




I now understand the meaning of hiding myself in myself Myself finds myself crawling and craving towards the broken shadows of my grandfather's grave I drank from my his grave till grief mastered my ancestry Flaunting my name, myself drowns in my thoughts Suddenly She knocked on my soul I entertained her footsteps while she dined drinking my wine We shared the same bed and bread; I became her wife Living an invisible life Myself and her Jesse Pheebemi Emmanuella
WALKING with JESUS Matthew 16:21 (NIV) -”Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” My witness is that Jesus told me to pick up my Cross and follow Him. I have found my life in walking with Jesus, carrying my cross in all kinds of situations. Walking through the light and darkness. Walking through the dry seasons in my life and the storms in my life. Walking each step following You, Lord. Your yoke is easy for on my own there is pain and sorrow for what I have lost. Your salvation has removed that pain and loss. I have been restored. My salvation and redemption have brought me eternal salvation. For I walk with you, and each step is a step of joy and faithfulness. In this life, there is peace, contentment, and joy. In this life, there is freedom from the pain and suffering that had held me captive. My soul is following your commandments to love others as myself. I love myself because of your sacrifice on the Cross for me. It is that ultimate denial of self which brought my freedom. Freedom brought with Your suffering and humiliation and finally Your Crucifixion. A sacrifice of the ultimate love for me dying on the Cross. You gave me a glimpse of eternal life preparing me for God's Kingdom. You showed me the Kingdom within me: mercy and forgiveness and gratitude. It is this mercy that brings me before your Glorious Father, as I kneel, at the altar of my heart. Moments in solitude and quietness are the essence of who I was created to be. Yes, I will pick up my Cross and follow you for you are my Lord, King of my redemption. CONVERSATIONS with GOD For Dee my mother My foster mother Dee always spoke about God and Jesus Christ. God knows, she would say, and God doesn't like ugly. She always listened to the gospel station that was her life and took care of us children. Washing and ironing clothes and cooking our meals and preparing us for school. Washing our faces and combing our hair and putting Vaseline on our ashy skin. Our clothes were always clean. We were taught manners and to be respectful to all adults. Mostly, I remembered feeling alone and empty since my biological mother had left me. Dee took me in when I was two weeks old. I lived with her until my aunt adopted me at eight years of age. My conversations with God started at eight. I remembered Dee always talking to God aloud. Talking to God came naturally to me. Dee always talked to Jesus and she insisted He listened. Maybe He would hear my prayers. My fears and loneliness and anxiety were overwhelming. Walking the streets of D.C., I was afraid and felt terrorized with good cause because of the violence and turmoil in the streets. My aunt adopted me at age eight. My aunt was Catholic, and being Catholic, she took me to Mass every weekday and Saturday and on Sundays. It was at a morning mass when the priest summoned me to the altar. I was to assist him on the altar to serve communion. This was my invitation to serve God as well. I stepped onto the altar. God wanted me in my street clothes. God wanted me. I genuflected (kneeling and making the sign of the Cross). The priest opened the gate and I stepped onto the altar for the first time, standing to the right side of the priest carrying the host plate (this is used to catch the consecrated host so it won’t touch the floor if it falls.) He served communion to each person, as they kneeled at the altar to receive Communion. He walked to each person kneeling with their eyes closed and their tongue out receiving the body of Christ. There was a sense of reverence for helping serve the body of Christ. I felt a personal calling to serve God and a closeness to God. Looking back on this experience. I realized God was real and wanted me to serve Him. This feeling of connecting to God never left me. My conversations with God began shortly after that first encounter. I had a place where I felt wanted. It was Holy Redeemer Church. From ages eight to ten, my refuge was the church. The calmness of God’s presence was the same as that first time serving communion. I longed for God’s calming presence within me. There was a calling within me to recapture that loving and warm presence of God. I sat in the front pew and observed the altar candle burning (which served as a reminder of God's light always burning). I studied the white candle burning as it flicked side to side. This was God’s light and I watched it calmly. The colorful votive candles burned with various colors. red, blue, and yellow as I sat there alone with the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.) The ceiling was covered with murals covering the dome. Angels adorned the dome in a pretty sky-blue background with white wings. There were statutes of Mary and Joseph and other Holy figures. This was the Holy family of Jesus.
Mock Poet Out of the blue of the internet someone asked me, as a non-poet, to recommend a poem for a special issue on non-poets recommending poets. Okay! I said. But! There is a problem! (Drumroll.) I am a poet! (Imagine a fanfare here.) (You can find one on the internet.) Out of the blue of the internet someone responded. “That’s okay,” they said. They added, for encouragement: “I play tennis sometimes. But it’s not like I’m a tennis player. Hobbyists are fine.” Hey! I said. (Imagine a sad fanfare here.) (Imagine a weeping emoji.) I have a book! I am a real poet! The internet shimmered. The fanfare died. I recommended someone. And sat down to write whatever this is. Not a poem.
Birthday Poem My mind is filled to capacity by the divine. There is no longer space for unresolved pain. Although it never ceases to beat on the door of my sanity. The divine excludes all misery and transforms it into love. As the divine protects its own. You ask me, 'What about the demands of the outside world.' There is no outside world. Only a false world made from fear and loathing. A world tormented by misery and pain. Waiting to enter and shake it up. Ah, I say there is no world only love. for that is what I choose. What you choose is held in exile until you are ready. The things of the earth need no external pleasure. They are secure within. Demons can no longer survive in the mind as there is no air for them to breath. They trip on the ruby slippers left by a lost and tormented child. Now healed, safe and free. The woods are cold and dangerous. and the life they offer is seductive. The woods are full of hidden thorns and grief. They must be left on the craggy rocks. The must die before inflicting pain and sorrow. Do not go near them for like burs they will stick to you forever. Sandy Rochelle
LIFE AND AFTERLIFE Life after life, birth after birth We are rolling here carrying all the passion All the miseries and small happiness in our lonely breasts. With so much pain and remorse Forgetting everything about the real truth With so much pain, so many miseries. We wallow in mud and mire Without thinking about our true nature Our original mission. We forget that we are a guest For the time being In this mortal field. We have to leave this place one day. Our mission here is to earn a divinity Which is the only thing we will carry to the other world. Our mission is to achieve divinity during this lifetime. Our mission is not to amass material wealth fame and ephemeral properties. But the permanent bliss and happiness. It will pass this mortal hemisphere and will be radiant in the other world free from all bondage of material field. SOFT GAZE I remember meeting with you was accidental. It was a nice coincidence. Now I could not think of a life without you. God has sent an angel like you. To set my life purposefully Thus you have become an essential person to me I know what I have gained. Need not to elaborate Sometimes life changes so quickly through companionship A sweetness of life has begun with you. One thing is sure, there is a flow of verses. And you have become the theme of my poem For, you yourself is a beautiful poem. With your nice eyes and cascading hair And flower-like soft gaze RHYTHM Everywhere Nature is smiling with a rhythmical spell. Everywhere is heard its supreme music. As Nature opens its face in the eyes of the dawn, the leaves and creepers dazzle in aureate sunshine. The dew drops glitter like pearls in the grass. The birds flutter in the sky in groups with chorus leaving their rhythmic verse in the breast of time. The buzzing of bees and insects creates a magical rhythm. The flowers in spring dance in the sweet breeze in a rhythmic way. The whisper of the vernal wind is mesmerizing and enthralling. The rustle of branches and leaves is soft and vibrating. The flower opens silently with a rhythmic note creating a soft vibration in the air. The sea with its dancing waves creates a beautiful symphony all the time. It vibrates the shore enlivening, and invigorating the pristine earth with new energy and life. The magical autumnal moon looks enchanting. In the rainy season, there is a beautiful movement of the clouds. The raindrops create a rhythmic sound on the leaves and creepers. All the heavenly bodies like the sun, stars, and planets all exist and move in a rhythmic vibration of forces. The eternal subtle relationship between different creations is called rhythm and they cling to each other. BOUNDLESS LOVE I have visualised the glory of boundless love in you. Your eyes gleam of pure love. That never wants anything in return. I appreciate your belief in love. If love is lust, the essence of love is lost. In love, we just maintain a makeshift way. It ends with a casual life. In most cases, love is not transported to a superior level Love dies much before it blooms. It dies with the disappearance of the body. It destroys in body's level. Love ceases its divinity. Bio Maheshwar Das is a bilingual poet, translator, editor, and story writer. He writes in English and Odia language. He has been pursuing his creative writing for the last twenty years and has authored more than one thousand English poems. All of his poetical exposition centres around Nature, God, love, and relationships. Some of his poems have been translated into international languages. He has co-authored three English anthologies of poems with his two friends. Besides he is the co-author of more than fifty English anthologies of poems of many literary groups. He holds the degree of M.A. in both Economics and History. He has accomplished a Ph.D. degree in sociology from Utkal University. He also holds a law degree from M.S. Law College, Cuttack. He hails from Mallipur in the district of Cuttack, Odisha, India. His English poems have been published in several national and international journals and Anthologies and have gained worldwide appreciation. He has received so many accolades from various national and international literary groups. He is a recipient of the Gold Medal award from the World Union of Poets, Rome.
FELLOW TRAVELLER! I listen to words I never uttered And collect dreams sans reasons Know not who the evil eyes are Find nowhere to stand and stare Go on walking away from you The pain takes more space now A silent witness to all this I am Our realm seems quite absurd My emotions inexpensive too Nothing comforts me at this state My shadow my only fellow traveller Past like a hurricane troubles me. HAPPY WORLD OF LOVE! Sometimes I feel your heart's call While thinking about you in silence My desires get shattered in no time What should I do with the reverie And the musing away from you The cruel world seems falling on me The storm that has ravaged dreams Was intensely violent for sure The happy world of love is lost now Tell where I should go without you . WHEN HOPE ENDS! Nothing is there in our body But the cover of painful soul And in pain I look for pure love This very wish has spoiled me I 've lost everything all my way Your intention did plunder me You separated me from your life You never cherished my being When hope ends ,my day ends I exist with the end of my life For nothing will remain there Except my sobbing painful soul. NO LONGER IN YOUR WORLD! It's been a year since we fell in love Both ways was it but one sided now Our dreams are yet to be fulfilled The world has disowned me in toto Your shadow has separated me I am no longer in your world The moon and stars upset with me Even the sky is with me no more Shocked me, away from my Heart If it is God's will, I've no complaints I've prayed thousand times for you. Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai (DOB 07/06/1973) is a passionate Indian Author-cum- bilingual poet while a tremendous lecturer of English by profession in the Ganjam district of Odisha. He is an accomplished source of inspiration for young generation of India .His free verse on Romantic and melancholic poems appreciated by everyone. He belongs to a small typical village Nandiagada of Ganjam District, the state of Odisha.After schooling he studied intermediate and Graduated In Kabisurjya Baladev vigyan Mahavidyalaya then M A in English from Berhampur University PhD in language and literature and D.litt from Colombian poetic house from South America. He promotes his specific writings around the world literature and trades with multiple stems that are related to current issues based on his observation and experiences that needs urgent attention. He is an award winning writer who has achieved various laurels from the circle of writing worldwide. His free verse poems not only inspires young readers but also the ready of current time. His poetic symbol is right now inspiring others, some of which are appreciated by laurels of India and across the world. Many of his poems been translated in different Indian languages and got global appreciation. Lots of well wishes for his upcoming writings and success in the future. He is an award winning poet author of many best seller books. Recently he is awarded Rabindra nath Tagore and Gujarat Sahitya Academy for the year 2022 from Motivational Strips . A gold medal from world union of poets France & winner Of Rahim Karims world literary prize 2023.The government of Odisha Higher Education Department appointed him as a president to Governing body of Padmashree Dr. Ghanashyam Mishra Sanskrit Degree College, Kabisurjyanagar. Winner of " HYPERPOEM " GUNIESS WORLD RECORD 2023. Recently he was awarded from SABDA literary Festival at Assam. Highest literary honour from Peru contributing world literature 2024.Prestigious Cesar Vellejo award 2024 Completed 200 Epistolary poems with American poet Kristy Raines. Books. 1.Psalm of the Soul. 2.Rise of New Dawn. 3.secret Of Torment. 4.Everything I never told you. 5.Vision Of Life National Library Kolkata. 6.100 Shadows of Dream. 7.Timeless Anguish. 8.Voice of Silence. 9.I cross my heart from east to west . Epistolary poetry with Kristy Raines