PADMAJA
IYENGAR-PADDY
On Integrity
Integrity is doing the
right thing even when no one is watching - C.S. Lewis
Ever
tempted when no one’s looking …
To pick
that nice knick-knack
From the
invisible store rack?
To go
ahead and jump a signal
On a seemingly
empty road?
To use
neighbour’s backyard to dump
Your own
massive garbage lump?
To decide
to permanently keep
A
borrowed book without feeling cheap?
To
mentally undress that chick
And get a
massive mental kick?
To
silently curse under the breath
When a
party stops due to a death?
To
silently help a person needy;
And to
serve, be always greedy?
Dear God,
please let me be this always;
Let all
other mean thoughts get “Nay”s!
Integrity
is all about our acts being clean;
Doing the
right things even when unseen.
Outlet …
Into my
heart, my tears receded
And they
dried up there unshed.
Into my
being my words receded
To remain
there forever unsaid.
Tears or
words …
They do
need an outlet
They are
much like birds
Freely
flying and flowing …
With
unshed tears dried up
And
unsaid words tied up
All
within my inner being
So sore
with their kneeing
I’m
waiting to find some light, some day
In the
endless tunnel, may be, just a ray …?
Wrangling
(Translation of
poet’s own Hindi poem)
Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy,
INDIA
Wanted to
say something but couldn’t quite
Wanted to
write something but couldn’t write
Some
suppressed words remain unspoken
Blank
pages continue to remain unwritten
Some
words retreated after reaching my lips
Some went
back after reaching my pen’s tip
Thoughts
wrangling away, words in disarray
Amidst
these I, a dumb puppet, in their sway
Heart
says SPEAK, words say NO, NO
Muse says
WRITE, pen says NO, NO
What and
how should I say, or should I not
What and
how to write or better I write not
Words in
a conflict and thoughts in a wrangle
My heart
seems all set to get them to untangle
PADMAJA
IYENGAR-PADDY
PADMAJA
IYENGAR-PADDY, a senior ex-banker and a former urban
governance consultant, is currently the Hon. Literary Advisor, CCVA,
Vijayawada, Editorial Counsellor-India, International Writers’ Journal, USA and
on the Advisory Panel of ISISAR, Kolkata. Paddy’s maiden poetry collection
‘P-En-Chants’ has been recognized as a Unique Record of Excellence by the India
Book of Records. She has compiled and edited 6 international multilingual
poetry anthologies, one of them ‘WWW – Women, Wit & Wisdom’ of women poets.
The other five, ‘Amaravati Poetic Prism’ 2015 to 2019, have received world-wide
recognition with the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions recognized by the prestigious
Limca Book of Records published by Coca Cola India and the 2019 edition with
1303 poems in 125 languages by over 761 poets from 86 countries, yet again in
Limca contention. Paddy’s poems, articles and short stories, some of them prize
winners, have been published in several poetry anthologies, literary journals,
e-zines and newspapers, and translated into several languages. A recipient of many awards, she is regularly
invited to national and international litfests to read her poems.
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