HOPE

HOPE

How fragile is
The feeling ‘Hope’…
Like a veil over
One’s soul
It flutters with
Every heartbeat…

It is as though
Wings of a butterfly
One moment in flight
The next poised
As we consider a situation,
Some thought.

Fine fairy dust
‘Hope’ is
Being carried away
In the breath
Of a breeze…
Helpless, it blows about
Almost always
Subject to doubt!

‘Hope’ is a treasure
Lost
In the writings of
Jilted loves…
It is a weapon
Not used enough
In war torn places
Where lives are waifs
Misplaced…

Come, find us
‘Hope’,
We are orphans,
Wanderers with no
Place to go…
In hopelessness
We roam…

A drop of water
To a
Thirsting tongue
‘Hope’ is…
The lyric in a
Song
That gladdens a
Grieving heart…

It is a kite
Cut free to soar
Swiftly carried by winds
‘Hope’ is what
Keeps us every day
On our toes…!

                                                                FREDERIKA MENEZES

FADING TO NAUGHT

FADING TO NAUGHT

Happy feelings
Are like grains of sand
Slipping away
Through every hour hand…

No matter how tight
One may grasp
Or how emotionally
Molded
They be
Them feelings once a little dry
Break and fall away
Easily…

Happy feelings
Like paper boats
They are
On a fast moving stream
But slowly getting soaked
And drowning!

A happy feel
Like a house of cards,
It is.
Like a tailor’s unskilled stitch
Easily coming apart
At the seam…

As though a hot air balloon
A  happy feeling will soar,
But when caught in a wayward wind
Lose it will
Its directed vigor…

Happy feelings are
Like sketches
From the paint brush
Of an artist
Who at the end
Abandons color schemes!

Yes, happy feelings are
All these things
But they are more…

They are the waves
At low tide
On a seashore…
A fleeting memory

Of how one often
Dreams one’s life is to be…

Happy feelings
Are frowns that
Once were upside
Down…

Happy feelings
They are drifters
And when they go
One is left with none…

Happy feelings
Like autumn leaves
They are beautiful but
Quietly and quickly
Fading to naught…!

                                                                    FREDERIKA MENEZES

miss Rhyme's Wish

MISS RHYME’S WISH

Young Miss Rhyme
Scribbled a line
About the sand and the sea
Wished she
A poem to write…

But every time
She put pen to paper
She paused,
The chore, she found very hard!

Perhaps it was because
To the seashore
She had not been
For many a long years of
Her living…

Of course, she saw beaches and waves
But from a great distance
In movie scenes
Far removed…

“How I would love
To go to the a seashore,
Hear and see the waves
And feel the sand between my toes…”

Miss Rhyme mumbled this say
To some stranger friends one day!

And she continued to try to
Scrawl
But no verse came from her pen
The page remained blank…

Young Rhyme
Ignored her heavy heart
As it longed for the shores
That would ignite
That inspirational spark…

She went on with her
Other writings!

Her spoken say
Went not unheeded
And her stranger friends
A surprise, planned for her…

One bright afternoon
They bid her come
To a place where
The seashore awaited
To inspire!

Off she went
And once there
The now no longer strangers but friends
Took young Rhyme
By the water’s edge
And there she sat with
Feet in the sand
Awaiting the waves…

The sea sent out ripples to greet her
Her toes they kissed
As she giggled and they receded…

After a time
Disappointment settled
In the poetic heart of Rhyme
“Come waves and hug me
Here I am
Waiting…”

She spoke quietly to the sea!

A roll and a splash
Young Rhyme laughed as she got wetOnce, twice, thrice

The waves struck
And while her friends watched
Young Rhyme knew
Nothing but love and joy
Of an inspired spark
Thanks to the sand, the sea
And her new good friends
Who surrounded her
On the beach!

                                                             FREDERIKA MENEZES;

On Chariots Of Fire

ON CHARIOTS OF THUNDER

Quietly, she bids
Farewell
With each sultry dawn
That rises and sets…

With little
Sorrow
As her heart wishes to show
She is slowly readying
To go...

Soon, she will ride
On chariots of thunder
With tears falling fast
From her blue sky eyes.
Her smiles will turn grim
Her laughter will
Turn to bellowing screams
Upon the wind…

Now, quietly she walks
Her footfalls already
An echo!

The laughs and dreams
She has seen come true
They are locked safe
In her heart…
She collects these
They are her own deeds’ shadows…

Her bags packed
She paces in small steps
Toward the open door
And soon, she’ll be gone!

Leaving though she is
In tears flowing
And soul wailing
Letting gloom take
His stance
In her stead.
Not for long
Will she be gone…

Just a year
Of dull heavens
And little irritating insects
Of the earth sprouting
Wild greens
And of old housetops
Leaking raindrops
While roads and driveways
Resemble rivers
Of slippery treachery!

Please stay
I ask of her
Summer, you are my
Favorite time of the year
Yes, you are my dear…

But she steps slowly
Away from me
Toward the open door
Of the season change…

Quietly she bids
Farewell
Soon, very soon
She’ll be riding
On chariots of thunder
Along streets of lightning…!

                                                                  FREDERIKA MENEZES

A Circle

A CIRCLE

I drew a circle
A perfect one it was.
Inside it
I wrote words
That make me smile
Give me hope…

I drew a circle
Unbreakable a bond
Tied it around people
That to me mean
A lot….

A circle was drawn
And within it
I was placed
Carefree, in a tight loving embrace!

But after a while
The circle widened.
And the bigger it got
More words therein
Were caught…

As it grew
The circle, it began
To feel loose…
Therein I was
Imagine yourself in
My shoes…

From one to another
Word to word
I went
Seeking the smile and hope
As in a circle within a circle
My feet I dragged…

Like being lost
In a forest I felt
Drawing circles with my feet
And my breath…

Round I went
Over and again
Binding myself
In circular says…

Until finally
I forced myself to halt
Erasing the first circle
Along with the words
Unbinding them who
Meant to me, a lot…

I now stand
Pencil in hand
Ready to draw a circle again
Binding just few
Writing just two words
‘Us two’.               

                                                                       FREDERIKA MENEZES

O To Dream

O TO DREAM

To dream a dream
And not speak of it
It is like holding a feather tip
Aloft a scroll
Holding back says
That from the heart
Should flow…

To dream a dream
And just dismiss it
Like old news
No longer of use
It is like
Watching a fire
Burn low
While you sit in the cold
On purpose
As the world turns
Hours old…

O to dream
And not smile
Is to see nightmares come alive…
O to dream and not hope
Is to be as one
With no soul…

To dream and speak of it
Is to be
Alive, in the now
Happy.

To dream and not
Dismiss it
Is inviting into your life
Ever wonderful things
Which to delight in.

To smile when you dream
Is a charm to ward off
Unwanted feelings.

The next time you dream then
Be certain to
Talk of it
With a smile and a lively
Spirit…

Dreams can change your life
And they do
Once you let them
Be that feather tip
That writes your life out
Minute by miniscule minute…!

                                                                          FREDERIKA MENEZES

All I Can Do

For the Nepalis and Indians up North, and all who are and have been severely affected by the Nepal earthquakes since April 2015

All I Can Do

A deep pain
Felt by the earth
The land
Is hurting and being
Torn apart...

I hear the cries of 
People wounded
Lives lost
By the land
Torn apart. ..

How much longer will it
Go on
Mother Nature's 
Punishment
Of the innocent ones?

A war between man 
And nature
A battle to know 
The frailty
Of one another. ..

Both are frail
Heaven, do you not see
Intervene and stop
The earth from 
Trembling
And lives from being 
Lost in scattered agony.

I pray, I plead
It's all I can do
From where the news
I Hear
And read
About the land
Torn apart
In the battle between
Nature and man
As both lose
The fight...! 

                                                 FREDERIKA MENEZES    

No Greater Force

NO GREATER FORCE

Echoes of a past

I never was part of,

Resound in my head

Images of what it must have

Been like

Flash before my eyes…

While I sit in

The present

Making a memory

Of the what is

Playing out

The what was

In seamless ease

There is something

I realize…

I am a warrior

A lover

A battalion

An army

I fight nothing and no one

I wish only for

Peace and friendship

Love and harmony!

Beside me

Are many others

But I do not

Clearly know

How they feel

Who they are

What runs through their minds

Flashing before their eyes...

If the scenes

Are like the ones which flicker

Before my gaze

And the sounds like those which resonate

In my head

Then I know

Alone, I am not

But part of the human army that

Loves to love

And hates to hate!

A greater force, there

Can never be in this world...

Picture a single soldier

Lover, a battalion

An army

Like me

Fighting nobody and for nothing

Merely desiring

Friendship and harmony

Love and peace

For the now

And tomorrow

Just like the heroes

Of the past I never saw,

Sang about and for…

Oh, what a world

It would be

That we’d be living in

A world that now is not!

                                                                                    FREDERIKA MENEZES

Outside From Within

Writing from my wishful heart...

Outside From Within

I awoke by my window
And caught a glimpse of the outside...

The sky was a dull blue
While billows of heavenly smoke
Drifted by...

They drifted East so I 
Made a wish...

That the day star 
From me, be not hid!

But then, the wind sighed
And them billows
Drifted westward and I cried...

'Stop and clear away
I want to be under blue skies not grey!'

As I whispered these words
The wind sighed again
Gently this time...
It kissed my cheek
Clearing my sleep laden lids
It told me a promise...

Sunny days haven't left yet
And hope is what I need, to be 
Outside from within...!

                                                Frederika Menezes