Tasks loom ahead
Seemingly unsurmountable
Beads of sweat on your forehead
Throat dry and tongue tied
A tight knot in your gut
Legs ready to collapse

Feelings of fear
Sometimes even panic
Amounts to fight or flight
But would you, should you
fight or flee

One fleeting moment to decide
No time to assess
No time for regrets
Nor time to find your arms
Victory or defeat
All up to you

Wipe your brows, I say
Swallow hard
Tighten your belt
Fight the fear
take on the challenge
Get on with your task

Your weapons your experience
Your armor your inner strength
Your motive,
your action plan
And end game,
your victory

running a race
cooking an apple pie
beating your challenger in tennis
or beating the demons in your dreams
all amount to
timely action

So, on you go soldier
Forward march
Only your goal in sight
It is all right to be afraid
But don’t let fear stop you, ever
Victory, I say

Shakuntala Rajagopal

Shaku Rajagopal
11-24-2019

Summer Breeze  

Summer breeze
warm and wet, from the seas
waving, moving, my hair set abreeze
running running
sand in my eyes
sand in my toes

sandals thrown , lost in the sand
echoes of my ammoomma’s voice
leave your sandals in the car, lost in the wind
too late too late, they are
gone in the sand
sand everywhere

winter breeze
dry and cold from the snow
boots dig deep
heavy steps dragging dragging
chills my bones and bogs me down
tries to stomp my spirit

pick up your feet, go on go on
life’s to be lived, and love’s awaiting
I call on the summer breeze
come blow, and blow
and fan the fire within me
warm up my soul, my body and mind

million miles from summer
million miles from sands
is it too far for the summer breeze to flow?
will it blow, will I grow?
I know I will, ‘cause
the summer breeze lies within

Shakuntala Rajagopal