Floral hats and flowers in boots..
The hat and the scarf waiting for the master and the mistress..
(Both these photographs are from the Philadelphia Flower Show- from different years)
Fall and my Heart
The crunch of leaves beneath my feet
Sends me reminders, gentle but discreet
Of how my heart was like the leaves of autumn
Fallen and crushed, as it hit rock bottom..
When you walked away, without explanation
On a crisp fall day, following our altercation
Before I could regret and apologize
Before dewy sadness could moisten my eyes
You were gone, I was left to shudder
In the cool autumn air, I was left with no rudder
Like a bright yellow leaf separated from its tree
Benumbed, I just wandered aimlessly
As days went by, my hopes were stripped bare
Like the trees lost their leaves, for winter to prepare
When the harsh winter declared its presence
My frost-crusted heart tried to ignore your absence
Wasn’t until spring that my emotions could thaw
I was still hurting, my wounds were still raw
I let go of anger, gathered strength to apologize
As I did so, I searched for the same in your eyes
Though we said sorry, we never got back together
Spring came, and I was lonely in perfect weather..
**
Now I remember every fall, how we fell apart
Like leaves on the ground, crushed was my heart
It had bled, in fiery red shades of autumn
A longing for lost love fills me each fall season.
Weekly Photo Challenge: (Extra)ordinary
This rock formation in Ausable Chasm (in the Adirondacks region of upstate New York) is called “Elephant’s Head”, true to its extra-ordinary shape..
Travel Theme: Letters
Some fun with letters (and words)!
At the Museum of Art and Design, New York City
Jack o’ Lanterns at Keene Pumpkin Festival (Keene, NH) with letters carved out- can you spot some names of sponsors?
I’ve been itching to share this on my blog- a sinister exchange between two premieres at the height of cold war- at the Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Linking to :
Inner freedom
When I was young I did think
That freedom was, of growing up a part
It took forever for the idea to sink
That the true sense of freedom lay in the heart…
As a child I envied grown-ups who could
Go anywhere without permission
I had decided that as an adult I would
Do nothing that was not of my volition.
In the naivete of youth I did not realize
Freedom comes with clauses too many
Freedom always exacts its price
Down to every last cent and penny.
Freedom carries with it the baggage
Of responsibility with it always
They come as an all-inclusive package
These two can never part ways..
The burden of responsibility may
Tie you down in shackles again
Therefore at the end of the day
The exhilaration of freedom goes down the drain!
**
The true essence of freedom lies inside
It is a state for ourselves to discover
By losing attachment to everything outside
We achieve our goal of freedom inner.
Self-discovery
All my life I’d tried in vain
To metamorphose into the ideal
Woman as I’d seen again and again
Described in books or captured on reel
Right off the bat had I realized
Some crucial features I did not possess
I lacked the requisite height or the prized
Luxurious hair, with which God did not bless
So I tried to work with what I was given
Tried to slim down to the ideal size
But the ideal figure that I could envision
Would never be mine, woefully did I realize
I tried my best to behave in a manner
Befitting a female member of my society
Trying to create an aura of subtle glamor
Was a concept so foreign, it provoked some anxiety…
**
I was unhappy with myself, felt defeated
I could never be the ideal woman I epitomized
When I tried to emulate her, my soul felt cheated
That ideal must be wrong for me, I finally surmised
**
Yes, I could be quite loud and opinionated
My manicure would be chipped off before it had dried
My hair would never stay in their place designated
My mascara would run over as if I had cried
Extra slabs of fat clung to me tenaciously
Glamor and I had no relation whatsoever
So I accepted that this was me, graciously
And shifted my focus to what I could do better.
**
Devoid of illusions I tried to explore
My strengths that did not match that ideal
And to my surprise I found many more
Talents within me, things I could now feel
It took me some time to accept that I was
A nonconformist in more ways than one
And it was all right to be who I was, because
I was the best I could be, instead of a mere imitation!
Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge- Man Made Stuff
Here’s a collection of man-made orchids- if you are not careful, you can easily mistake them for the real thing!
How colorful are these ceramic objects at Old Town, San Diego?
Tempting man-made fruits- at the Corning Museum of Glass
Embracing minimalism
Looking at my storage shelves one day
I saw things spilling out every which way
Clothes, accessories, books and journals-
Realized I was surrounded by disorder infernal
Too many objects, creating clutter and chaos
Things bought at random, reason “just because”
Acquired for pleasure, but causing irritation
Adding to my stress were my prized possessions….
**
Looking at the mayhem, on an impulse I decided
Acquiring stuff for pleasure was a goal short-sighted
I no longer owned my stuff, but my stuff now owned me
Fettered by possessions, I no longer felt I was free
I had to let go and downsize, of that I was certain
What did I love least-now that was hard to ascertain..
Tempted was I to hold back to objects sentimental
Letting go of my belongings was a task monumental
**
As more of a minimalistic lifestyle I embraced
More unnecessary clutter from my life I erased
Taking this concept another notch further
I stopped doing things non-essential altogether
Discovered the joy of a simple lifestyle
Making life meaningful and every moment worthwhile!
Of corners and happiness
Happiness we pursue relentlessly
Hoping we will find it one day, finally
In an unexpected corner of the universe
This hidden corner must be a curse
Because the earth is round as we know
We can’t find a corner, though far we may go..
Like a mirage in the desert, these corners are
Figments of our imagination, that travel far
Corners are products of human design
In nature sharp corners you may not find
Light cannot around a corner bend
A corner is where a light ray finds its end
How can then the rays of happiness bright
Reach the corners to dispel the darkness of night
**
The message behind these rambling thoughts is actually
Happiness begins not from a corner, but centrally..
From the focal points of our lives, our hearts’ centers
Happiness springs, and dark corners enters.
Travel Theme: Intense
While the word can have many interpretations, the force with which water cascades down at Niagara Falls is intense..
Celebrating diversity
In our lives we all enjoy variety
Variety is indeed celebrated in society
A range of experiences in cuisine, fashion and art
Give an impression of being smart
What a well-rounded individual, people say
You can win admiration in any soiree
Mankind was designed to explore and savor
Diversity in this world, taste every flavor..
**
Variety is great as long as it is confined
To inanimate objects, pursuits of the mind
Yet when we talk of diversity of human race
Variety seems to lose its exalted place
Most of us then tend to somehow lean
Towards “our kind”, we try to convene
With those who share our cultural belief
Being in like company is a relief
Those different from us we tend to criticize
Difference is essential, we do not realize
For all the other experiences varied
Are tied in with cultural differences indeed!
**
Cultural diversity if we could celebrate
If we could learn how not to discriminate
Among each other, and try to understand
Different view-points of the earth’s inhabitants
May be more peaceful we could be
And end senseless violence gradually..
The journey and the destination
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway
Six billion souls on this planet each day
With fresh hope set out on their way
Ostensibly to their places of work, their vocation
In reality, searching for the one destination
The fabled land of contentment profound
The land where perpetual happiness is found..
**
Six billion souls, many often tend to forget
At the end of life’s journey, all they would regret
Is not having enjoyed each moment of the process
Having spent their lives chasing evasive success
In trying to race towards their destination
With steely resolve and grim determination
They never stop to smell the roses on their way
Miss joie-de-vivre of their journey, day after day
**
Interwoven in the fabric of each life is the thread
Of happiness, which lies in the journey,instead
Of being parked at a specific unattainable location
Let’s enjoy this journey, not focus on the destination!
Passion...unbridled 
