Sermon not on the mount

Easter week thoughts or musings

Good morning, everyone.

Sentences that matter in the Bible are "do not be afraid" and "be of good cheer." It is true that the devil walks around as a roaring lion looking whom he might devour but faith is to see that we have already won the victory, by believing in the example of Christ. What does this mean, practically? It means that each morning you get up and are thankful to God for all his loving kindnesses and tender mercies. Yes, someone may be planning death and destruction to you, unknown to yourself, but your job is to leave his downfall to the law, the government, the army, the police etc., not to mention the ten universal commandments or his conscience by which he will be judged. But honestly, as the times are tough we have something more that has to be revived, and that is the need for prayer and faith in the word of God. And the golden rule. Jesus protected himself and others through prayer and faith in and obedience to and love of God's word as he knew that beyond a point even the authorities put in place to help us go about living peaceful lives, we who are ordinary citizens, would be ineffective as we are not facing powers that are human but constellated into groups as spiritual wickedness, satanic forces, evil spirits, and such can only by countered by prayer, alone and in groups, and love of God and obedience to his word after faith in it. These lesser powers from down below can only be defeated by the greater power of God and his allies from up above. Thus, just like black holes eat up all in its path, we become suns that give light to all in our paths to grow and flourish in green earths and this destroys the darkness and spreads light to bring about God's kingdom on earth. All the best, have a lovely day :) Pray without ceasing in your hearts for this is the will of God in Christ concerning us but with faith that he hears and has already heard and answers speedily when our prayers are aligned with His will. Most of all don't fear death as whatever comes after this can't be all that much worse for ordinary people and may be better and if it is nothing then that is fine too and don't worry about those left behind as it is not your job to bother about them, those left living will do that job. If no one does it also, God will, so do not worry or be anxious or think too much, in short, but trust God and live happily. So be it.

Glopowrimo #24

Glopowrimo #24 Illustrated dictionaries and illustrating dictionaries

Dictionary illustrations - for Dorling Kindersley version 2.0

What if
there was a dictionary
that read your mind
and when you turned to,
say,
for instance,
a word like
breasts
showed you not just any
generic pair
but the breasts of the one
you were thinking of?
Wouldn't that be
curious
& peculiar?
Curiouser and peculiarer
would be
one in which when you look at a picture
it shows you the word
you call that in
your mind,
like, say,
for instance,
for example,
suppose you called her breasts
judies,
in case her name was Judy,
and
turning to the picture of those mammary glands
the page says
instead of the usually used word
this one.
Judies!
Would such dictionaries -
Illustrated dictionaries and illustrating dictionaries -
that read you
and your mind -
not like the ones
that you and your mind read -
be welcome
or hated,
dreams
or nightmares?!

Glopowrimo #23

Glopowrimo #23 Ettadimoorkhan**

What one loves
is the unpredictability
of being coiled up inside
in the empty water pot
left in the bathroom
by them in monsoon
and out the next
and their fear
They did not know I am my own master
though by themselves they cannot make out
mostly
whether master or mistress of my fate I be
Then I slither out and they freeze
not knowing
on many nights
I have played with their child
swaying to my hood, tongue and eyes
herself asleep
They freeze and then they brandish sticks
I slip, slide, laugh and I hiss
as long as that hole is not found and blocked
I know that this game is merely hit and miss
I love the green fields
There I am free
Even the mongoose is afraid of me
Sometimes in the water I see me
All length and scales and darting tongue and shades
of black and gold that women love
As for red, that's only if I bite
which I seldom do except for prey
All gleaming I come and all gleaming I go
I am the architect of my own fate!
*Eda murkha, they call the ones they consider a villain
Not knowing I like my fun, jokes and games
as much as they -
the only pestilential race!

** 8 foot cobra

* you cobra

A poem
A day
Keeps
The Blues
Away.

Millais

Glopwrimo #22

Note- I have purposely presented the pair as mother and child, though to Millais they were two sisters, by taking poetic licence.

She hides in the fold of her mother's head scarf
Her blue skirt tattered and threadbare, worn, torn
She looks at the double rainbows, afar
(The sky still dark, though the rain gone away)
A rare sight, first-time seen; but breathes not to her
Mother, on whose scarf a butterfly fli(r)ts
To its soft texture and rich colour, drawn
Again invisible to its neighbour
The fields are golden and green-yellow with corn
The trees thicker green, and afar are houses and cottages
An accordion in her mother's lap is
Which she plays when in town to get money for them
There are sheep and cows in the meadows and further off horses
Nearby there is grass, brambles, wild white-lilies and there's the texture of the cloth
worn by her and the girl, the brown shades and the blacks
The beauty of the scene is so wrought
That we could gaze for hours at it
Trying to decipher each note, each bird, each sun's mote
(And feel our hearts' swell and our breasts' burst
And our eyes begin to moisten, in hurt.

Millais, if ever I met you I would ask
Why did you grieve me thus with such art?
So perfect in its eye for detail
Making us cry out, why is she thus?
And her daughter, peeping out from behind
Her mother's long head-covering, no word
In her mouth, as painting speaks through
Sight to the eyes, and to the heart
Not to the touch or the taste or the smell
Her boots showing she is meant to walk miles
With her mother, so they have to be a hardy pair
Such art makes us fall down and worship, after
We shed our tears; makes less of us, and more
Realising our treasures, and wanting to help
Those who are richer in some things like music but not
As fortunate in some other, like us
And where is her husband?
Or lover, or father
Or mother?
We become all that to her
We want to fill up the need in the small girl
And rush to their aid. What a painting!
We bless God who gave such power to man
To pictorialise such a piteous scene so well
And gave us the power to complete his art
By unlearning 'seeing' and the 'art' of thinking
By re-seeing and re-thinking on its depths and improving our selves
This poem began as an ekphrastic ramble
Forgive me if it meandered into sermonising
Real tears made me wax didactic
Forgive me, take what you can, and leave the rest.

Rising star

I'll turn up, the proverbial bad penny
Just when you think you finished me off 
And I am done with and gone forever
Though you want to get rid of me
You all who think you can shake me off
Like rain after a thunderstorm
from your raincoat
or snow you can brush off your coat
in winter
Like drops of sweat you flick off
And patterns on the window pane
Just a passing phase
But I'll be there, still, among the rising stars
Always, and all ways.

Pinakini Naik's first ever review is of my book Scream and Other Urbane Legends

Sharing my review on the awesome book Scream and other Urbane Legends ! 😃

Scream and other Urbane Legends by the creative powerhouse, poet, critic, academicianDr. AV Koshy is an eclectic collection of 28 short stories and a novella. It features some hard hitting, surreal stories that invite the reader to drop linear thinking, stay alert and dive into exploring twist and turn dreamscapes of fiction and fantasy where unique plots shape shift, quicksilver-like on the story teller’s perceptive canvas.

Once I picked up the book, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a single sitting, a thoroughly enjoyable read indeed. The stories bump and flow into each other creating an eccentric rhythm not unlike the onset of vivid rapid eye movement (REM), lucid dreams, etched and borne in the cradle of paradoxical sleep, impacting the reader’s subconscious mind in a such a way that it tends to revisit certain plot twists in the mind’s eye to gain deeper insight into the stories and comprehend what might have been missed in the first read.

Death is a recurring theme used as a common thread to interweave the stories with an existential ambience. The minimalist and non attached style of narration reveals what’s absolutely necessary and leaves the rest to imagination, open to interpretation, which works in the favor of the book. This deliberate space allows the reader to absorb, contemplate, savor what has been left unsaid.

Some stand out moments in the short stories were in ‘Aouda: The Confluence’ where the character, Asur, transitions effortlessly from driving a car on a hot desert highway to swimming underwater in the ocean to have a casual conversation with a brown seahorse; Mystical and intriguing viewpoints presented in ‘The Creation Myths on Poetry: A Trialogue’ require a reread to be fully absorbed; The understated melancholic beauty of the short but eloquent piece ‘The Last Scarecrow’ is brilliant in its craftsmanship; The sci-fi story ‘Written on the Body’ reminded me a bit of the movie ‘Cloud Atlas’ directed by the Wachowski brothers, in how beautifully the futuristic scenes flow, then culminate into the ultimate sacrifice of love and life offered by Bride Rose and Kay who save the world with a complete reboot.

The book saves the best for the last and ends with a beautifully woven, intense, self exploratory novella, Anamika. The evocative prose has an autobiographical tone,layered with subtle sensuality, erotic at times, embellished with inlaid poetic gems throughout, keeping the reader deeply involved to its poignant, unforgettable end. A beautiful one liner that stood out and is self-evident in the story, “ Poetry communicates before its understood. “

To conclude, Scream and other Urbane Legends is an introspective book with a whimsical flavor, best recommended for readers with a poetic bent of mind or an eclectic mindset or anyone who is willing to step out of the box.

Easter 2019

Glopowrimo 20 -  Easter 2019 or The Surrealism of the Apocalypse

When he told them
tears in his eyes
they did not believe in it
that he wanted to gather them under his wings
like a mother hen does its chickens
that: in those days woe unto women
especially those who give suck
The falcon can no longer hear the falconer
We met them today, early in the day
It was Easter 2019
Terrible with no beauty born
There had been a great sign in the sky
The fire with its smoke that rose to the skies
and was watched by many observant eyes
while the spire fell down
The bats flew out
The belfries and the towers hung upside down
London and France fell down along with the other burning cities
The angels were finally released
and started to swing their censers
the smoke of which drove them all out of the temple
so they could no longer stand and serve
even the ministers
till it was fulfilled, of the curses and the punishments
The seven lightnings flashed
The seven thunders roared
The seven unclean frogs came hopping out of the mouth of the beast
The sky rolled back
The stars fell down with the figs
The moon turned black
The sea became blood
The flying scorpions came out to sting
Plagues fell upon the earth
like dead meteorites and comet showers
The ice caps melted
The end times had begun
The blood rose in the streets to the windshields of the vehicles
The thick viscous blood of the red-dimmed tides
And God withdrew
In a cloak of austerity
Pale as the horse ridden by death that came last
But before that came the other four
and the one that was red
had fire, fell, in its eyes
and the sound of thunder and hail in its tread
These are the days when the dragon rears its head
for it knows that its time is short
But men bit their tongues
and would not repent
So the curses will be full-fledged
For none turn to God
or what is evident
of God made to them in the things of nature
and their own conscience
and in Jesus risen from the dead
so that even if they hear they can no more comprehend
The light is gone
for a little while
It is the time of the darkness now
But the woman with the moon
under her feet
who wears the sun in her hair
whose face shines like
the midday sun
and walks on rainbows and pauses at the turning of the stairs and gives birth to the little child
who will lead all the nations with the lion and the lamb
is waiting in the wings
to upstage
after this carnival and frenzy of death
to be unleashed upon the world for a time
to bring back the balance again
Lady of the flowers
not desert born, but brought up there
who is this that you bred?
Are these not the children of the one
who is risen from the dead
Is this not the bride he will wed?
Will time not become a scroll he rolls up
on the day he judges the quick and the dead?
Do not surprised then at how many are going to be found undead
Or if the streets run rife with blood
and children be found headless
women grieved, and torn apart
and every other horror witnessed
For it all must be
before it can be
that human-kind again is saved.
So bear with me
and my ill-tidings
and patience may gain you a berth
in the new heaven
and the new earth
when the darkness passes, and there is again no dearth.

Till then. I am loath to tell you
it's only the beginning of sorrows.

My poem published today on Poetry!

https://view.joomag.com/glomag-glomagapril2019/0385545001555810578?short

Easter thoughts

Happy Easter - Christ is risen!

In the most ancient book according to some in the Western world which is the epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh sets out on a journey to find eternal life after building his famous wall for which he slays the so called monster Humbabu and conquers Lebanon' forests of cedar etc. He fails to do so as though he manages to get the plant that will give men eternal life and everlasting youth on his return journey where he dreams of giving it to all his people, a snake comes and steals it away from him.

The journey of the mythic hero, Gilgamesh, culminates when he fights with Iostre, his goddess, again unwisely, and dies as a great king who could not win eternal life but is famous for his battle, friendship, victory and the wall as well as the epic itself which he claims to be written by him, that shows Babylon was great during his time.

The journey of Christ is the culmination of and the reversal of what is wrong with the epic of Gilgamesh, where Christ slays the dragon/serpent Satan, builds an eternal kingdom, the kingdom of God, and comes back form the dead to give eternal life and everlasting youth to all who believe and fittingly his resurrection day celebration came to be named, albeit paradoxically, after 'Iostre'! Christ symbolizes the downfall of the earthly, corrupt Babylon/Rome and its idea of kingship with its policies of colonialism, imperialism and expansionism and environmental degradation and the arrival of a new Jerusalem which is based on entirely spiritual principles that is therefore undying, eternal and infinite and not a political kingdom, as it is based on the principles of faith, hope, love, mercy, grace, etc., and is the fulfilment of the 'promised land' of Moses. This is actually the significance of Easter, to have peace on earth and good will to all human beings. The message of peace on earth has been extended and kept alive most in the East by Buddha, Guru Nanak, and others of that spiritual mettle.

Easter poem

Before the Morning

Before you hold the record for height
you have to hold the record for depth
Only after descending below the lowest of the low
can one's ascent lead to the Throne of thrones
Hence while his body lay cold in the grave
his spirit travelled to hell and to Hades
There preached he freedom to the captives
who had been washed away by the flood
and had not had the chance to hear Noah preach
and got from there the keys of hell and death
then ascended to Parudisa
Where he ate of the tree of life
and shared the fruit with the thief on the cross
soaring then to the heights of heaven
past and through and in all of the seven
He got the keys of the heavens
Re-entered his (c)old body
on the slab in the cave in a shroud
waiting for the first crack of dawn
while outside they mourned, not knowing his path
the one of the perfect, final, conquering, archetypal Hero
who has to defeat everything
sin, flesh, the world, death, and hell
before he can put on the crown
of the Lord of the Immortals
and ascend, after shewing himself
to the pre-ordained witnesses
to come back again, when the rest of the heroes
and heroines are become complete
in number and in power
to lead them in the golden reign
for the New Age to be born
when there will be no more tears

Published :)

http://www.destinypoets.co.uk/elegy-for-tina-by-her-brother-immediately-elder-to-her/

Published :)

http://duanespoetree.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-v-koshy-writes.html

Another new story up on Story Mirror

https://storymirror.com/read/story/english/s7qv37vv/wordlay

New story up on Story mirror

https://storymirror.com/read/story/english/j6oj2xoa/award-reward

Glopowrimo #20

Glopwrimo #20

Two Malayalis speak to each other in two different local English Vinglish accents - the first from Thiruvanathapuram and the second more from central Travancore.

"I yam valways lait for vurk, Gopan"

"I am olways lait going bak to reech hom, Cheriacho"

"Vat to do?"

"Nothing. Cuming for a smol?"

"Smal? Vy note a large?"

"Cum"

"Now aye feel better but the verld is spinning, Gopo."

I so streing sites too. As if that gerl was vinking at me, Cheriacho."

"Vich gerl? The vun in the boster?

"Eggsact seim vun"

"Have vun mo' large, she vill be sinking also laik the Taitanic."

Hahaha, then ve vill both go dowun"

"Yus, but she vil lift us up, hehehe"

"Yus, yus, what goes up must cum dowun"

"No, no, what goes dowun..."

"What goes dowun?"

"Laik every akshun has an iqual end oposit reakshun"

"Haha, but she is still vinking."

"Vink bak."

"Swupose sumun in the bar thinks aye yam vinking et him?"

"Aiyyo, athu preshnamakum. athu venda, let her vink on."

"Vink on, Vink on, mai pretti vun, vink on, vink on, said 'e"

Hehehehehehehehe yu are fully drunk, I see

Hahahahahahaha so are yu, I see

"I yam olways lait for vurk, Gopa, Gopo Gopan saar"

"& I yam vallways lait going hom, Cheriacha, cheriacho, mon cherie."

Listener's note: Even their accents changed fully to each other's by the end of this delightful ramble :D

Needs more work

Glopowrimo #19 - ABCDErian poem 2

Koshy's gallery of literary women - I failed in many places - maybe you can help me ;)

Alice in wonderland & through the looking glass
Beatrice who was Dante's muse so fair
Catherine whose love for Heathcliff was as wild as the hinterlands
Darling Wendy who made Peter Pan's heart flutter in bands
Elektra, who was in love with her father
?Felicity Porter, the TV serial girl so glam
?Gabriela Goddzer, her unknown TV sis
Helen whose face launched a thousand ships
I, the heroine in so many novels, including Jane Eyre
Judith and Juiet, both; who can forget
Kunti, the mother of Karna, son of the Sun
Laura who was turned into a laurel in Ovid
Magdalena Maria, famed, one of a kind
Nora, from Ibsen, who broke a doll's house
O, the mysterious woman in The Story of O
Panchali, the one who was everyone's pawn
?(Querelle of Brest, from Genet's masterpiece - a man!)
Rita, in Educating Rita, just great
Sita, who finally was swallowed by Ma Bhumi
?Tara, the goddess in Buddha's world, star
? Urania, the astronomy muse
Vina Apsara, from Rushdie's Groind Beneath her Feet
Wonder Woman, with her golden lasso
?Xanthippe, Socrates' wife
?Yekaterina, I am yet to create her
? Zinnia, the name of a flower.

Needs more work.

Glopowrimo 19 - 3 (women writers list) Please fill in

Auvaiyyar - Tamil Bhakthi poet
Beatrice Webb - little known, but potent
Chitra Divakarune - I haven't read.
Dorothy L Sayers - detective games!
Elizabeth Gilbert - eat, pray, love
Flannery O'Connor - Irish whey
George Eliot - stuck still with a man's name!
Harper Lee - the greatest, eh?
Irawati Karwe - forgotten but great
Jane Austen - who can forget?
Kate Chopin - Story of an hour!
Louisa May Alcott - Jo and her world
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein's mom
Nadine Gordimer- from South Africa came
Octavia E Butler - another not much famed.
Pearl S Buck - for whom writing was Good Earth
Qurrutulain an Hyder - River of Fire
Rowling JK - need more be said?
Sylvia Plath -though more may be named
Toru Dutt
Ursula K Le Guin
Virginia Woolf and her Waves
Willa Cather, the South's own daughter
X
Y
Zadie Smith - the eye of the tiger.

ABCDErian poem for Good Friday Glopowrimo 19

Abcedarian poem Glopowrimo #19

A is for Aramaic - the language that he used to speak that has now become extinct
A is for Alpha, that which was before the beginning
B is for the blind man who was so from birth he cured or healed
B is for our daily Bread that he wanted all to have
B is for the Bread of his Body that he broke for us
C is for Christ, the only one there is
C is for the cross that became a symbol for all suffering and the need to cross out the ego in our lives
C is for the Church, the ecclesia, called out, separated, to be like him
D is for the deep blue lake that he walked on, this Nazarene
E is for the Essenes who missed out on his ministry, reminding me not to
E is for Easter which shows one can resurrect and defeat death
F is for the Father whom he introduced to all
F is for the fish, Ichthus, in the lake of Galilee
F is for forgiveness, without which we can't go on.
G is for Good Friday where "Good" is the main thing
G is for the Gadarene swine who had to bear the brunt
H is for hyssop that washes all our sins clean
I is for Ieusus, King of the Jews
J is for Judah, whose Lion he is
J is for John, the Apostle of Love
L is for love that he said was all you need to learn to ascend
M is Messiah, of the world that believes him
M is for miracles done to show as proof to the world ready to believe
M is for the Marys, Virgin Mother and Magdalene
N is for the Name above all names
O is for the outcasts and lepers that he came to reach and touch
P is for Peter who was the one who most received
Q is for the huge queues that lined up to hear him preach the Sermon on the Mount
R is for the redness of the Blood that teaches sacrifice
S is for the Son, who is the Sun of the injeel
T is for the temple which now becomes our selves
U is for the union of God and you in him
V is for the vineyard mystic from which we our grapes with our feet do press
W for the wine that now we have to drink, and become, to others to giveng
W is for the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God
X is for the shortening of Christmas to Xmas which makes it commercial and for the rich
Y is for you all whom now I have to love as he did
Z is for Omega - as he is the Frist and Last, the a TO THE z IF YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND HIM

Glopowrimo 18 - Ode on the Death of a Favourite Mobile

"What female heart can gold despise
What cat's averse to fish?"
Asked Gray, in a fit of caprice
Unexpected, from one as he
But for men, we can't despise
'Gadgets', guns, bikes, and mobiles
You can add cars,comps and guitars
But mobiles are the latest craze
My golden Samsung Galaxy J 7
How snugly it fit in my palm
How many hours of gazing pleasure
Looking at its blue-black face
Till it fell down from my hand
Not once but seventy times seven
Stopped working
Visage shattered
Lies in a coma on my table
Cannot be resuscitated
Euthanasia is required
I vainly try to resurrect
Five years of my mobile life
'Who ever tried that did not fail'
Comforts me as I the corpse shake
Shed for me a few tears
For my Samsung J 7 Galaxy
While I keep on trying to
Make it work, at least rarely!