Saturday, June 30, 2012

Buttons

Picture Credit: Courtesy of d'Verse

On buttoning the
Dude looks good when done proper
Etiquette demands

‘Should remain buttoned
until one sits and fastened
on standing again’

With three buttons just
button the top two or just
the center button

Some do not conform
Unbuttoned, flailing, it looks
more macho it seems

Alluring ladies
Unbuttoned top for cleavage
Is fashionable!

Poetics at d'Verse with prompt 'button, button'

A Social Stigma

Picture Credit: Courtesy of Grandma Goulash


Unmarried mothers
A social stigma
Abandoned in despair
in a half-way house
Crying for justice
but they could only hope
Fate shared by many


(140 characters) as counted through Design 215

Written for Grandma Goulash week 67 with the picture prompt above, and to write a Micro Fiction in 140 characters to include the word 'abandon'

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Race to the Moon


Image:1 The President
President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) awoke on April 12, 1961, to the news that the Soviet Union had won the race to put a man into space. Kennedy immediately met with Vice President Lyndon Johnson. “Can we put a man on the moon before them?” Kennedy asked. A few weeks later, Kennedy challenged the nation to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”

Just over 14 months later Kennedy would die in Texas, in Dallas, on November 22, 1963.  On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle Lunar Module on the Moon, at the Sea of Tranquility.  A few hours later, on July 21, they stepped out on the Moon.  From Kennedy’s speech to Congress, the task had taken 8 years, one month and 26 days.
Acknowledgement: Image and text from Google (here)

Target setting is
A measure of confidence
To achieve one’s goal

Variously quoted
The race to put man on the
moon, a classic goal

Written for Jenn's Sensational Haiku Wednesday with prompt - confidence-

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Public Office


Picture credit: From Google Images 

The lure for public office
Is the bidding of the known few
Magnanimous in its make-up
A personality not lacking luster
Extending a luxuriant mode
Stemmed from a desire
To do good for the population at large

A sterling performance of rare abundance
Of honesty, integrity and of high moral fiber
Observed even on the road  to accepting
Are selfishly expected of the untested

But alas! Many did not measure up
To the scrutiny of the common man
Candidates were found wanting
Engulfed with scandals varied in nature
Of harassment, solvency and sexual
The crescendo more apparent
From a build-up of the ideal person
To hold the esteemed position
Even before stepping into office

But sadly were destroyed midway
Having succumbed to base desires
Not befitting of the due regard
Of a man of character

Written for Poets United's Vice-versa with 2 sets of antonym as prompts ie build / destroy and common / rare and d'Verse OpenLinkNights week 50

Monday, June 25, 2012

At The Front



Note: "The figure in the photograph is clad in Army fatigues, boots and helmet, lying on his back in peaceful repose, folded hands holding a military cap. Except for a thin trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he could be asleep.

But he is not asleep; he is dead. And this is not just another fallen GI; it is Ernie Pyle, the most celebrated war correspondent of World War II " - source USA Today  (here)

Staccato bursts of gunfire
Intimidating to the neighborhood
And bombs in the distance
Frightening to those under siege
Melodious to the marauders
Embedded with a detachment
Seeing action before his own eyes
The newsman and photographer
Unarmed, untrained, unaccounted for
Who could only sigh and hope
That the next sniper’s target
Would not have him at the cross- hairs
As did some of his colleagues
Who had been there earlier
Unfortunate enough to be seen
And later picked up still in camouflage
But wet, bathed red with his own blood
Unsung, unknown but just another
To add to the growing number
Of the forgotten victims of human conflict
Who dared to be in the front
Just so for the benefit of those
Back home sitting sipping coffee
Comfortably in front of the idiot box
Waiting eagerly for the latest

From the newsmen with pads or cameras
Whose numbers are increasingly
Brought back home in body-bags!

Written for Theme Thursday with prompt - Bed - and Real Toads Open Link Monday
.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Micro Fiction - Orange

 Image:1 Courtesy of Grandma Goulash, an orange little froggie

 Image:2 The formidable Orange Team (touted as one of the favorites) that broke the heart of the Dutch supporters

Image:2  Unlucky van Persie (in one of his great moments) had so many near misses but somehow these did not connect

Incandescent in
striking orange,
Prince Charming
transformed could be
a fitting inspiration to the
Holland team if not for
an early exit

(140 characters)
as counted through Design215

Note: Grandma gave us image#1 and the word 'incandescent' for this week's Micro Fiction to be written not exceeding 140 characters.

Written for Grandma's Goulash Succinctly Yours #66

Political Support



Picture Credit: Google images

Vying for office?
Get political support
A costly affair

It is apparent
Big business make their presence
They throw in their weight

Candidates are rich
Millions at their disposal
But in poor countries

Candidates are poor
They hope for public office
Themselves to enrich

Note: The difference between politics in a rich country to that of a poor country. In a rich country  the candidates make money then go into politics. In a poor country the candidates go into office and then make money. Just a simplistic jab not referring to any country or any one in particular.

Written for Haiku Heights #150 with prompt - support-

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A New Beginning


 Image:1 Farid planting a loving kiss on Aini's forehead on their wedding day in Nov 2010

Image:2 As a consequence such an adorable little Adam

Image:3 Mas not to be outdone with cute baby boy 'Aqil

 Image:4 Ebby proudly cradling cute baby boy, 'Aqil

(Picture source: from their FB wall posts)

Theme Thursday for June 21, 2012 invites us to write on a theme  a ‘New Beginning’. What better than to acknowledge a new beginning for my wonderful nephew Ebby and lovely niece Aini together with their respective spouses and;

Victoria at d'Verse had invited submissions based on a setting of place, character, mood and culture as a theme. I'm submitting a composite of the elements of the theme.

Blessed of divine assurances
New Beginnings of a lineage
A persuasion to extend
A progeny towards a future
Each a first born eagerly awaited

My nephew Ebby and Mas his
Charming wife, proudly brought
Forth into this world  an adorable
‘bundle of joy’  a cute little 'Aqil
A baby boy for all to see
The joyous occasion recorded
Plainly on April 20, 2012

A happy day came in two’s
For on June 06, pretty Aini my niece
And hubby Farid as if to answer the call to celebrate
Proudly gave us an equally cute baby Adam
A twin event to remember
From the two loving couples

The extended family system
Reminiscent of an undertaking and expectations
Of a bright future for their offspring
The mark of a human structure
Of a culture demanding that
Procreation is only natural

Congratulations to Ebby and Mas
And to Farid and Aini, for from now on
Baby feeding and sleepless nights
Would mean the same thing!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Debt Crisis

Leaders (with guests) at the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, June18, 2012


(courtesy of Google images)

Uncertainties of events leading towards
the ensuing year is taking center stage.
The Greek vote averted  a near financial crisis.
A strict regime is  imposed on countries
in the EU which is grappling with
the contagion effects looming
of a financial meltdown. Has it got to do
with the proverbial unlucky 13?

Economic well-being trailing a jagged path
Lacking in strong initiatives if allowed unabated
will see an economic tsunami building up
Great minds debate on a designated profile
to resolve impending difficulties now contained
but unleashed with sheer abundance
If attempts to smoothen the irritants
are not rightly forthcoming
it would impinge on a global gyration
affecting economies without discrimination
Oil and gold offered a slight respite
retreating a tad lower though not quite
but pacified concerned parties
that prompted overtures towards a G-20 summit
were there to examine the worsening debt crisis

Political will and strong leadership 
called for from an overcast of dark clouds
Deja vu to the shock of the sub prime
naughtiness which learned of technicalities
from the Asian Financial crisis preceding it

It was unsettling, a quagmire of fallen regimes
yet again in the making…. God forbid!


Note: Poets United has challenged us to use 2 sets of antonyms  jagged/smooth and lack/abundance to be written in any form

Submitted to Poets United and d'Verse OpenLinkNights week 49

Monday, June 18, 2012

Blessed

           Puddle,1952, by M C Escher
Image:1 Picture Credit: Tess' Mag122

Image2: Picture Credit - Google images

The elusive dream
Hovering up in the clouds
Within easy grasp?

If only we trudge
Through soft mud and tire marks
In the morning mist

By noon some results
By evening the light shone
As bright as daylight

The world opened up
To the American dream
All equally blessed


Written for Tess' Magpie 122 ,Chev's Haikublog Tackle it Tuesday with prompt  -bright- and Real Toad's Open Link Monday

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Self Imposed Exile

 Image1: Starting young to be lonely

Image2: Drunk with loneliness
(Picture Credit: Google images)

What imposed itself
My being tapping the keys
Alone with many

Sharing of ideas
Paradoxically true
Alone by oneself

Peering at the screen
Exiled through time and space but
Alone the blogger

Written for d'Verse with prompt - exile -

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Modern


Picture Credit: From Google images
What can be more modern than fast foods
Variety of vendors, choice is quite a bother
But once you’ve tried one you’ve tried them all

It barely takes a few minutes
It’s all of a full meal. You choose
The main offering, snacks and drinks

Breakfast in bed is now out of fashion
You’ve to take it hot within the minutes
Crazy ones decide best taken at the wheel

They go to great pains to emphasize
It’s all nutritious and healthy, young and old
But chubby ones are future woes

No they didn’t give up easily you see
Who epitomized good health than those freaks
Bulging muscles for show rather than strength


Written for d'Verse FormsForAll - Triversen - An attempt to define the - modern

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Sunflowers


                                                                      sunflowers by van Gogh
Picture Credit: Courtesy of Chev's Tackle it Tuesdays

Van Gogh’s sunflowers
Series of still life paintings
Bright yellow pigment

A Christie’s record
In the year eighty-seven
The Yasuda fake

Brewing and intense
Mired in controversy
Blow to  the art world

Submitted to Tackle it Tuesdays with prompt - sunflowers-


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Spinning


Photo Credit: Courtesy of Grandma's Goulash

Dad, I appreciate
what you are doing for me
I know this is not NASA
This is fun
But I aim to be
an astronaut
Not this kind of spinning!

(140 characters)

Grandma's Goulash provided the photo above and the word - appreciate - for this week's Micro Fiction. Submitted also for d'Verse OpenLinkNights week #48

Monday, June 11, 2012

Choice


                                                                   Still Life by Jean F. de Le Motte
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tess' Magpie

Been a long time since
You had left without a word
I could only yearn

There were some letters
and ‘papers. Hung them up just
for your convenience

It was just a joke
You took it seriously, let
bygones be bygones

No comments again
Your hairstyle is your own choice
Will keep my mouth shut!

Submitted for Tess' Magpie #121, and Real Toads OpenLinkMonday

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Ordinary



Image: Google images

Ordinary lass
Plain Jane gets attention ..why?
Other than just good looks!

Ordinary days
Stress bound tight, worries irksome
Astound the lone soul

No ordinary
relationship. A Craiglist
damning, unguarded

Written for Haiku Heights #148 with prompt - ordinary

Friday, June 8, 2012

Dementia


Image: Whistler's Mother
(Courtesy of Real Toad's)

Frail and hunched
She walked slowly
from her room upstairs
Each little step
towards her favorite chair

She sat at the lounge
Looking into emptiness
Again it happened!
She left her pair of spectacles
in her room
Someone went up
Got it for her

They were having lunch
She suddenly became aware
Her spectacles now perched
precariously atop her nose
She walked slowly but more
confidently towards them

‘You already had your lunch’
she was told. ‘Ten minutes ago’
Again it happened!
She was then led back to her seat
Given her favorite slice of brownies
She sat down happy

They used to have lunch together
But she ended up messy
affecting everyone else
So she had lunch first
All by herself

There has to be a solution! 


Written for Real Toads with prompt - dementia

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Eccentric


Image: Tim Burton's Infinite Dreams by delirium77
Quote:   One person's craziness is another person's reality  - Tim Burton

Image and Quote: Courtesy of Think Tank Thursday ( TTT )

Tim Burton’s great makes
Eccentric and a genius
Born of unusuals

Dreamt myriads of dreams
Likened to Mendusa’s hair
Faces but sans snakes

Way out from others
Where some alien happenings
Make for surprises

Note: We are to write on Tim Burton or works relating to him. A fitting description of Tim is quoted from TTT - 'an artist, animator,a poet,a director and more...I think the word eccentric describes him best'.

Written for TTT for their 100th prompt - Eccentric and d'Verse 'Where in The World' alien based

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Exposure


Image: A long exposure photo using a slow shutter speed can create fascinating effects of light trails
(Picture Credit: Google images)

Exposure to the
vagaries of weather  will
mean sniffling noses

Exposure to young
starlets and sportsmen clears off
physical stupor

Exposure stifled
political ambitions
Sex likely spoiler

Over exposed film
is a thing of the past in
this digital age

Get long exposure
iPhone Magic Shutter apps
for moving objects

To cap it all plain
indecent exposure is
just age-old streaking


Written for Chev's Haikublog Tackle it Tuesdays with prompt - exposure and d'Verse OpenLinkNights week #47

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Micro Fiction


Image: Courtesy of Grandma's  Goulash

We're drifting
Sun is setting
There's no anchor
What to conquer?
The sea is vast
We'll not last
No water no food
It's not good

We're dead!


(140 characters)
As counted through Design 215

Note: Grandma's provided a picture (above) and a word conquer for us to write a Micro Fiction not exceeding 140 characters

Written for Grandma's Goulash Succinctly Yours Week 63 and Real Toads OpenLinkMonday

Work

 Image:1 Working on a Dream is a life-long Pre-occupation for Everyone

Image:2 As some have rightly done so
(Picture credit: Google images)

Signing your life away the Japanese way 
a lifetime of slaving. No it's not! It's dedication
and faith in an employer.Working next to Nellie 
may not be ideal as bad habits and short cuts are thrown in aplenty
Work (not walk) don’t run hiding away from all the ‘fun’
A constant reminder to the shirkers
Who are no more workers but just job jugglers
Working is a joy and make hobbies pay. As artists can well testify 
Work is distasteful, a constant union battlecry
until they find themselves out of work high and dry

Work and no play undoubtedly is bad. The present mantra
is not work hard but rather work smart.Working your heart’s out
should not be the answer. Saves all the sweating for better results
Working through College is a thing of the past.
As Daddy has to slog it out as an alternative.
Unwind after work is the in-thing for the yuppies
Happy Hours is a blast
Sadly those working from home realized it can be
awesome for freedom but a nightmare for time management 
The computer is an office rightly so for SOHO
Which saves lots of hassles travelling to and fro

But as the Aussies say it’s a flat out like a lizard drinking' .....
(working very hard on a task) for in a home environment
You really have to put all your heart and soul into it
Or the backlog will pile up and life’s topsy-turvy
as many found to their utter dismay

Written for d'Verse Poetics Working for it