Some loves are denied words

some loves are not given voices
denied sound
they seek and find
the vocabulary of silence
where words rise from ocean depths
and sentences do not follow
the grammar of time and space
having learnt the language of souls
they turn deserts into oases

some loves are denied words
and then they find
that they have been gifted
the vast freedom of silence
that they are not condemned
to cage in clumsiness of words
surges and depths
flows and ebbs
of that undefinable magic
the enigma called love
!
!26, 127

Silent love

some loves are not given words

born in silence

in silence they grow

like mountain streams

they make their way

squeezing through crevices

cutting around rocks

agony hidden

ecstasy unspoken

moments of sweetness stolen

from an unforgiving fate

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Aloneness

as the ice melted
she never knew when
chill of loneliness turned
to warm aloneness
in wilderness or in crowded rooms
it wrapped around her
snug blanket of comfort
you, only you
it whispered to her
you are the overflowing pitcher
you are fullness
you are the fount

124

Alone

fragrance of feasting
warm happy babble
softly cocooned in a
room filled with people
she sits alone

!23

Ganesh Chaturthi

He is a Muslim boy, son of labourers, who comes to my home for studying. Some years ago, when he was stiil a tiny fellow, he would be hugely excited by new  school books. He would sit with my husband for hours patiently covering them with brown paper, sticking on the labels.And when he was done, he wanted to leave them at our home.When I asked why, he told me his home was not like mine, it was galeez(dirty)There were too many rats who nibbled on everything, potatoes, tomatoes, clothes.When I asked why do they not use rat traps or rat poison to kill them, he gave me the look. They are Ganesha's friends. Didn't I know that?He would never harm them.Evenings, he loved the ritual of my lighting agarbattis and stood with me hands folded, eyes closed in prayer.He is twelve now and I can see him changing fast as he enters adolescence.Today he phoned and told us that he will not be coming as there is a Ganesh Chaturthi function going on in the Sai temple and he wanted to dance.I just hope that the Almighty, by whatever name we call him, will keep the beauty in this child's heart alive.Happy Ganesh Chaturthi !

cleaning

To come to me you must first

wipe the world from your skin

scrub from your mind all stains of fear 

brush all cleverness away.

Come to me in your white cleanness
in openness without any walls

like the day you first came to earth

wrapped in lure of pure innocence.

My arms ache to hold you.

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Passage

the tattered kite

looks up in vain

the sky holds no memory

of its soaring flight

earth with water moulded 

baked in fiery kilns

countless pots fashioned

and smashed each day

so hold your joy gently

bury sorrow in shallow grave

in your passage of numbered breaths

on the streets of this world

walk softly, walk slowly

walk with light steps

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