I'll Learn

Leave me in the presence of pristine nature, 
that reflects beautiful green grass and bright white light,
I will turn into a poet.

Leave me with those saints and sages, 
who like to talk and listen, who do not hurry or worry, 
who believe and live in heaven,
I will turn into one among them.

Leave me without these materials and machines, 
without these loosely bound human relationships, 
I will become your loyal servant writing 
every single poem, singing every song for you.

And with one simple glimpse of outside world, the Lord of my love,
I can't keep one single promise of the above.

The Book I Wrote

I write and write,

In a book that's not right.

The cover boasts and brags,

The content breaks and bores.

I sit and write of a far off kite,

That flies and flutters with all its might.

It climbs up and goes down.
It takes leaps and it takes turns.

In a cloud it forms storeys and storms,
With a flair it chisels the air.

Till it reaches the end of its merry fair,
Until it reaches the top of the sky.

"But why," cried the kite, 
"Should sky be the limit?"

I said, "As went ageless fables."
And thought, now is the time to change the tables.

Who can tell the kite,
After the flight, comes the halt,
After the rise, comes the fall.

Instead, I scribbled on my heart, 
"After the fall comes the rise"

As I wrote and wrote, 
In a book that's right.

Well-known Strangers

Days and years pass,

And, one day you'll see me

On a busy road,

Well, in the same city

While you have gone abroad and

lived a thousand ecstatic lives in one.

I, here, have seen a thousand different lives,

and yet you would have repeated the same line, "I miss you."

But, we only look at each other, not a word, nor a swerve 

Is it a mirage or a miracle? I wonder.

And, for a change you say, "I am proud of you!"

Oh Sun, Give Us Your Sunshine

Oh sun, give me your sunshine, 

So I can find and fight the hidden monsters.

But what do I do about the inhumaneness that is right before my eyes?

Oh sun, give me your sunshine, 

So I can bring out those who live in the gloomy streets.

But how can I enlighten the dark thoughts in their minds?

Oh sun, give me your sunshine, 

So I can nourish my body to make it healthy and complete

But how can I help those who lost their limbs and lives in attacks?

Oh sun, give me your sunshine, 

So I can enjoy the grandeur of mother nature

But what can I say to people who only wish for latest gadgets?

Oh sun, give me your sunshine,

So I can let my child enjoy and cherish life like I did, 

But alas, do I actually want to bring him into such a world as this?

Oh sun, give me your sunshine,

Not for me, but for everyone else.

For I live just for myself, but you raise and shine for everyone!!

If Only...

If only I had known that the night would fall so quickly,
I wouldn't have lived this day recklessly.

If only I knew our years were numbered, 
I would have kissed you more and hugged you more often.

Maybe, every time I loosened my hand from yours, 
I should have believed for once, that, at the right moment even the wrong wishes are granted.

That spur of my anger, that hell that I broke loose,
Now seem so small before your ageless love, but if only I knew.

If only I knew that experience matters more than logic, 
I wouldn't have smothered your judgement nor would I insist on mine. 

If only I knew that after the storm comes the sunshine, 
If only I knew that love is the solution to all problems,
I wouldn't have spent every second as an aeon, 
Instead, I would have chosen to fly with you to the eternal end.

A Run From Your World To Mine

The clothes I wore rubbed their artificiality on me.

The people who touched, touched only my skin, oblivion to the much more inside.

The embellishments on my body did no more or no less than just being there.

I run, I run away from this world that judges the colour and texture of my skin, 
the size and shape of my body;  
the world that slows the blood in my veins and 
assumes me for what I am not. 

Boldly wearing only my thoughts, I lie naked, 
for being naked is the only purest way of being myself. 
And thoughts are my only embellishments.

Pick Yourself Up & Move On

A splinter pricked into her, between the finger nail and the tenders of its tip,
A jerk of pain stirred inside her.

At the age of her puberty, something churned inside her,
Pulling her back to the floor, as if she deserved it.

Her heart shattered into a thousand pieces, after the first summer love,
Tears clouded her otherwise limpid eyes.

Her fourth job in the last three years, finally burst the confidence bubble she lived in,
And her head fell down a little more.

And then, one day after several years, a splinter pricked her hand 
A blood drop created a blot on her fair skin.

She plucked the piece off her hand, shoved it aside, wiped the blood away and moved on. 

Feelings

Every second I waste, I lose a new adventure
Every time I frown, I miss a chance to smile
Every wound that escapes, I lose a lesson
Every tear I hold back, I put an extra pound on my heart
And every word I add here, suffices not for my feelings
Because feelings are better when expressed, best when understood and
Amazing and stupendous when simply left to be felt!!

The Emotionless Me

That day my mother shed a tear, I cast a simple glance
With emotionless eyes.

The win that everyone coveted came running to me, I,
I barely rejoiced.

My tree died a patient death and all
I did was letting it fall.

My goals are slowly merging with the horizon,
Happiness is just air, swaying away with time.

'Please' and 'Thank You' have escaped my vocabulary,
Language wailed, silence prevailed. 

Passion and compassion have taken the back seat.
Fire and desire damped down to feet.

The warmth of the mornings doesn't tingle any more,
Nights of the passions don't exist any longer.

That day when my mother shed a tear and I cast a simple glance
With emotionless eyes, I realized 

Indifference is a curse. To not feel is not a gift.
Thus, life succumbed to the wild fires of adulthood.

The Rain That Came For Me

As if I answered its prayers, the rain came jolting down, 
the moment I raised my hands to feel the breezy wind and reach for the misty sky.

My presence has quenched its thirst, it has been longing for,
With a clear gesture from me. 

Just like the bunch of pups after a long, forlorn wandering trip, 
run to their mother, it has reached me.

It reached with its best efforts to gently stroke my arms. No, it was not the power of gravity,
Or a principle of physics, it is the part that love and longing plays. 

It came down like it belonged here, to the Earth, to me. 

Like crying out the emotions that have clouded in its heart, 
it roared in its own language, my name. 

Putting to an end to its haywire dreams, I did raise my hands. 

That smile on my face, that unbinding happiness in my heart, 
I guess, was not sufficient for it. 

And all of a sudden, it roared one last time and withdrew itself. The sky once again fell silent. 

For, it did not understand that, "What you seek is seeking you."