance?
isn't this a fine romance?
choosing to embrace all chance?
glee suffusing face & glance?
every whither shows a whence?
born to dance & prone to prance

============
For Robin Bisio

"I'm a Facebook Database Scientist" [ditty]

2011-06-12T00:12:00.023+08:00

I'm a Facebook Database Scientist
& I mind my Ps & Qs
I've a zillion on my client list
& I pay my union dues
every link you click every page you pick
all becomes my grist-for-mill
I can analyze lurking in your eyes
every wisp of whim or will
If you like a thing I can feel the sting
on an unliked page obscure
when you tag a photo I see & know
if indeed your thoughts are pure
I watch viral waves of happiness spread
I track epidemic blues
I'm a Facebook Database Scientist
& I mind my Ps & Qs

========
Riffing (perhaps somewhat after Gilbert & Sullivan) on a news report, Facebook spreads emotions among friends (San Jose MercuryNews.com)
["Facebook data scientist" (that unintentionally-amusing phrase in the article) edited to "Facebook Database Scientist" (in the poem) for sake of cadence]

RIP M.F. Hussain [rubai]

2011-06-10T02:58:00.007+08:00

Death remedies many an ill
more surely than any a pill
one garners profound admiration
no sooner the body is still

With hearty hat-tips to the prolific (and at times controversial) Indian artist
Maqbool Fida Husain (September 17, 1915 – June 9, 2011)
See also M.F. Hussain's website (source of the above image)

Ode to the purses of yesteryear [boomerang poem]

2011-06-10T00:30:00.007+08:00

Lost years nestle down in their corners
and hide in inreachable deeps
a crypt without stone & no mourners
Pandora on purse-strappage sleeps

has history patterns & sweeps?
have stockings more holes than we’ve darners?
are poems concealed in their heaps?
lost years nestle down in their corners

For Rachel Dacus
[riffing on her Facebook ruminations]

"comfort zone" [boomerang poem]

2011-06-09T00:17:00.001+08:00

Light rain for meditation sit in car
beside the charming park you call your own
the office resting down the road not far
texting a poem first on mobile phone

when with a job you're in a comfort zone
organic food & this not-bad cigar
the infobahn suggests you're not alone?
light rain for meditation sit in car

signs & clues [boomerang poem]

2011-06-07T12:43:00.004+08:00

I sit in my car after work & text these lines
in summer in Beverly Hills azure's profuse
the bevy of palm trees make tropical signs
the swirls of cigar smoke limn adumbral clues

my keypad's not likely to bring you breaking news
my brain isn't prone to afford you mystic wines
to file my report in the midst of greens & blues
I sit in my car after work & text these lines

"To like or not to like" riff [ditty]

2011-06-06T21:47:00.003+08:00

To like or not to like that is the question
whether 'tis terser (in the ways of netizens)
to click against a sea of implication
or comment (for more full illumination)

who like to "like" withal more like suggestion
to like or not to like that is the question

Riffing on Ron Silliman's FB status update, viz.:
<< The crudeness of Facebook: that one would "like" a note of a poet's passing, even if they were in their 90s & died of Alzheimers >>

Bangalore riff [ditty]

2011-06-06T21:21:00.004+08:00

We glisten in Bangalore
sweat in Chennai
we listen in Mangalore
in Mysore sigh

in Pondy we're rarely despondent
in Delhi our doubts are abundant

Riffing on Sruthi Krishnan's Facebook status update, viz.:
"Me to friend in Chennai: We glisten in Bangalore. Never sweat."

"no duty but beauty" [boomerang poem]

2011-06-02T07:09:00.003+08:00

no duty but beauty
our chore? to adore
our task is to ask
what is questioning for?
who'll pillage pure time
and extract hidden booty?
what reason has rhyme?
no duty but beauty

[Verse riffing on Silvia Nakkach’s "favorite quotation"]

"the stars I pocketed" [song]

2011-05-26T05:44:00.009+08:00

I should've brought sun home with me
I ought've packed moon in my tote
the stars I pocketed would be
considerably less remote
at least I've got rain in my shoes
& clouds enough to croon the blues

I might've stashed yon sylvan stream
within my knapsack just for you
I could've pocketed pure dream
commingled with crystaline dew
at least I've lodged truth in my cap
with oceans' fantasy on tap

"maybe October" [boomerang poem]

2011-05-26T02:06:00.004+08:00

If not May well maybe October
I'll meet you 'round the bend
if not sauced well maybe I'm sober
the world is sure to end

to greet the timeless Friend
I & thou (as quoth Martin Buber)
apolcalypse-ward wend
if not May well maybe October

Responsive to article An Autumn Date for the Apocalypse (New York Times)

"the Picasso cure" [boomerang poem]

2011-05-26T01:19:00.007+08:00

I tried the Picasso cure
I joined the Monet religion
I loved the Cézanne philosophy
yet all of these lacked precision

I browsed the DaVinci code
I crooned the Brancusi ode
when everything seemed a'blur
I tried the Picasso cure

Responsive to article Can a Picasso Cure You? (New York Times)
image: Pablo Picasso, Woman With a Flower (1932)

"already Wikipedia'd" [ditty]

2011-05-23T22:15:00.008+08:00

While already Wikipedia'd
and now otherwise largely forgotten
the Rapture if multimedia'd
would a myriad clicks have begotten

[click on image, for full view of associated photograph]
Source -- vide: Judgement Day 21 May 2011 [Wikipedia]

"One day before the world ends" [villanelle]

2011-05-21T10:05:00.002+08:00

One day before the world ends
I celebrate my birth
as noted by Facebook friends

is there scope to make amends
this season on the Earth
one day before the world ends?

might backwaters' arcane blends
hold universal worth
as noted by Facebook friends?

the well-adjusted branch bends
may we now sway with mirth
one day before the world ends?

before the high thought descends
heart finds a time of dearth
as noted by Facebook friends

whatever heaven forfends
escapes the faithful Tirth
one day before the world ends
as noted by Facebook friends

Tirth [Hindi]: Pilgrim

Rapture [rubai / ditty]

2011-05-20T21:01:00.002+08:00

The news has been slow to reach me
when Rapturites go who'll teach me?
let's download the iPhone app now
HeavenGPS is chichi

Fortune Cookie (After Hafez)

2011-05-14T00:45:00.015+08:00

philosophical inquiry [ditty]

2011-05-10T21:05:00.005+08:00

When make it new grows old
might make it old grow new?
where piping hot gets cold
a microwave might do?

with mediocrity
as occult destination
should laws of enthalpy
eclipse imagination?

for Ron Silliman

"a mute amen" [boomerang poem]

2011-05-10T06:48:00.004+08:00

The birds still cry the leafage still grows green
no matter what transpires in realms of men
the taste of my cigar remains yet keen
the sounds of passing cars yet in my ken

I jot these lines by mobile not with pen
whether I write with brain or heart or spleen
the letters constitute a mute amen
the birds still cry the leafage still grows green

Elves & Selves [rubai / ditty]

2011-05-10T04:03:00.006+08:00

What oodles of elves
all stacked on the shelves!
O such is the plight
of Gemini selves

one elf all alone
forever is known!
O such is the luck
the Taureans own