About CC

Elsy Satheesan, a retired Professor of English, had been teaching in colleges under the Govt. of Kerala, India. After retirement she left Kerala for Virginia, USA. She has published her first volume of poems ‘Random Musings.’ She resides at 2046-Via Creek Dr Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903 (USA); and can also be contacted through email: esatheesan@yahoo.com.

1. Choose to Agree with Me?

On a hot summer day

we dream of winter chill.

On a chilly winter day

we long for summer warmth,

always yearning

for the right clime

at the wrong time.

The chill of winter annoys,

so does summer’s hot spell.

If we could plait them

to our comfort,

intermingling

cold with warmth,

life would be too syrupy.

Satiety sets in.

Life gets stale

like plastic flowers.

Brevity is a godsend;

we need night to idealize light,

grief to cherish joy

and tears to value smiles.

I, for one, like Achilles

would vote for brevity

rather than longevity.

Choose to agree with me?

2. Other Ships

Life is here, now
to be lived
moment by moment,
day by day.

But for some,
the dream lies in

the jealous elsewhere.

Do you think
the ideal cars
are what others drive?

the ideal homes,
where others live?

the ideal jobs,
what others have?

the ideal ones,
with someone else?

This is just a delusion
in this uncertain world
of certain delusions.

Listen close to the undulating waves
of wisdom sown by sages.

They enjoin us,

to enjoy what we get,
if we fail to get

what we want.

Every ship
has its own romance,
perhaps more than any other.

There are loads of others

out there, who sense the price

of what we dismiss,

and sigh for them!

Once we assess the price

of our own neglected assets,

our ship will be the most romantic

one, in the whole wide world!

To cut the key to that discovery
one has to cut down, sometimes,

layers of stupidity.

3. Beyond a Point

Beyond a point,

things get past caring.

Who will water

the saplings

so lovingly tended?

Who will feed the birds

that come hopefully

to the feeder?

Who will bake cakes,

blending love and chocolate,

for visiting grand kids?

Who will organize voices,

in the peace loving locale,

against war mongering rulers?

Beyond a point

it gets past caring!

But then, there are

always the others.

Things get done

as earth spins on.

4. Misty Evening

It is misty all around,

I have gone misty

in my memory too.

My sight is dimming

like the faint light

at the fag end of twilight.

But the inward eye

begins to brighten

with a sudden shimmer.

The mist laced vicissitudes

of life, give way

to the brightest vision

of all, I have ever seen!

I begin to see myself clear

without dimming, without veils,

as I get ready to merge

with the brightest light ever!

5. Sleet Smile

Tonight, it is sleet,

silently creeping down

the muted deep freeze,

making the chill

feel alarmingly spooky!

Last week it was

fragile florets of snow,

floating down

with winsome smiles,

filling up land and hearts alike.

Sleet, elongated icicle tears,

rolling down the cheeks

of mother sky searching

for missing star babes,

stay frozen in all

surreal shapes,

hugging bare branches

and blades of grass alike.

But come morn and sun

the icy tear drops

waltz in sparkling rays,

casting rainbows all over.

A melting rainbow icicle,

is like a babe, at once smiling and crying,

with tears of joy along his cheeks,

sighting his mom drawing nigh,

after a few heart beats of lonely grief!