K Pankajam



An Evening At Marina

I meander my way at the sea coast
to escape the sweltering heat that toasts
enjoying the sea’s salty kiss upon my feet
as the sky sings the title song of the night
on the faded glory of the dying day
the chance of the day’s last rays,
maybe their last wish too, 
to impress dusk with their sheer beauty
to bid adieu on a good note at sunset
a farewell multihued
with full of pigments billowing
as that of a painters pallet
and I see the sun watching
its own reflection in the mirror of the ocean
from behind the curtain of dark clouds
those trot in the sky to trim their waists









Holy Himalayas Beckon Me

An abode of snow, where god resides
in silence and sanctity,
wild and wicked winds,
betwixt meditating mountains
whose forehead the sky fervent to kiss,
snow-fed rivers flow like lonely souls
who know where to go, go nowhere else,         
with tributaries straddling  many borders.
 
 The fluffy clouds disturb the icy solitude
snowy peaks vie with each other
to cuddle the floating clouds swirling near,
in a long slumber it lies, even time at pause,
as if to forget pains of the past.    

A haughty thought crosses my mind
If I could fly like a bird
over its serene peaks, gracefully,  
braving the thrash and lash of the vile wind
touch their snow-white turbans,
land there gently as a ballerina,
make out whether they  ascend to the sky
or the sky descends to their peaks;
Who holds the flight of stairs?
or sans one at all..?
A wish unbound
to make my while worth the voyage.      









I Know Why The Birds Sing


Chuckling, chattering 
you swoop and loop in the  sky     
amidst curling clouds and  mist 
look snug and shy, possess poets’ soul,
chirps echo in the air
show the world you are in love.     

Perched on trees by the rivers’ rim
dazzling in robes of vivid hues 
rainbow wings and bills sleek
notes you sing in tuneful voice
like a midnight choir from afar
to awaken me from avid dreams.

In the wilderness of woods,
in the silence of wastelands
you sing to flowers wild
like a fragrant vile       
with a pounding heart
for nature to hear your secret ails.

In the solitude of autumn
on mossy trees in meadows 
branches, bare and brown
leaves bent in grief
you sing in winter sleet
notes, sweet and mellow      
to announce spring is here.

I know why the birds sing.
© K Pankajam



K Pankajam

K Pankajam, retired from BHEL as DM/Finance is a bilingual poet, novelist and translator  writing in English and Malayalam with eighteen published books to her credit, including ten books of poems and one translated into French.  She is one of the editors of the journal ‘Teesta Review’.  Her articles, poems, book reviews/papers have been published widely and anthologized. Her poetry has been discussed in detail in the book ‘Femininity-Poetic Endeavours’ authored by Dr. V V B Rama Rao.   She is the recipient of Oriental Poetry Award 2016, one of the receipients of Ravindranath Tagore Award for Poetry International 2017 and 2018, Poiesis award for short stories international 2017, 2018 and 2019,  Shree Atal Behari Vajpayee Award 2019 and   Rock Pebbles National Literary Award 2019.