now lost in thoughts

                                                                            Author Rodrigo Della Fávera
Image: A Sad Girl (here)

the chosen words:
inseparable afternoon song bowl untried 
teasingly care dust shadows smudge  

just uprooted from the circle of friends
that kept her company in times of loneliness
inseparable most afternoons in noisy rants
forced on alone minding her own business

her loving Dad on transfer on promotion
to a locality far away from the songs and dance
she used to bowl gleefully over in teenage romps
now lost in thoughts groping in a trance

should she try to stir up the hornet's nest
in an untried cause of flirting and flaunting
teasingly uncaringly splayed in  the dust
endowed with good looks naughtily endearing?

coughing off restrictive shadows of doubt
mindful not to unwittingly smudge her Dad's
reputation as a law enforcer she was wrought
with a swirling of questions in her head

Sanaa at Real Toad's
Get Listed - late march edition

Overcoming Adversity - a Ghazal

                                                                                    Author Lance Cpl. Corey Dabney
Image: Preparing Early to Overcome (here)

On a sunny day all warm and bright
Having wrestled life’s woes by the night

To overcome the floods engulfing the edge
Of abundance shoving and throwing rays bright

Had fallen into dreams of yearnings’ nights
Restless, dark suddenly a future splayed bright

Bid be, good tidings played its softening lights
Had I the strength to ward off sinister’s might

Hank, we can ordinarily garner our strengths
Tenacity against adversity the star’s shining bright

Note: A Ghazal is an odd-numbered chain 
of couplets. It has a refrain of one to three 
words that repeat  The name of the writer 
is usually included in the poem

Sanaa's at Real Toad's  -  tuesday platform

good times never last

                           
                                                                                                      Author Xicotencatl
Image: Cherry Blossoms at
The University of British Columbia (here)

stunning pretty blooms
lasting but for just a week
good times never last
but it brings back memories
remember the Hanami?

Note: They bloom and usually fall within a week,
The trees look nearly white from top to bottom.
Hanami" is the centuries-old practice of picnicking
under blooming sakura -  Wiki

Chevrefeuilles'  Carpe Diem - weekend-meditation-77
Sherry's at PU's Poetry Pantry #444

it makes them literate at an early age

                                                                                             Author FairPhone

Image:  The Ubiquitous Cell Phones    (here)

empowerment extends the make-up of freedom

it used to be accorded most appropriately at eighteen

personally recognised by officialdom

as young teens discarded the apron strings

regarded as adults in some circumstances

what with a driving licence in their hands

can be engaged in discussions within  reasons

responsibility accepted and greatly enhanced

now creeping slowly to lower the age limitation

no more a question to invoke maturity

which is now considered irrelevant

but enjoyed by all and sundry

it makes them literate at an early age

games and communication they choose easily

empowerment at any time of the day
little fingers on the touch screen readily

Susan;s at PU's Midweek Motif  -  empowerment

reflections provide a release

                                                             Artist: Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906)
Image: Imprisoned by debts
owing to society (here)

the 12 given Wordle words:
release, relief, end clasp grave regret,
thing, poor, pay debt day loan

reflections provide a release
looking towards a relief but to no end
to clasp dearly to memories
that bring smiles of good times

grave circumstances feature with regret
a thing of the past that keeps coming back
the poor being never able to recollect
to pay but only her debt to society intact

will there be a day her talents oozing
be extended on loan for the overall good
yet holding tenaciously back seemingly
saving for the rainy day as long as she could

MMT's Sunday's Whirligig Wordle #206
Anmol's (HA) at Real Toad's - the tuesday platform

in the light of affections

                                                                                Attribution: Girl Bird HD Wallpaper
Image: Girl with a Green Bird (here)

drained of spirits in wanting
to proceed with the discharge of
responsibility towards a delicate
little creature that appeared dead
amidst foul discharge
in a clogged drain

yet in the light of affections and
concern for a living thing little
did she realize it could be a novel
idea for the projected incline towards
ideas for a novel which had long
been a spirited project on hold

she mulled the denial of proceeds
to finance such a project but to hold on
to hopes with zest

she had done lots of writings of short
stories not green to say the least
and a green plumage could trigger off
such a venture

why not?

Magaly's at Real Toad's  - weekend mini
challenge - homographic fun
Carrie's Sunday Muse #47

warmness in a cool morning

                                                                                                   Attribution: Chev

Image: Mount Tengurasan (here)

                                         a tanka

outrightly pleasant

breathless a breathtaking scene

all in heaven's song

warmness in a cool morning

blessed be for natures birth-right

eavesdropping  neighbors

none but missed their company

all for the quiet

likened to lighthouse keeper's

dedication above all 

Chevrefeuilles' Carpe Diem - kumano-kodo

Sumana's at PU's Midweek Motif -  neighbors

until a shriek stabbed the air

                                                                          Photo Courtesy of Lakshmi Bhat
Image: Child Left Unattended (here)

the 11 of 12 given Wordle words:
instinct legs pace other chain 
caper (to leap or skip about in a sprightly manner)
passage bar prank rub plan 

gormless (stupid)

towards the road the baby scurried unaware
her tiny legs propelled fast  to outpace others
the chain of events suddenly led to a scare
did not seem to appear as a risk at first
until a shriek, a loud cry stabbed the air

heading towards her a runaway trailer
and she was not even anywhere on the road yet
no stopping an 8-wheeled vehicle of a monster
with divine intervention, it stopped in its track
saved the day a miracle not a regret to matter

to expect a child to caper out gleefully
door inadvertently left open with no obstacles
free passage for innocence to explore naturally
not barred but into a whole new world

it became life-threatening intended as a prank
rubbed the wrong way misplaced gormless plan

Brenda's Sunday Whirl #394
Susan's Sunday Photo Fiction
Marian's at Real Toad's - gormless

amid sadness put on the dancing shoes

                                                                                                      Author Hopi Pueblo 
Image: Dancing Shoes, of late 19th century.
Made of deer hide, pigments, sinew, porcupine
quill, horsehair and wool (source: Brooklyn
Museum)  (here)

the 12 given Wordle words:
tissues purses, dusty attic pass rosary
shoes say go bags  stream window

chosen from Lillian's prompt:
a time to weep, and a time to laugh
a time to mourn, and a time to dance

a time to weep, and a time to laugh
just name-cards and tissues in the purses
but where are the greenbacks and stuff
as empty as a dusty attic amid blushes

pass the rosary over to pray for lunch
amid sadness put on the dancing shoes
a time to mourn, and a time to dance
say, go for a fling but go easy on the booze

perhaps bags of  wealth may stream by
the window of opportunity opens up wide
good intentions do invoke luck on the sly
never to break rules but to rightly abide

Lillian at d'Verse - turn turn turn
(too late for submission to Lillian's)
Grace's at d'Verse's OLN #238
(submitted for Grace's OLN instead)
MMT's Sunday's Whirligig  Wordle#204

you may sneer at its harsh motifs

                                                 
                                                                                                Photo: google images
Image: unusual wallpaper (here)

the given words: 
sneer harsh angry disruption pressure 
lugubrious (adj.)) mournful, dismal, or gloomy)
classroom
reproach (to find fault,blame,censure)
withdraw transpires kit

you may sneer at its harsh motifs
you are angry at its sheer insistence
disruption to the smooth flow of initiatives
putting pressure to sanity's benevolence

funky wallpaper for a cool lifestyle
loud colors or a lugubrious outlook
either way one can truly push the dial
this is no classroom for a  clean book

beyond reproach unusual and quirky
one may withdraw but that's ridiculous
what transpires is considerably lucky
for choices of the kit available is enormous

Nekneeraj's at MLMM's Photo Challenge #253
MLMM's Wordle #123
Anmol's (HA) at Real Toad's -  the tuesday platform

strength to smallness of a creature

                                                                    Attribution: Stacy Magic Love Crow
Image  Stacy's 'Be Free' (here)

a feathery kind in flight
playing to the wind's aerodynamics
lighter than air
looking down on minions below
free to roam
as the crow flies
distance just a number

effective use by the vicious falcons
to knock their prey out of the sky
blessed by nature's choice

to accord strength to smallness
of  a creature

(55 words)

Carrie's Sunday Muse #45
Kerry's at Real Toad's  - art flash 55

He came with a little smile - a pantoum

                                                                                   Author: Pyramid8Ball.svg
Image: A Simple Hierarchical Structure (here) 

He came with a little smile, a toothy little smile

Broader it became as he got a little closer

Broke into small laughter and all the while

A quizzical stance hidden behind the laughter

Broader it became as he got a little closer

Seen this act a few times had seen it before

A quizzical stance hidden behind the laughter

Scheming intention, a suspicious one I gather

Seen this act a few times had seen it before

Upon reaching extended hand in friendly gesture

Scheming intention, a suspicious one I gather

Responded likewise not wanting to create a furor

A quizzical stance hidden behind the laughter

Began with a few good words without a falter

Scheming intention , a suspicious one I gather

The sling bag  is opened its contents spilled over

Began with a few good words without a falter

All the charts, the legs, the returns, too familiar

The sling bag  is opened its contents spilled over

I knew it, a ‘get-rich-quick’ a Ponzi as it were

All the charts, the legs, the returns, too familiar

Broke into a small laughter and all the while

I knew it, a ‘get-rich-quick’ a Ponzi as it were

He came with a little smile, a toothy little smile

Gina at d'Verse Poetry Forms - pantoum