Swetha Sadanand, Poetry 2019 Shortlist

A Tree

If ever I am to have another life

Make me a tree

Under the shady canopy of which

Can be woven an occasional impossible dream

Make me a tree

Whose sturdy branches may bear

The weight of all the little kids who dared

To climb before tasting despair, oh so debonair

Make me a tree that witnesses

The lovers’ first kiss underneath

Before distance tears apart

And virgin feelings deplete

Make me a tree so mighty

That it withstands the test of times

And the cruelty supposed to save humanity

Make me a tree with large green leaves

Blooming with flowers, forming a summer dream

Make me a tree that's worthy

To be made eternal by poetry

If I am ever to have another life

Please do hurry

And make me a majestic tree

Poetry 2018 Longlist, Swetha Sadanand

Continental Drift

We are two continents, you and I
You, the majestic barren land where dreams come true
And I, the unattainable virtue you struggle to hold on to
A large part of youth is spent admiring you
While tables turn in a few years
The grass is greener on my side, I hear
A peninsular approach towards the secrets I know
Creating diversions, you put forth easy lies to swallow
Unpredictable sometimes are the tides that surround us
Mocking our connection, testing my patience
Posing threats to you when you unlock my other dimensions
I am virility incarnated, you invented serendipity
Together we move in inches, accustomed to unsaid formalities
But away are our movements
Crevices appear in your rocks, your heart abruptly stops
I rush to you and life ends, my shoulders wet with a million alien teardrops
Oceans form from our deaths
Salty waters ooze out uselessly everywhere
What remains of us are shreds
Fragments of land that formed our cores, torn away, floating on bloody shores
We were two continents, you and I
We could not thrive nor survive the test of times

Poetry 2017 Longlist, Swetha Sadanand

Come Winter

Come winter, her smile will lose its charm
Seemingly unhindered, she will go on her daily prowl unarmed
The fire of the angst accommodated within, an opportunity
Chills and shivers-temporary companions, not so distant the winter dream
Come winter, sleepless nights and tough days are bound to take a toll
Seemingly unhindered, she will walk on the trail set by her deadly foes
Her little ones, too little to know of her bravery
Countable are the days left until they join her quest to reach the winter dream
Come winter, she will fear for lives of her beloved and her own
Her struggles, not new to her kind yet better left unknown
How she survives and helps thrive are skills she will continue to teach
Till the time will come for her to hope that winter was only a scary dream