Poems published in May 2015

Chrysanthemums

a poem by Rita Malhotra Dr

We were brought up
By the rule book
That spelt love for us daughters
As immoral, infidel,
Masked, contagious
Dreams were cached
Within constrained confines
The self remained dwarfed-
Bonsai like
Unable to reach beyond its grasp
But a moment of wild defiance
Unleashed a tempestuous will
To self-expression
I followed love’s trail
Scanning the horizon of darkness
To arrive at the moonlit patch
Of a perplexed night-
A night that witnessed
Love’s intimate dance
In the sensual celebration of
Intimacy between
Soul, mind and body
With the first footfall of dawn
I tore all pages
Of the book of norms
Made paper-flowers out of them
This morning they have metamorphosed
Into golden-orange chrysanthemums.