Learning to Breathe

"A" SPLASH (An exercise in "a") Splash splash - sand at hand. Mama, Dad, Pat and Sam. Play games, make sandcastles, Dance and camp. Races, matches, darts and dashes. Lads and lasses at lake paddle. Warm days pass - sprays and splatters Ah! Happy days! At battle, army lad - shatter, smash. Take all. Slay all. Waste away masses. Shake pain. Stand. Attack. Stab stab stab Face gnashed. Car crash. Splash. Scarlet dash. Harsh hands Scratch scratch scratch. Fate damned. At last, Calm. Stand, stare at vast waves. Strapping, tall splashes. Salty taste. Splash splash splash. A sad statue at stable pace. Advance away, army lad. Waves take haste Rapids gyrate Gasp and pant Sharp rasp Aghast Agape Call and wail Hands raised Sapphire haze! All Black. A final splash. - Maryam Kaleem

This is a revised version of my earlier poem 'The Candle'. CANDLE OF MOTHERHOOD Upright and confident she shone, A light amidst devils of old. Sheltering her enchanted child, From fiery fiends of the night. A candle with the power to light New beams, and embers of the past. A home where happiness abounds, Where wretched  ignorance stays out. Away now I lie from her sight, Away I linger in the dark. Now old I am, but wiser she Who warned me of my own follies. Still deep I fall into the pit With shadows now engulfing me. But from the corner leaps a spark, Her final breath to protect me. - Maryam Kaleem