Penance

In bits and pieces lay stray memories,
and on the crumbling walls, your name.
The moulding edges of the walls, an ode
to the slow rotting of the Age.
A decade of separation, a mirror broke.
An ugly contraction of the beauty,
that crouched hidden in the shadows.
Shadows reflect not the treachery,
but only the goodness of the beasts!
What penance be offered to the past?
What would tempt my love to return?
Come back, from the shadows! Come!
No matter the treachery of a lifetime!
Return to me, my life! Return!
No matter how deep the scar!

Romance!

Whoosh!The swish of Medusa's tresses,
A scary image that conquered blight!
Off went a humbug, chirpy and skipping,
and out came the owl, tear eyed!
The nocturnal prince blinked not,
and watched the dancing firefly.
A random spark here and there,
a pinprick of a dulcet clatter,
And the owl, suffused with love,
refused to close his eyes to the light!

On Fire

The wide world that shut its doors on me,
seemed like a giant reflective vampire.
A vampire, that sucked not my blessed blood,
but the very roots of my insouciant being.
With all the pain, came threads of pleasure,
and I floated around happily for a little while,
twirling slowly in my little black dress.
I closed my eyes and felt wonder in the air.
With open arms, I embraced the radiance.
Burnt my hands, my open arms- the wretched flame!
I looked around, my world was on fire! Raging!
My blissful apathy took the weighty blame,
and I watched ignorance turn to dirty ash.
The mirrors on the walls reflected the chaos,
and I wondered how I could still see my reflection?
The flames seemed to resemble me. And you.
I stood in the middle, awaiting confrontation.

Splash

Just when the hamster thinks the world would stand still,
his hopes turn into a pointless whirl of revolutions,
and he watches his vision blur into a splash of colors.
With the crimson shades of jealousy and anger leading the pack,
and the blues of diurnal life following suit. Rather sincerely.
The yellow of a few rays of honest sunshine that find their way,
into the omnipresent dark spaces of the capacious cage.
The hamster's smile, a broad white flash of light,
while a hidden sinister motive flaunts a deathly green.
The murkiness of life imbued in a dirty, dark brown.
And yet, his hazel eyes look so glorious in the sunlight.
When he collides with the broken bits of a certain milestone,
he shares a familiar tenor with their sheen and texture.
The medley of tongue and taste- a ballet of senses!
All the world, a bittersweet violet!
Or, is it purple? Indigo? Olive?
The sky, a morbid gray, a stark blue, a deathly red!
And the ocean, a thirsty empire of blues and greens!

Divinity, not a pearly white, but a fierce motley!
Divinity, a cuisine of contrasting tastes!
Divinity, an outburst of overriding emotions!
A volcano, a quake! A whole evolution of Man!
Tethered to a lifetime, stands a lone day!
Colourless, at first. Colourless, in the end.

!!!

Rumble, mumble, toss and tumble!
Up and down, and came around,
this silly drop of water that sang
a song that cheered the gloom!
It screamed and squeaked,
merrily danced and leaped!
Across the oceans, across the sea,
It waded through all, to be free,
but found that it was bound!
Oh, silly hound! Silly, silly hound!
Rotund and stupid, just like cupid,
with an aim to cheer, drink some beer,
and loaf around with a ready dart,
to pierce my heart, O my dear heart!
Bounded from cloud to cloud,
get a life, for cryin' out loud!
You imbecile mutt, don't you strut,
and make a fool of yourself!
Don't let go of yourself! DON'T!
Bam! Thud! Crash! Boom!
There you go, I broke you.
And now I dance to triumph!
A little jerk, a little step!
A little sway, a little shake!
La-la-la!
Cringe as you may!
Not a care in the world,
None at all!

The light that pierced the sore eyes,
gently woke the devils of darkness.
The sonorous snores that had reverberated,
across the night, across the bower of sleep,
led to a mild quake in the mind,
and the crystals on the shelves,
fell with a loud crash, onto the floor.
Splintered across the mind, they hurt.
Panic! Many a foot rushed about!
A startled gasp, here and there!
Everywhere! Mayhem, mayhem!
A kick of zeal, and a bite of joy,
even though the dough of madness,
prevents another dominant flavour!
Amidst the scenes of serene chaos,
there rang a dulcet melody!
As I woke up to another nightmare,
I found myself alive.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

The scepter of the past came swooping upon my present.
It brought with it lustful memories and chunks of intimacy.
I desired not the sweetness of the dessert of Nostalgia,
as much as I craved a vial of venom brewed in bitterness.
The intensity of love turned time to cold, white marble,
and I watched the scepter carve a morbid sculpture.
Grotesque and ghastly, the sculpture and the scepter.
Adamant at procrastinating an impending peregrination,
the scepter resided in the obscure crevices in my mind.

The echo of its shrill laughter making me cringe in agony;
the shadow of the forgotten sunshine making me wither;
the tingling of taste with sweet romance making me choke;
the mirth that had slipped into the past making me cry;
and the sheer flow of Life, conspiring a murder...mine.

Innocence

The tiny drop of trust lay peacefully,

on the wrinkled brown leaf in my hand.

I watched it quiver, shake and shiver,

along with my tired, trembling fingers.

It reminded me of a blue-eyed infant,

swaying to the music of his Ma's voice.

He, who falls over, over and over,

only to be picked up lovingly and fondled.

That child then gazes at the stars above,

and tries to map out a life that shines.

His twinkling map has naught to proffer,

but flowers of love, mirth and fame.

Little does he know of one-ways,

dark alleys and sudden dead-ends;

for life, for him, was always just a

mere stroll in the verdant park,

or at most, a jog on the rumbling seashore.

The Fall Of A Flight

Fully awake, unable to move, I lay on the cliff- waiting
for a gust of wind to blow my sordid life away, while
the scent of death lurked in the air- Ah! The fragrance!
A speck in the yonder, you flew across the sky of my life,
And felt myself elevate, trying to catch up with you.
Gravity had its way, as I fell back-incapable of flight.
Just when I thought I would smoothly crash and die,
I felt the warm softness of his mighty arms around me.
And I watched you soar upwards to the Eternal Light,
as I watched my wispy hopes fall into the pits of Darkness...
And disappear.

A trodden flower- part 1

I found you strewn across the narrow street,
So fresh, so dewy, so fine- you seemed to be,
that I couldn't resist taking you in my arms,
and fondling your loveliness till my fingers ached
with the agony of sheer familiarity and sensuality.
Like a gust of wind, I took you with me- far away.
Held you tight, warm and safe in my strong fist.
Later, I lay you across the musty, dark pages
across which were splattered sonnets of love,
and quietly wished that the hue of love would
keep you from discolor, death and decay.

My refuge

With open arms, it breathlessly waited.

Waited for my dreams to crash and shatter.

For then, I would run like the mighty wind

And fall into its vacant, restless arms.

It feigned no concern, no care- nothing at all.

Like a solid structure of hope, it stood.

Against all tempest, and the austere heat.

Its unmoving gait made me sprint with joy.

No care in the world, I seemed to pursue.

No purpose in my mind, no doubts in my heart.

Almost as if it knew what was coming,

What was being hurled at it so mercilessly?

It showed no disdain, no surprise. Presumption?

The poison in my words pierced its thick trunk.

My solitary refuge smiled, and let one tear flow,

As I cried, endlessly, into the labyrinthine night.

Awaiting a Name

Not even during the wildest of moments,
Could there be such cool under the collar.
As one feigned a delicate, measured aplomb,
The world for the other began to fall apart.
Little by little, bittersweet moments frayed,
So did tempers, so did the never-ending days.
And then, the dance of music came to life!
A satin world appeared before my keen eyes,
and a slippery floor beneath my dainty feet.
I would lose my sanity, if I were sane,
As I have lost my pride, and myself, in vain.
The hues of magnificence came to the rescue.
And ruled the kingdom of belief and beauty
As I watched simplicity take its flight, with glee, and
Soar above them and perch itself on top of the world.

In Bloom

As nimble as the first steps of a baby,

The flower of my passion, seemed to grow.

Never did it threaten to wilt or wither,

Always carried with it insurmountable glow.

Not one could trace its germination,

Not one could mark its rapid growth.

Its mellifluous laughter danced gleefully

on its delicate, white petals. Elegance.

The serenity in the heart of that flower,

I wish I could carry within my own heart.

The tempest of death would be driven away!

And the flowers of mirth would meet their bloom!

The Partition

She stood, sombre and afraid, at the threshold.
She sought a reason to cross over; to change.
She looked around for one; not one awoke.
He stood on the other side of the threshold, smiling.
His arms stretched wide open-the petals of a flower.
His twinkling brown eyes filled the sky of her life.
She found her comfort- his heart, beneath his broad chest.
Reason, then, awoke, and gently nudged her. ‘Go on’.
Trembling, she put her right leg forward; surely unsure.
An abrupt, desolate cry tapped her shoulder; a wince.
She whirled around, at once, without thinking; horror.
The phantom of forgotten antiquity had the last laugh
as the opaque gates of life shut behind her. Forever.

A weathered mind

Fluffy clouds, my thoughts, on a clear sky,
my mind. The Sun of cheer shines. It smiles.
A current of mild despondence, then, passes by
and manifests itself in my prized, white thoughts.
And they age. The scepter of morbidity lingers.
A tinge of ashen gray...No, not a silver lining!

Eventually, a slight drizzle cools the humid mind.
Soon turns into a mad hailstorm- icy, hard and merciless.
The endless thread of rain seems to flow out of my eyes,
and I fail to see past the little drops of heaven.
The ravages of the calamity, I can still easily witness,
And a queer chill runs down my spine. Oddly comforting.

The sun decides makes its warm presence felt.
Peeps through the white wisps of cloud and smirks!
The Golden Goddess, it rises above the lesser mortals,
and with a swish of her dainty wand, drives the rain away!
The clear yonder twinkles with boundless delight,
and the lone feather of joy travels, happily, to the sky...

A mighty wanderer

The minuscule speck of dust that lay,
on a winding road that led nowhere,
seemed so contented and lost in thought,
I could not help but cogitate, with a smile
at the loveliness of my muse's quiet life.
It has no map to consult, no globe to rotate.
No signpost to mark its journey along the way.
Only the invisible staircase of current,
that leads it upwards to the mighty Heavens!

Lifted with force by the seductive clouds,
and fondled lovingly by the soft breeze.
It escapes the deadliest traps with ease,
slips past the sternest of barriers with a smirk!
It dissolves not in the deepest of oceans.

It wanders about the avenues of Life aimlessly,
and, boy, how I envy that little speck of dust!

I Refrain…

Your unabashed silence cut through my heart like a chainsaw,
Even the sharpest of words would never hurt as much.
The sea of distance between your heart and mine,
Can be swum and conquered with immense delight.
And, yet, I am afraid; hesitant; Fearful
of drowning myself in that bottomless sea of sorrow.

I often wonder how the world beyond this vast sea is.
Green, peaceful, cloudless and pure
Or, hazy, rueful, dark and dirty
I wish to discover, I wish to experience.
And, yet, I am afraid; hesitant; fearful
of losing myself in the wilderness of knowledge.

You will eventually come close and hold my hand.
Out of love or despondence I know not.
Sheer perplexity questions my ability to love. At all.
And, so, I am afraid; hesitant; fearful
of extending a hand that you, my dear, can clutch at all times.

TODAY’S YESTERDAY

I watched life pour out of your dark eyes,
And I watched your mouth twitch and turn.
I smelt the fragrance of cheer you perspired
And I felt the softness of innocence on your cheek.
The ghosts of my past were scared of you,
The skeletons in my closet turned to dust.
No passing cloud dreamt of casting a shadow,
And the countless bubbles of love refused to burst.
Each time our eyes met, instant sparks flew,
And I burnt the corpse of my sordid past.

Now i watch the smouldering ashes of Yesterday,
And I begin to swivel in a queer conundrum.
Delve into the future or dwell upon the past?
How can I let go of my origin?
Can I give up on my past?
Do I want a clean slate to scribble on?
Do I need the lonely walks in the rain?

Go away, you nascent love of mine!
The permanence of life tempts me to resist.
The comfort of the known binds me to it.
I am going back to where I belong.
Here I go. Goodbye.

Rational Fool!

He contorted Belief and other fairytales,
Trusted core reality and hard truths of Life,
He mocked the sensuality of disorder,
Misunderstood the hilarity of embarrassment,
He comprehended not the serenity in chaos,
And heard not the silence amidst the cacophony,
He perceived stunning logic in life’s every sphere,
But overlooked the magnificence of impracticality,
Rational Fool, O Rational Fool!
The melody of life he could never hum!
Rational Fool, O Rational Fool!
The elixir of simplicity he could never taste!

All in a day's work

A sprig of fresh mint; a refreshing glance,

A crumpled t-shirt; a crumbling memory,

A broken fragile twig; a shattered illusion,

two used coffee mugs and a recent conversation,

A repetitive phrase; a bold statement,

A familiar shyness; a mental block,

A growing anxiety; distinctly reddening cheeks,

A bead of sweat on my brow; the exhaustion within me,

A stray remark; politically incorrect!

A petulant scream; a hoarse cackle,

A forced, sweet smile; a furrowed brow,

An odd nascent bondage; a buried bond,

An unchanging truth; an accepted belief,

Distinction, differentiation and design,

Life comes a full circle…all in a day’s work.

It was fun while it lasted.

It snapped without a sound.
Discreetly; without much of a fuss.
We stretched it too far, for too long
And it broke without any hesitation.

We had left it out in the wild,
Vulnerable, distinctly unprotected.
The wilderness had its bold say.
And we lost it to the wild wolves.

We had thrown it into the deep, dark sea,
Even when it did not how to swim.
We watched it sink and breathe its last.
Its unwanted carcass still lies beneath the waters.

We had left it alone, without an explanation.
It wandered alone aimlessly. Afraid.
It came by the crossroads of our life, so very oft.
And always took the wrong turn.

Now I look back and smile slyly,
A smile, that I share only with myself.
A rush of familiar intimacy runs through me,
Admit it, dear, it was fun while it lasted.

As I shove you into your tiny grave,
I feel numb with guilt and penitence.
My love, I am sorry I could not protest,
I could not protest against your destiny.
You were not just a bundle of joy,
But a basket of hope, a flag of pride,
A concoction so sweet, so mild…
I wish I could watch you grow up.
Grow up to be a star, so shiny, in the vast sky!
A star that I could never hope to be,
A star that, now, you can never become.

Worry not, golden child of mine,
You are going to the fluffy clouds above.
No nightmare could chase you there,
No bully can menacingly follow.

Fear not, my sweet little bird!
I have freed you from worldly misery.
The same pain and misery that I felt,
That unfortunate night you were conceived.
You are not the result of love and longing.

Regret not, my infantile shadow,
This world is not what it seems to be.
No clouds of happiness to ride upon,
No cheery sunshine to reach out to.

So stealthily you were born within me,
Your unborn laughter still floods my ears,
Your cheeky smile I can almost see!
To touch you, would be to taint you.
I refrain. You are the purest part of me.

Forget me not, O dear.
I shall fondle your memories forever.
Visit the Land Of Love and Peace,
Convey my tearful regards to Him.

I wish I could just let you be,
But ‘sense’ begs me to let you go,
And there you go…..
Gone.

An article, for a change!

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN…

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
Took the one less traveled by,
and that Has made all the difference.”

Robert Frost was mighty right, and if I may say so, a genius in propounding such an intricate and profound concept in terribly simple words. A cross-road is something that all of us face in our life. At some point or the other. Decision-making has never been Man’s hobby and has brought agony, penitence, misery and, at times, joy and content to man. We all say that ‘one simple decision can change our lives’. Whether the aforesaid statement is true or false is left to personal discretion, I suppose. I, personally, feel that the ‘change in our lives’ due to any decision was meant to be. It couldn’t have been any other way- better or worse.

Real life experience has taught me to believe in defying the odds and finding solace in such extremity. And no, it is not rebellion. It is simply an attempt to find faith in the most unknown.

After finishing school, we all seem to be stuck in a ‘trance’ition (pun intended) stage, where one has to take a decision with regard to one’s career. After my 12th class, I had three options with me- National Institute of Fashion Technology, NALSAR, Hyderabad for pursuing Legal Studies, or a little known, yet amazing, M.A. course at IIT-Madras. Three completely different streams- three diverse careers! To choose either one, and give up the others seemed like a morbid proposition- but this HAD to be done.

After a lot of discussion and comparison, it was decided that my true interests lay in the M.A. course at IIT-M, which by the way, is a brainchild of a genius and I could not help falling in love with it.
However, now came the hard part. Society can be a cruel place to live in, at times like this. With conflicting viewpoints from a zillion people, taking a decision and sticking to it becomes a Herculean task! With social pressures thrusting ‘law’, the lucrative profession, towards me, it took my family and me a great deal of inner strength to put our foot down and stuck by the decision already made. And I think I did just fine.

India is no longer a nation that blindly follows convention. Indians are slowly, but surely, realizing the value of pursuing their true interests and leading truly happy lives, that are not governed by the sole intention of making money. Right from a home-maker to a hotshot business tycoon- every person has a value of his own, and societal status and recognition are definitely NOT a measure of this value.

To all my confused friends out there- please listen to your heart. Do whatever it prompts you to do! Trying to build a career without a base of concrete passion is like building a palace on water- it will sink! Follow your dreams, and success (in its true sense) shall follow!

P.S.- And if ever, people hound you for making the so-called ‘wrong’ choice, turn around, and in a classic Rhett Butler style, say- Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!

The Parasite

Day and day out you call me,
Refuse to take the cue and leave!
Poisoning the secrets of my mind,
You horrify me, you disgust me.

You make me smile; it is hateful!You make me cry, and capture my heart,
You are the nightmare that persists,
You are the dream that never comes true.

In your captivity, I exist…painfully,
But if you let me go, I shall die,
You are a body of paradoxes,
A bitter-sweet irony…precious!

I look at myself, and I see you,
Even then, we are so different!
Each in a world of its own…
How can a consensus ever be met?

Yet, you lurk in my blood,
Circulating your displeasure so very oft,
I wish I could excoriate myself,
And let you go…..I cannot!

I am ‘me’, and you are ‘myself’,
I look at myself, and I see you,
Even then, we are so different,
Even then, we are so different…

UNDERNEATH

Underneath the façade of vile courage,
Lies a lurking human fear.
Underneath the sanguineous carnage,
Blooms concern and love so dear.

Underneath the threat of death
Is born, the hope and light of life.
Underneath the lullaby of every breath,
Lurks a life, hoping to survive.

Underneath the clamorous violence
Sighs a hapless, vanquished peace.
Underneath the deathly, eerie silence
Flourishes a faint prayer with ease.

Underneath the shroud of pretence,
Smirks an austere reality.
Underneath the excuse of coincidence
Gloats our insurmountable destiny.

Underneath the shadow of every man,
Underneath his very countenance,
Rises boldly an embedded conscience, wan
Holding within it God and His very essence.

THE WONDER WORLD

A world where peace was not so expensive,
A world where truth was not so pensive.
A world where blood was more viscous,
A world, where soil was not so acarpous.

A world where beauty was highly abundant.
A world where affluence was our ascendant.
A world devoid of even a single tear gland.
A world where every detail was perfectly planned.

A world in which stalked no rejection,
A world submerged in sickening affection,
A world where the Sun shone all day,
Who would want such a world, anyway?.....

‘REFLECTIONS’

As I look into the mirror,
Broken-its body and my soul,
The image that looks back at me is
That of a stranger. The gaping hole
In my narrow layer of security widens
And in it my world is devoured.
‘Failure’- the stranger calls himself.
A shiver runs down my burdened spine.
I sigh. The reflection seems to make
An inconspicuous movement. What a
Congruence I see in it and myself.
Miraculous- both, its existence and mine.
The mirror is mercilessly straightforward.
Never a sycophant ; truthful eternally.
My blemishes never shadowed or hidden,
Never is the glided me neglected…

The mirror is broken- any mild dereliction is forgiven.
Intolerably inarticulate…Yet so verbose….

MY HERO

I stand in disbelief by the window
Of my emptied soul; my desolate heart.
Cataclysmic currents of my emotions flow,
As I watch you depart, shredding ‘us’ apart.
Mine, you were and will be, eternally.
Say whatever you want to-you may.
Engulfed by shock, overtaken by melancholy,
Nothing you say is going to make it okay.
An ocean of tears- a tribute to your memory.
A thousand sleepless nights; many more to come.
What is ‘happiness’? How do you make merry?
Not a smile to recall, not a song to hum.
Staunch darkness surrounds me ruthlessly,
As I let out whatever I had to say.
A spark has lit up the darkness, mercifully.
I have just found out that, you, my hero, were gay.


NOTE: The poem was written impulsively and from another person’s point of view and not my own…So dad, you can relax and start breathing again! ;-)
And I am not prejudiced against any particular sort of people. Like I said earlier, the poem was impulsive and not intended to hurt any sentiments.

DIFFERENT…..INDIFFERENT.

My heart, they say, is made of steel,
It used to have a certain luster.
I have lost the sheer inclination to feel
Mirth or depondence. I beg to differ,
With what you may term as ‘cynical’,
But cynical is just not me.
It is not a prophylactic dismissal,
Though it may surely seem to be.
I am simple indifferent to emotion, to people,
To opinions that they have of me.
Though sometimes, my ego trips, and I topple
And my indifference breaks free….

EXPECTATIONS….

Several eyes look upon me today,
Some with reverence, some with envy,
Some with apathy and others with expectation.
The patronizing glare of expectation burns
A hole in my heart. I fear that I may lose
In this egotistical battle. I lose despite survival.
Either win- A loss for me. To satisfy this expectation,
I work. Work without an aim of my own…
Work on others’ discretion…No rhyme or reason..
My victory brings along a sense of triumph
For everyone around me-not within myself.
The ghost of my desire haunts me day in, day out.
The ghost has found it’s comfort in my heart.
It thrives in the atrium of my heart.
My heart is it’s womb and it’s grave.

FIERY LOVE

The dusk that has dawned upon this day,
Has brought with itself the acme of beauty.
The summit, it is truly- the imposing sky.
The watery hues of an azure yonder,
Embellished with the gilded rays of the Sun.
A fluffy, innocuous dragon shaped cloud
That dominates the horizon. Enamoured by
The splendor of the ball of radiance, spreads
His arms our for a hug. A caress of love, readily given.
The cloud and the sun- enveloped in a hug…
So much in love!

The sun glows in the warmth of love,
The cloud resembles a majestic Lord.
The radiance of the Sun peeping shyly,
Through the translucent cloud.
On a closer look, writhing…seeking refuge
In suffocating love. Thwarting in the cloud’s embrace.
So tight. So tyrannical.
‘The whimsical cloud has to be vanquished!’,
So, the sun decides! Slowly, yet forcefully,
Tries to pull away…….TRIUMPH!
Victorious, yet dignified- My fiery Idol….

The Cry of Injustice

The end of time has sadly begun,
My life buried under the debris of his death.
A part of me has suddenly been snatched away.
These eternally outstretched hands await
A response. I receive none. I expected none.
As sense dawns upon me, it rarely does, I
Begin to see truth in its abundant light.
Colours seem to fade away, quite literally.
Red, Blue, whatever else- A far away fantasy.
An old lady, draped in white, takes my hand
With an odd motley of pain and sympathy.
The goosebumps on my hand give away my terror.
My new acquaintance journeys through her past…
Darkness is spilt with a queer generosity
On her recollections. Nostalgia tantamount to doom.
Tears traverse down their familiar path on her face.
We both blink back tears, lost in our morbidity.

In a little while, the vermilion that adorns my forehead,
Shall be smudged away…ruthlessly shown the door.
The hue shall remain, however, as tainted skin…
The crimson decorations on my dainty wrists shall be broken.
The shards of glass that scatter shall wound me forever…
The blood that flows can never be replenished…
Neither can my tears…

In darkness, I shall live. In darkness, I shall die.
In darkness, I shall persist, In darkness, burnt alive…

METAMORPHOSIS

In this hustle bustle of our noisy lives,
Frequent metamorphosis is not a rarity.
Companionships turn into phone numbers,
Living faces captured as forgotten thumbnails,
Love blossoming from a stream of SMSes,
And ending on a sudden, stray phonecall…
Friendships born in the ‘web’ of worldly insecurity…
Begin with a bang, end with a glum thud.
But noone listens, noone cares…
Who has the time, afterall?
Who has the inclination to bring in THE change?
A change comprising warmth to replenish its dearth?
A change that can sharpen the sword of concern ,
That can combat apathy.A change defining relationships,
Signifying love….defying shrewd, cold practicality.
We need a change..A breath of fresh air!
But fresh air is a scarcity in this world…
This world, where the spirit of humans is rotting…

A Poetic Struggle

A Poetic Struggle

What exactly must I write now?
A tribute to God? An ode to nature?
What true love means? Or how
The flower of the present booms into the future?
The words in my heart refuse to
Materialize, as my mind strangles
The new born ideas, unwilling to
Accept change. The unborn chronicle
Of a pregnant idea, embarking
A journey amidst the constant cackle
That surrounds me, stunting
The growth of a poetic inspiration.
And there begins my poetic lamentation….

UNDER ARREST

“UNDER ARREST”


Like a fragile drop of water,
Upon a wrinkled leaf.
Threatening to fall off and scatter
Into countless teardrops of grief.

Like a brittle, pale thread,
Wanting to snap- uncertain and tense.
Awaiting to slaughter, then bury the dead,
Upon my heart, an irrecoverable expense.

Like a snowflake descending from the clouds,
Crystal clear, delicate, beautiful and real.
Unaware, ignorant of an apathetic crowd,
Its frailty is what I most fear.

Like an unheeded crevice on the wall,
Promising to grow conspicuous with age.
Soon my poor faith shall fall,
Into a catacomb, into a cage.

Like the obscure traces of humanity,
In this world where peace is despised.
Crowned with the ‘glory’ of cruelty,
Love and benevolence- dear and prized.

O trust! You are not to be trusted,
For I have been betrayed many a time,
Amidst the tears that I have shed,
I have learnt that to trust is a crime…

An Inexplicable Space

An Inexplicable Space

There is a void that exists in her,
Among the dense mysteries of life,
A silent killer of gaiety,
The skeptic in a crowd of believers.

The void does not grow,
Does not recede…Only perpetrates.
No arrow of cruelty can pierce it,
For it is already torn…it is void!
This void has become a part of her now,
Has found a place in her proud bosom,
The exact place, where earlier,
Her shy, broken heart had sought refuge.

The void grew out of a tiny hole-
A tiny aperture in that resilient heart,
The void fed on fear and insecurity,
And day by day, it grew in intensity.

The void feared only one enemy- love.
The girl had none…vulnerable, she was.
So very vulnerable.

And so, she surrendered to the vacuity,
Eager to adapt and ‘toughen up’,
Little did she know that it was a ploy,
Where either win would be a loss.

Trapped she was, and has been ever since,
At a loss of words, emotions or feeling,
Unable to judge the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’,
And not caring for either, either.

Today, she is an empty shell,
Waiting for the treasures of happiness
To be entrusted to her lonely heart.
She waits…and waits…

Clutching the hand of the silent void,
That never left her side,
She refused to believe its evil intentions,
She refused to see truth through the clear glass of life…

Imagination...

IMAGINATION

You are a faint light that I follow when I walk through dark tunnels,
You are the flicker of a miracle that I always seem to see,
You are the illogical answer that persists to all my questions.

I trust you more than my kith and kin,
I love you more than my blood and skin,
You make me proud when you let me down,
And when you live it up, I smile….
Without you, I would be lost,
I would be right and yet, be wrong.
You run in my blood, you thrive in my mind,
You lead me to places-unknown, and unseen.
You ricochet within my heart and throb with tempting delight.
You wake me up, and lull me to sleep,
You make me dream what I would never dare.

Yet, you live within…refuse to show up in broad daylight,
You refuse to walk the town with me, me flaunting you…


Materialize, O dear! Materialize!For, how else to the world, can I prove you worthy?
In the deep shackles of my mind you lay-quiet and wild…at once!
You are a miracle, O dear…show yourself!
Free as a bird…fly to the stars!Swift as the wind…run for your life!
Leap to your glory, my dear friend…
Worry not, for you are no slave of mankind…

The True Martyr...

The True Martyr…


The look in her soulful eyes,
Is that of despondence?
Or is it a glimmer of pride,
That casts a sunny shadow across her brow?

An unfathomable regret in her heart,
Or is it the triumph of a successful warrior?
An irony of an enormous scale lurks over her,
Each emotion seems to strive for attention.

An ode to the lost hope-
A stream of tears down her wary cheek,
She seems woebegone for a reason,
And oddly seems most consoled by the same….

Rainbow Of the Night

The Rainbow of the Night

It came one night, in my dream,
And I woke up with a scare!
How could it be possible, I wondered?
Ever seen a phenomenon so rare?

Perhaps the merriment of life,
Has reflected in the night sky?
Or maybe, the factions of war and strife,
Have bid us all a good-bye?

Such bold colours adorn the yonder,
And my heart is filled with so much mirth!
Isn’t thy heart overcome with wonder?
Witnessing Nature’s joyful rebirth?

True, it is! Not a mere illusion!
Castles are being built on solid ground,
My faith cannot withstand derision,
It must be pampered, must be crowned!

Oh No! Why are the colours fading away?
Why does the sheen seem to disappear?
Let there be some mercy, I pray!
Ephemeral angel….Reappear! Reappear!

Stay with me, O rainbow! Stay!
Do not disappear into the night!
You are the proof of a world astray,
Where right is wrong and wrong is right.