Thursday 29 September 2016

Shoes And Soul

Shoes on the rack
I wish to make amends
By changing size
She holds me back 
With whip in hand
Poised to strike
The lashings whine
I try in vain
To stifle the cries

Shoes on the rack
Tell me why
I can't tread beyond
The limits drawn
By that number on the sole
Are  my feet to be defined?




Shared with Poets'United 

Sunday 18 September 2016

Mother And Child

I have nurtured hatred
unendingly so................
bags full of trash
valueless to the world
priceless to me
as all other worthless thoughts
churned and cherished
within the fragile membranes
                  of a puerile mind
now appear to have lost their shine
in the blinding glitter
of mushrooming malls

I have parented dreams
wailing in the womb
of silenced nights
throttled sobs
and muffled cries

I have sung lullabies
to sooth them to sleep
and woken them up
at the wrong time
fed them what
money could not buy
nourished them well
so that they  not die
an untimely death
schooled them to believe
they have been immortalized

Yes, I have mothered dreams
but never a child...


Friday 29 April 2016

Skyscraper

From Google


Today I cleaned the attic
Dusted the mats
Ran the creaky drawers on their rusty channels
Vacuumed the drapes
Sprayed the freshener generously around
Then closed all the windows.....doors
Ventilators.............so that no dust
Should settle again on the bed, floor, closets
But there is one little hole
Down the corner (......workmanship of a nibbler)
Where the walls meet the floor
Cleverly covered by the frayed carpet
Which I couldn't shut....................(though I tried hard, believe it or not)
Like the blocked drain
In the shaft
................And the sun somehow manages to creep in
Through the slit lighting a room so dark and heavy with the smell
Of ancient baggage, mothballs and memories............
It rankles deep down..............(why I wonder!!)


And when I wrote a few verses today
...................On the vastness of the sky
...............................................Running meadows
.................................................................................Singing streams
..........................................................................................................Gurgles of laughter
The little hole in the unused attic
Kept on bothering me
With its narrow confines
Where the world seems to open up and beckon me...............
Yet I stay bolted behind


Shared with Poets United

Sunday 20 March 2016

ध्वनि



गूगल से 


शब्दों से परे 
सचकित सशब्द 
ये अंतराल 

Thursday 17 March 2016

The Battle Mates


From Google


I am no saint when it comes to virtues
My vices kill me on every breath
As well as those who dare to reform
My unhinged soul , my wayward will
Yet in moments of deep reverie
I feel a Oneness with the Universe
The abode of the cherubs and the chaste
The debauch and the demoniacal alike
I wonder whether it is the vile and vicious in me
Which senses a resonance with the chaos in the cosmos
Or is it the shallow-breathing long-captivated angel
Asphyxiating somewhere deep within
Perhaps my saintliness lies in just being human
However, the fact of the matter remains that
Eternal is the residence of Saints and Satan both
On the fulcrum of the Consciousness Supreme
The degree lies in the tilt of the lever
And that's so simple, isn't it?


This poem is shared with Poet's United for the Midweek Motif : Saint/Saintliness

Thursday 10 March 2016

Murder Of A Rose


From Google


His earnest gaze pierces my soul
His clasp tightening on my hold
Lips quiver in innocent appeal
Eyes brim with moistened gleam
Promises fake futile foolish
Douse me with glimpses of a
Wishful future and joyful overtures
My limbs slacken and heart topples
As I give in to his impassioned zeal
The very next moment strikes the dagger
Its stainless shine trickled with streaks
A bloody rose crimson in colour
Is wrenched apart from its anchor-twig
I can hear its silent screams from afar
I gasp and fume and slowly resume
My plaintive plea however in vain ....!

Its weird how symbiotically we merge in each other's being
Weirder still how we devolve into strangled cries and shaken faith


Wednesday 2 March 2016

A Flower Was Offered To Me

From Google

A Flower was offered to me
A Flower frozen in time
A Flower so distinctly beautiful
Its Petals soft and curly
Its Stems looking up to the sky
A Flower of exquisite Creation
Of Colour, Contour and Design
A Flower in harmony with the Divine
I could not have asked for anything more
And nothing would have substituted
The Joy of holding it between my fingers
The Flower was not a Flower
But a gift from Heaven, am sure
Yet countless times I calculated
The Cause behind the Motif
The Motive behind the Present
The Reason behind the Joy
The Mystique behind the Miracle 
The Possibilities it Proposed
The Opportunities it Negated
And in assessing the pros and cons
(A gross folly of the human mind
I know now it is...)
I somewhere lost the Moment
The Ecstasy of Gaining something Worthwhile
The Epiphany of Visioning the Enormous
The Marvel behind all Miracles
The Wondrous Find of Discovery 
The Magnitude of Magnanimity
And so failing myself
I lost the Gift as well
The Gift from a Horizon Beyond
The Love that was twined in its Stalk
The Care that was imbued in its Palette
The Bliss that was weaved in its Touch
I was Offered a Flower I know
But I Lost a World I know not When

Monday 29 February 2016

खामोशियाँ


गूगल से 


वो बातें बिन बोले भी बयाँ  होती है 
जिन्हें कहते खामोशियाँ  जवाँ होती  है 

प्रदूषण और परिवहन

(Inspired by Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal's drive to free the Capital of pollution)





गूगल से   चित्र 


प्रदूषण  पे 
रोक, राह तकता  
खड़ा लंगड़ा  


Sunday 7 February 2016

रतजगे सपनें


From Pinterest


रतजगे से
सपने, औंधे मुँह
पड़े दिन में

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Food



Sourced from Google




I remember it was a week day
Boarding the bus on a busy road
Was suddenly accosted by this
Vagabond of a man 
Not exactly in tatters, for sure
But had a glassy look about him
Rumpled hair and dry mouth
Reddish in colour, quaint manners...

I shrank as he extended 
A dirt striped hand
And mumbled something like
"Didi! give me a tenner please
Haven't eaten a morsel 
Whole day long"

Spontaneity had the better of me
As I handed him the note
He vamoosed as though he was never there!

The man next to me grinned derisively
"Made a fool of you! He's a dopey... you see"

We share the day with each other
And everyday invariably 
They leave the table littered with 
Sparsely eaten plates 
I tell them, "Its a waste! 
Recall those who do not have enough
Children of forgetful Gods..
They belong to this Earth
As you and I do"

They have stopped sharing the table with me
And call me names
Behind my back, of course!
I overheard one of them, the other day...

I shun them as well

It doesn't hurt anymore
The feeling is mutual 
As usual...


Note : "Didi" is an address for elder sister

This poem is shared with Poets United's Weekly Motif Food


Sourced from Google


Thursday 7 January 2016

Incredible!!


Pic from Google


In the mystique folds of Life
I have found YOU
In serendipitous moments
Of self discovery
And realized with awe
That I am not the Only One
Who has wept blood
And bled tears

In your loving embrace
I have found solace
And in bliss of ignorance
Named it a Miracle
That I am still alive!!

Pic from Google

This Poem is shared with Poets United

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Tote Bag

From Google


tote bag
rests in peace within
my memoire