kiss from y granddaughter

she knows to kiss

and many kisses on my cheeks

she has stamped

and that too lovingly

so from her

i plead for a kiss

holding h

er closer

to my wrinkled face

she licks my face

as if painting with her tongue

and then giggles

as if, now, it’s done

henry victor          08.07.2018

dogs barked

dogs barked a lot last night

i know they saw

which i refused to see at night

as i rolled on bed at night

i also pulled to hold tight

my blanket

my eyelids too

closing very tight

my eyes though feel not

the sleep i much desired!

at dawn, from my bed i’m out

and in hand an empty wallet

but

with eyes

now

wide open!

henry victor     18.08.2007

a single hair

i picked a hair, a dame’s, for sure

in my oatmeal this morning

as i was about to pour water

and stir with some sweetener

making my breakfast, a poem to enjoy!

i remembered, those days, for my mother

it was only i, among her five boys

somehow found her hair in my meals!

ex-spouse of 35 years too have protested!

and now, i talk to this woman, also about

what we will do in bed, but only in cyber

when via camera, she walks into my kitchen

© henry victor             07.01.2018

hypocrisy

honey was dripping from food he served

in an elegant golden plate shone, in

his hands, ornamented with gold, while his

mouth, with no stop, dropped words of sweet talk

knives many, invisible and very sharp

in that banquet hall spread all over

his eyes fixed on target to stab, while

heart contemplated that one murder

© henry victor     15.08.2003

Note: First words from each line read together from top to bottom will provide a proverbial phrase!

Kim Sung Ling

i am that Kim Sung Ling

and when i have none to sing

i’ll either walk along the long bridge

or climb and sit on my old fridge

that i may breathe some fresh air

or relax, dreaming my climbing a stair

picking up a strong clip

to tighten securely my lip

that i may speak nothing unfair

or drop, bricks of folly so rare

to the hearty delight

of those gathered in the twilight

to hear Kim Sung Ling

prompting them also to sing

© henry victor     20.11.2003

last noon and last night

last noon i bent my inflexible frame to sit

down on my driveway with my grandson

the little boy, to draw with sidewalk chalk
flowers that never droop, bees that never suck

adding the easy crocodile beside the baby

and endlessly much more that he scribbled
until the energy within tempted him to spill
beyond the safety of my patience, my control

and last night you sent your heavy dark clouds

to completely wipe out our creative expressions
as if getting rid of the monstrous dinosaurs, bad
land creatures, to give space for prickly cacti bed!
 
29.06.2014    

my new home

justin, my three-year old grandson
with his lego pieces built a house
on my coffee table, and a garden
beside, and for my car a driveway

who will cook in this house
from him i queried, for which
he responded quick, ‘thatha’
responding with similar speed

also to my second question
who will eat here
‘justin and thatha’
with no doubts about it

henry victor     12.11.2012

Note: The common Tamil word for grand-father is “thatha”.

Frost on frosty night

whose woods these are, i’m sure, i know not

my house is not in any one of these hamlets
that i drive through this snowy evening
and my wife will not want me to stop here
to enjoy the Westlock woods fill up with snow

my Ford Focus will think it stupid

to stop when there was no skidding
on this icy road near the Devil’s lake
with temperature below minus two zero
on the darkest evening of this year

the cd player sings it well

expressing a pleasant mood
the only other sound is the engine
that warms my leg space too well
to keep me from freezing this winter

roads are winding, slippery, and dark

fear of deer, moose and coyotes
keep me slow and hesitant though
but to my daughter i promised a hug
and kilometers to go before i sleep

henry victor     08.01.2003