Touch

touchThe touch that sent 

Ripples through me

Was it an accident

Or was it meant to be 

A wordless expression

Of love so profound

That simmering passion

Had an outlet found…

The touch that sent me

In the throes of torment

All  by myself and silently

I tried to decipher what it had meant

Was it a guileless gesture?

While lovesick and dazed

I tried to treasure

The touch that had left me amazed.

With my heart I can swear

That this physical contact

My soul it did tear

It left nothing of me intact

The fire that this touch ignited

Burnt with a fierce intensity

The passion that this touch had incited

Threatened to destroy my sanity. 

Then, at the peak of my yearning

Relief and succour came to me

You answered the question burning

Declaring your love so elegantly.

Years later, I still crave

The touch that started it all

Ardent memories I have saved

Of that mutual encounter so small.

Weekly photo challenge: symmetry

DSC03754Waterfall at the Wynn Hotel, Las Vegasorchid 12Symmetry of an orchidDSC03066Colosseum at Rome

5 Day Black and White Photograph Challenge: Day Three

All right, I could not play for 2 days because I worked for 40 hours straight…

I am back with my entry for day 3.

vieques serenity (2)Tranquil sea at Vieques, Puerto Rico

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #6

Here are my entries for my favorite challenge-bermudaAll roads lead to the sea- in a resort at Hamilton, Bermuda

niagara fallsWalking beside Niagara Falls, New York

DSC03761 (2)The desert sun beating down, Las Vegas, Nevada

DSC03644 (2)Corridor through a Hindu temple in New Jersey

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Let’s Go Fly a Kite

Fly away, at the end of the string

Fly away, at the start of spring

Up, up, up and away

In the cool breeze you may sway

Feel the freedom of a lie

Though you soar in the sky

Your fate is linked to my skill

With one tug of the string I can kill

Your towering ambition to fly

Until then, you may rise high.

kite fishkite princesskite scorpion
kitesThese photographs were taken at the Berkeley Kite Festival, California.

The prize

“You have the right to perform your actions but do not let the fruit be the purpose of your actions, and therefore you won’t be attached to not doing your duty.”

-Bhagwad Gitacup montreal museum of fine artWhen I was young I was taught

To go on working without a thought

Wasted on the fruits of my labor

Fortune, I was told, would favor

Me if I could make a distinction

Between anticipated results and actions.

Why then can I not apply

This principle even though I try

Why can I not avert my eyes

From the distant gleaming prize?

Just focus on giving each job my best

Lay all expectations of outcomes to rest.

When did I acquire this greed,

How did the prize become a need?

Anticipation of results eroding slowly

Into my work imperceptibly

Sucking out of work all happiness

Making the journey so tedious

By focusing on the final destination,

That focus turning into an obsession.

***

A new vocation did I find

Complex enough to challenge my mind

With no definite end in sight

No temptation of a prize to fight

All I had was the work at hand

I plunged into it, my future unplanned

Rejuvenated, I discovered my passion

In bringing my arduous task to fruition.

My journey was suddenly satisfying

When for the prize I was not trying.

More happiness, though was in the wake,

When at the end, as icing on the cake

A huge prize I won as my reward

For toiling away and working hard!

5 Day Black and White Photograph Challenge: Day Two

Here’s my entry for today:boat (2)              Reflection in a tranquil lake

Fate

You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.

-French proverb

DSC04308

My fate with you was intertwined

To be with you I was destined

Try as I did to fight my fate

Tempting time to stand still and wait

While I dabbled in waters new

Swimming aimlessly, without a clue

Waiting for the shore to come in sight

As I stubbornly continued to fight

The trail ahead blazed just for me,

Turning a blind eye constantly.

Audaciously I thought I could steer

My fate away from directions clear

I had established in my mind

Wishful thinking could leave my fate behind..

What I then did not realize

Later it came as quite a surprise

When all said and done, you and I

Came together, I understood why

Fate had decreed events this way-

‘Cause this is what my heart would say..

I had ruthlessly crushed its voice

Beneath my mind’s archaic choice.

In the end the stars were aligned

Such that my heart won over my mind!

One Word Photo Challenge: Seafoam

sea caves bermudaStalactites and stalagmites in a sea cave, BermudacaesarsFountain outside Caesar’s Palace Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

monterey pacificPacific ocean at Monterey, California

5 Day Black and White Photograph Challenge: Day One

Thanks to Cee Neuner for inviting me for this challenge! Please check out her blog for amazing photography and fun contests.

My entry for today is a vista of the city of Florence, Italy.

DSC03327 (2)I now invite Retiree’s Diary to participate in the challenge. I admire photographs curated from all over the world on this blog.

Change

Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. 

–George Bernard ShawDSC04457 (2)

Patterns of behavior tend to recur

Behavior of others and mine

Our responses to stress may differ

But in known molds they always align.

Life, it seems, for the most part

Is lived in a fluid chain

Of patterns repeated intervals apart

In situations varied, again and again.

Creatures of habit we tend to be

Unwilling to change familiar patterns

Courage it takes to change mentality

Back to old habits we tend to run.

***

Change is the only constant around,

The world keeps changing ever so fast,

Changes in manner of living abound

Letting go of the forgotten past.

Human behavior is the last to change

Ever so resilient, ever so stubborn

But slowly, albeit in a narrow range

Change does occur in known patterns.

Change is the need of the hour

In a world shrinking with rapidity

We need to stretch our vision far,

Connect with each other with avidity.

Forget differences of race and creed

Remember we are all the same

Bound together despite individual greed

We are just pawns in Creation’s game.

Action and Reaction


In this universe every action

Has an equal and opposite reaction

Centuries ago did Newton claim

One of the laws that brought him fame…

I feel the truth of this dictum

Navigating through life’s humdrum,

Where every action that I take

Provokes a reaction in its wake

Setting in motion a cascade

Of consequences hard to evade.

Hurtful actions from my side

Set in motion a downward slide

Of hatred, guilt, anger and misery

Distressing everyone around me.

While good deeds that I perform

Make happiness around me swarm.

Newton’s laws I was taught

As a child, but I never thought

This principle of physics applied

Also to the spiritual side

Karma obeys Newton’s laws

Effect always follows cause.

Good karma, it seems I can spread

If I help those around me instead

Of doing things for selfish gain-

My life path is now clear and plain.  

KARMA slide