Eerie silence
Desolate streets
Hounding distances
All seem to creep.

Magnified by solitude
Ineptness of humans marred
Lives forever scarred
Joie de vivre seemingly barred.

No fires
No screams
No gun battle
Or damaged seams
Just the unseen enemy silently gleams.

Is this the end?
Alone with no one to mourn
With fear and anger
Raging inside
But a look of uneasy calm on the
OUTSIDE.

This human spirit is nothing but ceaseless wonder
Encompassing in it all that it passes through
Never does it even once flounder
No doubt I always do wonder!

Reticent when it has to be
Adaptable as the situation seems
Unwavering to the call of duty
Full of admiration to nature’s beauty.

Malleable to human struggles
Fortified by ones foibles
Bolstered by inner confidence
Tepid to inconsideration.

Even as life goes through its swings
It slides and swings back to its bearings
Ah! What would this place be?
Without the wonder of this ceaseless spirit inside me!

I am the architect of my dreams
It is not all that difficult
As it seems.

It is up to me to multiply my joys
And leave behind my sorrows
As I build the castle of my life
Fortifying it with my strife.

I pave my path with concrete goals
Cementing it hard with what inspires
Moulding my actions
Even though I need to perspire.

My struggles gain a foothold
As I climb up the ladder
Through the tinted glass of vision
Can one see my aspiration.

All around can I see
The success of what I had perceived.
It was not always the same
But then such is the life’s game.

So believe me you are the architect of your dreams
You and only you can do what you wish to mean.

When the doors open
I shall rush out
Soak in the beauty all around
And have all the little pleasures till now out of bound.

I shall revel in the company of all
With whom I was distanced through these times
I no longer will take for granted
That tomorrow will I show them that they are equally wanted.

I shall enjoy the spirits so spry
That made times good and instantaneously fly.
Little things will have a big role in my life
That will help me move through any strife.

The day the door opens
I shall fly out
And never for a moment think
That my life could ever  have been on the brink.

A glimmer of hope seeps through
With each ray of sun that breaks in
Today is yet another day
Where I shall sit and mull once again.

Let me hold on to these rays
For I do not wish the days to pass
The nights seems unceasingly long
I lie awake to catch the golden hues
As it dispels the darkened wait.

Lifting my darkened spirits
Dampened soul
Hidden fears
And crouching persona.

I hold on to the rays of the sun
They help me tide over the night so glum.

Really, excuse me, will staying indoors stop me
It might keep me inside
But my will to learn would never really subside.

But of course, you tell me social distancing
Is the norm now a days.
It might keep me away from my dear ones
But really! Excuse me for telling, we are bonded through our heart.

Don’t touch and be near the crowds
Definitely has a sign of foreboding to it.
But once again if you can excuse me
I am touched by the acts of generosity, kindness and humanity
Those acts crowd and cloud my vision
And prevent me from thinking just about myself.

Pardon and excuse me for this thinking
That this enfant terrible of a virus
Has brought us all together.
What could not be achieved by sermons and pleadings
Has been done by this dreaded unseen microscopic entity.

Misty hues surround us
As the sound of silence envelopes us.

Tear-dried faces greet us
Bodies soaked in sorrow and pain meet us.

Relinquished human spirit opens the door
Unburdened souls walk in on that floor.

Indefatigable were we
Surrendered now we lie.

All covered in the mist
Of the uncertain tryst.

There goes the hearse of my dreams
Of joys unexplored
Sorrows untold
Friendships left in the cold
As now yet again I set in life’s fold.

It takes from me the days I took for granted
The people whose company I wanted
The relations that mattered
And all of my feelings now lie shattered.

Numb with disbelief
Lies humanity.
At one stroke
The tide turned
Turning everything into a pall of gloom
Wonder till whence shall It loom?

Stop to think
And listen
To the sounds of the bees and the birds.
For now have the wheels of motion shut.

Stop to ponder
And deliberate
Was I the one in the race too?
That has led to this state of quietened low.

Stop to reflect
And then voice:
Such was the wrath of my actions
That led to the disquiet
For I am the one, who
In my frenzied pace forgot
That
I had to work for me and not against me.

Stop and stop at once…

As the rays of the sun peeped in
The hope seeped through
Gone was the frenzied schedule
Of racing against time
Because
Time stood still.

All ready and nowhere to go
Time gave us the opportunity to find
Pleasures which in daily quest, one had to forgo.

Heard was the sweet voice with deliberation
For there was no need to hasten
Out came requests and commands became restrained
For there were just the handful in the house, the ones who listened.

Exploratory delights became part of the routine
Cleaning of minds, thoughts and of course nooks and crevices
Was how we passed our time.

Spending time with loved ones
Making memories and recollecting bygones
Wishing for future
With wistfulness and pragmatism
Marked the days’ vision.
For each waited for a new morning
Praying for things to be changed
And somehow to let these moments spent together
To remain UNCHANGED.