The Affectionate Twins

“Whether you’re shuffling a deck of cards or holding your breath, magic is pretty simple: It comes down to training, practice, and experimentation, followed up by ridiculous pursuit and relentless perseverance.” – David Blaine

I was never into yoga. But with your insistence, here we are with our mats rolled out. I glance your way as the instructor announces, “We start with Balasana today!”

Under pressure to offload weight pressing heavily on my shoulders, I welcome the suggestion even though I know your aim is to feign innocence. Curled up into a fetal position, my big thighs shielding me from your wordless rage, I breathe for the first time in months.

The old bray in my heart turns into vapour; a fog that clears as I let go of confusion, suspicion and anger. I welcome understanding. Because I’ve been meditating for months on how to leave space and let love breathe.

But after a three-minute count, curiosity gets the better of me. I lift up my head to see how you’re faring, only to find you elegantly holding the power pose. I bite my lip.

Ace of Hearts

note: I never knew there’s such a fear, syngenesophobia. I came across this word as I pondered the prompt for Telling Tales with Magaly Guerrero: a Pantry of Prose. I had fun blurring the line between fact and fiction in this story developed from the poem, A Feigned Pose, I wrote a few years ago.

Biodiversity on a Platter

a girl born under the scales
generous to a fault
conserves supply of smiles
puts biodiversity
on a platter, for eating clean
ain’t black and white

for Poets United

many ways to eat a fish

And responding to Rommy, I wish I could say I was this good, when it comes to maintaining a health lifestyle. As we all know writing life can be unhealthy with all that sitting down and frequent visits to the kitchen for snacking.

But I try, I try…

I often start with an early morning walk before I sit down to write. But there are times, when I’m in the “zone”, I forget all about walking, eating, showering and many other things responsible adults do. Luckily, I have my husband to remind me to go outside, when I’m in this kind of space.

So, yes with a bit of coercing, I do keep reasonably fit. 😀

Simplicity Revisited

It’s only spring but it feels like summer with exceptional warm temperatures we are experiencing. As I’m busy with spring cleaning, I thought I’d revisit my word, simplify, for 2019. This is to share how I fare up, so far.

What I’ve been up to

Simplifying is not always easy, at least when it concerns my creative writing. It’s been a busy start of the year: 

  • Finished the novel revision, and now I brace myself for publishing.

  • Started outlining a second book of fiction. It started as a collection of short stories but some stories refuse to be cut short. Time will tell…

  • I’m presently (and for the first time) participating in National Poetry Writing Challenge for the month of April, on Instagram.

What I’ve been reading

At the beginning of the year, I joined Goodreads. I even took up their reading challenge, and something I definitely regret now. I hate feeling rushed when I’m reading. But here are some insightful books I’ve read thus far:

  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, the book taught me something about slavery more than a text book can possibly do because the story is about people than historical events.

  • How To Steal A country by Robin Renwick, a must-read for an in depth look at the state of affairs in post-apartheid South Africa.

  • Savages by Christina Bergling, a frightening yet hopeful story of survival and what makes us human. 

What I’ve been listening to

I love listening to TED Talks on different subjects. The following are what I’ve enjoyed recently:

What I’ve been thinking of

I enjoy participating in NaNoPoWri challenge. But it has never been more evident than it is now that I enjoy slow writing and slow reading.

  • When the challenge is over, I’ll stick to long reads. That is, actually reading blogs I follow more than interactions on social media.

  • Sometimes, I read a poem or poetry book that really moves or excites me and often wish I could sit down with the poet and have a conversation about their work. I’m thinking of ways to achieve this. Will keep you posted.

If you have managed to read to the end of this post, yay to long reads! Now, I’d love to hear how your year has been so far?