Besan Ka Halwa

Today, 29th June, on the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Seychelles, here is 'The Pentafleur' - an acrostic and concrete poem resembling the Seychelles Flag with its five glorious colours. 'The Penta-fleur'   B ehold our flower of five fluttering! L isten to it rise across the shores,  U nfurling in its full glory above    E arth of you and me below.  Y oung and old sniff its petals,   E mbracing its stem - the toddler L ifting from the soil that made us. L ay on the grass holding hands  O h, all my brothers and sisters! W atch the flag beneath our sky. R ise together towards the dream, E schewing the unjust and the other  D ivisions dissolve into pollen. W e, the people, the persistent! H eads high in clouds of peace. I nequality melts off the petals–   T he toddler smiles gazing E veryone reaching the banner. G ust of wind kisses faces of humanity.  “ R ace against race,” it reminds E ach soul holding the pole...

'A ROYAL INSCRIPTION' There's a time to be the potter,  And a time to be clay. Sometimes you are the writer,  Sometimes you are the play. The pot you mould,  The play you sold- Are bits of soul  Within your fold. When the pot breaks in  And the stage breaks down  Paper makes the carpet  Clay makes the crown. -V.G.

 War & Prepositions It is rather easier To be 'at' war Than 'in' it. To be 'over' it Is certainly fortunate, But to be 'under' it Would be chronically dim. To be 'around' it Might be entertaining, But to be 'on' it Might be dangerously addictive. To be 'into' it Is a genuine hobby, To be 'through' it Is genuine experience. Being 'above' it - is a fantasy. Being 'below' it - is a fallacy.  -V.G

SCIENTIFIC TEMPER Society is scientific. It keeps asking for proof. It asked me to prove  My Loyalty  My identity  My sanity. The day I asked society  To prove itself,  It burned me at stake  To prove the greatest discovery  Of man - fire. -V.G.

  'BREWING BELIEF' Tea versus coffee Is complicated and pointless- Like a religious debate. A million myths, A hundred histories, Several stories and sects. With or without milk and sugar? One god or many? Dipped or filtered? Buried or burnt? The answer if there is - Is water: a necessity. Water is virtue. -V.G

'Sir Amrit' Amrit hated surprises And assassination was top on that list. On the eve of filing papers, He found his old birth certificate. Discovering the absence of 'A' He shot himself. -V.G. 

'Pinocchio in Love' I got lost  Talking to a chirping bird Who sat on my nose one day. I kept telling lies  To make it stay and it did But farther and farther away. -V.G. 

A Fair Lure - Vikram Grewal 'Haraf' S-U-C-C-E-S-S is freedom  from repetition. Always almost there But never there yet. A pursuit depending  Constantly on consonants. A caged victory  Cursed into a loop, With recurring S's and C's Resting on two vowels. It wishes to be more stable, Buttressed by broader letters. Held by three or four vowels, With no repetition ofcourse! If only it were spelled: F-A-I-L-U-R-E.

Hymn for the Neo-Colonizer If you think That you are better than them Then better them, Without telling them. And as you better them   It betters you, Without telling you.     - V.G