Method In Madness

holiday chaos

lost in the hope of 

finding myself 

Shared with Poets And Storytellers United

Time To Cross Over

I remind myself again and again

This is the last leg of the journey 

Decide what you have to pack or unpack

Bitterness ? Sadness ? Emptyness ? Loneliness?

Or 

Those rare moments of clarity ? Untinted joy ? 

Unabashed realisations? 

Serendipitous revelations ? 

That life is/was worth living 

(Though not always 

Yet...)

Bounties abound 

The shelter of the sky

The fragrance of the untimely blooms

The lushness of the cluster of leaves

The chiffon breeze

The whispering branches of the trees

My breath mingling

With my dreams

They say there is a sacred space inbetween 

Where you grow abundantly 

Have I done that ?

There is still time

Still a chain of breath alive 

To pour out the poison within

Fill up the lungs with blessings

Cleanse the soul

Before  moving  on

To that white space of dreamy existence 

Let past be past 

And unbox what I have kept hidden

A very long time

Cherished rather

The darkness  imagined as light

Which propelled me to zones of grief

Starkness of thoughts 

Madness of impulses

The cursed gifts of life

Were they really ?

Or 

Did I presume them to be ?

Aha! It's not the hour to

Seek what I lost myself in

It's rather time to prepare

For the cross over destined

Lures across the threshold 

The only quest that lurks

Shouldn't I travel light ?

Shared with Poets And Storytellers United

Last Minute

Sooner we end this the better

The tomfoolery

The bickerings 

The fake smiles

The real tears

The abrupt touch

Of the hands

The dismal longings 

Of togetherness 

The hopes

The disappointments 

The disillusioned dreams

The loss , the pain 

Of losing

The aches, the burns 

The haunting memories 

The fear of knowing

The truth

The exaltations

The exuberances

The excitements

Of rapid heartbeats

The fading happiness 

The hurried parting

The last minute goodbye

Sooner it ends the better

Shared with Poets And Storytellers United

Holi

In the month of spring or falgun, the festival of colours or holi is celebrated. Mythology says that holi was celebrated by Lord Krishna with Gopiyas or the womenfolk of cattle herders. Philosophically speaking, life itself is holi or a celebration of colours. Each colour depicting each rasa or aspect of life. Based on the bhajan (song of devotion), written by the blind poet Surdas, who was a devout krisna bhakt or disciple of Lord Krishna, my poem talks of holi or the colour fest.

Lo! The hue of the sky

Has turned from blue to red

The bare branches of the trees

Once again flaunt velvety leaves

Of soft, shiny sheen so green

The breeze carries the aroma 

Of fragrant abeer and gulaal

A dust of pink and magenta

Of crushed petals in full bloom

Ablush are the roses and marigolds

Intoxicating are the bright morns

Redolent  are the desultory noons

Amidst the splendour of spring which brings

Colours galore in ashen lives of winter sore

Behold! The cosmic dance of cattle herders

Men and women in a maddening swirl

With fistful of joy how they splash

Puddles of colours with merry twirls

Blinding the Earth, the Moon, the Stars

With saffron, blue, ochre and slash of silver 

Those who have drunk the wine so divine

Have never been waylaid by life's false pains

All in vain but the fest of holi alas ! all is vain

Shared with  Poets And Storytellers United

Far But Near

I know they will never be that close

We shall never cross orbits

They will cluster in their constellation

I in my obscurity will await epochs

To let them know my real self

I am a lone roamer and shall remain so

Neither gravitating towards them

Not letting them encroach my domain

Each to his own ...never mind the invites

I shall never make that inter-gallactic travel

Nor will they bridge the light years of separation

We shall remain content in our axes tilted 

But not transgressing that fine zone of "my own"

And some nights when the moon behaves like a stranger

We shall look for each other amidst a nexus of twinkling stars

And call out each other's names through the Silences of the music filtering through the universe

We shall confine our togetherness to distances

unerasable 

You in "your own" I in "my own"

                                 Pic from Google

Shared with Poets And Storytellers United

Imperceptible

Apathy

I surrender all

Questions

Violence

And find solace in 

As is

Oscillation

To realign the 

Path

Immediacy

I give up the

What ifs

Deviation

Nonetheless 

A Post Script

I AVOID 

Those butterflies

Churning inside 

I know

The river

Changes course

And sometimes

Fences too

 

                         

                                   

                                                 

        Shared with Poets And Storytellers United

Pic from Pinterest

I Am Who

The countdown has begun

By the end of this year

I hope to be a free bird

With wings flapping

Drawing an arch across

The vastness of the sky

However I am yet to learn

How to be light enough

To take off to the clouds

How to trash the pent up

Dark mass of unwanted 

Thoughts heavy on the 

Shoulders which slouch

My stance and sleep within

Me when I am awake and

Wakes up to torment when

I wish "good night" to night

The learnings are ancient

The unlearning sure is not easy

Forgetting the past baffles me

Forgiveness .....I am sorry!! What?

I am yet to empty the bin

And stop filling it up again

Time in hand is too short

To sort out the clutter

To weave a new song to coo

I have to begin from the very

Beginning of knowing

And unknowing I am who?

Shared withPoets and Storytellers United

Mistakes Are Mine

I have shared a lot with her

Opened my heart out

My dissensions with my family

My concept of the ideal

Which was never to be found

The way I wanted to reshape

My childhood so that I could

Grow up a better person

My fear of intimacy

My inability to handle that barrage

Of emotions which I had suppressed

Over epochs , my passionate clinging

To bitterness, the inexcusable hatred

For people who have deprecated my self

My anger which is the only expression

For everything I have been deprived of

My acute sense of righteousness

The injustices languishing within me

Like  festering wounds which refuse to heal

Undoubtedly she is a good listener

Her calculated inputs sort me out 

Tells me to go about life mechanically

Day in and day out without complaint

Without repentance, without guilt, 

Without remorse - for a while it consoles me

And kind of pushes me forward

But at times as I am pulled back again

She keeps quiet because she has repeated

Herself too often and too much that 

Sometimes it sounds gibberish, garbled

I resent those moments - I chose her

Because she is only mine but I wish

When I ventilate my angst in so many

Different ways she could cry out to stop me

From going on and on or hush me up with a 

Hug or just shed a few tears because 

I just can't 

Today's Prompt : AI

Pic from Google

Shared with Poets and Storytellers United

Night Cape

In the womb of night

We whisper soft lies

To our beloved ones

To make them believe

In this make believe world

Of stars sequined on Earth

And moon's conquest of the sky

A Cinderella tale of fairies and wands

As fickle as the seasons 

As free-willed as dunes of sand

Breezes that blow of wants and angst

Shall whip away in no time

The princess of no-land

Then whom shall we whisper

Those unabashed lies

Of stars spreadeagled on Earth

And skyless moon maligned

क्या तुम वही हो ?/Are You The Same?

क्या तुम वही हो?
जो भरी दोपहरी में
धुप से खेला करती थी?
तीसरे माले की बरसाती की
वह कोने की खिड़की
जिसको सहलाती नीम
के पेड़ की टहनियों पे
दबे पांव रख कर
कपास सी बादलों को
गुदगुदाना चाहती थी
क्या तुम वही हो?

क्या तुम वही हो ?
जो ख्वाबों को संजोती थी
कल के लिए और
गुनगुनाती थी गीत आशाओं भरी
क्या तुम वही हो ?
जो दहलीज़ लांघ कर
अजनबी किनारों के धुल छाना करती थी
और अन्जान चेहरों के
मक्कार इरादों से सहम गयी थीं

क्या तुम वही हो ?
जो दिन रात के मेहनत  के
बूंदों में आंसुओं को छुपा लेती
और ज़िन्दगी के खोखलेपन
को एक नया अंजाम देने
का हौसला जुटाती थी
क्या तुम वही हो ?

Are you the same ?

Who would play with sunshine

In desultory afternoons

And dare to step 

Oh! So lightly on

The delicate twigs of

The Neem  tree

Brushing against the

Lone attic window

To tickle the cottony clouds

Are you the same?

Who would sing

Lullabies of hope

To save dreams

For the morrow

Are you the same?

Who broke the bounds

To caress the sands of

Unknown shores

Are you the same?

Who dreaded the masks of

The masqueraders …

The inevitable betrayal

Of deceit …

Are you the same

Who would diffuse

The tears in the

Sweet smelling sweat

Of days’ toil  to live

A vacant lie

With bravado

Are you the same?

Dancing To The Tune

On the tip of an iceberg
I so gently place my big toe
Ever so lightly...
And haul myself up
A wee bit....a wee bit ....a wee....more
To nibble the sky
Just this much

Dreamzzzzzzzzzz.......
Poised so delicately
             On the rim of reality
And I...

Shared With Poets United 

Voyage

Mellow morning…

A blue bed spread hung

Outside my window

Without much ado

The cushions of clouds

A patchwork of snow

The gold silk thread

Interspersed in the weaving

I know its His doing

                           

Afternoons are long

At times sun is strong

At others shadows draw

Silhouettes deep and long

The balmy breeze whispers

A hummable tune

I hum along

Its His catchy song

Dusk  a rush of colours

An intense stroke here

A languid touch there

Deepening in moments

As evening strolls in

The echoes gather words

A few hurriedly spoken

A few uncommoly blurred

Nights are placid

My boudoire opens

To a sequined sky

Whiff of jasmine

 Gleaming panes afar

Of strangers and householders

Solitude is a Gift

So precious from You

My due

Dawn is stealthy

Feathery wisp

A knock so soft

Like the moving lips

To a rosary of chants

No! More like the hymn

Of the Carmelite nuns

Dousing the soul

In symphony rare

Or like a bouquet

Parceled by an

Unknown Courier

Pleasant surprise

May be for some

But I have a hunch

You had come!

Shared with Poet's United

Chameleone

From Google

I am not black

Like the darkening arcades of night

Menacing......foreboding

Neither in me is

The vastness of the blue

The sunshine of yellow

Blinds my vision

The lushness of green

Is not me either

White is too primitive

So is grey sinister

And the vermilion red

A Bohemian splurge

Nor attractive, becoming neither

Untouched by the hues

I am devoid of a palette

See me change colour

As the seasons change

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

This is shared with Poets' United Mid Week Motif : Weird

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

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

Let It Be!!

"Let it be....."
I said tossing a lock
In cold air
Stomping a foot
In dust
Pouting like a
Pampered brat
"Let it be......."
I repeated haughtily
As though I never cared
"If dreams break
Let it be
If words dry up
Let it be
If heart loses
The only chance
Let it be
If the world
Turns its back
What do I care
And what do they care
If I lose my way
In dreary desert
Without leaving
My footprints behind
What do they care
Let it be....
Let it be....
Let it be ...."




The mad moon
Looked down
And laughed heartily
Deriding my clumsy
Act.........of not caring
The night air stung


While I swallowed
A lump of ice
Battling a rage


Defeat is not easy
Neither is winning
So...


Let it be....na?

Celebration

Sky afar
Stars glitter
Moon smiles
The night is young
Visions emerge
Dancing waves
Reaches and recedes
Evening song
Croons the breeze
Warming my heart
Melody divine
Destiny adorns
A nebulous haze
Labyrinthine maze
In vain I seek
The path beyond
But will l stall?
Or hesitate?
To surge ahead
In quest forlorn?
Not till my soul
Satiated rests
In bliss sublime
In bond ever strong
Hope is my torch
I lift ablaze
Grit is my arm
Wrapped along
Hold my hand
Despair I lest
Hold me tight
In embrace strong
Stars shall swoon and;
Fall at our feet
Moon shall glow
All day long
We shall then
March in tune
Hug in delight
The horizon beyond
Sun shine then shall
Never elope and
The nights shall
Stay forever young

A Sacred Oath

Words die on quivering lips
As I hold on to a broken wish
A wish to make, a wish to break
Of timeless hold, of ephemeral swish

Words die on quivering lips.....

There's yet more to learn on the path
Of life, how to hurt and how to strife
To get over the pain of prolonged days
Of endless nights of interminable anguish

Words die on quivering lips....

Its an art to survive when you want not to
Its disastrous to die when you ought to
Navigate the waters dangerous to wade
At the other end perhaps joy awaits

Words die on quivering lips....

At the far end of the horizon there appears
Alive a rainbow of colours so bright
I think I can wrench it free from the sky
Squeeze it tight in my palms and make it mine

Words die on quivering lips....

Alas! Roars the thunderous fate
The torrents of pain how to abate
How to reason with demons within
How to let the angels win

Words die on quivering lips......

Free I shall be from shackles strong
Soul's songs are yet to be born
Dirge of pain, the venomous peg
Reign I shall within to check

Shan't let the melody die
Shan't let spring say goodbye
Shan't let hurt on self inflict
Shan't let words die on quivering lips

Footprints

I had walked up the miles
By the shores of a roaring sea
On a wistful dawn
And footprints were etched
On the carpet of sands
Earthy sketches on a canvas of gold


Years later ....
I went up to the beach
On a dazzling morn
And looked hither & thither
Footprints were none
Swept away by the unruly tides
Left were a few broken conches
Marooned sea shells & dirty corals
But no! the footprints were gone


***


You brought spring
In  greying autumn
You brought a smile
To parched lips
You brought sunshine
On melancholy days
You brought peace
To a frenzied world
You brought solace
To thudding heart
You brought dreams
To sleepless nights
You brought songs
To deafened ears
You gave life
To deadened soul


But now you are gone
And left behind
Is an empty shell
A few tear drops
And a night
Mourning in quietude
Of muted music
Of yore