Twenty Twenty
What a year
It‘s been
A Pandemic
Lockdown
All in between
We took on the news
A lot was said
Digested it
Analysed it
The papers we read
It was like nothing
We’d ever lived through before
It’s intangible force
We just couldn’t ignore
It crept up upon us
Like a thief in the night
Days on repeat
No end in sight
From loved ones
To livelihoods
Completey wiped out
Broken-hearted
Desolate
Filled with so much doubt
Tier one
Two
Three and four
Some followed the rules
Others chose to ignore
We needed some answers
A glimmer of hope
Too much to comprehend
On this never ending *****
Then came good news
A vaccine was near
Would this solve our problems?
No more living in fear?
With 2021 looming
As we ring in the New Year
What have we learnt?
What’s important?
What’s dear?
Maybe Mother Nature
Wasn’t being heard
A deeper message for us all
That wasn’t being shared  
Finger on the button
Press rewind
Say hello to your neighbour
Practice being kind
Time to reflect
From this year to the next
How will you change you ways?
What will you do next?
Sometimes the hardest questions
Are the easiest to escape
But a conscious decision
Determines the action we take
A little gratitude perhaps?
Pay it forward?
Lend some help?
Practice daily affirmations ?
Look after your mental health?
I know one thing that’s true
For me I’m sure
I found my purpose
My reason
My cure!

I cross the ocean for you
only for my ship to sink
not by fire or cannon
but by the simple toll of waiting

decay

I feel the water squeezing my chest
replacing my air with your water
pushing into my system
that was never mine

जानेमन हुस्न बहार तब होगा
जब आपकी महफ़िल मैं हम होंगे
फ़रमायींशे तो आएगी ज़रूर लोगों से
पर वो सारे अल्फ़ाज़ मेरे लिए होंगे

आज भी हुबहू याद हैं वो पल,
जब पहली बार एक दूसरे से वादा किया था,कि मिलेंगे ज़रूर कल;
कितने हसीन थे वो दिन,
आज वो ही यादें बन के सिमट गए,तुम्हारे बिन।
नजाने कितने किये थे वादे,सब निभा भी नहीं पाये,
अब शायद चलेंगे वो भी हमारे साथ कफ़न में,
उनको भी धकेल दिया उस हसीन यादों के सफ़र में ।
जब-जब भी रहें साथ,रंगीन बनाया हर एक लम्हा
उन लम्हों को देख बेरंग हो जाया करता था ये सारा सम्हा ।
अब वजूद नहीं रहा उन लम्हों का,
वो लम्हें भी हिस्सा हैं उन्हीं यादों के समूह का।
नहीं सताते अब वो पल जो साथ बिताए थे,
बल्कि गम हैं उन वादों का जो अधूरे छोर आये थे,
क्योंकि वो सारे वादे भी उन्हीं हसीन यादों नें ही करवायें थे।
-Yash Vardhan
(गुमनाम गालिब)