Friday, March 29, 2013

seed

love took root
I wondered from where
the seed had come

love took root
tenuous threads
spread far and deep
breaking earth
in quiet ceaseless
purposefulness

till one day
hardness crumbled
wounds blossomed
wild fragrances stole
my senses away

and then I knew
I was the seed
I am love





Wednesday, March 27, 2013

girl

 I talk sometimes
to a girl
whose heart is on fire

her fragility terrifies me
that the raging fire
might gobble up her bones
like thin tindersticks

I watch her tears flow
stop, flow again
I marvel how fire and water
live in the same house
together

I wonder for whom she cries
for love
slipping through her fingers
clever trickster that it is
or  her own lost self

a songbird
of parched throat
mourning her lost song

I want so much
to fold her in my arms
kiss her weeping head 
and say
girl, don't chase phantoms
all you seek
hides in you
until you know that
everything is a lie

I know
lost in her burning
she cannot hear me
so I hope and wait

for the fire to die
sweet waters to rain
on hard burnt soil
deep cracks birthing
tender green shoots







Monday, March 25, 2013

Stranger

We were just talking
of random things,
when he suddenly asked
How many people in your life know you?
I mean, really know you? Inside out?
Two or three, I answered.
That's a big number, he said.
I thought a bit. One,maybe. Or none?
He laughed.


********************

I don't really talk to strangers, I said
but I liked talking to you
though you are a stranger
or were one..
He laughed.

Holi !!

this year
I'll shed
greyness of long
this year
I'll throw
abstinence to winds
colour laden trees
around me beckon
this year
I'll wear 
colours on my soul !

Holi comes !!YAY!!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

whispers

fat dictionaries
full of words
yet no words
bridge you and me
din of voices
drowning out
hushed whisperings
of our hearts

light

my fire unlit
I went door to door
begging for warmth
begging for light

when doors slammed shut
to  darkness I turned
I kindled a spark
with my aching bones

I sit in my blaze
I am molten gold
all dross burnt to ashes
all shadows dispelled

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Fallen Flowers

These days, the streets of my city are littered with flowers. I see them wafting down from trees where they seem to be crowded for space. I find them there, on the sidewalk, on the street. Trampled, crushed,  browning, fading, they lie in the dust and grime. I try as much as I can, to avoid stepping on them, walking my way around them. I find in them, a certain poignancy. A few hours of glorious bloom and there  they are, on their way to dissolution. These flowers don't cling on to branches. They leave when their time comes. They dissolve into nothingness. The ephemeral, transient nature of beauty. I think, maybe, the twinge of grief I feel, is a creation of my mind. For them, in all probability, the coming into being and dissolving is all about joy.

Spring !

flower strewn streets
colour splashed lanes
her extravagance
steals my breath
wistful sighs follow
gasps of joy
spring's fragile ephemeral
gift of beauty

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Mountain Top

high winding path
I walk alone
far down below
farms, meadows
homesteads
I walk alone
each aching step
takes me 
farther and farther
higher and higher 
to peak above
red with rising sun
utter solitude
encompassing all
awaits me












Saturday, March 16, 2013

tree eternal

silver streaks
deepening lines
time writes her stories
on my flesh
of 
seeds and shoots
flowers and fruits
changing seasons
on tree eternal

Friday, March 15, 2013

What if?

What if
months, days
lose their names and numbers?
escaping tyranny
of clock's tick tock
time runs free
days flow with
sunrise sunset
night wears shape
of her moon with pride
we know each  day
from how we lived 
weathered storms
bringing  peace 
in their wake
new leaves, fallen ones
feeling the rain
loving, losing
loving again









Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Aging

greying hair
sagging skin
in my mirror
time rushes by
child within 
laughs

girl maiden woman crone
names circling
a still centre

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Spring!

flared defiance
on busy street
lone laburnum
heralds spring!

Promise

clever that you are
you came in stealth
and stole my playthings
one by one
your hands
deft and sure
you took them all
away

I wept till I remembered
emptiness is a promise

and now
my emptiness
washed clean by pain
made fragrant by
strange yearnings
for treasures unknown
awaits your knock
at my door

Mirror

her mirror cracked
she looked and found
deep tranquil pool
within
seeing the perfection
of her beauty reflected
drowned in love

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Fireflies

fireflies
in the dark
little drops 
of sunshine
playing hide 
and seek

****************


Their little lamps
their own
they don't beg
borrow or steal
joyously aglow
fireflies 
in the dark

****************

sun weeps
in parting
tear drops
of light
fireflies
in the night

***************
wrapped
in her darkness
craving for dawn
night watches 
in silence
dancing fireflies

Friday, March 1, 2013

Fire

kindling spark
trembling flare
leaping blaze
waning flame
dying embers
fistful of ashes
growing cold.