Images as they come by.: March 2022

An engineer and management consultant by profession, Abha Das Sarma enjoys writing the most. Besides having a blog of over 200 poems (http://dassarmafamily.blogspot.com), her poems have appeared in Muddy River Poetry Review, Spillwords Press, Verse-Virtual, The Ekphrastic Review, Visual Verse and The Sparks of Calliope among others. Having spent her growing up years in small towns of northern India, currently she lives in Bengaluru.

Heirloom lives

The clouds hurried to submerge the skies,

A dirty red oozing from their wounds,

Fatigued, defying shape akin to the jellyfish

Reluctantly sharing space stung from

Quickly turning sharks with hammerheads.

Groups of parrots joyous and young flapped

Unaware of the kites lurking just behind in time

And soon to come bats laden with strength and might.

I must return

Now to when we counted the stars,

Our backs gravitating to the center of the rope knitted cots,

Exposed until the morning burnt on our faces.

Even then, I had taken the divine to be an ordinary one.

As he spoke in the adjacent table sized room

With no windows to its claim, paint peeling off

Revealing water stains and incense rising from below.

In nothingness, I count the days in hours today.

An invisible thread tying us to the souls

Searching for that face in the flames,

A burning remains as we attempt to reverse the nascent truth,

A life is told and another is gained.

A cup of chamomile

February 28, 2022

Happy to have my poem ‘A cup of chamomile’ in the March issue of Verse Virtual, thank you editor James E Lewis:

https://www.verse-virtual.org/2022/March/das-sarma-abha-2022-march.html

When the wishes do not die

February 24, 2022

Happy to have my poem ‘When the wishes do not die’ included in the February issue of Visual Verse: An Anthology of Art and Words’:

https://visualverse.org/submissions/when-the-wishes-do-not-die

The Last Time

January 31, 2022

Thank you Visual Verse for including my poem ‘The Last Time’ in the January issue of your wonderful Anthology of Art and Words.

https://visualverse.org/submissions/the-last-time

I want to go home

January 28, 2022

Thank you Lorette C. Luzajic for this wonderful set of writings and for including my poem ‘I want to go home’. It is the last among the selected responses.

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/selected-responses-ejnar-nielsen-challenge

At Night They Come

January 15, 2022

Thank you Lorette C. Luzajic for including my poem ‘At Night They Come’ among the response to the art piece ‘Angel Production’ by ‘Sonya Gonzalez’. It is the eighth from the top.

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/ekphrastic-writing-responses-sonya-gonzalez

A Parting

January 1, 2022

What can be better than starting the New Year with a new poem, thank you James E Lewis for including it in the January issue.

https://www.verse-virtual.org/archives/2022/January/das-sarma-abha-2022-january.html

A Truth We Shall Never Know

December 20, 2021

Another Ekphrastic poem of mine is up, A Truth We Shall Never Know’! Thank you Lorette C. Luzajic for including it among the selected responses to the art work by Winston Churchill. It is almost at the end.

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/ekphrastic-writing-responses-winston-churchill

Beneath the earth

December 18, 2021

I am thankful to the editors of Visual Verse for including my poem in December issue alongside many wonderful pieces.

https://visualverse.org/submissions/beneath-the-earth

Forgiveness

November 19, 2021

I am ever grateful to Lorette C. Luzajic for the fortnightly Ekphrastic challenges, the art works are such an inspiration and the archives of the selected responses a true treasure.

I have my poem ‘Forgiveness’ among the responses of this fortnight (4th from the top) for the artwork by Han Van Meegeren:

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/ekphrastic-prompt-challenge-responses-han-van-meegeren

Making a choice

November 14, 2021

From the October issue of Visual Verse, I am grateful to the editors and the team for bringing out this wonderful Anthology of Art and Words every month:

https://visualverse.org/submissions/making-a-choice

Family in Making

November 2, 2021

Thank you James E Lewis for including my poem 'Family in Making' in the November 2021 issue of Verse Virtual:

https://www.verse-virtual.org/archives/2021/November/das-sarma-abha-2021-november.html

The Hungry Spiders

October 30, 2021

Delighted to have a Halloween poem inspired by my granddaughters, thank you Spillwords for including it in your wonderful journal:

https://spillwords.com/the-hungry-spiders

Besieged

October 14, 2021

Many thanks to the editor Zvi A. Sesling for including my poem ‘Besieged’ in the fall issue of Muddy River Poetry Review, it is very special to me since it is here that I began my poetic journey in the year 2020.

https://muddyriverpoetryreview.webs.com/Abha%20Das%20Sarma-1.pdf

Could It Be

October 8, 2021

Thanks a lot Lorette C. Luzajic for your tireless commitment towards bringing art and writing together. Here are all the wonderful selected responses to the recent Ekphrastic Review Challenge, scroll all the way down to the end for mine.

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/elin-danielson-gambogi-ekphrastic-writing-responses

The lives we hold

September 23, 2021

Thank you Visual Verse for including my poem ‘The lives we hold’ in September issue of your wonderful Anthology of Art and Words:

https://visualverse.org/submissions/the-lives-we-hold

Flight

September 10, 2021

Thank you Lorette for this wonderful collection of poems. Mine is the eight from the top.

https://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic-writing-challenges/ekphrastic-responses-joseph-cornell

In a Dream

September 4, 2021

Many thanks to the editors of ‘The Drabble’ for publishing my Drabble ‘In a Dream’ today:

https://thedrabble.wordpress.com/2021/09/04/in-a-dream/

The Decree

September 1, 2021

Here is a new poem to start the September with. Thank you James E Lewis for including it in the September issue of Verse Virtual:

https://www.verse-virtual.org/archives/2021/September/das-sarma-abha-2021-september.html

In a bubble

August 23, 2021

Thank you Visual Verse for including my poem ‘In a bubble’ in August issue of your wonderful Anthology of Art and Words:

https://visualverse.org/submissions/in-a-bubble/