Sangeetha Kamath

  Scintillating icy stars and snow bow prisms on winter sky edge Mistletoe kisses! Oh! Jolly surprises Mottled sky in winter's rasp with rolling clouds of deep pewter Rime glistens on gnarled twigs of silhouetted willow wands cluster  To pirouette in my ivory gown of tiffany lace and silver-toed ballerina slipper December dream wishes of shine and shimmer Listening to Larch and Alder trees whispering charming fairy tales Whilst munching on gingerbread cookies and rum-raisin cakes soaking in citrus glaze Winter moon brightens silver-blue skies– a lustrous opaline chandelier We sip mulled plum wine while caroling around a toasty bonfire  Ivy vines and eucalyptus wreaths perfuming every corner Cranberry garlands decor the mantel, in crystal vases stand bouquets of lavender Fragrant pines are sequined with baubles, trinkets and star-spangled glitter,  Peppermint candy canes, tinsel and fairy light tassels adorn fragrant cedar Festoons of bonny lambs of downy fleece aroun...

  Winter’s aria glides like a gauzy gossamer veil Over the pastures, brooks, valleys and dales Gold and silver flecks pirouette in a frosty serenade Snow adorns the eaves, picket fences and the glade With holly twigs for arms outstretched, gazing with my lifeless blueberry eyes  I long to be at the table laden with warm food and delicious toffee pies Across the brumal vanilla whisper, gleams a wonderland of diamante sequin The birch and oak laden showering me with clumps of snow, a roly-poly mannequin The door bursts open and the children are back Squealing excitedly, they plonk around me making snow angels and a round track Tamping down toy rails and setting on them  trains, locomotives and engines They dress me up in a tweed jacket and a woolly hat, on my scarf is brooch of a silver bell that chimes Voila! Now I'm a station master holding red and green flags A smile has been carved on my face and stuffed with slices of red velvet cakes Joy abounds as I soak in the jambo...

  Christmas is coming, Christmas is here Please come home for the holidays my near and dear The eight pointed star of sweet crumb golden, Pandoro Crammed in my tote is a list of Christmas shopping to-do: Stollens with candied peel and nuts Panettone with almonds and fruits Marzipans with royal icing sugar; Oh what a treat, why does Christmas come only once a year? Pathways of fairy lights lead to the star-spangled crest Candy cane of red and white amid the baubles, trinkets and twinkling light With apple strudels, blueberry pies, sipping warm drinks around the fireplace Let's bite into gingerbread cookies and raisin-rum cakes drizzled with zesty glaze Brownie fudge sundae and melted chocolate on top  Mulled cranberry wine, mince pie and some champagne to pop  Sauntering into the pine woods for our Christmas tree  Returning home to aroma of freshly baked log cakes and caroling melody  As we snuggle in warm quilts and sip hot chocolate in front of the fireplace,...

  She sits like a regal queen with her face of mellow gold Her throne floating on a sapphire sea encrusted with diamonds new and old She shies and shrinks into a crescent, a blade of glinting scimitar  When she throws back her gauzy veil, umber shores glow rutilant in cinnabar Tree tops of Juniper and Rowan, Beech and Pine Over steeples and towers, the countryside is a silver shine Riding on fleecy clouds she dances among the stars The orchards are bathed in pearly light, dangling fruits of citrine spectacular Coves and glens shrouded in a mystical haze When the harvest moon drips her dew on silken cobwebs Like a thousand scintillating lamps the water lilies glow In a myriad of hues violet, mauve and yellow Summer seas and amaranthine lavender fields,  Chilled autumn nights and frosty winter freeze Hedges of emerald, garnets of wild roses,  Spring garden of bluebells and foxgloves sparkle in beryls and turquoises Melancholic moon, I embrace your power sovereign ...

 Under the spreading branches of a juniper tree stands a mailbox forlorn in the winter's snow Derelict with a moss covered facade, the house too is a treasure trove of souvenirs and a curio The door, a color of summer violets and forget-me-nots blue Waits for someone to knock on it to make all their dreams come true As I hold this old photograph between the strings of my heart Speaking volumes about the history of this quaint little town is only a start  From a sliver of time, a tiny vault of memory whispers a strain of melody An unwritten story, an unsung song or a heartfelt poetry  Upon the sun-warmed beach we had built sandcastles, turrets and towers Snapshots as we picked seashells or in the sand, carved some flowers  Swathed in silks your hair had shimmered like diaphanous pixie wings under the autumn moon Your eyes radiant like a chatoyant jewels had glittered with hues of the ocean and water lilies in bloom If my world was a palette of paint, you were the blue...

Flaming wands of scarlet and crimson Swaying in the November chill amid dainty barley and sturdy corn golden  They sing of the fallen and the courageous martyred veterans Glory of the long ago battles and noble wars lest they're forgotten Carpeting the lea under a solemn saffron sky Like ballerinas they poise somberly remembering the last unsaid goodbye Gunshots rent the air and bullets whizzed close by Bravely they stood their ground defending country, town and the vast expanse of our sky A badge of respect to honour everyone we lost  For an unsung hero whose valour was at a cost Far away from family and home, ricocheting cacophony all around  Red hearts bloom, a reminder of carmine trickles on holy frosted ground Through treacherous terrains, mountains and sand dunes Artillery ripped the land while our bravehearts sang patriotic tunes Poppy fields sprawling and wide stand testimony To the battlegrounds roaring to restore peace and harmony Sanctimonious are these pasture...

                  EMBRACE AND ERASE  On the primrose hued, sun warmed sand Is a tapestry of footprints scattered across the craggy land Rugged rocks and crashing waves embrace and erase Some fond reminisces and bitter memories Tides pull and the tempestuous ocean rolls Moonlight beckons me to the silver shores Briny summer breeze fragrant of the deep blue Dances through our tousled hair as we sprint with a hullabaloo Seashells, pebbles and starfish dot our path Our walk is sometimes languid, sometimes brisk and fast I look back at the trail I created with a wistfulness A stealthy froth claiming it with all eagerness Sweet is the melody of the distant roar Calming my senses as I recall every storm and downpour As I tilt my head heavenward and see the north star sparkle Safely tucked in my heart is also a glowing ember Two sets of footprints there were sometimes three A solitary walk it was ultimately destined to be Tests and trials, triu...

                           REGAL PAGEANT  Wading through a sea of people, searching for your face I find A muse to write on, in my poet's mind Maps and constellations don't lead me to you Neither do flashing lights or signals new In a serene garden I wait for the butterfly Or the quiet zephyr that comes rolling by Frosted winter nights and icy blue skies Snowflakes now drip in the chilling daylight The countryside pasture and deep gorges with wildflowers Gossamer wreaths of mists on snow peaked mountain towers In gloom of a moor and gray turbid fog Fireplaces crackle amid the gales sweetest songs The moon glows on my face and stars twinkle in my eyes brightly The pearly planets swim merrily in an ocean of galaxy Nightingales and larks chirp ballads and memories are unlocked Raw emotions thread their way into a heart, long parched  Snuggling in silence, I want to hear my own voice Away from dinning city mobs ...

                        VISTAS RUSTIC  Meandering through the infinitely verdant hills, valleys and dales Fringed with wildflower shrubs of hues bright and rare Is a road that leads from a bustling city  Into the heart of solitude and serenity  Stretching endlessly towards a cozy hearth and home Soaking many golden sun rays and silvery moonbeams under a starlit dome Giggling with mirth, we had with a bounce in our step, strode Played hopscotch to the beat of nursery rhyme jingles or the bicycles we untiringly rode Hot summery days and on cool wintry nights,  On these familiar paths, we knew every curve, turn and crossroads, alright! In the bleak and ashen night as I sit on these curbs Exploding in the heavens are a billion stars giving me eternal hope The road most travelled can't be erased from my soles, oh never! The weary always find their way back home, the calling is an echo loud and clear! With every s...

                                                    MARMALADE SKY  Unspoken words, uncomfortable silences Unresolved emotions on various tangled threads Careening to rock bottom when the night is freezing cold A mellow light shines through when the dawn is nearly gold When the heart hangs heavy and defeated Assuring myself tomorrow will bring a solution and problems will be depleted What secrets behold, what mystery is about to unfold? Tomorrow is not promised yet I with bated breath tread on this unknown road Curves and bends show me pathways new Trails and alleys to explore meandering through Tomorrow is a fiction, yet I want to write this story To keep my dreams flickering by weaving some fantasy It's my rosy hued world where everything is hunky-dory An escape from this daily grind there isn't surely If tomorrow comes I will greet the marmalade s...

                                     YIN AND YANG  She sailed through a volatile sea of emotions  Wandered through thick forests loaded with darkness You found her like the night cradles the moon in full luminescence  While they danced on the edge of the twilight sky, The stars sparkled and multiplied their joy In the depth of the inky black when all was  still and very quiet A sprinkle of star rays glimmered, a whisper of a spark guiding her to the light  Celestine beloveds are the moon and the sun albeit star-crossed  When they decide to shine as one, the world is in shadow plunged Away from the blinding city lights, darkness is her cocoon  With dim incandescence of rays borrowed from the moon Dark is a side to her where the moon couldn't shine Light became her which the sun couldn't undermine "Flawed yet I'm glowing like the mother of pearl", she sang Ligh...

                         CALL OF THE CARDINAL A million dreams burn and shine like stars serenading the distant moon  As I listen to the haunting songs of larks and the nightingales that croon Swimming beneath the ocean and soaring above the clouds Dancing on a blanket of snow or building my home on a treetop But life is a broken winged bird that always trips and falls  Even when a red robin or a cardinal coos  and calls A dim spark sets ablaze the fall colors in the bleak nights  When dreams knock on my door wearing shimmery lights Life plays a tug of war, a toy with my heartstrings,  Yet the roses smudge bright and good luck they bring Closing my eyes and waving a silver wand Sizzling like a meteor and traveling like the shooting star in the blue beyond  Diving into my dreams and cooking up a storm Embracing my flaws, the ember of passion keeping me warm Faraway from familiar forests and vil...

    BY THE LANTERN LIGHT In the fury of a storm or in a rich hum golden In every floral parade of spring and midwinter frozen, I want to believe in myself and be thankful for the blessings  To dance in the rain, play in the snow and look for the silver linings Saccharine colloquy were a masquerade, just a fancy and frill Standing rooted to the spot as time came to a ticking standstill  Twists and turns, labyrinths of curves and bends Some bridges were never to be crossed again, some lanes led to a dead end People were rivers, ever flowing, moving with the tide Some lush meadows were now only a barren countryside  Country roads and city streets take me home today to that house down the lane with bright lights dispelling the gray  Where joyful squeals were abound and feast halls were crowded  With pixie dust every nook and cranny was generously showered The walls that still speak of the dreams untold, tiny and tremendous The halls that resound with echoe...

TIMELESS TALES  There was a time when photos were Black & White, Monochrome, Sepia; once upon a time But the trees in your backyard were a much idyllic Green--Chartruese, Jade, and Lime The fire in your hearth, glimmering as you stoked it---a sunset Orange, red-hot Tangerine and Amber  The skies, immensely boundless, a deep  pristine Blue--Sapphire, Azure and Cornflower  As you pointed out to me the floating, frothy clouds, the eagles with their fanned out wings gliding; Or the occasional, lone airplane soaring dominantly, a tiny speck high up, chinks of silver light like stars, crystal and diamond glinting... The twilight sky from our patio-- A splendid star-spangled show  With ribbons of plum and blueberry rivers on a dome Violet  The Ivory sequin of the heavens, the Mother-of-Pearl full moon as big as my palm, incandescent ! Outstretching them to catch a Silvery beam or perhaps to stroke The fabled Grey rabbit who you said, the carrots and the beetro...

                                                           WARPAINT  Mirror,mirror crack'd on the wall… I wore a chambray heart in a world so artificial, now I'm a shattered porcelain doll You reflect all my fears and flaws beautiful and bold, Your icy sheen casts me in a light  indifferent and cold It's a bleak truth, but, in your million shards I'm whole Sewn with gilded threads, I conceal scars and purple welts cruel Shattered, splintered, fragmented yet I reign and rule! Branched out lines, snapped spider webs of sheer silvery white shrapnel  On an ornate goblet, a studded chalice soaking midwinter night In equal measure float in droplets of rain and bleak sunlight  Through the serrated and jagged edges of the crystalline pane Looms a coastline of a faraway island empty and bare The chaotic edges have seen ravages o...

                            BRAMBLE 'N ROSE When shadows of the past climb over walls and dance on your ceilings And dark threads of sorrow and misery weave their tapestry of failings  The lines are blurred, lies and truths are filtered Fragments of sunlight bounce of the shards of your spirit; splintered, Sprinkle a mist of respite in the twilight hush Even if eclipsed, remember, the hallowed moon is a full circle with a halo and silver  blush You're entitled to have your fears without being called a coward by any norms It's okay to collapse, crash and crumble but it's not okay to lay down your arms!  Bounce back on your feet! Soldier onward! Draw your courage like a sword and envelop your faith like an iron shield  Wear your confidence like an armor;  You're allowed to fail without being tagged a failure! Face the sun, catch a sunbeam in your palm; The sunlight in your face, the toasty,...

                            B RONZING SUNSETS  The dreamy nights sparkled and blazing mornings shone The flaming copper and bronzing sunsets in the distant horizon When the faintest breeze could crumble and shatter her  Steadfast she stood, braving the summer storms like a wildflower A river she was, carving a path through mountains, valleys, hills and dales A will-o'-the wisp floating through moors, meadows, woods and glades Starlight drizzled through her fingers  As the wildfire in her heart crackled to an ember  The grass was not greener on the other side, the ocean was just as deep The skies were not always cloudless and powder blue, every slope was steep Blending the silence and noise in her heart full of hidden crevices  Rough patches were sewn with teardrops as were deep rooted bruises Marching to the beat of her drum  And dancing to her own rhythm  If she can't dazzle sh...

                     CHERRY AND GOLD  A swan shaped CLOUD swam in the dawning sky Over the moors and VALES, drenched in a silver light A CROWD of stars sizzled away Soon a GOLDEN streaked dawn would turn into a splash of tangerine sorbet Among the hedges and the TREES Butterflies were FLUTTERING as did the honeybees AS the July fragrance filled the air The sky was a MILKY sea with birds flying everywhere  The sun peeked from behind a LINE of pine  Shimmering on the BAY and washing the horizon with a light hyaline I gaze at this wonder–it's breathtaking  The flowers DANCE as their buds and petals are unfurling. ©️ Sangeetha Kamath Pic Courtesy: Pixabay 

                        PRISMATIC PATINAS Eventide closes in and the sky is a regal chroma as rich hues blend The fireball of spilling tangerine light,  caresses the swathes of the sweeping heath land Carmine lancing through the mottled-metal canvas like a perfect flame so grand  Drizzling golden streaks generously like caramel syrup on viand The recumbent tints of dusk laminate the empyrean with a cerise glow  Peach and amber streaks illuminate the dawn like a star-studded show! Pearls of dew shimmer on webs and on tall grass in the meadow God's own kaleidoscopic poetry in verses of heather and deep lilac fresco  Amid the sheen of silver raindrops, peeks a blush of coral Leaves shine like emerald and jade mirrors of mosaic and mural Crimson memories of such sanguine bygone days, Reminds me of rainbow flame graffiti of the boldest blaze! Under a duvet of sepia and puce, blooms the sweet,wild clover velvet Ma...

                                           GREEN SEA-GEMS  The sublime depths of the ocean hides a  wonderland enchanting  Splendid mystery of the tender blue in a tawny wrapping A garland of rainbow is woven on the cold clammy spray As the vanilla sky darkens and the water turns to lilac-gray Sea-gems on the pearly foam, jeweled in the auroral dawn Gold filigrees laces on the garments of a rosy morn A shining green trembles in the coves and bays Coral halls are decked with diamonds in the distant dale Chants of the seagulls are hypnotic and wild, when pieces of the sun are scattered on the rising tide Fiercely trashing yet gentle, with lemonade kisses and lacy fizz caresses  It's a timeless carnival of the ocean orchestrated by the sun and moon Swelling and shrinking, dancing in tune  Plangent tides toll like hidden bells as the ocean brim is crowned on...