“It (a landay) must take on one of five subjects: meena, love; jang, war; watan, homeland; biltoon, separation; and, finally, gham, which means despair or grief.” — Eliza Griswold.

December Landays

Do not play games with love — you won’t win:
Love is a cheat with a marked card always up its sleeve.

The era of mercy is delayed.
The mankind fails to learn, and the bell still tolls, tolls, tolls…

Across the ocean there stands a tree
that prays for me — a leaf torn off its branch is my soul.

For what is space if we can face time,
and talk, and smile, and laugh, and lean in, and touch the screen?

There is a different kind of blue:
deeper, and broken — a shard of the yesterday skies.

©Sasha A. Palmer 2016

 

This December try your hand at Landays.