Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 Muse

I do not

Know when you

Will visit me.

Why do you torment

My soul?

You are as unpredictable

As the weather and I

Can’t even catch you.

Where will you go?

When will you return?

My heart is burned

In several places

But you leave no traces

Of your comings and goings

And I can’t write anymore

Thanks to your nature.

You have your moody

Spells, nineteen to the dozen,

And I have lost count of

The times I have begged

An invitation,

But you do not care

Even if I dare and wear

My heart on my sleeve.

Please don’t say you will

Meet me at five

And disappear in a style

Which reveals your character.

I have deadlines to meet

So rise from your dreadful sleep

And give me a break

So I can walk to

The yonder lake

And write a poem:

And, just for a change,

Don’t play games:

Even with my artistic flair

I am compelled to ask:

Will you be there?

Or are you lost to art?

Have you found a 

New master to tease?

Muse,

Don’t forsake me, please.

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.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 

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.

ON CREATING POETRY

It is midnight and

I feel as if

My brain has

Popped out of its skull.

Why?

Well, because I create

Poetry and I am a poet:

I am losing my sanity,

But insanity is a good thing

Because this pleasant

Madness, after all, enables

Me to create poetry.

Thus, I move from here

To there but I know I

Am not going anywhere.

The only fever

I have is for poems.

Otherwise,

Life goes on

At an even pace,

And I feel bored to death.

Therefore, as it turns out,

Poetry is the only saving grace.

Otherwise, I feel almost as if life

Is devoid of any meaning or purpose.

Meanwhile, life rolls on like

The taste of scotch

On your tongue and

You feel almost as

If you are less than one.

Only those who create

Poetry can be considered winners.

The rest of us, I guess, are sinners

Who are destined to walk 

The plank on board

A pirate’s ship—or we

Are like condemned prisoners

Sent to the gallows or we

Are fated to be dropped

Into a raging inferno of nothingness.

Therefore, let poets, like lava,

Emerge slowly but surely

From an erupting volcano

And pray let that volcano

Burn and rage for an eternity.

After all, only poetry can

Lend a helping hand to

Feed and soothe our souls

And heal wounds which we

Have accumulated over

A life-time and even beyond.

Finally, poetry will enable

Mankind to escape from

The transient pleasures

And pains of our bodies

To embrace our shared

And collective experience

Of cosmic consciousness.

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 Literary Pursuits

I do not raise

A bottle to my lips

To drown my sorrows,

But drinking helps me

To forget about you.

I wanted to pursue

You like adolescent boys

Panting after girls 

Wearing micro-mini skirts

But you remained

Outside of my reach.

Even so, I loved how, page

After page, revealed

Your deep and dark secrets

But you were a cave

And I felt lost inside of it.

There were also times

When I felt your soul

Was an area of darkness.

But I did not utter a word

Of protest since I majored

In a subject called economics.

As the years chugged along,

You and I had an uneasy

Relationship and you had

No sense of time

And I found myself

Lost in this bottle of wine.

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.

Poets United Breaks For Summer Vacation!

 Greetings, Readers!

It's that time again. The Poets United Blog will be on summer break effective June 29, 2023 to September 7, 2023.

We look forward to reconnecting at that time, to share our love of poetry & the arts with you.

In the interim, I hope you'll check out the wealth of poetry, resources, and interviews posted on our site.

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions over the break; they will get a response, as time permits.

Have a great, safe 4th of July holiday and summer!

Regards,

Jen

Poets United's Founder & President

Image credit: Pixabay.com

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?

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.

In Tribute* The Poetry of Clara B. Freeman

Poets United mourns the recent passing of former member, Clara Freeman. Clara was a talented poet, activist, author, and senior advocate. Her poetry appeared in numerous anthologies throughout the years. Today, we feature some of her works, in tribute. R.I.P.

YOU

Birds fly

bells ring

all because of you

April showers

budding flowers

clear skies of blue

Grass grows

the crisp white snow

Nature's green

Angels sing

all because of you

PLAYING THE GAME

In the game of circumstance

I sought to conquer your passions,

intent on becoming the woman of your dreams

Used feminine wiles

To tease you into certain submission

Confidence led astray,

I became blinded by my naiveté

I sought to conquer you slowly,

Enslave your manliness for all eternity

You were clever,

A fox in sheep’s clothing,

It was you who captured me

© 1994 CLARA FREEMAN

EXCERPTED FROM “HOME SOMETIMES IS…A LONELY PLACE

Website: https://clara54.wordpress.com/clara-freeman/

Image credit: Picture People

Mother's Day Tributes* By Yasmin Morais

A BOUNCED REALITY CHECK

(For Mama)

Slowly, ever so slowly

her once sharp wit and constant humor faded.

Days rolled into one. Memories were elusive

and friend became stranger.

Danger lurked in once harmless places.

Faces, before familiar, now unrecognized.

She fought to get a grip, to not let reality slip.

Yet the long trip on the roller coaster of mental torment refused to end.

Alzheimer's triumphed, enmeshing her in a prison of delusion

(c) 2011 Yasmin Morais

BLESSINGS

"God bless you my child", my grandma would say

for simple acts of love I'd do each day.

Combing her hair.

A drink of water.

Reading chapters of her favorite book.

All these elicited outpoured blessings, not fully understood

by my young mind.

Now the flowing bounties I see

confirm the legacy of my grandma's blessings

resting on me.

(c) 2011 Yasmin Morais

BIO:

Yasmin Morais was born in Jamaica. She attended the University of the West Indies (Mona) where she completed her Bachelor of Arts (Spanish) and Master of Science (Government, with an International Relations focus). She later moved to Toronto, Canada, where she completed a Master of Science in Information Studies at the University of Toronto. Yasmin also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB, Honors) from the University of London.

Yasmin’s poems have been published in The Potomac, Nursing Science Quarterly, and Pen and Prosper. To promote the work of Caribbean poets, Yasmin created the blog Poets of the Caribbean: poetsofthecaribbean.blogspot.com. 

Her second collection, Questions in Jamaican Patois will be available in the fall of 2023.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers.

Image credit: Pixabay.com