It’s been quite a while since I did a poetry based on a picture.. For too long, I have been gazing through some of the brilliant shots by Al Forbes. I often murmured a few words and moved ahead.. The lines always came.. I was waiting for the perfect plot to hatch.. This picture caught my fancy and I knew instantly the way it will fly… He has some of the best shots and an awesome blog.. Most of you may already know him.. still drop to his blog and be mesmerized by his picture. The image is his copyright.
Image Copyright: Al Forbes
With grace so graceful
And eyes so deep,
She sat silently
Staring at the world so big
With eyes that looked little
I flew so fast
I wondered if my wings would die
‘coz of the force I put
As I wanted to sit beside
The “bird” of my life
Standing beside
I wanted to inch close
Yet she was thinking of things
And I didn’t want to disturb the peace
And ruin the moment of bliss
She turned her head and looked
Right into my heart
And through my soul
“It’s not going to be easy
There will be a lot of pain
We are so similar
And yet something isn’t same
The world doesn’t agree
They will shout and scream
Will you stand for me
When the days get dark?
Will you be by my side
Even when others call me “black”?
Will you love me even if
I don’t shine in the dark?
Will you love me even
If I can’t be so fair?”
Silenced and stunned
I stare at her form
Perhaps more beautiful than
Beauty would ever be
She is struck with sorrow
That is profound and deep
Is the beautiful world so mean?
Are my friends so vile within?
Will they raise questions on my love?
Will they hurt you just because you are black?
What is color?
Why is white preferred to black?
Love is the language of the soul
That is blind to all colors
Love is the feeling that empowers
Not just the mind but the soul
I do not care what others think
I do not care what others will say
I’ll be by your side, come what may
United in hearts, together we will sing
No troubles can ever come in between
Forever in love, my heart is yours
Regardless of your color, I will be yours
Fools are they who spoil the beauty
By labeling things on color and race
Blessed are they who truly fall in love
Everything ceases to matter except the ones you love
Be the bird of my life
‘coz you are the one who is mine
With grace so graceful
And eyes so deep,
She sat silently
Staring at the world so big
With eyes that looked little
She smiled this time and looked at me
Your words have really set me free
United in our hearts, together we fly
Together we sing the song of happy times
With your white wings spread on my black
I smile at our reflection in the dark
Love fuses our hearts and make it one
No colors are seen in the shade of love
The water shines with the picture of our life
Two birds gazing deep in each other’s eyes
Oh world! Marvel this beautiful sight!
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A Shade Of Pen 
Excellent write up Sruti !
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thank you for ur support Praveena.. it means a great deal 🙂
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This is absolutely fantastic. The way it is told, and felt, I love it. And thank you for using my photo.
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The moment I saw this picture.. i knew how the words would roll… I have bookmarked quite a many 🙂
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Cool. I like what you did with it. Love conquering racism. There should be no racism
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yes i believe so too.. I haven’t faced it ever..but I have read about it.. sometimes, it feels fruitful to write on meaningful topics 🙂
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I have encountered it, and my daughter has been racially abused. If she had called them anything racist, there would have been hell to pay, but they are allowed to call her “milk” and “whitey” and she is told “they are just having a laugh, there’s nothing to worry about”
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you know what perturbs me even more is when the reverse of so called “black racism” happens.. half of these stories are not even believed… In my heart, I believe every sin is accounted for in some way or the other.. even if we can’t do anything.. He is listin’ it all I believe .. warm hugs for ur beloved and strong daughter
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Thank you. I don’t know why they call it “black racism” it is still racism whether it is black, white, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange or red.
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yes it is.. that is a shame within a shame… It is spiteful and hopefully with time, it will fade away and die a natural death
is it really geeky/nerdy of me that I couldn’t help but notice that the colors you mentioned are the acronym we learn to memorize colors for rainbow?
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It was intentional 🙂 I was going to do it the other way
Richard
Of
York
Gave
Battle
In
Vain
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awww.. we were not taught this EVER.. this is better. I often asked my teacher.. hwy is it called VIBGYOR when VIBGYOR is not a legitimate word.. she always answered.. its Science class and not English 😛
Finally, I have a better acronym 🙂
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I suppose seeing that Richard of York was English and lost most of his men, it’s easier for us to remember.
Oh, the grand old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of hill
And he marched them down again
When they were up, they were up
And when they were down, they were down
But when they were only halfway up
They were neither up nor down
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wow Alastair.. Is this a poem..? I often wondered I would once ask a Britisher, if I ever met one.. but I will ask you today.. how was reading history like in school? I have read about few rulers.. King Richard, King Edward… all courtesy of Shakesperian plays…
Britain has practically ruled all the countries of the world.. as a student, we got tired of unending chapters in our textbooks.. what it felt like going through the history of Great Britain…
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I love history when it is back to the Tudor times and back, and up to Queen Elizabeth I. Charles I, Charles II, Guy Fawkes, Oliver Cromwell, Thomas a Beckett. I wish I had done History in school. As it is, I have learned more about it since leaving. Plus, one of the castles of Henry VIII is right behind my house.Up a bit on top of the cliffs of course.
It is amazing that we used to be “Rule Brittania” because we were the biggest conquerors in the world. Every where the English landed, they took it. I have learned about them through history as I never read Shakespeare.
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History is compulsory in our curriculum and so is
Shakespeare.. I have only read three plays however…
Our teachers in school always told us when we complained of huge syllabus.. seek inspiration from British kid.. we don’t have one-tenth of their history… 😛 I had no clue at that time that it was not a mandatory subject.
And goodness me, you live right beside a historic castle..??
Now that we are talking of history, I will take the liberty of asking you as to is a platform at King’s cross really named 9 3/4 like in Harry Potter.. i read somewhere on the internet that it is so.
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There is a platform 9 3/4. It even has a trolley embedded in the wall. It looks funny as far as I can see. I haven’t seen it myself.
History is mandatory to year 9 then it is optional.
A is my house, B is Dover Castle
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exactly the picture I saw on the internet.. God it must look so wicked cool..
And Man, you are so close to the castle… What does it feel to wake up to the sight..? The only thing that comes to a palace is the Victoria memorial in our place.. As a kid, my father used to take us for horse cart rides there.. i still do.. I always use to tell it has a very “Londoner” feel and my father asked how i ever knew what a Londoner feel felt like 😛
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Unfortunately I Have a cliff in the way. As it happens, the White Cliffs of Dover. So I don’t actually get to see it when I wake up. I do see it when I go round the corner though. It’s awesome. I have a photo of the Victoria Memorial here: http://kattermonran.com/2013/07/05/a-day-out-part-two/ From when I went to London and met up with Ute.
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I had no clue that there is a Victoria Memorial in England as well. Thanks to you, i have learnt a lot of new things and though I wish you had a clear vision of the castle, But true to God, I love hills so much.. I would die to have that view.. sadly enough, I have lived in plain land all my life.sigh
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I do have some photos of inside Dover Castle, but they are spread over a lot of posts.
I love the views from the tops of hills. You can see for ever
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I have to hunt, scavenge, gorge, feed and do what not on your blogs 😛 😛 😛
and yes, I love the hill top too.. I took all my cousins to the end point of the valley and they were peeping down.. i was unaware.. lost in the moment.. was a heart attack moment for our parents 😛 i was supposed to be the responsible one out there 😛
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You were responsible. It all went wibble and you were responsible hehe
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I tried a lot to explain that time.. but there were six big BIG people hounding on my back and telling me that I had put the lives of six children at stake including me 😛 I don’t know when I recall the moment, it still amuses me.. perhaps because we were all so thoroughly enjoying the moment that even the scolding seemed insignificant.. but i never truly learnt the art of being a responsible one 😛 still the kid 😛
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Always the kid. It’s fine right up to the moment of falling
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ur kids are lucky 🙂 🙂
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Yeah, only because i haven’t pushed them over the cliff yet,
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hahahaha.. NO Dad can do that.. 🙂
of all the people in this world, it is my DAD i can never even think of trading for a split second.. not that i’ll trade the others either lol
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Most people wouldn’t
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agreed 🙂
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agreed 🙂
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Reblogged this on A Mixed Bag and commented:
I am honoured that Shruti has used one of my photos to create a wonderful and heartfelt poem.
Thank you Shruti.
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Beautifully portrayed, Didi! 🙂 🙂
Rahul
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Just-simply-excellent Didi! Thank you for your beautiful words and powerfully moving message, and you’re right, of course … love does transcend all! 🙂
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lol didi isn’t my name (I’m Shruti).. it is hindi for elder sister.. 😛 But thank you so much for the beautiful compliment… and yes love conquers all 🙂
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My apologies, Shruti. Thank you for correcting me :), I learn and grow! I really liked your poem! 🙂
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absolutely not a problem Penny 🙂 🙂 And I’m glad you liked it.. you are a lovely person 🙂
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I will always appreciate your poems because they always inspire. Thank you.
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that is one of the most beautiful compliments i have ever received. thank you 🙂
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Loved it!!
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🙂 🙂
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Reblogged this on A Shade Of Pen and commented:
❤ ❤ very close to my heart.. so here it goes again ❤ <#
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What a beautiful poem! And it struck a cord with me as I am white and Norwegian and my husband is Indian 🙂 But our love overcame all obstacles and we are now so happily in love with each other and finally married to each other 🙂 Even though I have met with a lot of prejudice here in India, actually even more than my husband has met with in Norway. Our love is so much stronger than all this stupid prejudice! Thank you for the wonderful poem!!!
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wow.. I am sorry for the prejudice you met here.. I for one love to see foreigners hanging around here 🙂 🙂 I’m glad you found your ‘forever” love 🙂
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Thank you! I mean, there are many sweet nice people as well. But I think a lot of people have seen “western” girls in movies and TV shows not behaving like “good Indian girls” and people think that is how we are. Even in many Bollywood movies there are white girls dancing around the Indian male hero in bikinis. and if the hero ever gets involved with a non-Indian girl it is always just for a fling until he finally gets together with the modest homely Indian girl. This really upsets me! I mean, most of my friends in Norway (at least 99,9%) would never make out with or get intimate with a guy they just met, they want the same as Indian girls: love, commitment and eventually marriage. I’ve had so much problems with guys trying to misbehave, that I am now too scared to go out by myself. It is quite sad really. I’m sorry this was such a long comment, I didn’t mean to, just got carried away.
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No no pls don’t apologize.. I appreciate ppl coming n sharing stuffs.. It makea me feel good abt life in general.. I am sorry you had to go through all of this.. The worst thing is to blv in stereotypes.. Just because we have a thinking that some cultures are like that, people tend to generalize.. It seriously puts me off..
I for one believe that even if someone is indulging in casual romantic relationship, we shouldn’t be the one to judge.. I respect all culture.. I would never do something like that but then the whole world doesn’t revolves around me either..
You don’t know a lot of ppl down here I assume.. Have u recently moved to india?
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I moved a few years ago, but I have been coming to India since I was 17, (and fell in love with my hubby when I was 19 🙂 ). Here in Chennai I have some expat friends, but I have found it little difficult to get close to Indian girls. Some of the girls I have met haven been very shy, homely and not been open to discuss things in their lives. But I don’t get out much because I work as a freelance writer and my office is my house 🙂
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Woooooowwww.. I m a freelance writer too and stay homelocked always.. Are u on fb? I spend half my life there 😀 dats my only socializing as a frelancer… I have a feelin me and u have got sooo much to talk abt 😉
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How exciting!!! Then you really understand me! 🙂 Maybe we should get together when I move to Calcutta?? I don’t have facebook yet. I just use a lot of mails, chat and skype with my family. What do you mainly write about? I write articles, stories and even poems for Norwegian magazines and newspaper. I write articles about spirituality, philosophy, cultural awareness and articles for teenage girls about identity, self-image and such, and I write Children’s stories for a magazine for children.
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I write boringgg articles.. Tech topics n all dat.. Poems n all at this blog.. N yes v cud get together xcpt I dun hve a really good road sense… 😀 n wen u gt on Facebook, let me kno… 🙂
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