calmkate

Punam of Paeansunplugged

So many of Punam’s poems “touch my heart” but this is one I’ve already featured, she is truly gifted, a real wordsmith, which is special as english is her second language.  Have already featured her on my second blog “Meet the Blogger” back in August 1918, so I’ve been following her for years and feel very closely connected.

Punam’s poem resonated deeply as I feel it echoes the despair, frustration, gloom and other roller coaster emotions experienced over this past year [posted Jan 2021]. The real highlight for me is the analogies that Punam uses relating to her daily life, basing it in her reality as a mother.
I personally believe that our attitude, our perspective can dramatically alter the way we perceive unfolding events!

Tomorrow

Despair is sprawled in the kitchen in the mornings
I pour hot water over it as I make tea
Melancholy sits sulking on the breakfast table
stalling all conversation
I smack it with the newspaper
Frustration lies coiled in every corner
I sweep it away determinedly
Gloom fills the sink along with the dirty dishes
I scrub it hard and wash it away
I try to cajole joy out of its slumber
and borrow exuberance from the birds on the trees
I have been fighting the same battle, these past few months
Losing a few and winning some
Every night I seek refuge in the magical stars
who know too well that sun will rob them of their light
Yet shine bright, not letting forethought wan them
I go to bed with hope in my heart
Tomorrow will deliver what today did not.

joy awaits as I head for my cushion
keen to embrace the solitude
respite from those worldly distractions
keen to coax me into pandemic gloom
I side-step them with persistent effort
knowing that this is what satisfies me
ignore the dirty dish stack
and the unswept floor
is this avoidance or self nurturing
the sun rises on another day
the birds sing with exuberance
acclaiming my morning ritual
ablutions complete
I take my seat
to watch my cavorting mind
hopefully tumble calmly into line
as life whirls about in a vortex
I am here to unwind, tame my mind

d’Verse, a conversation, Sarah

51 comments

  2. I definitely agree with your thoughts about how attitudes can change the way we see/perceive unfolding events….. and during these troubled times, it is truly harder to maintain a positive attitude…
    I find I’m not able to be at my best every day, but I’ve learnt to cope and understand there will days of ups and downs… and that these highs and lows are part life’s current realities… but come what may, I’m always looking forward to the next day….xx

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  3. the birds sing with exuberance
    acclaiming my morning ritual
    ablutions complete

    I love how the birds are relating to your morning ritual 🙂

    That’s so tweet! Oops… I meant sweet!

    -David

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  5. Both of them are exceptionally beautiful, subtly guide, encourage hope. I loved them.💕

    It’s such a pleasure to come across such a beautiful perspective of our todays and tomorrws.

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  7. Kate, it is so humbling to see my poem alongwith your wonderful take! I am touched, I am honoured, I am ecstatic to tell the truth! Believe me I too do just that on some days! It is uncanny how our minds can converge on most things despite the miles dividing us. Love this, sis, and thank you so much for this heartening gesture and verse!❤️

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  8. I can identify with some of those thoughts and feelings. A couple of lines that particularly appeal include:
    Melancholy sits sulking on the breakfast table
    and
    Gloom fills the sink along with the dirty dishes
    and
    the magical stars
    who know too well that sun will rob them of their light
    Yet shine bright, not letting forethought wan them

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    • yes and we all must find our own antidote to that extremely dangerous boredom Michel … creativity, craft, exercise, tasks … our inner resilience can rescue us if we just sit still and listen for a moment!

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  12. I love the way you volleyed ‘tomorrow’ with ‘today’, and ’despair’ with ‘joy’, Kate. Your upbeat conversation is a balm for my current depression. I love that the speaker embraces the cushion and ignores the dirty dish stack and the unswept floor to focus on the birdsong, in order to unwind and tame her mind.

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  14. I enjoyed both of these poems, Kate. In answer to your question:
    ‘ignore the dirty dish stack
    and the unswept floor
    is this avoidance or self nurturing’
    It’s definitely self-nurturing as I do it all the time!
    I can also really identify with these lines from Punam’s poem:
    ‘I have been fighting the same battle, these past few months
    Losing a few and winning some’
    I always feel bad when I let negativity win. But it’s just part of the journey.

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  15. Both the poems of Today and Tomorrow are so perfect. Every words is beautiful and so rightly said. The last year has at times seeped us of our sanity but with love and kindness and seeing positivity in everything one can push forward and go beyond. Lovely picture too, Kate.

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  18. This was an excellent piece and an engaging read Kate — well written. I think we are all living a life of avoidance, perhaps even denial for some. Happy & Healthy New Year to you and yours. Here’s to writing more wonderful poetry in 2021.

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  20. Love this especially; ” take my seat to watch my cavorting mind hopefully tumble calmly into line as life whirls about in a vortex.” 🙂 Beautifully done.

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  22. These brought tears to my eyes…both written so beautifully, so true, so relatable, so encouraging!
    Each day I’m actively seeking to show Frustration, Gloom, Despair, Melancholy, ETC, the door….and letting joy and hope have free rein of the place. 😉
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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  23. Attitude is what can make and break a day. Lovely poems about finding hope. Dishes can wait. Mental and physical help need to be maintained in order to gift others with our selves. 😀

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  24. Beautiful poetry and relevant too! Perspectives and perceptions can become powerful choices with having that intention of alignment. Self care and self love are both the means and a result – the dishes can wait until we find the sweetness of washing them too. Having said that, I am compulsive about having an empty sink to give myself a fresh start each morning 🙂

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  27. I love that meditation calls despite the presence and pressure of everyday living… I spent a whole hour meditating today. I was very relaxed and all of a sudden I felt the urge to create! It was such a wonderful feeling!!
    I do especially enjoy Punam’s poetry too!

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  28. It resonates so much with the individuals life during these pandemic days. The stressful air with the mundane texture wearing us all down.
    Love the carving of both the poems.

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  29. I love this pair of poems. You’re right, those domestic analogies in the Punam poem are great. The thing that stood out for me in your poem was the importance of holding on to the self-nurturing things – especially at the moment. The effort that takes – but it’s worth it. Reading it this morning, of all mornings, I’m very aware of the worldly distractions and the vortex out there. Thank you for the reminder that true strength and calm come from within us, and need nurturing.

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