Harinder Cheema ( India) - Poetry

 

Brief bio 

Harinder Cheema is an internationally renowned , award-winning poet, novelist, author, editor, anchor, and a motivational speaker. A Naji Naaman Laureate, she stands among distinguished global literary voices and has been featured in 50 Memorable Women, Asia by the Stockholm Project. Her work has also been featured in the prestigious Farsala Academy, Greece, and Café Philo, New Delhi. Her poems have been translated into many national and international languages. She is a motivational speaker and has been invited by many colleges and Universities of India as a guest speaker. She has also graced various national and international literature festivals and events as a distinguished guest.

1. God and Me

Make me like the river oh Lord!

That quenches the thirst of those in need

That gives its water to all,  without the bias of caste and creed

A symbol of abundance flowing even through the weeds

Make me  like the Tree oh Lord!

That does not eat its own fruit

But satisfies the hunger of a passerby 

Walking on that route 

Make me like the Sun oh Lord!

That shines on one and all

That brightens the whole Universe 

And provides warmth to short and tall

Make me like yourself oh  Lord!

So that I become forgiving and fearless

And escape the clutches of the  "Maya "

Please free me from the circle of birth and death.

****

2 .The Satan Walks in Spotless White

I hear  hollow vessels making noise

I see fake  people faking poise

The knowledge exhibition is

 full on

when Wisdom walks all alone

 People are happy to see others sad

I  witness a circus of "Good pretence " with "Intentions bad"

There are performances to get the best actor award

Which baffles this innocent bard

The snake sheds  some thousand skins

And still emerges as a snake from within 

The fangs  intact  for a deadly strike 

Injecting venom with every fatal bite

Beware people! the "Times" are not right

As the Satan walks in spotless white.

****

3. THE MODERN TIMES

Indeed strange times

When strangers have taken control over  our lives

Dear Mark Zuckerberg keeps reminding us of birthdays and anniversaries

Facebook maintains the diary of our memories

"Set a new theme ", is a constant reminder from our cell

The messenger keeps ringing more than the door bell

We are not lost yet people keep searching us on  the google

Life has become such a big puzzle

There are continuous suggestions of people you may know

And I may know them, but how does somebody know that they are the people I know

In the social media it is so easy to undo the things you have done 

it takes only a click to unfriend

You keep on studying profiles as  if  you are a job giver

Where as the sender may be more highly placed than the receiver 

We human beings are surely the brave ones

To escape the pressures of the real world we have built a fake one

There were times one got suspicious of a follower and his intentions

But now proudly the number of followers one mentions

There are challenges thrown all over our face

Pubg,  Kiki dance and the saree race 

People keep on sending attachments without having any attachment actually

They are just forwards sent across casually

Everywhere there is a trust deficit

Sages turn out to be strategists

An age of false smiles

An age of fake profiles 

We are virtually carrying a world in our phone

Which makes me wonder where are all the friends when  I sit to have a cup of coffee all alone

Not just working from home but people are now witnessing burials and cremations online

Sigh! What an age!

And what times!

And I feel a compelling need to write about the times as one day I too will  leave

But the posterity should know that we were brave people indeed.

*****

4.THE BOOK OF LIFE

The river of thoughts flowing within me gathers the silt of knowledge

This life itself is a big book, each page a school, a college

Every day,  I learn from the vastness of the sky to make my heart big

To forgive those who have wronged me and  the past not dig

Each day , the birds teach me that it is more important to be free

And not to be caught in the net of temptations to acquire fame in a hurry

Each day,  the fallen leaf tells me that as compost  it goes back to the tree

And though,  fallen from the heavens high my soul can still connect with  divinity

Each day I see the caterpillar braving challenges to become a butterfly

And blessed with a complex brain, we humans complain and cry

Each day ,the flowers bloom spreading fragrance and colour

But with toxic thoughts we pollute our inner self making our life duller

Each day, I look at the mountain which tries to touch the sky

An impossible feat though it is,  but I marvel as it tries

Each day you will learn something if you open your  inner eyes

Your own awakening can alone make you so profound and wise.