A DISTORTED PORTRAIT

Another morning in the concrete jungle
Arrives with a sleepy, reddish eye;
As the humans prepare for a hectic day,
The endangered trees stand and wait
For their own, imminent demise.


In a dusty, empty, narrow lane,
A  bag of plastic floats around;
As the wind blows, it tries to fly:
Crashing again and again to the ground.


Behold the theatre of millions of puppets,
Struggling and scuffling all day long;
While many fight for basic existence,
Wrestlers, boxers, adventure sportsmen,
Businessmen, professionals, among so many,
Put their lives on the line every day.
Is it a lifestyle, or a mere habit
In the guise of living and earning fame?
Just for this, houses implode,
Legacies tarnish, dynasties fall;
And yet, in aeons, nothing has changed.


Does anyone hear a ticking sound?
Perhaps, an explosive noise from  Time
Or one silent, cold signal
Will turn the other noises into silence.

STRANGER

Someone knocked on my old door;
From an unknown land- an unnamed shore,
He came, but didn't wait for me to come.




On my threshold I could see
The footprints that were meant to be
Of someone I had known days ago.




Perhaps in our days of childhood;
In the lap of our root,
We could have played together once before.




Then, inside us, the senses grew;
With childish nonsenses left very few,
We started maturing until we were no more!


It perhaps will not be so queer
To wait for his image to re-appear;
I will not let him go next time he comes.

A SUNSET IN THE EAST

The midnight darkness familiar to me,

Emerged in the sky to consume the dawn;

With her nocturnal wings she embraced the Sun-

Making him forget the words he had sworn.

The Sun, with reddish, sleepy eyes,

Woke up to confront his dusky twin;

Seduced by the clutches of dark midnight,

He succumbed to the forbidden world of delight

As he submerged into the heinous ocean of sin.

All the morning birds and flowers,

Watching their Sun set, being sombre,

Subdued to the awe of infernal nocturne-

The bereaved world went back to slumber.

BEFORE I LEAVE

Before I leave, I have just one plea-

For once in your life, listen to me;

Respect my feelings of love for you;

I don't expect you to love me.

I didn't know when my buds of courtship

Blossomed into flowers of unconditional worship;

Your physical being does not excite me:

In you, I find the benign almighty.

I know you won't hold my hand;

By my lone side you will not stand;

I expect you to understand,

You mean everything to me.

A LESSON ON HYPOCRISY

At certain times, in certain places,
Few certain words you shouldn't say;
Your throat may itch, your head may spin,
To make you utter the word 'unclean';
And yet you must not intervene
In the usual process of moral decay.

You must realise that only a teen,
With a huge overflow of Serotonin,
Addresses the minor issue called sin.

Don't tell your wife how much you earn,
Or how pretty looks that next door lass;
Don't waste your time by telling a police,
A lawyer or a judge not to have prejudice
Towards the powerful, sinister class.

A teacher you shouldn't ever tell
To be committed;
Never yell
The words of honesty to a leader;
Much rather remain a woeful cheater
To your own mind.
Don't explore
The harsh reality- just ignore!

What the others are suffering here today,
Will reach you tomorrow in their own way;
They will not let you have your say.

Prepare yourself for that very day;
Till then, keep grooming the tendency
To subdue to the abject hypocrisy.

ODE TO THE ELUSIVE MOON

You may not arrive in the sky every night;

You live in my heart every second though;

You enchant me with your silent warmth,

Not knowing my existence here below.

So soothing are your rays of light,

Kissing my eyes with a motherly grace;

In a silver earth, with silver hands,

My sheer emotions you embrace.

I know there is no air in you;

You’re full of condemned, sinful scars;

Yet you carry an unknown smile

In the unveiled world of glittering stars.

The rays on your face are not at all yours;

From the Sun you steal them all the time;

Why can’t I yet stop loving you,

Having known all about your crime?

They say this which I do believe-

There are tears in your frozen eyes;

You hide them from the sight of them all

In a happy, smiling, witty disguise.

You won’t ever get to know my name

And I won’t know who you really are;

But, if ever, you wish to unravel your soul,

Knock on my door- always ajar.

THE ROAD IN WHICH WE WALK TOGETHER

The road in which we walk together
Has pain in abundance;
Yet if forever,
You and I walk side-by-side
Holding our hands,
Against the tide;
Be it day or dark midnight;
A heavenly bliss will surround our sight.

It is a promise to you my dear;
I will not let miseries come here
Or let you shed a drop of tear.
Just seek your sacred beats of heart
-I will be there, always, near.

Let winters arrive, let challenges appear;
Let the thorns on the road provide us fear;
Together only, I know, we can
Surmount all odds of mortal career.

The intent of destiny we can’t unveil;
The end of this path we can’t foretell;
True love can still unite two souls:
Not even can God make them derail.

TODAY ONCE MORE

In case you forgot how to smile;

Even then, for a tender while,

Leave behind your personal score

And live the moment – today once more.

If your eyes, for years, have remained dry

And yet your heart, like a gray sky,

Wants to burst into a heavy downpour;

Let it rain – today once more.

If you slept at nights without the gleam

Of starlit wonders or moonbeam;

Today, in the twilight, before the Sunset,

Allow yourself to have one more dream.

If what was to be said, has remained untold;

Before the arrival of winter’s cold,

Let your heart have its say

Before the silence – once more today.

None can presume what the future holds

Or how the enigma called tomorrow unfolds;

“Right now”, is all we have, to explore

Our oblivious selves – today once more.

ABOUT US

You pointed towards me your knife of vengeance

And stabbed me in the back again and again;

You tried to reward me the defeat of solitude;

You tried your best- but perhaps in vain!

Why blame a cactus for its merciless thorns

As it makes our hands bleed as we touch;

When the aesthetic rose can make us bleed

Inside our very hearts just as much?

My futile whispers, all meaningless tears

Couldn’t make it past your sound-proof ears;

My emotion is like a rusted dart;

Your metal mind it couldn’t pierce.

Some use the stones to build a God;

You used the same to build your heart;

You hurled them one by one at me

To tear my holy feelings apart.

Can you put some light in your bleak mind

And make yourself think a bit:

Didn’t you lose a bit to yourself

By trying to make me taste defeat?