BEAUTIFULLY STRONG

GRACEFULLY STRONG

On a sultry
Eve
Graceful and strong
You came
To me...

One smile and
A hello
And we knew
We were meant to
Be...

Time trickled
Grains of
Sand
Slowly as we
Talked
We held hands...

Magical was
The feel...
And rightly so
It turned out to
Be the real deal!

We shared hours
Of endless chatter
Laughs and quiet
Grins...

Meaningfully we
Bonded
Over things so
Common
It surprised me
To my core...

The depth
Is deep
The feels, strong
On that sultry
Eve
How grateful and
Glad I am
Oh gracefully strong...!

                 FREDERIKA MENEZES

...WILL I EVER FIND IT?

...WILL I EVER FIND IT?

Like the rain
And snow
They fall, my feels
Upon a million
Lives..

I watch and wait
To see
If any of
My feels
Touch any heart...

I find it not
To be so...
Oh, how sad...
My feelings go
Unreturned!

Like the waves
Of the sea
Emotions crash
Upon rocks and shores...

Oh won't anyone
Cup a handful
Of my love, affection
Joy and passion?

Like a gentle
Breeze
A strong wind
The breaths of
My heart, blow...

Oh does anybody
Feel me breathe?

Frail life
That I am
I look for strength
In love...

Will I ever
Find it...?

                FREDERIKA MENEZES

AFTER YESTERDAY

ÀFTER YESTERDAY

I sit and wonder
What a marvel a day
Can be...

It holds promise
With the first
Rays of
Daylight
But for only
Those who see it
With a smile!

How many of us
Wake up
Frowning,
Thinking of how
Dull another day will be?

A day is
Twenty four friends
All siblings
From the house of
Hours
Who join
To make us feel good
Not bad or horrible...

And how do many
Of us say thank you?

By frowning, grumbling
And being grumpy...

How bad, how mean
A lot, we are
When we are gifted
Days and days on end
With such promises
That we can be richer
Than
Queens and kings!

Yes, it is time
For us to open
Our eyes
Every morn
With a smile
And thank
The stars we got
The chance to
See a new day
After yesterday ...!

Rain

RAIN

Oh I hear
The clouds are
In child birth...

Their cry is loud
As thunder
Their suffering
Is bolts of lightning...

The mother clouds
All gather in
The sky
They crowd about
The sun
For comfort
As now, is their time!

The birth giving
Is glorious
And a needed respite
To us on the
Ground...

How evil
We are...
Use we do the new borns
To quench our thirst
And water our field
Of grain...

What an evil people
We are...
Forgive us
Mother rain
For murdering
Your rain drops
Your little ones
Whom you
Birthed...

But we need the water
The little drops
Make our rivers flow
Our food grow
Our thirst die.

The rain drops
Make us, in relief
Sigh...!

       FREDERIKA MENEZES

WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER 

I met him

Once

At a wedding party...

There he was

A great man

Dressed

So simply...

No airs of

Aloofness 

Surrounded him

A man with 

A heart

And soul

Who had

A sense of wit

About him...

This is what   

I know him for

And shall never 

Forget!

Greatness simplified

And personified 

Is what, he was.

And he might be

Gone now physically 

From our midst

But in every

Goan who understood 

Him

He forever lives...!

            FREDERIKA MENEZES

\

LITTLE LIFE

LITTLE LIFE

A little life
Once decided to
Take a stroll...
It wanted to see
Just how big
Was the world...

It tumbled out
Of its mom's
Cozy womb
And from its 
First cry
It grew and grew and grew!

It was named and 
Began to crawl, then walk
On tiptoes, like a 
Ballerina
And then she, the little life 
Began to fall....

Blue eyes
Turned hazel and grey
They looked at the world
Uncomprehendingly...

Little life didn't know 
How to read or write 
But she did know 
To play 'imagine'
In her mind...
Days, weeks, months and
Indeed years flew by
Little life
Grew ladylike!

Now she knows the world
Is huge
But not incomprehensible 
As once it was!

She reads and writes
Little life does.
She holds dear love and peace
And friends and dear ones...
It matters not that she cannot walk
For,
Little life realizes
Her purpose in being born
Was to create a world 
Of words within one
Of acts!

And when she wonders
Whether it was the best 
Idea to tumble out into
The world,
She smiles thinking
Yes, it was...!

                                 FREDEDRIKA MENEZES            

THE JOY OF FOREVER

THE JOY OF FOREVER

Paint me a picture
Where the sun is bright
And sky
Knows no dark...
Where flowers bloom
And the grass blades sway 
Paint me a picture 
Of a never ending 
Happy day...

Sing me a song 
With words that mean
Everything, but so long...
Sing it loud, sing it clear
That my heart and soul 
Might hear!

Pen me a letter
With your handwritten script
That my eyes
Might know you 
Care enough to
Do it...
That I may find it
As days of old
Not in my "Inbox"
But delivered by post...

Spare me a thought 
Where I am smiling and you are too
Spare me the sweet thought
Of a great happy life
With you!

And finally
Say to me whenever you can
How you feel
Toward this here special friend...
That my ears might hear
And my mind forever remember 
Your voice 
When you spoke with words
True and tender...!                              FREDERIKA MENEZES