Desert and Ocean

desert within
desert without
and somewhere
an ocean
of salt water
trembles

221

Madman

from the high window
in my house of cards
fenced in by walls of sanity,
all rules forgotten
all shackles torn
I see the madman wandering free

214

madman

from the high window
in my house of cards
fenced in by walls of sanity,
all rules forgotten
all shackles torn
I see the madman wandering free

208

ash

cold repose of fire's satiation_

ashes stirred by a playful wind

205

Lamp

body stained
with burnt darkness

the lamp died

its battle done

Desert

longing for lushness
thirsting for rain
in desperate dryness
the desert grows thorns

191

Tattered Dream

my tattered dream
like grasping cobweb
clings to lashes
stings my eyes

187

Night and Day

for few fleeting moments
they meet
in dying sunshine
falling shadow
for like night and day
they are destined
to be forever together
forever apart

186

incognito

unclaimed by my voice
abandoned by my lips
your name wanders incognito
in the silence of my blood 

183

Your Name

shunned by my lips

unclaimed by my voice

your name lives on
in the salt of my tears
in the warmth of my breath

in the silence of my blood

182

Be With Me

be with me

for I can no longer bear

false bartering of bright conversations

be with me

for only you can hear
words woven in my silence

181

Silence

she crumbles to dust
strong walls of words
and sweeps with firm hands
the debris of demolition
shorn of cleverness
stripped of subterfuge
I tremble in new born nakedness
as silence builds
her home in my heart

180

Draupadi

she comes to me
across the dust of many millenia
the woman born from the holy fire
of Drupad's yagnakunda
she, the dark hued one
beloved sister of Krishna,
precious wife of five
of the mightiest men in the land
she stands there, her hair loose, wet
stained crimson with the blood
of her oppressor, Dushashana,
she looks at me and I cannot bear
the burning agony of her gaze
I cannot bear the heat that seared
every pore of her desecrated body for years
no, she had not forgotten
she had not let anyone else forget,
the blaze of her insulted womanhood
had burnt to ashes numberless men
and had darkened the battlefield
of Kurukshetra with blood

~ Rwits
Remembering Jyoti Singh Pandey(Nirbhaya)

179

My Words

I sometimes wish
all the words I write for you
arising from my heart
would become a flock of birds
winging across the skies 
they would find your home
and with a great fluttering
alight on the rooftop
on the doorsteps
on the windowsills
and fill every corner of your home
with my songs

178

Silence

when the red sun of silence 
rose in the darkness of my heart
I became an empty house
doors thrown open
windows unshuttered
for the winds to play in
for the light to shine through
in the restless clamor of the world
a sanctuary of peace

177

Your Name

I left your name
on the desolate mountain top
I threw it to the wind
travelling to distant lands
I dropped it in the river
winding to the sea
I watched the fire
scorching it to ash
I tried so many ways
and yet I find
your name wandering in my heart
sobbing out my name

175

Rainbow

light 
cracked 
splintered
scattered across the sky
ethereal spectrum of love
between water and air !

158

Discovery

stripped naked of the world
bones chilled in desolation
she discovered fire
and found
that she could write
the story of life
from the beginning 
again

152

Emptiness

Emptiness I am
hiding fullness within
through tunnel of time
I come and go
clothing and then 
unclothing myself
in eternal charade 
of make and break
laughing weeping
in sorrow and joy
I play my parts
I witness them too

150

Homeless!

I am in the game
I am out of it
I neither play
nor stand apart
four walls around 
and a roof above
yet I rejoice
in homelessness!

149