Held To Ransom

Self-flagellation

Concealment

Celibacy from life 

The blessed unrest 

With eyes wide shut 

And heart held tight

The law of contradiction

Held ransom by

The principle of 

Restricted choice 

Fingerprints

An ornate mosaic of finger prints
Foot prints, interlinked highways
Body maps in ink. Now washing away
Erasing, colouring the waves 
Around me black, blue and gray

I see the grains of colour go
Streaking down my body
Far too easily, for far too long
Sand like grains falling away like rain
Mixing like snow in dirt puddles

A new world view, just out of the womb
And after baptism. A ganga ashnaan 
Or a sip of zamzam. A new feel of the world
A dip in the deep known.
Submerged here and beyond

Erstwhile

Erstwhile Erstwhile is the dream Erstwhile is the scream Erstwhile the wish to redeem

Life looks on and moves Wheels locked in grooves We live, we die, we live, we die Zenith, nadir, nirvan in renascence

Rotate, gyrate , succeed, culminate Heartbeats accounted for per diem Propagated by clockwork A polite clap to signal requiem

Life

Does life drop off like sand 
Crumbling rocks, exposing root and bone
Or does it wait for the designated expiry date
Sell by, use by, best before
Or does it leave as wonder goes
And ponder, marvel or woe.

Boundaries

Boundaries
Between hearts
Between cities and countries
Between life and death
Within me
On the brink, in my core
Between my ending and my starting point
Between living and existing

On The Clothesline

Each item like clothing 
Wrung, shook, neatly pinned
One following the other
All shapes, sizes, tinged

You expect a hollow aftermath
Windows flapping against walls
No footfall on the bare floors
Doors banging in atrium halls

Thoughts move more freely now
Unencumbered, unfettered
Gliding through ventricular spaces
Speak easy, let it go

Love's Last Rites

I lay you to rest, alongside Gershwin 

Along with my Rhapsody in Blue.

There in amidst moments in Thumri. 

In Dadra, Khayal, and in Ghazal

Auden steps in, stops all the clocks.

Winehouse walks out back to black. 

And still no Cadence just Vamp till cue 

All encore the Prelude, my Canto Ostinato 

Glossary

Thumri: (in Hindustani classical music) a light romantic form.

Dadra: Hindustani classical rhythmic cycle

Khayal: a traditional type of song from the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, with instrumental accompaniment and typically having two main stanzas.

Ghazal:  a lyric poem with a fixed number of verses and a repeated rhyme, typically on the theme of love, and normally set to music

Cadence (music): a melodic and/or harmonic configuration at the end of a phrase, section, or piece of music

Vamp till cue: A jazz, fusion, and musical theatre term which instructs rhythm section members to repeat and vary a short ostinato passage, riff, or "groove" until the band leader or conductor instructs them to move onto the next section

Prelude: musical composition, usually brief, that is generally played as an introduction to another, larger musical piece

Canto Ostinato: obstinate song