ILA Magazine offered to poets, a week-long prompt challenge, and the theme of this particular prompt, asking poets to write a poem with the line: "Peeping Through a Broken Window", used and expressed as well as applying it into the beginning and ending lines. We chose 14 poets out of thirty-nine as "Best Entries".
"Hanging" Peeping through a broken window My ears deaf and my mouth numb Along the police sirens and honking horns of ambulances I remember the sentence in a strange language on an oily paper strip guard passed to my mate. Till now, I couldn't decipher that I was lost between hope and despair. I heard most shops didn't open today People were rushing towards graveyard with shovels They have drunk all varieties of wine in a gulp, I was bemused, spreader the praying rug And the paper was passed to me with a knot sketched. I was the man who knows the death calendar I voiced my goodbyes and still saw the man Peeping through a broken window. © Bur Han
Kupwara, India
"Peeping Through a Broken Window"
Peeping through a broken window A prism of my past memories pierce Pricking in me a guilt; So remorseful I feel all the time When I peep through this broken window. Never in my time being Have I the peaceful mien to resolve On these tumultuous upheavals Of the haunting past When I peep through this broken window. And life has not come to appease In this vicissitudes of pranks And mockery as bedeviled Anytime I find myself back Peeping through this window. © Kichime Philibus Elisha
Jos, Nigeria
"Peeping Through a Broken Window"
Peeping through a broken window I see a world laden with beauty and color Birds and butterflies flutter in sky vast Freedom in air, freedom in thoughts.
Struggling inside four concrete walls Tears satiated, silence falls Broken glass pricks to elevate my pain Warring inside longs to be heard by someone.
O' rainbow, bridge my hope Bounty around, joy abound Bless my mortal days in colors seven Rose and lavender of twilight deepen. Unable to hold my shattered dreams Stuck betwixt rotating day and night I watch the world like petulant child Peeping through a broken window. © Anjana Prasad
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
"Abandoned Soul"
Peeping through a broken window I let out my long guarded sighs And waited for comforting loe There was silence everywhere. But then, I heard a sob from behind I ran to the place of sorrow Embraced the wounds and let them heal Yet there was none to wipe my tears. You are the most blessed; what do you want? Are you selfish? Do you try to grab others' joy? They pushed me away while stealing all my joy And I am still peeping through a broken window. © Shalini Samuel
Kanyakumari, India
"Peeping"
peeping through a broken window
she saw a sky bruised from gun butts torn into two shrill voices of soldiers incessant barking of dogs 'juden' being repeated on loudspeakers a staccato of red broke stilled silences Anne Frank struggled mind and heart against a shredded dawn
peeping through a broken window
of my reasoning
I saw najib still alive raised to an electric pole at Kabul
a brittle sun eventually broke his eyes trapped footprints
of the last sunlight
Anne Frank and Dr. Najibullah stayed with us in changing horizons wind swept promises in the dark peeping through a broken window.
- Anne Frank - died at the age of 15 in Auschwitz concentration camp, March of 1945
- Dr. Mohammad Najibullah - - Former President of Afghanistan, castrated and tortured to death by Taliban on 26 September 1996
© Amitabh Mitra
East London, Eastern Cape South Africa
"She is Envious"
Peeping through a broken window A ten year old girl in clear view To outside yard scenery show Great occurrence on a nice day She hopes to be there the whole day. So she can be in that garden With pretty flowers shining with the sun She imagines, it will be fun With bees, birds, butterflies flying by With birds, sweet tweets like lullaby. Be there too, with children playing And laughing, teasing, enjoying. The affair so captivating It's wonderful upon her thought But with her status she cannot. As to the scene, she's envious To divine God she's curious And to God with her questions, thus God do you still love me? She said Why can't I play with them? She pleads. Her sentiments to God given Heartfelt grief from her emotions With her heart like a window broken Thoughts by a girl with cancer in woe Peeping through a broken window.
© Ency Bearis
Las Vegas, USA
"Hear My Plight"
Peeping through a broken window, The world turns into an ugly view. Everything seen, no longer true - Distorted trees, disoriented hues. Seasons flowed same as my tears, Dropping like broken pearls. All I want is to be freed Just like a sprouting seed. Like a seed, submerged in the deep, Beads of light, Come! Break its sleep! A little warm, a little rain, Surely, it will wash the pain. Like a sprouting seed welcomed by light, Outside world, Oh! Hear my plight! Shattered sights are fake in this view, Peeping through a broken window. © Jeffrey Cejero
Philippines
"Peeping Through a Broken Window"
Peeping through a broken window Heart-beat hurry with the sun rays With chilled fears in the silence Palpitate with rhythm of blue sky Far off the wall of rigid tolerance Space was jam-packed with emptiness Where my gloomiest spirit mingles Impromptu around the wilderness Alluring to twirl with twinkles Abandoned aspiration making a loud call Though exquisite designed window Yearning autumn in cadenced fall With the plot of rightly meadow Reverberation of stillness is not silent When the serenity magnificently invites Even the emotional raging heart shows talent And hospitality with open sites Quiver my wonderland to fall Into bits in an inky shadow Arouse by the vigorous ball Peeping through a broken window. © Kanisha Shah
Sugar Land, USA
"Broken Pane"
Peeping through a broken window, Is like looking at my past, There are shadows stretched with familiar shapes, That I strain to recognize through the filtered glass... A kaleidoscope of changing colors... From a life I lived before, All these emotions are now on show - And all I feel is this shattered pane, Peeping through a broken window. © John Anthony Fingleton (Löst Viking)
Lumbaré, Paraguay
Peeping through a broken window Enchanted by a world in golden hues The innocence perched on velvety grass The shining pearls of ephemeral dew The waving trees and buzzing bees Climbing heart shaped ivy leaves And blooming buds ushering hope Momentary oblivion of impinging sorrow Blessed me to see what lies tomorrow Discarding the sharpening shred of glass I wiped my tears and looked forward While peeping through a broken window. © Shraddha S. Sahu
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh India
"Peeping Through a Broken Window"
Peeping through a broken window
An image of yesterday lies beneath the rugged quilt.
Old photographs are scattered in every corner.
The memories of the past are relived in a glimpse.
A hypnotizing moment, I can't turn back around.
Mesmerized by these cold, creeping feelings
Time travels back to the place I was before.
To a recognizable and a familiar place.
The tiny cup was still filled with my favorite coffee
But the aroma seems left many years ago
The never-ending smirk and giggles
Seems to flow in this smoky air.
One familiar face to one another
In a halted time, frozen by yesterday
A good time to requite the long lost friend
It's good to see you, dear old fella!
Crazy moments and intense feelings
This brings back the heartache and frustration.
Gazing in astonishment and wonder
As he is peeping through a broken window.
© Dolo Rez
Makati, Philippines
"Broken Window"
Peeping through a broken window Deep sighs, mid of the ocean The heart-rending cry of water A scattered soul in the dark night Awe of the vast sky with longing eyes A wave took me in another direction As a habit He made promises We used to trust! Swim your heart out A storm appeared from the opposite winds Raindrops spontaneously fell on the cheeks I saw myself Once, there was a smiling soul Peeping through a broken window. © Farhan Anjum
Pakistan
"An Indomitable Spirit"
Peeping through a broken window Takes an indomitable spirit amidst dark clouds of uncertainties, yet glows Where rays of hope can pass through even in the deep hole of one's brokenness Trying to fix those shattered dreams and fill the emptiness Hold on tight to the Almighty One who can mend what is broken Finding the true place of solace with a contrite heart ne'er forsaken Oh, it takes a strong will and courageous step of faith that reaches to the sky, echo! Peeping through a broken window. Lyn B. Pastrana
"Inside My Mind's Broken Windows" Peeping through a broken window Panes of my closed mind are broken, Blurring my vision, and spreading the confusion all around. The radiant beams of knowledge and Awareness are still entering my mind, But in distorted fashion, it's difficult To decide which way to go. Somehow, it dawned on me that My egotistical approach is the root cause, Of breaking the mind's windows, making me Stuck at such a sorry pass. Anything inimical human health and Safety, finds an opening through the broken Windows, the life teaches us this simple lesson But we often fail to respond In time, and devote our lives to see The things in the surrounding space, By peeping through a broken window.
© Rakesh Chandra
India
Comments