Poets United Recognized by Inaugural Poet Laureate

 

Poetry Corner* Featuring the Works of Henry Oaks

 

TO WIN YOU BACK

Still thinking of you

Each and everyday.

Hoping what was started

Has not faded away.

If it's your heart that I've failed to win

Then I've committed a dreadful sin.

And I must put your short memory on a shelf,

And figure out how to redeem myself.

I WANT...

I want to shower in rainbows with you

Until they flood the ground.

And shooting stars come raining down.

I want you to feel my vibrations,

Until they unlock your deepest sensations.

I want to hold you in my arms in the moonlight,

Until our souls merge and take flight.

I want us to eat from the same tree.

I want to wake up and feel you next to me.

BIO:

HENRY OAKS is a local poet, freelance writer, and activist. His work has been published in several media outlets. His debut poetry book is slated to be released this summer.  

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 

Political Rhetoric?

When was the last time

An “official,” that is,

A politician or bureaucrat

Gazed deeply into the eyes

Of a starving child,

Living in a remote village,

Dotting the landscape

Of our benighted country?

When was the last time

The rich and powerful

Shared a meal

With troubled farmers

Who toil in our fields?

When was the last time

A celebrity traveled

By foot to provide shelter

To the homeless?

When was the last time

Our so-called democracy

Provided a voice to

The voiceless, oppressed and marginalized

By actually counting their votes?

When was the last time

The voter had a choice

Between black versus white?

Who will focus

On the grey areas?

Who will envision

A nation as a

Many splendored thing?

Pray, which leader will

Rise, phoenix-like,

From the ashes,

And live to

Fight another day?

How will we make

Up for lost time since 1947?

When will our millionaires

And billionaires start

Paying their dues?

When will our government

Stop lining the pockets

Of the selected and chosen few?

When will we find

A seat at the table

At global seminars, conferences,

Convocations and assemblies?

When will we create

A welfare-oriented State

Directed toward the common weal?

When will we join

The community of nations

To find solutions to

Common challenges on planet Earth?

When will we join hands

With people from all over the world

To create a better world

In which everybody wins?

When will we stop dividing

Our world based on

Winners versus losers?

When will our planet

Earth achieve unity consciousness?

When will we learn to transcend

I, Me and Mine

And what’s in it for me?

And instead, help 

And support each other?

Will we be able to

Avoid World War Three?

Will we ever achieve

Peace and harmony?

Will we be able to

Convert hell on earth

To a heaven on earth?

Do we have hope

And optimism for tomorrow

On a planetary scale?

Can we look beyond

Our banal and trivial

And petty concerns

And, instead, learn 

To focus on our common humanity?

Note from Blog owner: This poem is republished for this blog from June, 2023-- for all my new readers in 2024.

Thanks for reading. 

*The views expressed by this poet/author are not necessarily those of Poets United and its affiliates.

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 

 Love Song For Lavanya Lahiri

Lavanya, when we were together

I could not say

The things I needed

To say: so, instead,

I wrote you this poem.

Lavanya, I know now,

From having known you

For so long, that the sun

Sits gently on your fair,

Young and innocent shoulders

And sensitively touches your

Skin and how that makes you

Feel blessed, as if you are chasing

Butterflies and playing with bunny

Rabbits smack dab in the middle

Of the proverbial Garden of Eden.

Lavanya, every breath I take reminds

Me of you: the way you would play

With your long, jet-black hair,

Your laughter when you found

My joke funny, even your human imperfections

Had men chasing after you like panting

Dogs frothing at the mouth.

Lavanya, I remember now how

Your dimpled cheeks, when you smiled,

Would chase away the gloomy clouds

From the evil sky and how the demonic

Chills of an icy winter would embrace

You warmly when the rest of us

Foolish mortals had to huddle in

Front of an open fireplace burning

Slowly in my living room.

Lavanya, don’t abandon me

Now for greener pastures

You have discovered on 

Foreign shores: please send me

The sweet perfume of your

Nubile and fertile body to 

Stop me from shivering

Without your company.

Lavanya, I have noticed

That when you are not

Around, the birds outside

My window suffer from

The empty nest syndrome,

The moon, in the night sky,

Suddenly covers her face

And the stars form a constellation:

A portrait of you which lights

Up the darkness enveloping our world.

Lavanya, rest assured, the only way

You can please me would be for

You to ride on a magic carpet

And visit me at home:

Let it be a pleasant surprise,

However, but rest assured,

I will be waiting for you,

My beloved, with a bouquet

Of freshly-cut red roses in

One hand and a bottle of wine

In my other hand: I will, once

Again, welcome you into my

Life with a song on my lips,

A dance in my steps, and we

will be united as if we had

never parted in the first place.

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 

 An Ode to You and I, Sky.

Today,

I don’t know

What to say

But to utter

The words:

“I love you.”

Somewhere, out there,

In the wild and barren

Desert I call my life

I finally discovered

An oasis in your

Fertile, nubile eyes:

You eyes fluttered

And acquired wings

And started to fly

Like a butterfly.

Even so, in mid-flight,

This butterfly was arrested

By the corrupt police,

Who ordered you

To return to my heart.

My soul feels lonely

Without your warm embrace.

That is why my soul

Searches for you everywhere

When you disappear, suddenly:

When you are not around,

My soul despairs and 

pines for you,

For only you,

My love, and for

Nobody else but you.

When you leave me alone,

My nails scratch the

Surface of the moon

In a vain attempt

To find you lurking behind

A volcano or a hill

Or a mountain or a valley.

Are you hiding 

Behind a winking star?

Where are you?

How do I locate you?

Oh, pray where

Can I find you, beloved?

Please send me a map

Of our universe and give

Me the exact directions

So I can find the tiny

Dot where I lost my

Heart but discovered art.

When you walk

On the surface of 

A wave, make sure

You reach the shore

Where I will be

Waiting for you,

To pick you up

Like expectant relatives

Waiting to receive their

Kith and kin at airports.

You are like the

Oxygen of this air

I breathe

And my lungs

Are crying out

For only you.

Yet, despite my

Passionate pleas,

You conveniently avoid me

Like a fugitive from justice,

And still I keep on loving

The criminal lurking within

The DNA of your being.

When you are away,

I remember how your

Smile makes the 

Ocean part, so I can

Reach safely and hit

Dry land, so I do not

Drown and lose my life

In your arrogant, dreamy

And oceanic eyes.

When I eat dinner alone,

I reserve a chair at the

Table for you and I

Have to pretend

You are there for

Me to provide company.

Every morsel of food,

Every sip of fine wine,

Reminds me of you.

In the hour of twilight,

I feel like screaming

Your name and I

Wish upon a star

You will fall into

My arms like

Snowflakes during

A winter storm

Descending from heaven.

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Poetry Book Review* In Fullness of the Word

"In Fullness of the Word" is as precious as a family heirloom, passed down from generations.  Symbolically speaking, this book is indeed a family heirloom.

It is a valuable collection and keepsake representing the beauty, history, depth, tapestry, and lineage of people of color, expressed through poetic form.

Over 20 Black Poet Laureates, from across the globe, whose lives intersect through their love for the written word, their humanity, their commonality of experiences as Black Americans, come together, producing a harmony akin to a seasoned church choir. 

This makes me very proud to provide this review for Black History Month.

From page one, until the book is done, readers will be engaged, enlightened, entertained, and empowered. This creative "gumbo" will leave readers "full", through the diversity of voices and viewpoints. Themes range from love gone wrong; to frustrations faced by poets experiencing writer's block; to protest pieces; to motivational poems; and even some cleverly crafted Haikus.  

Edited by Rhea Carmon, it contains nearly 200 pages (including interesting bios and photos) from the accomplished and talented contributors.

There were so many excellent selections, it would be difficult to list all of them that stood out here today.

But here are a few:

We have a New Dream, by Henry Jones states: "Silence is an echoed form of acceptance which allows the hatred to spread." Pg. 148  

In the poem Fix, Kim B. Miller writes: "You are not a broken people repair kit. They can heal without you." Pg. 2

Another impressive body of work were the pieces of Angelo 'Eyeambic' Geter.

Pgs. 46-54

This anthology deserves a place in every poetry lover's personal library.

I rate it 5 ***** stars.

Image credit: Henry L. Jones

 

Poetry Corner * Dr. Archan Mehta

Adult Dreamer?

Gentle readers:

What can I say?

I admit it:

I was a dreamy child,

Who enjoyed nothing more

Than the free ride

Of the imagination.

I was fascinated by nature:

Mountains, hills, trees and flowers,

Spoke to me directly and intimately.

In contrast,

I felt suffocated

By formal education

And could even feel the

Walls of a classroom

Holding me like

A prisoner forced

Into a jail cell.

Instead, I longed to

Break free and play

In the outdoors, hug trees

And smell the roses.

I disliked interacting with

Aggressive people with

A bossy or bullying nature.

Hence, I longed to

Break free of organizations

And institutions, such as

Marriage, family, workplace, etc.

I loved to watch

Children at play

And longed to play with them.

I wished to own the

Sky, ocean, pond, lake and river

And longed to ride

A tidal wave

Breaking into the land.

Strangers found me odd

And I found strangers odd.

Thus, literature was my

Only refuge

And books were

My best friends:

In solitude,

I would dream about

Stars enjoying a siesta

In the late afternoon,

And I would imagine

The sun crawling

Along the sky

Like a reclusive turtle.

I wanted only

To be left alone,

So I could day dream

About a brighter, new dawn.

Unburdened of worldly attachments,

I wished to roam

Wild and free

Like a gypsy, drifter or vagabond

Adrift in his own universe

Like a rudderless ship,

In the ocean, without 

A compass for guidance.

Thus, I wished to lose

Track of space and time

And drink the elixir

Of an inner wisdom, divine. 

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.