Why Fear?

Why fear

My dear

Frail little things –

The crystal vase

The wild dream

Your own beating heart;

Dreading loss

Your fingers close

Upon them all, a trembling grasp

Why not let go

Why not let soar

Why not let scatter and shatter if need be

Why fear

My dear

Evanescent beauty,

When all world holds

And ever unfolds

The promise

Of so, so much more..

🙂

Advertisements

Empty

I fill my days with colors

Pretty things

Sweet souvenirs

The aroma of memories

Lived and unborn;

The dusty palette of fading acrylic

And the sepia tones of yesteryear songs

Cravings of chocolate, solitude

And fluttering heartbeats

Highs of crowded laughter,

Swirling love

And all and anything else

Except me.

I Float

I float.

Flowing with the current,

Hitting against the banks

The shrubs

The low lying branches

And move on

Bruised and bleeding…

Will I too wash along the shore one day?

To sediment

Amongst the filth

Of inadequacy, ineptitude

A lifetime of ignorant delinquency

Marked by sloth

Misdirection

Tangy blues…

Or emerge miraculously

At the horizon

Riding the rays

Of the setting sun

As I glimmer alongside…

I know not.

Maybe one day I

Will not be

A dead weight for this stream

But today

I can’t help

But float…

The Proposal

“Come away with me, love

Marry me..?”

Barely above a whisper

But the words rang clear

I looked down

Cheeks flushed

Ears burning

Heart thumping

Rage pumping

Indignation coursing

Through flesh and blood;

Complacency a woman’s virtue

They taught

Turn your back, ignore

They said

And I follow suit

Cheeks flushed

Ears burning

And eyes downcast

Even as the comments

Continue to rise

From the lewd mouth

Of a migrant

Selling cheap shades on the street,

Daunting,

Flaunting

His rights as a man

Over me,

As I walk away

Livid

But complacent

As taught.

Your Light

The sun

Is but a flicker

Against your light;

Your shine knows no twilight

Your smile no dearth

Of charm,

Nor your eyes,

Chasms of radiance..

Let’s dance 

Like the prismatic hues

That engulf me

Enrapture me

As you glance,

Sideways, with the hint of a dimple

On your cheeks 

Mischief on your lips,

And flames in your heart

To warm me;

Yes embrace,

And let me flower

In your light..

Afloat

Afloat

Aloft

And to dust.

Fluid thoughts

Stuck in stained spaces

Trapped intentions

Cobwebs of comprehension

Leaky emotions

Dripping, seeping, stinking

Tip-tap

An isolated attempt at retribution

A splat on the floor

Welling to a whirlpool

Of silent surrender

And in the midst

Lie

I

Afloat

Aloft

Turning to dust.

Let Me Draw Life

Let me draw life

From your breath,

Your beat,

Your smile,

Let me shine

Under the warming glow

Of your gaze,

Let me sleep

In the dark corners

Of your arms,

Let your heart be my haven

Mine yours,

My worries lost in your whispers

And your forevers entangled

In the curls of my hair..

Till death do us part

For but a miniscule moment;

Ask the moon and the stars –

Silent witnesses

Of a love forged

And kept aflame

Across eternity,

Born and reborn,

And in each new life

I shall seek you out

As I always have..

The Brook, Revisited

“For men may come, and men may go

But I go on forever..”

.

Will you??

Even as the men who come

Mock your chastity,

Assault your sheen,

Crush the pebbles you lovingly shaped

To dust and dig out

Your entrails

To feed their greed,

Even as you’re used

Abused

Left dry

And led to plead

For a drop of rain

Under the scorching sun

To heal your wounds,

Search in vain

For roots to weep on

After their plunder,

Or a branch to rest under,

As you bleed filth,

As your sweet fragrance

Turns to stench,

And your tears

To black bile.

Will you survive

As the men who go

Smother you with their corpses

Burn you with their hot ashes

Bury you in their darkness?

How longer, how much longer

Till the poisons

That course your veins

Gift you sweet death,

Release from the torment

Of being another whore

Tamed to submit

To mankind’s fancies;

Yes, men may come and men may go

But will you go on forever??

I dedicate this poem to Ganga, to Yamuna, to Citarum River, Yellow River, Doce, Marilao River, Cuyahoga, Mississippi River, Buriganga and all the other rivers and streams and brooks in the world – Mothers who nourished us, nurtured us, on whose laps all civilisations arose and who are now dying a slow death due to our apathy. Water is our elixir, rivers are our lifeline. Let’s save them before it’s too late.

Conversation

It seems

I’m not the only one

To wake and yearn

For my beloved;

Still is the air,

Save the gentle sighs,

Memories perhaps

Of the night’s embrace;

Leaves rustle in hushed tones –

Envying greens, scarlet dreams

And yes, some yellowed,

Burnt by many a rendezvous

With the stars..

The roses too blush,

Turning away

Dewy cheeks – imprints,

Wet kisses of moonshine.

They whisper tales

And I whisper back;

They speak in passionate longing

Of the ravishing skies

The charming stars,

The blue night,

And then listen

As I speak of you.

Puzzles

I trace myself

On your exposed wounds

And know, my touch

Does not make you cringe;

Our scars fit

Like jigsaw puzzles.