I know some deep pain saddens you now
It has been nesting in your heart for long
Breeding in the silence of your soul
It leaves your body n' mind awfully sick

It intensifies with every deepening night
Leaving the wound in your heart severely bleeding
Something that you haven’t fully divulged
Robbing you off all your cheer and ebullience,

I can feel the smoldering of your heart
How I wish I could fan away those aches
Wipe off all the pain from your body n' mind
Or at least share a bit of it, dear sweet Kim!

Even when you wear a mask impenetrable
Or sublimate your feelings through lovely verse
I can gauge the depth of despair you feel inside
And sense the rising palpitations of your heart.

When your eyes strain to read what is on the screen
You feel, you are deprived of the only pleasure you have
Though you hoped things would improve in course of time
When your eyesight got badly impaired, you sank in despair

Even when distanced, please know I am near
Somewhere so close, as an unseen presence
Staying by your side, to wipe your tears away
Praying for you ever and wishing you all good

You were the darling of this great poetry site
Your presence is sorely missed by all
We wish you to be back with your balmy words
Eager to read your lovely verse, proclaiming love

Life is strange with sudden twists and turns
But never ever give up, nor lose hope
Believe, at any time there can be a turn around
After the bleary night, comes the bright morn

Again the sun shall show up in the East
Darkness will recede and light shall descend
The meadows with dew drops shall shine
 And the woods with the song of birds will ring

Look up to God in issues you cannot handle
Call Him again to your aid when you battle with life
He cannot but yield to the voice of your calling
And instantly heal your heart, now deeply bleeding

Through the country paths, I lazily loitered,
watching Nature in its changing hue
straying farther into the interiors,
sundry and sublime vistas came into view.

in response to zephyr’s warm embrace,
the silvery leaves joyously fluttered.
the bees busied themselves collecting pollen
and birds on tree tops merrily chattered

it was the *** end of verdant spring.
summer’s sun stood behind my head.
bleat of sheep was heard from far.
‘Good day to you’….. Someone said.

There stood on the hill, a boy around fifteen
obviously he was of tribal breed.
with a beaming smile, he greeted me
but on walking to him, he ran like a steed

I saw him disappear behind the trees
and enter into a hut tiny as a nest
he lived in the lap of Mother Nature,
far from the city and its sooty dust

being coaxed, he hesitantly came out.
my tone of assurance and pleasing smile,
seemed to have won his confidence
as to a friend, he shared his eventful tale.

pointing to the sheep grazing in the *****,
he said, he earned a living caring the flock.
he stayed in the woods all day long,
feeding and tending his master’s sheep.

from dawn to dusk, through woods and meads,
he leads his sheep, calling them by their name.
un vexed, with simple pleasures he is content
and with a nomad’s life, he seems to be tame

he said, at home he has his invalid mother.
bringing her back to health is his mission in life
on referring to his mother, I watched his eyes glitter
nothing other than her illness posed to him a strife

from every utterance, I could sense his filial love.
even in abundance, while shadows line many faces,
on his visage, hope lingered as a dancing flame
to me he seemed above many, rich in other graces!

While parting, I handed him a little money
pausing unbelievably, with moist eyes
he accepted it, when a breeze passed caressing us
as if over a kind gesture, Nature seemed to rejoice!

After years of aimless wanderings
Leaving behind the cities of midnight revels
And the fevered journey in metro rails,
I am back at the land of my people.

Wherever I went,
Under which ever roof I slept,
I had carried my land,
As a jewel in a casket
And ensured it rested safe
Ever under my pillow

As I moved with aliens
Unable to merge with their cultural mores,
I saw my land glimmer in darkness
Like a dew drop on a moon blanched leaf

When I sweated in the blistering sands
A patch of green landscape, like an oasis
Wafted me in a cool embrace
Then dreams poured in like star light
And I wandered in the meadows of my youthful love
My heart struggling to forget old longings
And memories lashing upon me like tidal waves

Pursued by that inalienable shadow
Suddenly being born in flesh and blood
I hastened to the streets of my youth
With hopes galore and plans vivid

But alas! There is none to recognize me
Oh! I am a stranger here
An unwelcome stranger among total strangers
Now I wonder which is truly my land?
The one left behind or the one just landed in?

Oscillating between these two worlds,
My fractured identity looms large
With worms of memories wriggling in my flesh
And a myth suddenly dying in my brain

Resting the mind is not easy
it dances like a sparrow
and speaks like a babbler
seeking the minutest grain
from the jungle of weeds
tweeting what it has to say
from one perch to the other
in all weather.

Then the aching wings falling slow
by the cold north wind
find no worth in the haste
seek a rest
perching upon some heart.

When unbroken silence is all it has
the mind rests easy in peace.