Watching a Child Grow! ! ! ! !

Baby

Like flowers reaching for Sun, baby sucks ma's breast.
Petals open kissed by light, baby smiles content.
Dew drops evaporate, toddler plays on grass.
Butterflies flirt with flowers, he gurgles and laughs...

Kid

Whole creation is alive, youthful and so bright.
Tiny necks peep out of shell, ready for maiden flight.
Ma stands with Tiffin at gate, child hops into van.
Soon the van goes out of sight, things go well as planned.

Youth

Birds twittering day long, youth strums on guitar.
Dusk falls and shadows lengthen, a girl comes in car.
A magical hour, twilight... Walking hand in hand,
Light breeze caresses the leaves, ma smiles as she stands.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Controlling Anger before it Controls You

When toxic and volatile emotions
Are causing confusion and commotion,
Feelings are hijacked, hot thoughts race,
Mind gets enveloped in a rage.

As a consequence, visibility comes down,
It’s wise to shift gears and slow down.
Switch on the wipers
And clear the fog on the mind’s mirror.

Lest you forever live to regret
And wonder how I met with an accident.
Take few deep breaths, and count to ten,
As anger clouds the perception.

Your ability to discern goes haywire
So whatever you say backfires.
First deal with your inner pollution,
To stop firing deadly ammunition.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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I was born free...! ! ! ! ! !

It’s futile to waste energy,
Don’t try to tempt me
With that plea
In your eyes.

I am done with
Emotional entanglements.
I am bankrupt,
And have nothing left
To make fresh investment.

I want to start afresh,
Open a new ledger book.
And maintain
My balance sheet.
I make deposits
By nurturing myself,
And allow none to
Make withdrawals.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Inner Light Is Finally Shining

Inner light is finally beginning to shine
People are no longer watching from sidelines
They are willing to look beyond their concerns
Help is pouring out all of a sudden.

Whether by lighting a candle or marching in silent protest
Against those who mindlessly perpetrate
Crime, or to help a software techie paralysed
And do whatever for the guy so traumatized.

Today I read the Tamil government has given eunuchs
Their rightful place as a third sex
These are signs to help those marginalised
Mere slogans are not enough it’s finally realised.

All is not lost
There is still hope
Let’s all be the change we want
And not wait for a magic wand

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Sun

Don’t look so downcast
Nothing ever lasts.

Don’t you see?
I am always
At the receiving end,
That doesn’t stop me
From doing the work
I have been assigned.

People feel ambivalent
Towards me,
They love to hate me
When too cold, they feel malevolent.
Some suffer fromS.A.D,
They pray for me to rise
So that they can feel warm and gay.

But in summer,
When it gets too hot,

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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A Mother and Daughter! ! ! ! ! ! !

At 15, taking a stroll with my mother
On a cool summer night after dinner,
Ma, one question always nags my mind
What is it she softly asked, my child?

How can one spend a life time with one man?
Doesn’t it get boring after a short span?
As we sat on the bench, she looked at me
Yes, it needs commitment we don’t foresee.

In the first flush of love when you are getting acquainted
You love everything as you are smitten and infatuated.
But slowly it begins to sink that nobody is perfect
We have feet of clay, disillusioned you come to accept.

But as you come to know each other better,
And are growing up and raising a family together.
You are overcome with love, respect and acceptance
And enjoy each other’s company even in silence.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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A Prayer For Deliverance

You sat on the bed with a faraway look,
Aimlessly turning the pages of a book.
Silent tears flowing down your cheeks.
You have become all bones these last few weeks.

You look at me as if to say,
Why is there so much delay?
From God’s side to call me away,
I am worn and grey.

And no longer want to prolong my stay.
Bedridden, I don’t know how to pass my day.
I don’t want to live in such a helpless way.
Please pray for my quick getaway.

I turn my face, wiping a tear.
I don’t want her to hear
The cry in my heart.
Time has come for us to part.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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As I Cross the City Limits...

As i cross the city limits
it takes a while
before thoughts recede
from my cluttered mind
and i begin to feel at ease...

couple of hours in the countryside
I am amazed to find
that the march of time
has not touched
the rhythm and rhyme

women, with firewood
on their head,
walk in a way that would
pose a threat
to models on
the ramp...

While a farmer

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Maternal Instinct...

Are women really masochistic, I wonder…?
Why do they subject themselves to torture?
After having had one to carry on the race,
Or it might become extinct and be effaced.

Labour pains, risk to life, somehow don’t deter
A woman from doing it again to be a mother.
A friend, baffled asked a pertinent question,
Why the whole burden of nurture and creation

Was put on one sex…I draw my own conclusion,
As there can be no other answer and solution.
God knew men couldn’t endure excruciating pain
And rise above self, so thus he ordained…

Women, with some exceptions, want to be mothers…
Go for more than one, so siblings can support each other.
As He gave all of us the gift of selective memory,
The moment she holds the baby she forgets the drudgery.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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Nostalgia

I moved to Delhi in Nineteen Seventy Four
and lived on a ‘barsati ’ floor.
It was safe then to sleep on a summer’s night
on the terrace under the stars and moonlight.

Alas, not anymore!
You have to lock every door,
to keep out the danger that looms
outside your air cooled rooms.

Isn’t it a pity
what life has come to in a city?
No longer can you enjoy
sleeping on a ‘charpoy in the courtyard, balcony or terrace,
because of the rising terrorist menace.

I miss those evenings when after sunset,
we would sprinkle water on the brick floor till it was wet,
getting relief from heat
walking on it bare feet.

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poem by Mamta Agarwal
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