Tuesday, March 28, 2017

MEMORIES - by Sudhir Iyer




MEMORIES 

by Sudhir Iyer

Was walking down memory lane,
Was walking on the beach,
Throttling the feelings of pain,
Keeping doubts out of reach.

Had a look at the sands of time
The hours when time itself stood still,
Could hear distant bells chime,
And I was walking while I still stood still.

Felt the heat of the sun beating,
Could sense an awe that the past left,
Saw the sheath of life fleeting,
Glimpses of what was there were best. 




HOW WAS YOUR DAY ? - by Dreamer




HOW WAS YOUR DAY ?


by Dreamer


We are friends from far away.
When we talk we always have something to say.
Our lives so different yet the same.
Every night we play the game.
We talk of families and about our day.
I always wonder if there's more to say.
Could it have been different for you and I?
Or was fate decided before we could have tried?
For now we play our parts, that's all that's left;
Never knowing if our hearts would have met.
Two people from far away, always asking, "How was your day?". 









Wednesday, March 22, 2017

IN PURPLE FIELDS WE DANCE - by Charmaine Chircop


 

IN PURPLE FIELDS WE DANCE 


by  Charmaine Chircop 


 Stay a little longer

come closer to my heart

Breathe dew breeze  on my neck's nape

do not yet depart

Play for me bagpipe music

Blindfold all my starving fears

Let the dulcet tones of your voice

give us back those harvest years

Make  of the citrus moon a ballroom

Hold  me firmly from both hands

Lift me  high to touch the star-sky

Show me how young peasants dance 

Let my soothing fingers trail 

across your caloused  sun -soaked skin

In purple fields Come chase me

in that place our souls have been

Take me away with you

where this world is out of sight

Where unspoken thoughts and heartbeats

are enough to blaze the night
 
 
 






Wednesday, March 15, 2017

LESSONS - by © Jeremiah E. Fanjul



LESSONS 


by © Jeremiah E. Fanjul



There's beauty in struggle,
There's feeling in pain.
For every painstaking mistake,
There are lessons you can name.

No one is excluded
From life's many trials,
Not even a scrape on the knee
From an innocent child.

It's true, most lessons do hurt.
Some more than others,
Some short and temporary,
Some smothering with suffering.

Some beautiful with love,
Like a baby and mother.
Some are a constant battle,
Like sister and brother.

There are lessons we must learn
About how to love one another.



 
 





THE SERBIAN FORTRESS KALEMEGDAN





Kalemegdan is a park-fortress and an urban, but not residential neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad.
"Great Kalemegdan" is one of its' parts and it occupies the southern corner of Kalemegdan, with geometrical promenades, Military Museum, Museum of forestry and hunting, Monument of the Graditutde to France.

Some 115 battles have been fought over imposing, impressive Kalemegdan; the citadel was destroyed more than 40 times throughout the centuries. Fortifications began in Celtic times, and the Romans extended it onto the flood plains during the settlement of 'Singidunum', Belgrade's Roman name. Much of what stands today is the product of 18th-century Austro-Hungarian and Turkish reconstructions. The fort's bloody history, discernible despite today's plethora of jolly cafes and funfairs, only makes Kalemegdan all the more fascinating.

Entering from Knez Mihailova, go through the 18th century Karadjordje Gate to reach the Upper Town (Gornji Grad) of the fortress. From the 1750 Inner Stambol Gate, you'll reach the Military Museum and the 27.5m-high Clock Tower. Further along, you'll see a small brick octagon; this is the 1784 Ali Pasha's Turbeh (tomb), one of Belgrade's few well-preserved Islamic monuments. The Roman Well is nearby, a mysterious 60m deep hole (more a cistern than a well) of dubious origin and shrouded in horrifying legends; apparently the well even managed to creep out a visiting Alfred Hitchcock! Looming beside it is the Victor Monument, a symbol of Belgrade erected in 1928 to commemorate Serbia’s victories during the Balkan Wars and WWI.

The Lower Town (Donji Grad) slopes down towards the river. The huge Gunpowder Magazine (1718) was set up by the Austrians as a safe place to hide artillery; today it houses a collection of stone monuments, including Roman sarcophagi, tombstones and altars. Further east, the ivy-swathed Ružica Church looks innocuous from the outside; inside, you'll find chandeliers made by WWI Serbian soldiers from spent bullet casings, swords, rifles and cannon parts. The well-preserved 1460 Nebojša Tower sits directly on the riverbank at the tip of the Lower Town's north-eastern rampart. A former dungeon, the tower now serves as a museum, with some excellent exhibits covering medieval Belgrade, the Ottoman era and the First Serbian Uprising.