Together

Scooping light out of glittering sea-spray
We will walk on soft, speckled sand
We will go through sunlit country lanes
plucking flowers; wild,fluorescent, grand
We will sift through dreams and in between
On their pages touch a note, a letter
While love will carry on its way; for you and me
And together we will cry, chasing a never-ending ever after.

For I Have

For I have soared into the eye of the sun
Submerged into the fire's heart

Made a deal with God's own Word
A pact with the devil incarnate

To feel tears drop into my heart
A smile clasp around my soul

To have and also to hold
to love, cherish and more

To let go before tongues get tied
Leaves crumble, colours wane

To love and love in spite of, any way
notwithstanding, regardless, in vein

And love

Under a faint, trembling light
confusion paces hard

Brow creased in frustration
certainty's knuckles rap

Hope with a mocking bow
flings scorn at want

Faith with a blinkered look
sways dazed, le moribond

And love; stumbling, plunging
has been found hung

Riding gossamer butterflies;
in supernal seas, sunk

Benaam

Bunn'te huay taage'
ukharti hui saanson
mein paiwasta, madfan

Rakhte safar baandhte
par'rao rait se chalni
shakista dam kham

Baange darra goonjti
raahon se lipti
khaali, gumm summ

Muskurahat phailti
aankhon mein simti
purryaqeen, mubhamm



Glossary
Bunn'te - knitted
taage' - threads
ukharti - breaking
paiwasta - attached
madfan- buried
Rakhte safar- ready to depart
par'rao - tent city
rait - sand
chalni - riddled
shakista - broken
dam kham-strength
Baange darra- the marching bell
goonjti - ringing
gumm summ- subdued
purryaqeen - full of faith
mubhamm - uncertain

Best served with nought‏

Like overcast skies heavy with trickling drops
Pregnant mists, redolent with
light promises. A reticent cornucopia
of good wishes; best served as intermittent rain.
A sterile womb incensed with dream offerings
A prayer held afloat on the lips of a sky lantern
as an incomprehensible puzzle. A frieze; frozen
in time, now incoherent, incongruous, out of place.
A nightmare awoken; my comprehension's extension, lost.

All My Love For You

All my love for you;
The passion, fire,
Urge, anger.
All the desire
Red-hot, amber.

And the facade,
Bravado, laughter,
Dissimulation,
The mask, masquerade,
The pretension.

And then the pain;
Stiff, silent, stilted,
Automated, dazed,
Agitated. The look
Veiled, hunger emaciated.

The Place

The place we conjure up this dread from
The place every thing we fear comes from
The place that stores our longings
The place marked for our covetousness
That place went missing this morning
Perhaps crept away in the dull of the night
The bed unslept, the sheet still smooth
A hollow deep pit just under the heart
The shape of things to come undone
The door that memory held unhinged


October 2011

Knot Making

How we excel in making knots
Elaborately perfected over time
Intricate, simple, handy, pretty
Arbor, bow, celtic, granny

Knots in the heart, knots in mind
Knots in religion, knots in clime
Knots that divide, knots that bite
Entangle, warp, wrench, writhe

Wrap the eyes, keep desire trapped
Grab the feet, keep hope snagged
Contort the mind, mangle the heart
Anaesthetized, asphyxiated, obliviate


October 2011

Khizaa'n

Khizaa'n mein milna
Khizaa'n ka milna
Rangg uttar rahe hain
Chammak dhal rahi hai

Raatein hochukein gehri
Hararat hochuki thandi
Dhalti kirnon ki manind
Hui dhadhkanien halki

Parende udd chuke shehr se
Saaye hochuke lambe
Utri hawa kuch sard sard
Pattay bhehke phir zard zard

Ghat'ti saansein, badh'ti umrain
Daraaz saa'e, dhundlati yaadein
Dono'n haathon mein khwahish thaame
Aaj dono'n haathon se jaam pilain.


October 2011

The Wheel Of Fortune

The wheel of fortune moves; and, inversely moved,
Crushes out: all sense, all thought, all feeling.
Like an oil press, separating, decanting, severing,
It moves on: nor all your yearning, craving, longing,
Nor your wish, your hope, your desire,
Shall rescind, revert, revive or resurrect.


October 2011


(In the vein and totally inspired by Omar Khayyam)

Poesy

This whimsy that poesy is releasing is bleh.
It can leave you all tangled, choked up, disgruntled.
This notion that poesy is cathartic is blergh.
It can bind you in layers, ones you cant rip through.
This faith that poesy is enlightening is blegh.
It can leave you more befuddled, angsty, in the dark.
This belief that poesy is your mistress is blah.
It holds you by the leash; you perform on demand.


October 2011

To spring back to life

Extract a vein from one place
A nerve from another
Lock and attach
Borrow a joint
Hinge sense to senselessness

Compress, pump, exhale
Delay the inevitable
Get the pulse thumping
Gasp, sputter, accelerate
As the DNR sign falls to the side


September 2011

Lust

A lust for words, a lust for dandelions
For open valleys and a loft studio
A lust for quiet, a lust for thunder
A lust for life and for obliteration too
A lust to revamp, a lust to re-invent,
To be foam-arisen!
And the lust to auger away
To hold my core, pristine.


August 2011

Tonight ( A haiku)

The moon is wearing kohl tonight

A cloud gropes my face

I lie eclipsed


July 2011

Kahe Darya

Kahe darya tujhe iss paar
Jaana hai mujhe uss paar
Ruko na mujhe, toko na mujhe
Na chaido gham, na kuraido zakham

Hai samandar mera duur paar
Safar khaardaar, faasla behadd paichdaar
Aur meri umeed ab bhi wahi, samandar ki duuri wahi
Naseeb mera doobna wahi, samandar ki sardmohri wahi


July 2011