Month: February 2023

The Assassination of Tanmay Philip (3)

After my run one morning
I felt a strange shiver
There was only a tree stump near me
Was it this that had made me quiver?

I could feel my heart go ‘thump’
An ominous feeling was in the air
I turned quickly
And the rogue assassin was there

She leaped towards me
Brandishing her weapons
I closed my eyes and waited
Would I go to hell or to heaven?

Akali the Rogue Assassin, version 1.0. I thought this would be easy, after I got the head done. Boy was I wrong!!! I made so many mistakes. You can probably spot them. It came out very different from the reference image I used. Anyway, I have learned a lot from this attempt.

The Suspicious Assassin (2)

She came again today 😅
For a painting 🖼
I suddenly felt🤯
Like fainting🥺
This rogue assassin👹
Was acting suspicious🥸
Was I😔
On her hitlist?🙏

I still couldn’t capture her smile 😶‍🌫️
So I put in some hearts instead🖤
But she didn’t tip me, once again 😕

…

Akali the Rogue Assassin v0.2

I had forgotten to turn on the pen stabilizer in my previous paintings. I put it on ‘weighted’ for this one.

Cusp of Ages

Strange tidings portend
The red bird alights
A foreign sky descends
Purple butterflies take flight

Their auras glow
A magic show
Portal lights shine

Priests read the signs

A cusp of ages
Foreseen by the sages

I took a break from painting humans… Magical birds and butterflies of hitherto undiscovered species are so much easier! I do not find them very interesting though 😕 Again, I did not blend colour

Ice Zombie Sketch Vilanelle

I sketch like shit
I tried to draw
Nuff said

I’m so tired
Of drawing  lines
I sketch like shit

I practiced for hours
Circles, straight lines, and curves
Nuff said

I could copy
Develop muscle memory
I sketch like shit

But I want to create…
My imagination!
Nuff said

Faces are difficult
Postures are crazy hard
I sketch like shit
Nuff said

No reference picture for this one. You could probably tell. I drew the head, and then got really frustrated while sketching the rest. I didn’t bother blending anything other than the head. I just got too worked up about not progressing for so long. Anyway, I’ve figured out how to turn on pen pressure, and how to clip layers.

On Racism

[I have read five poems or commentaries on racism here recently. I thought that I would write my own. Here goes]

I find it laughable
White,  yellow,  brown,  black
At some point of time
Each shade of colour
Thought that they were the best
Melanin and ‘culture’
Dictated their urge to dominate
They were the ‘master race’
The Chinese built a wall
Indians created a system of caste
(And all of that
Mlecha mlecha stuff)
The Egyptians
The Babylonians
The Greeks
The Romans
The Persians
The Byzantine Greeks
And then we go west
KKK and burning crosses
In the recent past
Neo nazis, with swastika tattoos
In the present
Snide remarks,  a few threats
Insults, stereotyping
African Americans
Have had it tough
Judging from what I’ve seen on TV
And read in books


Here,  in India, dalits are treated like dirt
A boy was killed for riding a horse
Another for entering a wedding hall
The authorities
Don’t act with full force (in most countries)
Though I hear
Things are a little better
In Germany
These days
But who knows
For how long
…
Religious superiority as well
Though most
Claim to believe
In a loving God
I find it laughable
I find it depressing
I can’t do anything

maybe Iceland is okay 👍 🇮🇸

Gods and Ladies

“Fly free,”
A god said to me
Years ago
After we had wrestled
In a garden of ganas
Three eyed creatures
And purple sprites
Sentient butterflies
And mice people
…
For a moment
I saw hope
I opened the door
And looked out
At the vast expanse
Beyond
This sick civilisation
I was going to cure it
With some mystic arts

Then I crashed hard
And found myself
In a consultation room
Shivering with terror
I locked myself in…

The Lady of the Depths
Then visited me
But I haven’t succeeded
In breaking free

Dance, Serpent! Dance!

Greetings friends,

In this week’s W3 challenge, hosted by the Skeptic’s Kaddish, Kerfe has asked us to write a halibun that contrasts past and present. I am not very familiar with writing halibuns, ( i think this is my third one, ever) but I gave it a shot. Here it is:

Every house in Kerala used to have a little space for snakes in their compounds, a small patch of wilderness.   They called these places,  ‘sarpa kavu.’ They say it was a Nair tradition, but we Syrian Christians used to have them as well.  Clans intermingled and some traditions were passed around, maybe. These days,  the sarpa kavu are hard to find, but you still find plenty of snakes if you know where and how to look. People construct their houses filling every square inch with cement. Cobras are spotted every now and then. Experts are called to catch them and release them into the wild.  Some people don’t bother,  and just kill the snakes.

On a concrete stage
Warm from the afternoon sun
King cobra  dancing

[300 posts! Yay!!!]

Ronin

The daimyo grew jealous of master’s growing power
And so, stabbed him several times in the back
My martial sister and I dodged an arrow shower
Gaining ground with every slash and hack

We escaped, at long last, to Moonlight Woods
And encountered assassins in black hoods

Sister’s sword was sharp


I am not happy with how it turned out. I messed up so much, but I’m not going to fix it. This was just a training exercise. I am satisfied with my progress so far.