Hoping to Rhyme

This poem was first published for "The Hive Publishers" for the prompt "Tape Recorder" The whirring of the magnetic strips, Took me on musically magic trips. The same songs played again and again, Yet, the excitement never did restrain. When the cassette strips got entangled, A gently twisting pencil or pen unravelled. When it played again, the corrected tape,  I felt like a supergirl with a cape!

This poem was first published for The Hive Publishers based on the prompt, "This Way or That!"  I stood at the crossroads wondering this way or that, The happy, sunny, easy way or the dark, dangerous, difficult. The choice is obvious, the arrogant, naive mind hooted haughtily. The humble, sensible mind countered, "Is the choice as simplistic as you say?" "Couldn't the easy be a facade for danger?" "Couldn't the danger be a test of your ability to realize your dreams?" This way or that; the chosen path becomes your way to own and embrace!

  She had the choice of a life free of unrest, While her husband went on his 14-year arrest, But she chose to go with Rama, Because Sita’s world was Rama. It was tough eating only fruits and berries, It was tough sleeping on the hard floor, bearing the pain of bristling briers, It was tough not to fear the sounds and sights of the wilderness and its fires, But she was good for it, because Sita’s world was Rama! She stood shoulder to shoulder with Rama, Bore his misfortune as her own, Accepted his destiny as her own, Because Sita’s world was Rama! When the King of Lanka snatched her by treachery, She fought back hard, though in vain, against his butchery, She bravely bore the pain of the kidnapping drama, Because Sita’s world was Rama! She lived frugally amidst the lap of luxury, Sleeping on cold, hard stone, surviving on air alone, Keeping her husband free from Lanka’s debt, Because Sita’s world was Rama! She waited patiently as she heard,...

  It was the perfect teenage romance, He was handsome, she was beautiful, both were in a trance! Everyone thought this relationship would be smooth as butter, But she believed she deserved better!   She got bored and tired of him, She wanted money, a big house, servants waiting on her, Beautiful clothes, trot the globe, luxury on a platter, Who wanted love when she deserved better?   She was beautiful and smart, She overturned the love applecart, She could have anyone to flatter, After all, she deserved better!   That was more than 25 years ago, When she had turned him down with a no, Driven by arrogance and vain pleasure, Thinking, "I deserve better!" "I love you," he had said. "I'll keep you happy until death do us apart," he had said. But she had scoffed at and brushed him aside! "I deserve better!" She had said. Today, she was rich but alone, without love,  She thought she was paying the price o...

“He will kill his father and marry his mother,” Aghast, Jocasta and Laius of Thebes did shudder At the proclamation of the Oracle at Delphi, of their newborn son, They sentenced their baby to death, hoping the frightful destiny is undone. “Kill our baby and feed him to the wolves,” wailed the parents, “We know of no other way to prevent him from becoming such an errant.” The executioner took the child to the forest to abide by the royal decree, But to kill the innocent child, his heart didn't agree! He left the child in the hollow of a tree, Hoping a hungry, wild animal would carry out the horrific plea. Hearing the wails of the child, a passing woodcutter pulled him out,  Saw the poor thing’s leg had an awkward snout. Wondering which evil person could leave a baby so helpless, He carried him to the king of Corinth who was childless. The Corinthian king was thrilled at the sight of the child, “He will be my son and the future king,” he smiled.  Oedipus, the boy with the awkwar...