April Haiku Month, Day 25: Volcano

an active volcano . . .

anger redder than lava

my bewildered eyes

~ ~ ~

I have been writing haiku about the same thing for the past few days. This haiku shows the state I have been in for quite sometime now. #War. #WomenAbuse. #ChildAbuse. #Murder. #Rape. It is not that these are new, it is just that I fail each time I do or say something that increases my hope for a better tomorrow for everyone. Any news I see is taking a toll on me and I’m  having a hard time trying to not be lost in the pain. That is part of a reason why I have discontinued my AtoZ journey.

I know a little Photoshop and I felt I would do something about trying to bring the change(starting with awareness) that we all are so looking for. It will be a long long time before we see any change towards good. Its not much, but I guess its something. If I can pull myself up from the heap I become into each day after going over what all happened, I would surely continue making campaign images related to #womenabuse. If you believe that some kind of change, no matter how small, can be made out of such a campaign like changing the mindset of people towards women, then please share this image on your social networks and blogs. Share it and say something about the atrocities against women. Because people got used to ‘shared’ images on Facebook  they see what others shared and they share and that it all. It is not generating the voices that we need to tackle the current problem.

Make you voice heard, lend your voice to your heart and cry out loud.

The most recent news I came across is that a newborn was sold on Facebook for Rs. 8 lakhs. Outrageous and heart-killing! I mean, with everything that is going on with the rape incidents, now this! What is INDIA doing? More importantly, WHAT ARE WE BECOMING? I won’t hide my sadness.

April Haiku Month, Day 20: Rosemary

a five year old girl . . .

cheeks, innocent rosemary pink,

gets raped by neighbor

~ ~ ~

A 5 year old girl was raped in Delhi, India. I don’t have the strength to talk about the incident or the details but if it troubles you, here it is: A brutal and barbarous rape of a 5 year old. But I’d try to make sense nevertheless for I am, as always, not at peace.

The place where it happened is generally not important, because the abuse, assault, exploitation takes the precedence and rightly so. But ‘Delhi’ is the capital. and India is now ‘so much into’ these things that the place of incident is important next only to the victims themselves.
We, I, keep talking about faith and love for a nation all the time, think about it a lot. These are times when it is shaken. Rememeber what I said a few days back about boston bombing? i wantedly did not complete my opinion there, because i couldn’t take it as I was considering what it all meant. But now I see I held back for no reason. It is not only the ‘groups’ who believe in an ideal which are treat to the whole mankind, its f***ing every man in his own damn way!

I talk about faith, trust and love all the time. And these things stand to be important for every citizen of a country. Well, right now, all of that is shaken. It has never been ‘constant’ I must admit. I just tell myself, ‘maybe tomorrow’. But no, maybe I’d die being a fool who kept believing in change that never came.

click it for a better view, the text on the cards is blurred at this resolution.

With what people did after Nirbhaya incident, the protests and the calls for DEATH of the criminals, we have been seeing such things with little or no change in numbers. And consider the fact that all actual incidents of women exploitation don’t come to light, not get the media attention. Consider the suffering that we cannot see, that we cannot relate to because those stories are don’t come up.

India has always been a nation with great prospects for itself. Maybe we will end up only at that much, and never see a nation which changed itself into a true haven for humans. Of course, the world is no safe haven either. But with what India boasts about, we are a let down to ourselves. We are our own demise.

I don’t want people telling me not to lose hope, because you are not in my head and have not seen the world with my f***ing eyes. You only care when things happen.
“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy” – I quote Batman again. If we are going to need ‘examples’ to make us think in the right way, at the current rate of our progress, the number of examples needed for men to change is equal to the total no. of women in this country, the newborns included.

April Haiku Month, Day 17: Owl #BostonMartyrs

ALREADY SLEEPLESS

---

no owl hoot needed

to wake me up, already sleepless.

Boston still on mind . . .

~ ~ ~

Terrible and tragic. Boston bombings are another reminder of the dangers humans, who form groups believing in an ideal, pose to themselves. Rest in peace, the martyrs. They were standing up to the oldest marathon in the world, one that survived WWI and WWII. Heartbreaking in the least. And half way across the globe, an earthquake devastates parts of Pakistan and Iran. Not a good day. Not a good day at all.

These are times when you have to tell others, and mutely to yourself, ‘it is going to be alright’ even though the logical part of your brain knows full well it can only get worse. If not for you, for the world in general. At times like these, I wish I had someone to talk to and cry my heart out. But when I think of all those who actually are the victims of such terrible attacks, I endure in silence for I know my pain is far less than what they are going through. I guess, sitting some hundreds and thousands of miles away, all you can do to support them to keep going is spend some time thinking about them. That indeed might transform into strength for them.

It is easy to get depressed in times like these, when the air is instilled with gloom caused by the absence of  lost ones. Yet, we must make the effort to not fall into the abyss that our mind tends to jump into. It is so hard and exhausting.

Take a few minutes and see these pictures of the Boston bombing: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html

And read this article about how people are trying to help the victims, it is endearing and so encouraging: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/boston-marathon-support/index.html?hpt=us_t2

May this world end with a mighty blow from the space, for if things don’t change, the suffering would only increase and those who make others suffer would have nothing to stop at. And until that time, the good must take responsibility and stand against any evil that takes birth from among them. For no man shall find peace in a world that is terrorized by his very fellow men, no matter where the horror is.

I hope for the end of the world not because I am a coward, but because I believe in retribution. And in a world that is bound by laws which cannot hang a criminal who raped or killed a fellow human, but all along, one can simply take it into his hands to murder someone and get away, there is no hope for true justice and true retribution. Cowards are those who hurt others, those who wound others. Not those who seek peace, not those who stand against the evil.  Cowards are not those who are weak but those who are arrogantly strong.

~ ~ ~

April Haiku Month, Day 14: Little Pig Gets A Visit

Image from the movie Charlotte’s Web

a countryside farm . . .
little pig ran up and down
visit from a cute girl

visit from a cute girl . . .
she brought a rainbow candy
pig threw a tantrum

pig threw a tantrum . . .
smiling, she gave away candy
little pig oinked with joy

little pig oinked with joy . . .
hopped as if it could fly, then
splash! fell in a puddle

splash! fell in a puddle . . .
pig quickly scrambled out of it
it wanted candy again

the girl stood still . . .
then burst out laughing loud, and
she fell in the puddle too

~ ~ ~

I asked a friend for a few prompt words and she wildly came up with pig-candy-water-silent. I was not going to write any haiku for today as I was tired. I don’t know, writing is tiring me easily these days. And I gave up writing for today when I remembered it was an open day, I simply did not think my mind was capable of imagining philosophical things, that which I usually write upon. But these innocent prompt words let me have a smooth ride! I enjoyed writing this!

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 14, an open day. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey.

April Haiku Month, Day 13: Lily

THE LILIES WE ALL WILL BE

---

Artist: Klapouh Yuri

a long search for peace . . .
mist hung on tranquil meadow
lilies here and there

she knew search was over . . .
what world could not heal, nature did
voids love left, it filled

another spring sprung . . .
how could flowers keep blooming?
lost ones transform, maybe!

is it not soothing . . .
to think your loved ones go, then
come back, as lilies?

a long search for peace . . .
she could not run anymore
ah! she doesn’t need to

~ ~ ~

When you try to channelize pain, you say things you never would have if it weren’t for the pain. And whether what you say is good or bad depends on how you tame your heart and mind, even when they are wild with pain.

~ ~ ~

Have you ever tried writing a haiku first and then searching for an image that goes with your creation?

Try it, it is challenging and fun. Like writing a haiku. We know that we need to condense a huge backdrop/idea/story/emotion into very few words. It is more challenging to find a appropriate image using a mere three-four word search term that reflects your haiku and the huge backdrop it is holding. I don’t usually put images on my haiku, but when I do, I do it this way. Its fun.

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 13 prompt – Lily. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey.

~ ~

April Haiku Month, Day 12: Koi Pond

HOW MERMAIDS CAME TO BE

---

a weary angel . . .

tired wings turn into  fins

dance in a koi pond

~ ~ ~

dance in a koi pond . . .

the koi rejoice her new form

mermaids are no myth

~ ~ ~

angels and mermaids . . .

we heard a legend or two

who knew they were true

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 12 prompt – Koi Pond. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first.

April Haiku Month, Day 11: Jasmine

A CONDESCENDING NATURE LOVER

---

i googled ‘jasmine’ . . .

disney character turned up

what the! where’s flower?

~ ~ ~

It is stupid and disappointing that when you Google ‘jasmine’, the first results to come are of the famous Disney character from Aladdin, not of the daughter of nature – the jasmine flower. Both web search and image search. I felt sick. Ridiculous humans. Ridiculous artificial intelligence.

Yes, I am ‘judging’ Google. I admit that without Google the world is half dumb. And honestly, I depend on it on a daily basis. But I won’t spare a traitor. Because when the teacher is a traitor, you’ll only grow more traitors. And this coming from a man who also says, “animated movies are the best thing that ever happened to world cinema. it is the only good thing cinema gave us”. Yet, I stand by what I said. Anyone, or anything, which has a huge audience(customers or whatever) has zero error tolerance. The world can descend into chaos if Apple Inc. started using a marketing strategy which says “Cut down trees. Bring us wood. We are building a city out of wood called iCity. We will give you an iPhone”. And people would do it. That is the scare right there. A popular celeb, or brand is followed by people who slowly turn so blind that when their idol makes a mistake, they don’t see it. More frighteningly, they do it too. All of this, I say because the most popular search engine(and much more) cannot expose a cracked up order of precedence to the entire world. Nature precedes everything. I am not blowing this ‘petty’ thing out of proportions, I am concerned.  There is nothing sensible in conducting global warming awareness campaigns to enlighten children, when they google ‘jasmine’ to collect information about the flower and all they could see is an animated princess, beautiful of course, wearing revealing clothes and a golden tiara.

Darn! If you are going to say, ” you could just google ‘jasmine flower’ if that is what you are looking for”, then don’t. Because you probably don’t feel the same way about nature as I do, at least with the same intensity. And I would also take it on me that I couldn’t make my point clear, I suck at describing my theories in the head.

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 11 prompt – Jasmine. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.

April Haiku Month, Day 10: Incense

VAIN ENERGY

---

I have never really ventured into writing romance before. I did, but only as parts of a larger poem with a different theme. And now I try. Although I have to say, when I write, romance will never stand alone. It will have a touch(or more) of heartbreak, and more importantly, hope. Hope of impossible magnitude. 

---

an incensed candle . . .

her eyes rested upon mine

melodies we sang

~ ~ ~

melodies we sang . . .

as the sepia light dimmed

our own hearts grew warm

~ ~ ~

the wick is all spent . . .

so is my vain energy,

reliving memories

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 10 prompt – Incense. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.

April Haiku Month, Day 9: Hunter

WHEN THE HUNTER BECOMES THE HUNTED

---

a vast dense jungle . . .

lion scouts for the weakest deer

silent paws turn fierce

~ ~ ~

a skilled hunter fool . . .

silences jungle king’s roar

his own dark pride roared

~ ~ ~

not a moment later . . .

king’s pride dawned upon hunter

tat! pride preyed on pride

~ ~ ~

a man is weakest 

when he is self-conscious

of his own darned pride

~ ~ ~

April Haiku Month, Day 6: Fire (MY FURY)

I AM WARNING YOU, I WAS POSSESSED WHEN I WROTE ALL THESE HAIKU. I WAS POSSESSED BY A FIRE, A FIRE I TRY TO HIDE. A FIRE YOU WILL BUT FEAR UNLESS YOU PICK MY SIDE.

I must warn, this is a highly inefficient post from me. Written with shaking senses and trembling fingers. Pardon my naivety.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

(firstly, my feminist fire)

exploited women . . .
their fire will consume any man
if they choose it

~ ~ ~

(Secondly, my usual trivial madness)

(Long long ago)

a dark cave in woods . . .
woman frustrated at husband
hurls rock at wall. spark!

~ ~ ~

(Ancient times in the east)

a forgotten myth . . .
legendary golden dragon
breathes fire, gives wishes

~ ~ ~

(Again, my feminist madness)

(Ancient times in southern middle-east)

one sita devi . . .
passes agnipareeksha
yet exiled, her pain!

. . .

mahapurushotham . . .
his unforgivable mistake
cost him his true love

(I don’t want to move on from my pain and tears for Sita Devi. But I must. I must say, “After such a righteous life, WHY RAMA! WHY???”)

~ ~ ~

(The so called civilized times. Today.)

MY FURY!!!

. . .

he set her ablaze
she couldn’t bring him money
he set her ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
she did not love him back
he set her ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
she gave birth to a girl
he set her ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
he was driven mad with lust
he set her ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
his dominance was threatened
he set he ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
it was pure malevolence
he set her ablaze

. . .

he set her ablaze
his arrogance ……

~ ~ ~

I cannot continue. ‘he set her ablaze’ is actually happening in India. And there are other forms of ‘setting women ablaze’ like trafficking, female foeticide, domestic violence, marital rapes, eve-teasing, sexual innuendo aimed at women in public places, in movies and in countless other ways.

I am sorry, but I am possessed with anger, with sorrow. Unless I channelize my anger, I fear I might be consumed by it. Such is the rage I am in. This post might be disturbing emotionally, but I don’t know if I could live without writing this tonight. Every day I see or hear about atrocities against women, I am driven mad by them. Literally mad. What can you and I do about it? Make the women we know in our lives stronger? Tell them to be more careful? Or to dress appropriately? YES AND NO!! Since WE MEN aren’t going to stop this any soon, WOMEN have to be on guard. And one day…………………….

And so.

exploited women . . .
their fire will consume any man
if they choose it

~ ~ ~

I deliberately let the syllable count stay wrong. I can’t look for errors in metrics and format while the theme of the text has an overwhelming effect on the mind and heart. This is an inefficient post. An inefficient attempt at venting my emotions. But I cannot do better at this moment. I do not have the sufficient strength to follow through my anger nor do I have the people who stand by my side without being scared. But I am only bidding my time. I shall master my anger.

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for the prompt fire.

Whenever I Act

feelings buried deep inside,

like pearls in beach sand,

the water only wetting the surface,

people only see the mask.

it takes a true heart,

like an innocent kid,

stumbling upon the pearls while digging for pebbles,

to harvest one’s deepest vaults.

in search of one such soul,

like a turtle scouting every yard of sand,

looking for the most secure of places to give birth,

i walk the world, waiting for someone to rip off that mask.

some people are destined to wear a mask for eternity,

a part of me, ruled by fear, trembles and quivers at that thought.

~ ~ ~

NaPoWriMo

April Haiku Month, Day 5: Eggshells

(I thought of giving a pass for this prompt. I usually write about stuff like nature, women, life, love, etc and after yesterday’s attempt, I am a bit fatigued; this prompt is so trivial, I felt I can’t write a good enough haiku for this, that I am not good enough for it. But I am excited about reading your haiku, I’ll get to learn from your haiku, I always do. So, I’ll try. If I want to be a good writer, I’ll have to take up challenges.)

(I am unable to think of anything beyond this)

a lone young writer . . .

his abilities questioned

‘eggshells’, the challenger

~ ~ ~

‘eggshells’, the challenger . . .

he turns challenge on its head

he is determined

~ ~ ~

I enjoyed the challenge, eggshells! Thank you. I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has been reading my haiku everyday and even more so, letting me know how you felt. Its been only 4 days and I have already had so much fun writing and reading. This April journey won’t be the same without you people. Every writer wants to be read and commented, praised and even criticized. Cheers for writing! Cheers for haiku!

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 5 prompt – Eggshells. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.

April Haiku Month, Day 4: Drone

(A small village during the time of war)

a drone tears the sky . . .

insecure souls hug and pray

their hearts, living graves

~ ~ ~

(And when the war ended)

a vast barren land . . .

neither winds blow nor seeds grow

breath and green earth raped

~ ~ ~

(And when hope was all but dead)

a century later . . .

new species of plant rises

dead hope springs back up

~ ~ ~

(Nature takes reigns)

a drone bee flies by . . .

signals queen – ‘work can begin’

life resurrected

~ ~ ~

(At war again)

a fortress land now . . .

colonized by humans again

a drone tears the sky

~ ~ ~

a vast barren land . . .

neither winds blow nor seeds grow

breath and green earth raped

~ ~ ~

constant war . . .

mockery of peace

and of life

~ ~ ~

Presently I am not in full strength, emotionally. And this prompt, in midst of my attempt at breaking the writer’s block, drained me of my energies. ‘War’, sigh! We live in a world of chaos. The only images I get to mind are those of the violence that happens everyday all across the world. Syria. Egypt. Israel. Palestine. Iran. Iraq. And these are cross border wars. And there are wars being fought with forces within one’s own nation. It all tires me to think. Drones remind me of war, death and the elusive peace.

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 4 prompt – Drone. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.

April Haiku Month, Day 3: Candle

birthday candles

a baby is born . . .

her gentle breath sweeps candles

signifies life ahead

~ ~ ~

light in darkness

a power outage . . .

she rushes to light a candle

summer blues in town

~ ~ ~

Goodbye candles

a soul is set free . . .

people light candles at grave

signifies life led

~ ~ ~

a planet kindled

a planet kindled . . .

there can be light without life,

not life without light

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 3 prompt – Candle. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.

April Haiku Month, Day 2: Butterfly

Image rights reserved to Peiling Lee

~ ~ ~

a pink lily grove . . .

butterflies dance in nectar

bees and birds join

~ ~ ~

a girl wanders lost . . .

butterflies whisper in ear

‘ssssh! come, dance with us’

~ ~ ~

a land of unknown . . .

they dance together past thorns

nature aides the lost

~ ~ ~

This post is submitted at Haiku Heights for Day 2 prompt – Butterfly. This post is also a part of my NaPoWriMo 2013 journey, my first. I am also trying to take up the A-to-Z Blogging challenge which requires bloggers to write a post everyday during all April. I will try to write separate posts for NaPoWriMo and A-to-Z Blogging Challenge IF possible. I sure want to.

I am going to share your everyday Haiku on my Facebook Page. Keep tabs on it too.

Thank you all for reading my haiku. I’ll be reading yours too, and I enjoy each one of your haiku. Your comments always help me improve and motivate myself to keep going.

Thank you and keep writing! 

Tweet me at @WeOweWomen.