[Poem occasioned by encountering an] Owl box

Movie starlets in a prior existence?
if such trans-species reality TV
continues beyond this owl-box instance
could a spy-cam nab Paramatma's wide sea?


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inspired by Molly and Babies Color Camera

Not a sparrow falls

"I believe it! although it's insanity"
quoth a sparrow (who fell by the will of God)
how might such things go for humanity?
who may oft expel "by the will of God"
as an adage (held amid breath & thought
as its meanings meld luminous & fraught)
fraught with paradox (showing urbanity?)
"I believe it although it's insanity"

elegy for a Chennai wasp

r.i.p. oh such a mad wasp
did Sharanya drive you crazy?
no one judges you a bad wasp
we've no cause to call you lazy
but your grip was worse than hazy!
on your tomb: "here lies one sad wasp
thought a damsel was a daisy
ergo swatted-by-her-dad wasp"

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for Sharanya Manivannan, memorializing her experience (as relayed initially in a Facebook status message).

Lately I seem more inclined to post witty ditties here, than "serious poetry". :-)

Conversation with a Fish

The fish was held aloft by the curl of smoke
the lady looked at the creature eye-to-eye
quoth lady "life at times seems quite the joke"
"it's a dreamy sea of tears" did the fish reply

The fish was held aloft as the ash grew long
ash dangling from the lady's fine cigar
quoth lady "life at times seems a lucid song"
"like a fish that needs" (quoth fish) "a racing car"

The fish was held aloft -- who can tell me why?
did it have a peculiar secret to express?
"the world's a spoof" quoth fish with sober eye
quoth lady "life is a no in search of yes"


(an impromptu for Nitoo Das)

Occasioned by a photograph (posted on Facebook)

villanelle: "Code blue"

"Code blue" they said three times    but Yama's hand
moved every piece into its lethal place
the chessboard shows what destiny has planned

we move through nights and days by whose command?
we seek to glimpse what ever-distant face?
"Code blue" they said three times    but Yama's hand

is suave and stealthy    let me take my stand
by loving you    though your game's named "erase"
the chessboard shows what destiny has planned

I came back from points East both broke and tanned
around the globe by winds of fortune chased
"Code blue" they said three times    but Yama's hand

is sure and steady    we're familied and clanned
we're civilized with lavender and lace
withal the chessboard shows what fate has planned

New York and California your life's spanned
you had to leave    but why this sudden haste?
"Code blue" they said three times    by Yama's hand
the chessboard shows what destiny has planned

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for my mother, Betty Jane Israel (April 2, 1927 - October 23, 2009) in memoriam