A journal of art + literature engaging with nature, culture, the environment & ecology

Two poems by Meenakshi Palaniappan

Meenakshi Palaniappan, Singapore

 

Mushrooms in the Rain  

 

 

If I stand here by the curb 

all day long in the rain, 

will I see mushrooms sprout, 

and spread open their caps?  

 

I've been watching my kids 

near ten years now. 

I haven't been able to 

catch them at it, 

yet here they are, 

one, almost at my height. 

 

Maybe this magic 

happens only at night.  

Invisible threads  

tug at fingers and toes. 

 

Perhaps we are not meant  

to see this change unfold 

lest we grab hold, 

unwilling  

to let their baby fat vanish,  

along with the wonder  

their eyes express,  

at dew drops on leaves. 

 

We just go about our days 

reminding them  

to brush their teeth, 

pack their bags, and 

drink their milk, 

until, suddenly  

they are reaching down  

to comfort us. 

 

While we can't hold on, 

we can hold fast 

each fleeting moment  

as it passes  

so at least we notice, 

there are mushrooms here 

where there were none before. 

 

The Grass Grows Wild 

Written as the end of the circuit breaker loomed

 

 

The grass grows wild

like my son's hair 

during the lockdown, 

curling and tumbling  

wantonly. 

 

Bees, butterflies, 

grasshoppers,  

they flit among 

the dancing lallang, 

and rest on  

dandelions.  

 

I dread the end, 

when this lush  

paradise will be  

manicured, 

the wild grass tamed  

so no wildflowers can bud 

in this perfectly greened city. 

 

Meenakshi Palaniappan is a Literature educator and a quiet observer of the world  around her. She writes to think and enjoys playing with words to paint pictures of life as  she sees it. She is especially drawn to nature. Her work has been featured in online  journals, including the Shot Glass Journal.

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