Thirsty basins

The dark sky riddled with bullets
Shines faint, distant lights
The gunfire lulls
In a deadly serene the night awaits the morn

Skeletons of bustling squares
As if skinned of their flesh
Smoke up from the rubble
Faints the beaming moon

Stories of their plight
Showers riches somewhere
They move on
Unknowingly known

In the distant vales the fight is on
To quench the blood thirst
Of a parched up basin.

The riddled sky still shines the faint lights
Far from the world, where there are more beautiful nights.

Hills and Beyond

Flanked by the deep woods
The path decorated by the rustled leaves
I trod to hold
The last rays of trailing light
The crimson residue paints the sky
Slowly the stars appear as I walk by

The night's chill and wind's shrill
Echo in the vales ahead
The moon is cocooned by the clouds
Forming a grand design on the dark canopy

To the wind's whistle
The leaves dance
Stealing from the moon
An occasional glance

Seeing you through every cloud
I reach the edge of a cliff
I yell falling into the deep rift
To the skies,the echoes drift.

Cinder

Smudged by the smog
The faint lights shimmered
The last passengers in a quick pace
Hurried towards their homes.

The old with the rugs
The little ones in warm hugs
All would circle the bonfires
And exchange warm glances

The little litter-light parleys
Would warm them to a nap
As the the cinder transports the message
To the sky scrapers.

The cinder lingers in the air
Posting it's message at every door
Some are locked up and Some are closed
Some people are dead and Some are non-living.

Paper Flower

I am just looked at
I am overlooked
Never have I felt the touch
I am the paper flower.

Mutely I decorate;
And dusted I am, for there is no near death
watered I am knowing I can't drink
Death I do not realize till it is at brink.

My heart in agony aches
Every time a flower dies
And reminds me I never lived
For I am of paper and dyes.

The dew does not settle on me
Around me,the insects never hover
The girls never wear
For I am a paper flower.

They are smelt, They are touched
They decorate life and also death
But,I am a mute ornate
Till I am outfashioned.

Stream

The rumbling rivulet
Snaking its way down the hill
Immerses the pebbles in an ethereal space.
Glistening rays of the noon sun
Sparkle in the water with a spectrum of colors

Clearly and stain free are the pebbles washed
A low noise of splash
Twigs and leaves happily float away

The leaves of the trees
Cast a design with their shadows
They touch the water as little hands
feeling it like joyous children.

The dry leaves as the ships
And the ants as captains
A fleet descends
Goes round over the puddle
As if carrying cartographers

But a cascade they realise is down that way
The ants jump in frenzy and swim to the shore
The dry leaves half dead
Do not care anymore .

They wish to fill their spasmodic hearts
With the last image of the trees
For they would come back in lush green
To enjoy the same beautiful scene.

Creativity

The cup of creativity spills
And then the heart fills
In those few lines, a life is born
Lived, experienced and ended

Almost a cosmic creation
Everytime we knit together the words
To form new worlds, new faces
Describe abstraction and wander places

An outpour of a sojourn mind
Creates a cosmos in the heart
You live the moment it starts
And die when it parts....

Concurrence

The roads crossed
The odes exchanged
Company sought
Solace found

The roads diverged
The good byes said
Company longed
New roads found

Concurrence -the ephemeral
A dot on the large canvas
Nothing would be the same with the dot
Neither the canvas nor the heart !!!

Flame

As an opening to another world
Enveloped around by the darkness
And fighting the night with its own armor.
Is the naked flame.

It sways and dances
To the notes on the violin
It stretches and cringes
With the wind's din.

Luring the gnats to kiss
It would burn them with it's love
And push them to the world within
A world of fiery light.

Waiting with its mouth little open
The naked flame lurks around to burn
Let it not die nor let it kiss you
For we got to spend this night
In the warm naked flame's light.

Lost Alexanders

Two souls met under the banyan tree
And dreamed of what they are going to be

They dreamed of green
They dreamed of sheen
They dreamed of light
And of the, end of night.

As lonesome warriors they set about
To conquer the world
They had it at their feet
With courtiers next to them to greet.
They became the heads of the fairy tales
Their name echoed in hills and vales

They were there and so was the tree
Only their minds wandered free
Filling with their dreams
The gaps between the stars.

Soon their minds were devoid of dreams
Their hands devoid of work
And they searched for some shadows to lurk.

The Road

Strolling the streets
And waiting till destiny meets
We just Walk alone.

Winds are against us
But we walk thus
Doing what others have done
Before going into oblivion.

It is the same struggle
You or me.
It is the same road
Just see.

You tell the story as you go
For a quick ear
Or an easy tear

You get it
And you take the same road
Into the oblivion
Just to keep you busy
Until your day is done.

Silent Witness

The hard rocked bosom of hers
Is a crypt for many stories
Tears through the eyes
Never drench her cheeks
In solitude and in solemnity
Peace is what she seeks.

Ever since she was made
By that passionate sculptor
She bore many wounds
Which only appeared to fade.

Silently she refused
The blood offered to her
She just mused
As they worshiped her.

She was exhibited
She was cut for any life
She, with the hard rocked heart
Never felt the knife.

As a mute audience
She lay in the rubble now
Figure shed and in no great form
But with the same hard rocked bosom
And tears which none could fathom.

"Cell" Mate

Connecting people
And bringing them closer
Is all that you know
In happiness and joy
In anxiety and frenzy
It is you they speak into.

Short messaging or free minutes
You always play your part
And help them speak their heart

You ring the same
In moments happy and sad
And you charge the same
That is why people are glad

You are a direction
In the madness of cities
You are a companion
In the lonely fields

You are making money
But bringing more hearts closer
You may be inanimate
But in this chaos
You are everybody's mate.

Waiting

I would be there
Waiting for you
I would be there
Counting the minutes few.

I would be there to relish
The smell wafting in the breeze
I would be there all ears
Listening to the silent missives

I would be there
Waiting for you as always.

Are you from the moon or from stars?
Or are you from the distant Mars?
Oh Venus! You have seized my heart
Just come to me and let me, then, depart.

As an unturned leaf
And as dead as a stone
I would be there
Waiting all alone.

Come with the breeze
And take me in your arms
Come to me soon
And kill me with your charms.

I would be there
Waiting for you
And breathing last,the air
That just touched you.

The Silence after rain

Dust has been brought back to earth
In the little liquid pots of rain
Silence has come back
We can hear our hearts again.

The rumbling streams of water
Trickle their way to the pond
To meet each other
And form a stronger bond.

Tears are brought
To the eyes that longed for rain
Tears are washed away
From the eyes that cried in pain.

The Silence after rain
Has brought us back to life
To listen to our hearts' call
As an interlude to the strife.

A New old song

Break my heart
Shatter my dreams
But love me today, Love me now
Tomorrow is a dream
Without any of us

Walk on me but let me see
The blue blue eyes that enticed me
Stop not till you got far away
But "I love you", hear me say

Love me today,Love me now
Tomorrow is a dream
Without any of us
Today we shall know that we are here
Tomorrow is a dream in a hazy blur

Walk with me for just this day
Listen to all that I have to say
Paint this day with love and care
Tomorrow, I will be gone
I promise,I swear.

Love me Today,love me now
For tomorrow is a dream
Without any of us.

Happy days

The pen never dries up
The page never enough
Expressions of blankness
With awe and happiness
The page,full of thoughts today
Hearts pounding that it would fly away

The drizzle blurring the night
Familiar faces in the lessened light
All reminding of the happy days
To be back there every heart prays.

An unearthed poem ...

One day we shall learn
That there is nothing we had to earn
Everything was there
But we went on a quest in full gear
Finally reached the grave
And epitaphed ourselves to be brave !!!!

Beyond the Doors

Listen my friend I want to tell you more
And have to open up every door
My heart is home for many of them
Holding up many many words at their helm

Nothing short of verse is shaping in my head
To put it out I do dread
But now I dared to put it down
Listen my friend for,later we are out of town

Words that lingered for years
Words that formed in tears
Words that I wanted to say
Words that would soon drift away
Words some shallow and some deep
Into my world,friend,do have a peep.

On the shores

Wandering on the sands ashore
Gathering shells of the yore
I wondered who was there before
And what imprints the sand underneath bore

The setting sun in the background
And mounting noises around
All mark the arrival of the dusk
Beginning their daily task.

Flying kites and Corn sellers
Camel riders and Fortune tellers
All in a game of survival and joy
With their many a strategic ploy

Survival and joy just balance each other
One giving the right place to the other
Like the waves trying to wash the shore away
But are drawn back farther away

Here there is joy in survival
And each day alive is another carnival
The dusk, to their lives is a bright dawn
It is their only source to live on.

Blood on the hands

With blood on the hands
And piety untouched in the mind
We worship the things we created
In a spate of blood unabated

Blood bath and bloody trails
This is where humanity fails
We still worship in our hearts
With blood on the hands
The one we created
With the bleeding unabated.

Dying for a cause is what we look for
But judging the cause
We never for a moment pause
Humanity has lost its sheen.
And fraternity, where is it?
It is not seen.

There is Order

Order in disorder is all that is sought
Fates turning upside down
Recurring bumps and no leads
Reflect only disorder's deeds

Struck by the storm in the middle of the sea
Land is near but I cannot see
The bouts of the gale
Leave me sick and pale
It twists, pushes and sways
All it does and there it stays
In the turbulence of the fate
I am caught always late.

The ship is wrecked
The journey is done
Up due to the noise
I See a new sun.

Though late ,finally is the order present
Chaos gone and confusion lost
I am in a new land and feel the sun
I am happy and long for none.

Corridors of Time

In the corridors of time
We walk between the walls of fate
Turning around the corners of destiny
We find new corridors
Walking in the moments,happy and sad
We write the story as the path tread

There is light and there is darkness
There is hope and there is despair
In these corridors of time
Everything is made as a pair

Do we have a destination
Do we have a plan
In these corridors of time
We just walk unknown to each other
We just walk to forget our ignorance
We just walk in a perennial trance.

The Blue canvas

On the blue canvas were the latest strokes of brush
In Red,Cyan and blue
Touching it were the birds flying hush
The same my heart was trying to do.

The strokes are now diffused by the wind
The blue canvas is now ready for a fresh paint
Grey was all it got
For there were rainy clouds in the lot.

The clouds are emptied soon
Towards the far fields they drifted apart
To only return for the same art.

The sun setting in the corner of the sky
Fills it with crimson as it goes by
The clouds are pushed
The noises hushed
The canvas is all ready for the moon
Who was waiting to color it soon.

It was you, always you

It was you, It was always you
It was you in many a hue
Things came and went anew
But I knew,it was always you.

The thoughts that seized the heart
The pain that struck it hence
Amidst the noises and in silence
It was you, It was always you.

The noises around died down
The remnant Silence escaped with a frown
In my heart was your image
Was always there in every page.

The day was spent in search of you
The night came and the dream were you
It was you, It was always you.

Never you went far from me
As much as I cannot see.
For long in my heart you would stay,
and everything else would fade away.

It was you, It was always you.
It was you in many a hue.

Lucky ones

We walked together once
For we are the lucky ones
We shared thoughts and dreams
Set our goals and aims
We fought, We made up
We cared for each other

Those were the happy days
Now I realize, nothing happy stays
Are the happy moments gone?
Has everyone moved on?
I tend to live in the past
In my heart only that can last

Tell me my efforts are not in vain
And that soon we will be back again.

It was her

Years ago she left an image hazy
Now the same makes me go crazy
she now appeared for moments few
Like the fresh drops of morning dew

Her eyes beautiful and wide
Revealed the beauty past it's hide
Her graceful walk and lovely talk
Her sweet and joyful smile
Made the worlds stop for a while

She was the spark of light
In that windy autumn night
Soon the moment was gone
And the darkness around was on

I stood still when she appeared
I stood still when she went
But in between, were the eons I spent

My heart, forever, she would seize
And everytime I think about it
The darkness would cease.

The silver lining

Days together I gazed at the silver line
And was benighted in the darkness it held within
The darkness has now vanished like of yester night
And I lay blinded, by all sudden light.

Success was often for which I longed
Finally it came and I was totally wronged
About the solace it harbors and warmth it begets
Meanness is all, it often besets.

I conspire, I lie and often sin
To only hold what I did never win
It has made of me a narrow mind
That never thinks of the story behind.

Not content with just the silver line
I prayed for more and earned what's not mine
The fiery light has burnt my soul
And gave it, an all new role

"I do not want this success", I pray
But here, blinded in light, forever I lay.

A Walk

On a lonely and deserted road, lonelier I stand
Remembering the days we walked hand in hand
But now she is gone to farther lands
I dont think my heart understands

Still my heart longs for her
To walk those roads with a misty blur
The diffused light and smell of the night
All are same as, when it was right.

I trod those roads in a loneliness now
For she is gone, my only love
I never told her, what I felt
Now she is gone and only solitude dwelt.

Does she love me or does she not?
Am I still in her sweet little heart?
Thinking about this, I walk along
And often wonder what went wrong.

The Flower

Standing alone in the garden is a dispirited flower
Thinking its life a wasted one;
For it to feel so is a story behind
The lines that follow reveal its mind

Seeing this world in fresh blossom
Important it felt, for it inspired many
A bard to pen a new song
A composer to unveil new notes
And many more at their first glance

The bees fed on its nectar
Carrying its fragrance afar
It thought how lucky it was
And pitied the non-flowering grass

It lived in merry and joy
With its image seizing many hearts and minds
For ever this should stay, it thought
But imminent were the things that followed.

There was soon no hovering of bees
No bard describing its fading color
No composer writing its unhappy notes
And no one indeed near

Strange are the ways of the world it thought
It revolves around you at prime
And deserts you when it is time.

The happy song

A crude flute in his hand
With a herd of cattle he would arrive
The green pastures would soon be occupied
He would sit down to enjoy the light and warmth of the morning sun

The hills echo with the music of the dawn
The Sun slowly rises as one giant glowing disk
He would run from end to end in the pastures below
Relishing every bit of it in mellow

He blows life into his flute
For hours he continues to sing
Waiting for any response the lovely air may bring.
But nothing would reach his ears
Heavy hearted he would return
Only to perform the next morn.

The birds, cattle and all life around
Would immerse in his song
Forgetting to respond, they would stand still
Listening to their hearts’ full

The flute is long gone now
But the music still echoes in the hills and beyond
The noises of the dawn now are nothing but his song
For it is a happy one which stays really long.

Waves

A roaring sea and a starlit sky
We were there just walking by
The waves going back and forth
Bring back the memories we hold
Some we love and some we loath.

Walking ashore in the shallow waters
We leave no trace and have no leads
Just as we want to forget the past
And explore the unknown vast.

Some stay calm living the moment
Few share to spread the joy
And some search for a spot
Where their memories sank.

Each time the waves wash the shore
They leave a fresh canvas to dabble
We make our momentary mark
And in no time it is lost in the dark.

A roaring sea and a starlit sky
We were there just walking by.

Eclipse

Behind that quick half smile
Hidden are things very fragile
We greatly fear their loss
And never bet them at toss

We try to guard the shortlived
And name them when gone ,"the beloved"
The fragility within, is shattered one day
Halting all that is joyous and gay.

Deep down again, to ourselves, we tell
That this storm would soon quell
That the life within would rise again
And dance with us in the sun and rain.

The storm finally passes
leaving in its wake a deadly calm
Some tend to reason the fate
Some tend to curse and some start believing.

Soon,the joy eclipses the sadness
The melancholies are forgotten and buried
With what is left joyously we move on
Very rarely reminscing the things that are gone

We enjoy this ephemeral joy
Bathe in the triumph and glory
But deep down,another storm ,we fear
And brood the loss of the dear.

A Prayer in Silence

A silent night in the woods
Full with a silver pool of moon light
The gentle swaying of the trees
As if dancing to the humming breeze

The stillness and the silence
Empty a heavy heart
A feeling of completeness fills it with delight
and imprints on it ,the scenic night

The chimes of the temple bells
add to the humming breeze
I pray in silence for everything to stay
To enjoy a moment so gay

But this melody stays for little time
It just vanishes into the stillness of the night
I wait for it to return
Not realising I have had my turn

About this I would be writing years hence
Recreating in my heart the stillness and silence
Reliving those moments for long
and pening each time a different song.

ILLUSIONS

You create illusions deep and wide
Form many ideas, deny many and retain some
The fancies, the dreams and the triumphs that occur
The pain ,loss, defeat and death
Leave you busy and occupied

You reflect in a language you created
"Are we near to the truth?"
or "Did we just evade?"
In search of the answers you give your side of the story

Different eyes and different stories
Just keep on flowing forever
Searching for the finished mosaic
They stop never

Civilizations are lived around this
Faiths and religions are born
In fighting for "their" truth, their lives are torn
Never they realize that all is an illusion
Some do and fight for it
and at the same time transforming into unrealized

May be all the above is just another illusion
May be another mind and another story
But never ever will there be one story
Which describes it all
for there are many minds and many more illusions.

Roots

They leave their homes fractured
Unto the promised lands
Their promises unkept
They search for the new ones

The homes they leave behind
would never remind them of their roots
for they are dead and gone
As their world moved on

They live in the new land
Find new friends and foes
Who ought to be perfect
For it is the land they chose

They live but do not belong
They own yet they don't
They survive to realize
What they have lost

They long to belong somewhere
A home where they can share
A place where they belong
The place which they thought was totally wrong

To their roots they return
and watch others take their turn
To travel far and wide
with their homes fractured on the other side.

Pharaoh's dream

Sitting high and powerful, defiant and condescending
Is the chosen one, the pharaoh.
The absolute, The ruler from heaven;as the world calls
And obediently at his feet it falls

He dreamt for a mark of his glory
a one of its kind, magnificent and grand
A monument to mark his rule of this land

Years and Years of toiling in the desert sun
Realizing someone else's dream
They remained occupied
until one day when the glory was out of its hide

It looked sturdy and magnificent
Built With their flesh and blood
The symbol of glory would sure leave a mark
Just different one in each heart

The active years of their lives spent
They had no emotions to vent
The unsung heroes never again thought
What havoc to them,the pharaoh's dream has brought

Realizing they wont be remembered for long
They lived along singing the glory
Forgetting the mark it made
And waiting for the wounds to fade.

An Awakening Dream

The distant hills , the early rise
The silent meadows so green
A place none has been

The hills beckon in a strange tune
Urging me to join them soon
The silent meadows, with me, strike a note
My heart sings with joy afloat

Where to find this place?
In a myriad of dreams which one to follow
Each one like others appears hollow

I dream about this place
And what it can offer as solace
About the promises it holds
About the new stories it unfolds
About the new songs
About the new wrongs
About everything that this heart longs

Despite my efforts to evade
This awakening dream does not fade
I sit up questioning "why ?"
Why like all the others you don't die.