UNKNOWN

The kind face that you

Are watching

Is not mine,

If I go 

With this face at home

My wife and the neighbours

Will understand

As if I am

An unknown.

From LILTANSH (Kanhaiya Lal Sethia)

Translated by M.A. Rathore

LIFE A poem by M.A. Rathore

LIFE

A poem by M.A. Rathore

Life is a laboratory

Where we conduct experiments

To make sure the presence of knowledge;

Whether it is valid or not proven yet;

For the study of life-truth, we believe in the facts.

Most of the information has become outdated

By the time it reaches us;

There is no other way to apply this knowledge

If it has not been proved by us;

For the pleasure of love comes when we do it.

The life which flows around us invites us

To study the aestheticism of nature

Which is laying bare in front of us;

We just need to woo her soft petals,

Opening the secrets of our conjugation.

We are leading our life in intoxication

Without caring for her bliss;

From morning to evening

We are busy getting and spending

Without knowing the essence of life.

IDEAL A poem by M.A. Rathore

IDEAL

A poem by M.A. Rathore

We are just following

One and the other ideals of our society;

Not accepting what we are;

Just adopting the ways of our god-fathers;

We never try to be ourselves.

We are just imposing on us

The character of the person we are following;

Our character becomes more complex

When we try to imitate others;

We never practise being simple and honest.

When a man tries to be simple

He becomes more and more complex;

He starts neglecting the reality of his self;

The conflict grows deeper inside him; 

Let not make anyone be your master.

We become hypocrites;

The most dangerous person in society;

Instead of searching the Self

He just makes society follow

What he has learnt by following others.

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Photo credited: Facebook

CONFLICT A poem by M.A. Rathore

CONFLICT

A poem by M.A. Rathore 

There is a conflict that goes on

In the mind of every person;

A constant struggle that is dividing our mind

Which wants to be free;

Even when he practises simplicity.

When our mind is in a conflict

The power of understanding becomes feeble;

And we feel we are growing old;

Our intellect suffers from our indecisive nature,

For we are full of paradoxes.

We are unable to take a particular decision,

Our mind thinks too much;

Worries about those situations

Which have not happened till now;

Divided we contemplate, divided we feel.

To win the battle against a conflict

We have to be sensitive towards our actions

That lead to our spontaneous innocence;

The basics of the sages

Which ultimately brings calmness.

The 36 Greatest Poets of all Time By M.A. Rathore

The 36 Greatest Poets of all Time

By M.A. Rathore

 

The language of words and the shape of every letter is a universal beauty. Although nearly all forms of literary work have been seen, poetry has created a lasting impact on the world. Appearing as early as the 20th century B.C., poetry can first be seen in epic poems such as Homer’s “The Odyssey.” This birth of new writing allowed people to explore their form of poetry and the many routes they can take when it comes to it. Poetry has, like many forms of literature, evolved through each age of history. However, as the world evolved, poetry transformed as well and went through several different periods, ultimately leading to the most recent one — contemporary poetry. By definition, contemporary poetry is “a style of poetry that follows a specific series of traits and literary tools: inconsistent meter, variations upon standard rhyme.” Poets writing in this style allow their ink to place a unique sense of self upon the words, making every poet’s story special. Below are seven contemporary poets who are changing the world of writing, one page at a time. 

 

1: Edgar Allen Poe

Birthplace: Boston

Famous poem:” The Raven”

Famous quote:” I have great faith in fools — self-confidence my friends call it.”

 

2: William Shakespeare

Birthplace: Stratford-upon-Avon, England

Famous poem:” Sonnet XVIII” (Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?)

Famous quote:” All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. His acts are being seven ages.”

 

3: Maya Angelou

Birthplace: St. Louis

Famous poem:” On the Pulse of Morning”

Famous quote:” I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

 

4: Emily Dickinson

Birthplace: Amherst, Massachusetts

Famous poem: “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”

Famous quote: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul — and sings the tunes without the words — and never stops at all.”

 

5: Shel Silverstein

Birthplace: Chicago

Famous poem: “Where the Sidewalk Ends”

Famous quote:” What I do is good. I wouldn’t let it out if I didn’t think it was.”

 

6: Robert Frost

Birthplace: San Francisco

Famous poem: “The Road Not Taken”

Famous quote: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”

 

6: Pablo Neruda

Birthplace: Parral, Chile

Famous poem: “I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You”

Famous quote: “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”

 

7: E. E. Cummings

Birthplace: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Famous poem: “I carry your heart with me”

Famous quote: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

 

8: Langston Hughes

Birthplace: Joplin, Missouri

Famous poem: “I Too Sing America”

Famous quote: “Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

 

9: Walt Whitman

Birthplace: Long Island, New York

Famous poem: “I Hear America Singing”

Famous quote: “Either define the moment or the moment will define you.”

 

10: Thomas Hardy

Birthplace: Dorset, England

Famous poem: “Hap”

Famous quote: “The main object of religion is not to get a man into heaven, but to get heaven into him.”

 

11: Rudyard Kipling

Birthplace: Bombay Presidency, British India

Famous poem: “Gunga Din”

Famous quote: “We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.”

 

12: Oscar Wilde

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Famous poem: “A Vision”

Famous quote: “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

 

13: John Keats

Birthplace: London

Famous poem: “A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)”

Famous quote: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.”

 

15: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Birthplace: Durham, England

Famous poem: “How Do I Love Thee?”

Famous quote: “If you desire faith, then you have faith enough.”

 

16: William Blake

Birthplace: London

Famous poem: “The Tiger”

Famous quote: “The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.”

 

17: Sylvia Plath

Birthplace: Boston

Famous poem: “Daddy”

Famous quote: “Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it and the imagination to improvise.”

 

18: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Birthplace: Portland, Maine

Famous poem: “The Song of Hiawatha”

Famous quote: “Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”

 

19: William Wordsworth

Birthplace: Cumberland, England

Famous poem: “The Prelude”

Famous quote: “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

 

20: Mark Twain

Birthplace: Florida, Missouri

Famous poem: “Ode to Stephen Dowling Bots, Dec’d.”

Famous quote: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

 

21: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Birthplace: Boston

Famous poem: “Uriel”

Famous quote: “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”

 

22: John Donne

Birthplace: London

Famous poem: “No Man Is An Island”

Famous quote: “Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

 

23: W.B. Yeats

Birthplace: County Dublin, Ireland

Famous poem: “The Second Coming”

Famous quote: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

 

24: Lord Byron

Birthplace: London

Famous poem: “She Walks in Beauty”

Famous quote: “There is no instinct like that of the heart.”

 

25: Lewis Carroll

Birthplace: Cheshire, England

Famous poem: “Jabberwocky”

Famous quote: “It is one of the great secrets of life that those things which are most worth doing, we do for others.”

 

26: Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Birthplace: Lincolnshire, England

Famous poem: “The Charge of the Light Brigade”

Famous quote: “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

 

27: Dante Alighieri

Birthplace: Florence, Italy

Famous poem: “Divine Comedy”

Famous quote: “Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.”

 

28: Dr. Jernail Singh Anand

Birthplace: Punjab, India

Famous poem: 'Lustus: The Prince of Darkness (epic Part I of Mahakaal Trilogy)

Famous Quote: “I am a descendant of God. I must be great. I cannot be otherwise."

 

29: Dr. Maja Harman Sekulic

Birthplace: Serbia

Famous poem: Lady of Vincha

Famous Quote: “We live in harmony, we are one, Equals, we look each other straight in the eye, Man and women, we are fertile as the earth, And always dying and being born again.”

 

30: T.S. Eliot

Birthplace: St. Louis

Famous poem: “The Waste Land”

Famous quote: “Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.”

 

31: Ezra Pound

Birthplace: Hailey, Idaho

Famous poem: “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley”

Famous quote: “With one day’s reading a man may have the key in his hands.”

 

32: John Milton

Birthplace: London

Famous poem: “Paradise Lost”

Famous quote: “A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit.”

 

33: Sappho

Birthplace: Lesbos, Greece

Famous poem: “Sappho 31”

Famous quote: “What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful.”

 

34: Homer

Birthplace: Smyrna (present-day Greece)

Famous poem: “The Iliad”

Famous quote: “Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow man catches up with the swift.”

 

35: Li Bai

Birthplace: Tang Empire (present-day Kyrgyzstan)

Famous poem: “Quiet Night Thought”

Famous quote: “We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.”

 

36: Jalal al-Din Rumi

Birthplace: Khorasan (present-day Afghanistan)

Famous poem: “Masnavi-ye Ma’navi (Spiritual Verses)”

Famous quote: “Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

WHEN I LOST MY TRIP A poem by Atul

WHEN I LOST MY TRIP 

A poem by Atul ©® 

When I lost my trip 

I was very much upset; 

I was like obsessed 

At that time I was not able to see 

Even the sunset. 

When I lost my trip

 I was very much depressed; 

At that time I wept bitterly 

And the well of my feelings emptied

While time was sliding rapidly. 

 

When I lost my trip    

My dream was shattered 

At that time I was 

Just thinking about myself

That I was the best. 

  

All Rights Reserved, 2023

The Flow of Life A poem by M. A. Rathore

THE FLOW OF LIFE

A poem by M.A. Rathore

These days we are just exhausting our energy;

The flow of life through which

We express our senses by watching, listening

And in tasting the flavour of life,

Which is to be diverted towards the inside.

We just move ahead around the circumference,

Searching all that we need to know;

But we get only earthly, lopsided, and meaningless

While the essence lies in the centre of life;

The core of the soul that is to be seen, heard and meditated.

When we try to listen

The inner voice of the soul, contemplate on it;

Practise it to know the unknown, and unexplored;

All is known well, all is exposed well;

The hidden secrets of life that we lead.

Religion tries to know the one,

Science emphasizes many in the one

And dissects each atom in its tiniest form;

Religion works on the root

And the person gets enlightened,

Science receives all around it

But remains innocent and ignorant.

All rights reserved

Photo credited: Facebook

Contemporary Vibes around the World By M.A. Rathore

Contemporary Vibes around the World

By M.A. Rathore

 

English poets who have been constantly writing to their best of talents and creative forces, keeping in mind that we can change the world through poetry and the feelings for the development of societal values and issues go side by side in the same manner throughout the world. Poets are the real legislature of society. They not only think for the betterment of society but also warn the people with their satire and feelings that occur at the time of their spontaneous outbursts of emotions. Poetry that survives in time has something to say about the human condition. We have tried to include all the poets who have a vast knowledge of the issues those human beings suffer from, grasp over poetry, and are celebrated in the contemporary scene. 

 

1: Lopamudra Mishra

Lopamudra Mishra, a native of Puri, is an Indian poetess with an extraordinary talent for composing poetry. Presently she has been residing in Bhubaneswar, Orissa; she has completed her graduation (English Hons.) from Sailabala Women’s college Cuttack, and post–graduation (English) from Ravenshaw University Cuttack. Her fascination for writing came from her grandfather and father from an early age. Writing for her is a powerful medium of expression. Her poems have been published in many magazines and anthologies. Her first book “Rhyme of Rain” was published in March 2017 and her second book “First Rain” in August 2017. She has written many books and has taken part in many anthologies. 

 

2-Hardeep Sabharwal 

Hardeep Sabharwal was born in Delhi. When he was eight years old, PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated and riots against the Sikh community broke into. Finding Delhi was not safe for his family, his father turned back to Patiala. He completed his education in Patiala. He is M.A. in English literature. He has got married and has a daughter. He is the owner of his footwear shop in Patiala (Punjab). He regularly reads his poems at national and international meets. 

 

3: Sunil Algama 

A poet, translator, and writer from Sri Lanka, The admin of several Facebook groups including English Writers and English Poets, Interested in Philosophy, Sociology, Mass Communication, Linguistics, Political science, Music, and Art, Sunil Algama has got published his first two poems in the book “Love, Four-letter Word” of Creative Talents Unleashed. U.S.A. He has represented his poems for Poets Fest, India in 2016 and 2017 and published them in the relevant anthology. Three of his poems have been published in the book Global Muse of Integral University, Lucknow, India. 389/11, Dolahena Road Batagama South, Kandana 11320, Sri Lanka

 

4: Chandra Shekhar Dubey 

Chandra Shekhar Dubey is a poet, translator, researcher, and teacher. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (E), University of Delhi. He has published books, poems, reviews, short stories, and research papers. He has published three books of his poems titled “ Ripple On A Stone ”, Writers Workshop, Calcutta,1994, “Substance of Shadows”, Swati Publication, New Delhi, 2007, “Real Resonance; The Unreal Mind, Sambhavi, Kolkata,2015. His poems have been widely anthologized nationally and internationally. He has edited the translated version of Ramcharitmanas, Richa Publication, New Delhi, 1999. He has translated poems, short stories, and theological works from Hindi to English. He is associated with many literary bodies and journals as an advisory member, fellow member, and editor. A-114/5, Paryavaran Complex, IGNOU ROAD, NEW DELHI-110030

Chandrashekhardu99@gmail.com                                                  

 

5: Shailendra Kumar Singh

Shailendra Kumar Singh was born on 15 January 1955. He was brought up in Calcutta initially. He had his initial primary and secondary education there. He got a degree of Bachelor of Science from the University of Calcutta. In 1974, he was selected for the Indian air force. He got an engineering degree in electronics and telecommunication from an esteemed organization. Having served successfully for 32 years (from 1974 to 2006) now he is discharged and lives on a pension. He has been a keen reader. His love for literature never died although he worked long in the technical stream. His writing flourished gradually in 2013 when he started writing poems in Hindi and English. GHAZIABAD - 201009 PHONE- 7838174251 

 

6: Atul Kumar Shukla

A 27 years old, professional sailor with the decoration of Second Navigation Officer on Tanker Ships, Mr. Atul Shukla is a poet of noble heart. He has a deep interest in art and literature. He lives his life with poetic expressions. He is a resident of a small town Shuklaganj situated at the Bank of River Ganga next to the old Manchester of South Asia. He is a Maritime Graduate who spends most of his time sailing. Contact No. : 7800958727 Email: atul01shukla@yahoo.com 

 

7: Dr. Zacharoula Gaitanaki

Zacharoula Gaitanaki was born in Athens on November 30th, 1966. Now, she is a small farmer and lives with her family in Arcadia. She writes poems, articles, short stories, essays, novels, and reviews of the book. She is also a translator of books of poetry. She is a life member of the “World Academy of Arts and Culture” / “World Congress of Poets” (which awarded her the title of the Honorary Doctor of Literature), of the IWA, the “WPS”, the “Poetas del Mundo” and the “Asociacion Mundial de Escritores. She has published twelve books.  

 

8: Caroline Nazaren-o-Gabis (Ceri Naz)

Caroline Nazareno-Gabis a.k.a. CeriNaz, World Poetry International Director to the Philippines is known as a ‘poet of peace and friendship’, a multi-awarded poet, editor, journalist, speaker, linguist, educator, peace and women’s advocate. Among her poetic belts are Writers International Network-Canada ‘’Amazing Poet 2015’’, The Frang Bardhi Literary Prize 2014 (Albania), the sair-gazeteci or Poet Journalist Award 2014 (Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey), and World Poetry Empowered Poet 2013 (Vancouver, Canada). Her poetry and children’s stories have been featured in different anthologies and magazines worldwide. Beyond her literary work, she teaches Physics, General Biology, Organic Chemistry, and General Chemistry at Tarlac Agricultural University.

 

9: Neelam Dadhwal

Neelam Dadhwal is a poet from Chandigarh, India. Her poems have been published in Readomania, Kritya, Muse India, Indian Poetry Review, Literary Yard, The Criterion, Destiny Poets, Different Truths, and anthologies on women international, peace, and humanity. Her latest book Echoes published by Write India accounts internal dialogue of the feminine world. She is a seeker of truth and wisdom with a reason to grow in this world and tries to subject net and pen down what feels at a particular moment. She also likes to draw as real as possible to the perspective mind. Her works have appeared in various online journals such as The Criterion, Literary Journal, Muse India, Readomania. Her current book Echoes published by Write India is an internal dialogue of the feminine world

 

10: Dr. Sonia Gupta

Dr. Sonia Gupta, from Dera Bassi, near Chandigarh in India is a dentist by profession. She is a well-known name in Hindi and English literature with her solo four English and Two Hindi poetry books published. Her poems are a part of various anthologies, magazines & newspapers. She has been awarded various awards in poetry competitions organized by various literary groups. Recently she won a silver medal in a poetry world cup organized by Nigeria. She is also fond of painting, singing, cooking, designing, knitting, and teaching.

 

11: Rajeshwer Sharma

Rajeshwer Sharma has retired from Central Government service. He is a Graduate with English Literature and PG in Sociology. He is an amateur poet, writer, and critic. He writes poetry to give vents his emotions and feelings.

 

12: Kapardeli Eftichia

Kapardeli Eftichia has a Doctorate from Arts and Culture World Academy. She lives in Patras. She writes poetry, stories, short stories, haiku, and essays. She studied journalism at AKEM and has many awards in national competitions. Her work has been compiled in many national and international anthologies and has a section at the University of Cyprus on Greek culture. She is a member of the world poets’ society. 

http://eftichiakapa.blogspot.gr/2013/08/blog-post_4143.html

 

13: Nutan Sarawagi 

Nutan Sarawagi is from India. She loves poetry. She loves to colour words in the colours of verse. She has a Master’s degree in Education and is a designer by profession. She writes mainly about women and children. She feels very strongly about women’s issues and the children of war. She wishes she could set the world right for them. "Poetry for her is the cry of the heart in which you open your thoughts in its love until you get so lost in it to become its thoughts in the soul of your heart. Its heart"

 

14: Mohan Sanjeevan

Mohan science, Sci-Fi writer, poet, and citizen scientist with the pen name Mohan Sanjeevan from India is into science, tech, space, and astronomy popularization after voluntary retirement as Central Govt. Officer. He has attended science communication, Sci-Fi, climate change, nanotech, and space conferences and presented papers. He has published a Tamil science fiction collection, a poetry collection, a science, tech, space, and astronomy-based poetry collection, and one science fiction collection all in English. He has been visiting villages, particularly cultivating poison-free food as a get-back-to-nature initiative. Cell: 74490 86276

 

15: Vinay Kumar Dubey

Vinay Kumar Dubey is a creative writer as well as a perceptive critic of contemporary Indian-English fiction. He is presently working as a senior PGT in the Department of English, Delhi Public School, Bulandshahr (U.P.). He has to his credit more than a dozen research papers published in various national and international journals, three original poetry collections, and four critical books on the fiction of Anita Desai which have been published by Prakash Book Depot, Bareilly. 

 

16: Jai Krishna 

On Feb.05, 1972, Mr. Jai Krishna was born in a cultured rural family in the eastern part of the Indian province named Uttar Pradesh. His grandfather was a teacher of Sanskrit and his father was a teacher of English. His grandfather was a humble follower of typical Hinduism. Philosophically he was a humble follower of Vedanta, politically a communist with great sympathy for all humanity with no difference of cast and creed. He was so loving and caring that no one would like to be deprived of him. Jai Krishna was his favorite one and he shaped his life more than anyone else. He has always been a good student, well-cultured and well-disciplined. His teachers predicted him as an IAS officer in the future but as his grandfather concluded going through his horoscope that he must be a writer and poet, the life of Jai Krishna led him the same way. As a poet, Mr. Jai Krishna has a versatile character. In the postmodern trend of poetry, he occupies both places: in the self and out of the self. He prefers reflecting the status of the mind to philosophical findings. Poetry is not philosophy but philosophical criticism of life, he thinks. He supports the freedom of self from all the boundaries of religious, philosophical, and socio-apolitical thoughts. Poetry is human and it must be original. No trend should overpower its human aspect, He states it affirmed. He lives with his working wife and a ten-year-old daughter in the small town of Padrauna, district- Kushinagar (UP).

 

17: Tariq Muhammad

Tariq Muhammad was born in Kolkata, India, and educated in a Roman Catholic School. After graduating from Calcutta University, he presently lives in the United States. His first love has been English Literature and especially works of Shakespeare. Retired from American corporate Mr. Tariq runs his limousine service. A bilingual poet with a passion for romance most of his poems is romantically inclined. Yet unpublished but his two major collections of poems are on the publisher's desk both coming out later this year. Recipient of PHILOSOPHIQUE POETICA de AANAND, World Icon Of Peace and Ambassador At Large from World Institute For Peace, Nigeria. His poems are appreciated by his peers and friends. A thirst for fine writing and reading has always been his passion. His other hobbies include watercolor painting and wood carving.

 

18: Bobita Sakiya

Bobita Saikia writes with heart. She has published poetry books. She scribbles on daily basis. She is M.A. honors in Assamese Literature. She is a housewife who pays attention to her children and deduces time for poetry reading, writing poetry and listening to music. She is an expert in English, Assamese, Hindi, and Bengali. 

 

19: M.A. Rathore

M.A. Rathore hails from Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, India. He is a recipient of the prestigious award, “World Icon of Peace” [Nigeria], and many more awards credited to his name. He has written 10 books of poetry among one is his translated work. As a young boy, Rathore was soulfully fascinated by painting. While he was still very young, he earned a living as a painter and artist, while also ardently pursuing his studies. Rathore immersed himself deeply in poetry, and music and active participation in various religious plays by performing for village folks, and this gave him future development and an intuitive flair for tasting life more deeply. Rathore’s poems give intimate reflections from his life experiences that portray deep, personal struggles, hardships, dreams, and heartfelt wishes. Within his poems, he finds a connection to work diligently for growth towards finding a place and a position in life. Rathore’s heart forever dwells inside his voice for poetry. He actively reaches out to the downtrodden inside his visionary life, as he gives breath for enlivening the human spirit to conquer and rise above adversity with heightened dedication and valorous effort.