Tikuli – Two Poems


 

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the shadow of the Oak trees
lies heavy on the grass below
no life stirs in the green expanse
that stretches until it meets the sky
with its cargo of clouds

along the distant ridge of hills
dust rises from a winding road
that looks lazily down upon
the slowly moving river
that crosses the land

along that road is our house
the house we loved and shared
until the day we drifted apart
now that lonely house waits
hoping again to become a home



Illusions

I read, I read and I read
until there is nothing more to read
except the newspapers
then I take to the windows
begin to fill my empty hours
gazing into time
that seldom seems to move
on either side of the frame
on the wall my calendar changes
seasons change… people change
but the stillness remains
the silence within me remains
untouched… unchanging

at night the walls become a
presence
and then become walls again
as they merge into each other
to leave only an expanse of black
and then the light
that always hides at the edges
rises swiftly and crumbles my illusion


 

Author’s Statement on Beauty

Human life is filled with beauty, and every moment of it is an irreplaceable miracle and has an element of beauty that is unique. I believe that beauty reflects both strength and vulnerability, and that sometimes shadow, whether in terms of light, sound or emotion is necessary to enhance the vibrancy of the things we find beautiful. Just as the beauty of life lies in its mystery, so the mystery of life lies in its beauty. In art we call this Chiaroscuro. True beauty can visit us in many ways, in laughter and music, in happiness and in sadness, in human achievement and in human failure, in the bizarre and the unusual, and, of course many things that are stereotypically beautiful. To appreciate true beauty, we must look beyond the superficial and embrace with our very being any and everything that speaks to us on an emotional and personal level.


Tikuli is an author from Delhi. Her short stories and poems have appeared widely in print and in online literary magazines including The Smoking Book (Poets Wear Prada Press, USA), Levure Littéraire, Open Road Review, Cafe Dissensus, The Bombay Review and a number of other literary journals. Her writings have also appeared in numerous anthologies including the Le Zaporogue Print editions. Some of her poems were translated in Italian and read at the VerdArti festival at Villa Dolfin, Porcia, Italy. Her debut poetry book Collection Of Chaos was published in 2014 by Leaky Boot Press. More at tikulicious.wordpress.com.