Picture Impact Challenge June Entries

Picture Impact Challenge June Entries

Winning Entry by Santosh bakaya

The visible joys of the invisible chunks

I sat in my patio, looking at a tiny rag picker
examining a discarded doormat-half hanging from the dumpster,
the letters of Welcome- frayed and disappearing.
Distracted by an intoxicated grasshopper, and a songster in the tree,
 amazed by the sight of a frolicking pup and the silken tassels of maize
swaying in a nearby field, he was half-crazed with joy, [Oh boy!].
He scooped up the pup in his skeletal arms, smiling at his friend
 flying a kite, cruising the aquamarine sky untethered.Uncaged.

The twosome left behind a happy trail prattling on, battling on.
In the excited throes of their exuberant breathing, I heard
long suppressed sighs of their everyday saga of survival.

The world wondering at their joy, hid its leering question marks
behind masked smiles, slouching; bloodshot eyes intense,
afire with a predatory insanity, itching to make them more invisible.

Entry by Jaya Pillai

The Other Life

He had a little more than I had :

He had a  life unfettered by dreams,

Spent in a wayside shack

That swayed on stormy nights.

His was a life full of days that weren’t

Charted out on a  blue print like mine.

And so he flew kites with his friends

While I walked down the well worn path

To make dreams come true.

He picked up stray dogs

That followed him home on winter nights.

He had a little more than I had :

He had a twinkle in his eyes.

Perhaps, one day, we should exchange notes :

I give him a bit of my life and  he gives me a bit of his.

Entry by Snigdha Agrawal

THE IGNORED

I am troubled immeasurably

By your sad, pleading eyes

Your caved in tummy

Your coat wet with sewage dirt

Your orphaned status

 

You came with your designs of beauty

Stray Pup, born on the streets

Few will notice, few will adopt

Groom you, as they would groom

highly paid breeds; prefer to own

 

Like you orphaned, nowhere to go

Under the flyover, will make our home

Break bread together, comfort each other

As spring turns to autumn, then to winter

Inseparable; both God’s creatures.

Entry by MANVI ARORA

ANIMAL IN THE BOAT

I saw this picture not once but twice

So for these rich brats I came up with an advice ,

The way this brown boy helps the pup to heal

Is the same emotion  these  city people failed to feel,

I might be wrong

But these animals no sooner get along

As  they fear from your intention

Cause they don’t  whine for false attention

If #animal lover makes you feel cool

No offence you may consider yourself a fool

As they don’t beg for your love

That small pat on their back is more than enough

They are so placid and self contain’d

Not like us who have standards to maintain

So don’t give your love to them occasionally

These creatures are meant to be adored unconditionallyJ

Entry by Tejaswini Roy

Entry for Picture Prompt poetry Challenge July 2020.

A paper picker that I am,

I capture every little scrap paper

for that is my bread and water.

Rambling amidst, the blue and white collars

Ambling along, the Heavenly damsels in pointed heels

I went unnoticed all the same, none alike.

 

With my barren feet grounded on the muddy roads

I fly colorful kites high up in the clouds,

just like my spirits, Soaring to reach the sputnik stars

Am on vibrant paper flights, to kiss the skies.

 

A street Child that I am,

Sprinting and screaming on the ocean’s shores 

Grinning at the emerging rats’ race, and

Leaving behind the world’s disgrace

I take my gleeful embrace

In my puppy’s only humane brace

As for her, she is my god’s coup de grace.

Entry by Pratyay Das Sarma

Little Things

Little things mattered, when we were young and poor

Extravagance didn’t entice us, we were dumb but we were pure.

Time was still a friend, we had dusk till dawn to play

Fresh rain brought us joy as we rolled in mud and made castles of clay.

 

Stray dogs were our play mates, we didn’t check for their breed

Perhaps our boundaries were small, yet our little hearts were big.

Now little things are long forgotten, we now desire materialistic glory..

When did rain become a nuisance?

All fairytales became mere stories.

Entry by Meryl Jacob Rock.

The Cadet And The Mongrel

A small thorp located on the Ghats of the Himalayas wasn’t a capital or a town,

Agatedcommunity with ledges and fresh water wells and a cattle bawn.

The crisp morning sun peeped through the horizon and dawned on the blossomed evergreen trees,

The wild boars wiggled in wet mud while the cuckoos made love to the whistling breeze.

This is a concise fable of a bubbly village ladwith crooked teeth and greasy hair,

A farmer’s son who frolicked around chasing the pullets while he got constant stares.

An old rugged canoe cankered away in thegrubby muck stood ghosted by the pond,

An interesting nook to play in and a heap of friends where he didn’t feel belonged.

One morning as the boy sat by the boat wondering and fidgeting with a pebble in the bask,

He heard a soft whimperwhile a tiny face peeked throughthe ruptured wood camouflaginglike a mask.

With no hesitance, the chapleaned down and caressed the little whelp withhispetite and pockmarked hands,

The pup goggled at the boy with adorable eyes and cuddly paws as he stood there in a weather so bland.

It was love at first glance, and this furball was his to keep, from then on they caperedinseparably andthe marshy land wasn’t a bore,

Everymorning started with a woof and endless licks, and finally they had found a friend in each other they didn’t ask for.

Hence, this bonny picture prompts true friendship behind another.

Entry by Sweta Papaiyawala

Love me or Hate me

Love me, hate me or test me,

God, still, I am going to be cheery

Being born on this sphere is a boon

I will make sure to enjoy it back to the moon

I don’t care what others think,

cause I know you exist even in the tweak

Love is what I want to spread,

To every being I am aware

Living in a slum or a palace

No one is going to be spared at the end

Meanwhile, let me enjoy this life

with full enthusiasm and delight

I will not give up because I know

I am not a loser for sure!

Don’t crib, don’t grimace, just turn, look around

It’s always somewhere close, waiting to be found

Entry by Priyanka Godse

Sharing with you

an indivisible bond

Let’s live a relation

leading us to get overfond.

 

Abandoned by our progenitors

we yearn for a bread

Let’s give each other

a connection, a thread.

 

You are to me

more than a pup

Let’s run to cuddle

and I’ll catch you up.

 

My soul, my companion

for my entire life

Let’s grow with each other

with a reason to strive.

Entry by Charulata Panigrahi

Blissful childhood

Coming from far off with their parents.

They are the children of migrant labourers.

Their parent’s jobs are no more, the pandemic’s curse.

But how do they care?

On foot with hunger and thirst

They are playing all along .

No worries and no tension.

Blessed always is the childhood

The golden period.

We adults have lost it

That’s why we suffer.

Children play with whatever they get.

The dog the cat all are their playmates.

Simple they are

No complication in mind.

They make friends with everyone in sight.

Let’s be simple as they are.

Miseries will fade

And appiness everywhere.

How much we miss the bliss of hugging a dog and give it a kiss.

Entry by Natasha Sequeira

Happiness is ..

‘Does this lad have a face mask on?

Social distancing? Oh do cover that yawn!’

He sells flowers to make a living.

Covid-19 brought hunger, fear, longing.

Who will feed this boy and his widowed mom?

‘Lockdown? What of it?’, he says with a frown.

Beaten, broken, not a rupee on him

A yowling puppy, he found in a bin.

Those deep brown eyes looked into

The lad’s tired black pools.

A smile began forming in the corners,

he knew. His hard days might be lightened,

With his new friend in tow.

A little bit of happiness

The Almighty had bestowed!

Entry by Vasudha Pansare

Homeless Children

These children should be in school,

And not work as ragpickers,

Or selling things at traffic lights,

In the hot sun.

Street children should get a roof

Over their heads,

And enough food and clothes,

It’s the responsibility of

The government

To take care of these homeless urchins,

They are the future of

Our country

They should be provided for

Only then will the country progress,

Only then will the nation become strong.

Entry by Sonali Chanda

EYES

The dead eyes,stared at me,still…

Those are stagnant,

still and cold enough,

Once, I saw their Iris, dancing,

Like the fireflies

dance in the dark..!

 

It was my prohibited approach,

Towards those deep dark fireflies eyes,

Alluring they were,

attracted me several times,

If you’d notice keenly,

you’d born again to die for them,

Several times!

 

Now they’re stagnant,

as if watching still, towards me, in the mortuary,

still, attracting me, though!

 

My longing for them, still is alive,

Still it hasn’t diminished,

Now,  speaking with them,whispering,

An amazing confidence,

lifting its brows, deep ,black!

 

A surreal moment, bizarre I’m,

Looking intensely, as if they want to yearn…

Those deep, passionate stagnant eyes!

Entry by Pragun

We are both in this together

Let’s walk this path holding hands

From being homeless to be with you

The touch of hands when you took me through

The homeless to security

The warmth and kindness

With plates hungry and empty

Which we filled with love and empathy

No boundaries no colour

No caste no religion

Love and compassion

Let’s fly those kites

Let’s run in the grounds

Let’s just laugh out loud

And live this uncomplex life