For Elijah

No one heard you cry
as you curled tight in corner, blue-cold
Have I been remiss?  I miss you-

your toothy grin, white shirt & boots
Too thin & frail for polar cold
No one heard you cry 

As your pulse slowed, repulsing icy wind
Your high-pitched voice now low, hollowed   
I miss you - Have I been remiss  

In locking tight the doors
In checking to make sure you are safe
No one heard you 

As you ran out, a rabbit excited about
Making snowman & drinking warm cocoa
Have I been remiss?   I miss you-

No one held your small face
and whispered good night, my little angel
No one heard your cries this morning
I've been remiss, missing you-

~0~0~0~

I heard no bird songs

nor laughter pink as your cheeks -

Ice had seeped in, black-

Yellow-rumped warbler by M. Bednar 

RIP Elijah Marsh, 3 year old toddler who died after 6 hours of wandering outside his family's apartment.  The last picture taken of him showed him wearing only a shirt, diaper & boots, as he stepped outside at 4 am.  His family discovered him missing from his bed at 7:30 am. The weather that morning was -30 C with the wind chill.   Source

Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Play It Again - Haiku & M's Word List- Absent
and Poets United - A villanelle of a sort ~ Thanks for the visit ~

Haibun: Shark by the Lake

you are the radio star, whose dulcet voice enchants over the air.    you cast yourself a modern cultured man of the city with your progressive views on women and arts.   during a public event, when you noticed me out of all your young adoring fans, I felt like a winner being singled out by the city's brightest light.   

your silky voice
is summer's caress, i bloom
as night full of fireflies 

our second date is perfect  - dinner then coffee invite at your home by the lake.   i lean in for a sweet kiss, but what happens next is forever stitched in my memories.   you hit me, three times on the face with closed fists.    i fall on the ground with knees like water, but you are not done yet.   you put your hands on my throat to choke the wind from my lungs. your eyes are wild with desire.   violence is your opium rush.  doubts came, festering my confidence into silence. i felt like a loser for falling for your ego-sized games. 

your eyes, teeth are red
on my neck, your hands blacken - 
what animal are you?

This is the day I had looked forward to after 10 years.   You in the courtroom being charged by the police for sexual assault.  You have been fired from your job.  Your dark eyes are filled with worry.    An animal in the cage, caught and restrained by law and negative public opinion.   You hired a good defense lawyer to save you.  I read that she is the celebrity's shark, out to destroy all the witnesses, (including me).  No matter what the legal outcome will be next year, the real winners are the victims who are speaking out against the rape-culture mentality of our time.

above bony trees
hawk glides sleek as ivory sky-
I find my voice 

Toronto Star

Jian Ghomeshi leaves College Park court with his lawyers on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014 after being released on $100,000 bail. This image - the accused flanked by his lawyers, surrounded by police, who are in turn surrounded by media - was a striking and revealing one, writes Christopher Hume.

Background:    This is our local version of USA's Bill Crosby story.   However the man in spotlight, Jian Ghomeshi is a celebrated CBC radio star, accused of sexual violence against women (15 stories), without their consent.   In Canada there is no time limitation on sexual violence; you can still be charged & sued even after 10 or more years has passed. You can read more here and here~

For D'verse Poets Pub - For Mary's prompt of Winners and Losers ~  I have not been around due to my studies and on-going home renovations.    I have one more week to go before my exams, and the renovations should be done by then ~   Thanks for the visit ~

Forever bicycles

Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square

3,144 bicycles by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei 

Photo credit: Kanwar Sandhu

this 
is what our sky looks:   

tower of wheels, frames & gears

stacked in stainless steel & metallic paint

the smell of gas, smog & paved roads

fanning our cheeks with humid 
air 

this 
is how our city stands:

leaning forward, eyes on fast turn

of cars across super highway, one foot pressed

on gas pedal racing against the clock- by grid-

 lock, we crowd, an indistinguishable 
face-

this 
is what we have become:

mechanically pounding city streets

chasing another sale or dollar, cycle/in/cycle 

we say we're lucky we got a job but who's 

minding rice fields, fish ponds &  
forest?

sun - 
a slit behind grey clouds,

is off-center, less king in our eyes

perhaps a dying star, but we're busy taking shots of bicycles- 

no handlebars nor seats, an art statement  

or a silent protest:  is this 
progress? 

Posted for:   D'verse poets pub - OpenLinkNight - Happy Tuesday to all ~

blurry images from last night

Last night, severe thunderstorm struck our city, powerless & cold.

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

                                                drop               drop               drop               drop
                                                            drip               drip                 drip               drip

                                               wires dis-connect-ed,  power waver-ed & still-ed,

                                               wind-whipped, lights falter-ed & b-linked blank-

                                               candles flicker-red as machines shut down, black 

                                               screen everywhere as water drums-beats-crashes- 

                                               rises-like the sea, sweeping trains & cars-off-roads-

                                              
                                               tick               tick                tick                 tick
                                                       tock                tock                tick                 tock           
                                               

                                               back to basics:   books & paper & cardless-
                                  
                                               strangers & neighbors exchange kindness:  car rides, 

                                               (cold) pizza boxes for dinner, buckets to scoop water

                                               from overflowed basements,  words face-to-face- 

                                               where once blurry & dis-tant, are now Up/close&personal-




Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight ~  I'm home now as power in our Toronto Office hasn't resumed yet.   Thanks for the visit ~  

A street poem

I walk on the street,
the sky is caught between grey &
faint blue pages-

It is mid-April, 
the city stores are selling spring 
colored shoes & clothes,

I imagine would be great
if I am going to Italy or Jamaica
for week of summer fun & escape 

But I am working this summer
and saving money for a college plan-
As I trudge & sit in the red bus 

I start thinking of lines to write - 
-Where the sea meets my toes, like an inkwell- 
-Where a narrow road leads to a Gothic tower-  

But they all end up with this orange,  round & firm 
in my hand.   So, I peel it slowly like a book.  
It tasted sweet, like the sun.      

Toronto City

Picture credit:   here

Posted for:   Imaginary Garden of Real Toads - Inspired by writings of Billy Collins - Accessible Poetry 

about this job

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Toronto City

the irony

of having a job in the big city

is that you are always thinking of escape-

beyond the shiny walls of mailboxes & files,

above the clutter of cubicles, chairs & black wires-

to rise like soapy bubbles from

rinsing dirty cups and teaspoons in the kitchen sink-

to drift like maple leaves, brown & careless  

in the wind, as you drive along the busy freeway-

people peer at windows, hungry for the open sky

they talk about beginnings - vacations in sunny

shores & retiring in the cottage, by the blue lake - 

eagerly counting the day they fly away from this

everyday grind of bread & debts -   a pipe-dream    

as we cleave to our desks, like grateful worker bees,  

meekly eating the piece of the lemon pie,

swallowing down fears that at anytime, one of us

can be crumpled away, like a grease-balled 

sandwich wrapper-    

Posted for:   D'verse Poets Pub

A reflection of her beauty

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Keningston Market, Toronto

A flower blooms-
lavender, perfumed cheeks-
boldly inking the walls with stories  
- bloody-birthed, coarse as salt 
from far-away shores- 

Leaves grow with curried veins,
Underneath myriad of colors
- a heartbeat pulses-   
A tree, standing in the muddy river- 

Sunlight reflects her beauty,
fragmented yet uniquely whole-   
- this city, 
built on immigrants' dreams-


Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Stretching Comparisons
and Poetry Jam - Reflections - 

I saw Mona Lisa in Black & White

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

 Kensington Market, Toronto

her face-   
above the street,
littered with signs & dirt,
reminds pedestrians that ART/ 
ist lives here -

breathes color, ye//ow & ripe
as red papaya in summer-
s h a p i n g  brick walls into  
living canvas, where seeds grow/

e-X-p-l-O-d-i-n-g  
to fruits, 

freely 
BE/
neath the sky-

               

Posted for OpenLinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub ~  Thanks for the visit  ~  Happy day ~ 

Afar

when i pass this way of the road
my gaze falls on the faraway lines
trees hugging the mountain sides
shrubs leaning towards break of dawn 


i sometimes cannot catch when
winter frost clouds my car mirrors, 
numbing my hands as i break thin ice
into crystals, my red mittens dewy wet


i grip my car wheel tightly, speeding fast   
urban grey road huddled with cars and trucks
in all makes and sizes, along the freeway
humming engines, like working ants in


the trail i see zigzagging up the steps,
going here, marching to the city radio
pulsing pop music and road updates,
all noise and pollution to keep us busy, 


yet as the sun unravels, i gaze afar 
and wonder how long will i keep on 
driving until i can touch your soft leaves 
and breathe in your fresh pine scent   




Posted for:  D'verse Poets Pub -  Poetics - Visual -eyes -ing- hosted by Brian Miller
My morning and afternoon ritual in the city ~ 


Picture credit: Reena 

Living in a "livable city"

What am I most thankful for today???

According to the recent Economist Intellegience Unit survey, I am living (beside it actually) in one of the top 10 most livable city in the world.   The city that  I am referring to is Toronto, ranked 4th in the list.   Two other Canadian cities were in the top 10, Vancouver is ranked No. 1 (for the past 5 years) and Calgary is 5th.

This survey just validates what every immigrant family know - that Canada is a good country to live and raise children.   It is peaceful and relatively stable without the unrest and troubles of other countries (Turkey, Libya, etc).    We do have access to health care, education, clean water and the basic government services.

You would think that Canadians are generally a happy people because of our blessings.   Some are, but some are complainers. People here gripe about taxes, roads, traffic, garbage, budget and a whole lot of other domestic issues, that gives  Toronto City, a not so picture perfect city to live.

Some of you might even be surprised to know that some Canadians suffer from depression due to work and stress.   I personally find this a paradox considering the relative wealth and stability of Canada compared to other countries.  Consider the global snapshot:

*1/3 of the world population live in extreme poverty with no access to basic needs like clean water


* almost half the world - over three billion people - live on less than $US 2.50 a day.

When one considers what most people don't even have, we are indeed blessed that we have the freedom and peace and even prosperity to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

So, when I hear people here complaining or getting depressed about their situation, I think of people in much worse situation than we are.    I just shrug away the negative comments and accept it as part of my decision to live in this city.   From the way I see it,  things don't look so bad after all.

Here is beautiful picture of Toronto city by night ~

Picture credit:  http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/10/09/02/

Article credit:   http://ca.news.yahoo.com/vancouver-remains-worlds-most-livable-city-survey-20110220-160000-051.html