Friday, March 11, 2016

Special Feature Collaborative Poem--By Gautam Nadkarni, Dr. Brijesh Raj, Raamesh Gowri Raghavan, Lt. Cdr. Paresh Tiwari and Rohini Gupta--India

bittersweet the mogras

By Gautam Nadkarni, Dr. Brijesh Raj, Raamesh Gowri Raghavan, Lt. Cdr. Paresh Tiwari and Rohini Gupta

coffee shop —
the flavour of her voice
in every sip 
                        
bittersweet the mogras
sold by the schoolgirl   
      
lingering over
the evening rush hour —
summer sun      
             
bleeding from the barbed wire
the coat you wore last winter

nothing left behind
except that last
goodbye  
                   
I step into the morrow
of my dreams     
       
from the tulip garden
stolen petals
and kisses

bridal veil the colour
of magic on her lips   

with cross stitches
we add a full moon
to the night sky   
     
sketched in pen and ink
the group all smiles

This 25-line poem is arranged in two cycles. Verses 1 & 6 are by Gautam Nadkarni, verses 2 & 7 by Dr. Brijesh Raj, verses 3 & 8 by Raamesh Gowri Raghavan verses 4 & 9 by Lt. Cdr. Paresh Tiwari and verses 5 & 10 by Rohini Gupta. Though we didn't intend it at the start, the sequence evolved into a ballad-like narrative of young love won and lost in the tumult of war, and then moving on to the rediscovery of a more mature, revitalising love.

13 comments:

  1. Directives got out in all directions, only to steadfastly come full circle, meeting... no, surpassing the narrative.

    Excellent compilation!

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  2. A beautiful collaborative poem, I loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  3. Congratulations to Rohini Gupta , Gautam Nadkarni, Dr. Brijesh Raj, Raamesh Gowri Raghavan,and Paresh Tiwari on a fine collaborative poem.With best wishes,to you all and many thanks to Karen for sharing such fresh work angelee

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  4. Everyone,
    You all did a fabulous job! Welcome to Gautam and Brijesh to Whispers!
    Your new friend,
    David Fox

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  5. This poem is so tight it seems that one of you wrote it! Love, "with cross stiches/we add a full moon/to the night sky." Wonderful addition to the collaboration narrative.

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  6. A collaboration like this is a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing. Nalini

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  7. Thank you all at Whispers, Karen and to you David for the warm welcome. Collaborating for this one was a spur of the moment writing itch. We decided to just let it evolve and see...and enjoyed it thoroughly.
    warm regards
    Brijesh

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    Replies
    1. Dear Brijesh and all your writing partners,

      Thank you for sharing this wonderful collaborative poem that our readers are sure enjoying. Welcome to you and Gautam! I hope you, both, will consider sending an individual poem submission some time soon. Another collaborative poem for next month would be a joy to receive too. Best wishes and happy writing!

      Karen

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  8. Thank you both for sharing your well written poem!

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  9. This is a master class! Wow....shame you had to stop! Poetry power house. Well done. Will look out for your individual work. Ralph

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  10. What a fantastic bit of writing here. Your images are so vivid, and one feels as if they are right there.
    So glad you are here.

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  11. haiku poets have played with their imagination to their best. The reader has to play with them on his own to complete. A play in progress-

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