Sunday, 11 June 2023

POEM FOR PEACE

POEM FOR PEACE

Where is Peace
When it's needed
Most?
What of Friendships
And Tolerence?


What has gone
Wrong
With our world
Sulking in
Shadows
Of Indifference?

Love is a
Cast away
An unrequited
Feeling
It would seem...

Just the kind
That was 
Told in stories
Of Romance
Narratives of
Old!

Patience, crawls
Thin
Starved and denied
Of being...

How, oh how
Did humanity
Reach this
State
Where Peace
Is a thing
To be sold 
And bought
Not a beautiful 
Way of 
Living...?

I wonder, I ponder
I think
Sad that this
World is
Teetering on
Destruction's brink!

       FREDERIKA MENEZES 

O RAIN

O RAIN

Silver arrows
Losoosed from
A cloudy
Bow
Strike us
From skies⁶
About 
To earth below...

Not arrows
Of mere
Love
But of a delight
That Rain gifts
Us 
Letting earth
Quench her
Thirst
And grow
Supple!

Such a wonder
It can be
When the love 
And delight
Turn our gentle 
Not violent
Toward
Us living beings...

For, when this
Happens
Destruction
Is what meets
Our sights
And at this
We shut our
Own rainy 
Eyes!

So I have a 
Prayer wish...
Let Rain shoot
Playful, love filled
Delightful
Arrows from her
Bowstring
And allow earth
And being to be
Without loss 
And destruction...

Just let us be!

          FREDERIKA MENEZES 

Saturday, 10 June 2023

OVER AMBITIOUS

OVER AMBITIOUS

There I sat
Lost in thought
I muled
Over
My life's lot...

The joys
Challenges 
What I have
Thus far
Achieved 
And had yet
To accomplish...

Pah!
I exclaimed 
I have reached 
A long way
But have
A longer way
Still to go...

What am I 
Gloating for?
I am grateful!

Folk around me
Climbed down
And up
In their
Doings...

Unhappy, always 
Grumbling 
Frowning...

Why complain
Be grumpy
Unsmiling
When they achieve 
All they
Can and more 
Why not be happy 
With their life's 
Lot?

I wondered
And asked a few
Who in 
Reply shrugged 
Unknowingly...

Funny, I to myself
Mumbled
That like
An overcast sky
People
Hold their breath 
Wanting to
Achieve 
More and more
Without thankfully 
Acknowledging 
All they 
Have done
Til this day
By the sweat
Of their brow...

Perhaps they should
Sit and ponder
As I do
In unspoken
Gratitude!

        FREDERIKA MENEZES 

Friday, 9 June 2023

A RHYME FOR WORDS

A RHYME FOR WORDS

Words...
On a page
They form a
Line
A statement, a
Question
A fhyme...

Of all words 
I choose but two!

These are of 
Power.
They are
Forces of their own...

The Words
Create worlds
And happy homes
Within hearts
Of  those who
Choose them...
.
So much 
Harmony
In discords
So much 
Calm
In storms...

Yes, I know 
Well, I have 
Chosen
The Words
From the 
Wordsmith
Who gave me
Speech!

I am pleased 
With my 
Treasures 
As they 
Dwell on my 
Tongue...

Love and Peace
Are the Words'
Names,
And worthy are
They
Of such 


For, true to
Their forms
They spread
Calm, harmony, 
Joy
Even without being 
Actually called...!

          FREDERIKA MENEZES 

Thursday, 8 June 2023

FROZEN FRAME


FROZEN FRAME

Fragments of a
Single moment
Have caught
My senses...

Like ripples in water
They twirl
In my mind
Even as my heart
Breaks
At being unable
To rewind
This act on life's
Stage!

The breeze blew 
Gentle
The river lapped,
Lazily licking the 
Shore
Taking cares away
Of this world
So tired and old...

Voices spoke 
Laughter rang
Chaotic harmony
Around!

That's when
I spotted the one
Looking at me
Through me as it were
Despite the distance
Stretched between us...

Gazes met
A smile was 
Sent forth...
Time stopped
For too long...

The smile
Was reeled back
By the one given
Like a fishing
Line!

Empty, it returned
To the giver
Before the frame
Unfroze, before
Time once more 
Ticked on
And the genial
Face now unsmiling
Moved on!

The breeze blew
Softly
The waves lapped
At the shore
This time
Asking why I had
Not welcomed the
Kind smile...

I feel regret
Sad even
At my cold
Cold unusual 
Unfriendly act...

Oh let me
See for real
That face
Again
So I might smile
And wipe
My regret away!

           FREDERIKA MENEZES 

Sunday, 4 June 2023

WIND AND SEA

WIND AND SEA

Oh how you
Regale me
With tales of burbling
Mirth
As blowing gently
You caress my
Skin and ruffle
My hair!

A child I am
Once again...

I smile, I laugh 
At your doings
While I marvel at
Your telling...

Tales of adventure 
Of joy, of mystery 
You narrate to me!

I sit and feel
Companionable
I am not alone
In a world so lonely
Treacherous and scary...

The ripples sing 
A mellow tune...
Like Elves tenderly 
Stroking their harps...

Sweet melancholy 
Embraces me
With your tall stories
And the waves roiling
Singing rhymes...

I fall asleep
But not really...
Hard reality is
Far away
As I happily
Sit
In company of
The Wind and Sea...
Unwavering Wavering
Friends
Encompassing me
Ever unfalteringly...

Friends for eternity!


           FREDERIKA MENEZES 


Friday, 17 March 2023

DO YOU HEAR IT


DO YOU HEAR IT?

Softly calls a
Voice
Do you hear
It?

It seeks your
Attention 
Just a moment
Of your
Affection ..

Do you hear
It?

It wants to
Share a secret
Tell a story
Recite a rhyme...

It wants to
Ask you
Will you be 
Mine?

The soft voice
Speaks
But you do not
Hear and if you
Do
You do not care...

You are able 
To brush past it
So why
Stop and heed
What you believe 
Is nothing?

A soft voice 
Calls
Pleads for you
To pause and listen
It likens you
To a friend, a "could be"
More...

Allow, the soft
Voice
Quietens 
It has captured 
A heart
Full of affection 
A mind that
Keeps no time...

The voice softly
Sings
Oh, how wonderful 
Are them songs
And joy 
You are missing!

             FREDERIKA MENEZES