An angel in disguise
Is no better
Than a devil in disguise
They are fettered

I need a friend on the midnight radio
Who hears me cry
Giving me himself in low hushes
Making love to me in breathless talk

An angel in disguise
Is no better
Than a devil in disguise
They both pretend to love you

Whimsical ballerina
Has me on her noose
It's a dreamy day for dancing
After all, I don't listen to dead music

Or the same tunes
That my disguised angel
Flies to and stalls her flight too
On a sparkling oceans and sand dunes

My mom has seen
Me eat ice cream
That's why she knows
I have a sore throat
And confidence issues

I care about the future
All barricaded by levees
When the river breaks them down
Soon I will reflect on my mistakes

I see a moon on the horizon
The tide is up
The stars and storms want freedom
Just like I do

I see the top of trees
The skies are cloudy
The leaves are turning hectic red
Just like the rivers in my head

I said I care about the future
But, who really stops?
Worrying.

If you think you have
Hurt someone
Remember, people
Never realize the difference
Those who do
Are the ones who have been heartbroken

Life without music
Is just love without
The words
Or the other way around

You are my friend
Maybe

Would you push me away?
If I wanted to be friends with you
Or would you pull me in too close?
With your pop music
Your favourite vinyl records
Now all lay broken
I still wanna be your best friend
Witless pet shop toys lay strewn about
The Pet Shop Boys are dead now
Now your world is burning
I still wanna catch you in those flames
Would you push me away?
If I wanted to be friends with you
Or would you pull me in too close?

I wonder
If I can get lost
In poetry
Then, I find myself
Everyday
A little more clearer
Than the last day
Like a lost poem

I will not hurt you
If you break down
Like the dawn
If tears like morning hue
Cover the skies in blue
If what was once skin turns violet
I will not hurt you
Let your colours fill your eyes
If you are crying out loud
Let me see your soul
Is it bleached like clouds?
Or deep like a valley
My heart is shallow
Like a pond
You swim like a fish
I will not hurt you
My love cannot save you
Or destroy you
The water just wanders

If you are traveling
Along the spraying waters
On the shore
You will remember the heavy rain
Fall on the ground
As the city blossoms with life
The rain freezes over
As summer ends
When winter springs out
Like a deer near a stream
Looking for Siberia
Escaping the wild tigers and foxes
Among the streets of wolves
Found and lost just as easily
When the cold ice lasts years
The bears never wake up from a slumber
Thus, dust to dust
Ashes fall down like snow
You cannot stop this blizzard from bringing bitter cold
Someday, looking for Siberia
The heart finds warmth
And makes it out of this desert
Into your arms offering wine and soup
My mind reminisces those distant cities and silent shores
Soon I will reflect on these little things
When I escape, looking for a soul in Siberia

The day was cold
As hell
It was 9 o' clock
I think
You were in your sweater
I was loaded with 3 layers
When we hugged, my insides became cold
Because I knew you got
Your love
And warmth
From someone else

My heart cannot express
What is on my mind
So it just stays silent
When it skips a heartbeat
In your beauty

Once, I loved you
Now I hear you
In my heart
Like a distant cry in a dark rainforest
I guess it is still raining tears
Because the cries have gone silent
Ever since you went away
Seems different now

My mind echos
Our songs we played
Each time you fade away
The song comes to me
Like echos from another day

Love is great
Love is expensive
Because it isn't easy
To maintain
Like great treasure under blue depths of oceans

You were once mine
Now I am moving on

If I had time
I would take you away
Where the laughs of children
In play, fill the day
How can I have time?
If my mind tells me
I love you and want those children
To be ours
So, don't be sad
You're the best thing I've ever had

If you loved me
You wouldn't stay silent
If you loved me
You would accept me as I am
If you loved me
You would have told me
Even if I didn't love myself
Because I needed to hear it
From someone lost like I am

As we look at stars
Where blue and yellow flicker
I find something there
Which makes me reach out
Into infinity
Feeling returns to my fingertips
My heart caves in
As our arms touch
My eyes explore more mysterious ways
Pupils dilating in excited breaths
As I make contact with space
In this universe so lost
Finally belonging again

Some learn from life
Others learn from their own mistakes

If you think life is a *****
Remember
Love is a dog from hell
If you think suicide is the answer
Remember
Life isn't in question
If you fear life's little failures
Remember
Fear is no success at all

If you write
And your heart tells
You
"No."
Then, your mind will scream
Some words that will take years
To be heard
If you feel immature
Like a monkey in an institution
Then, poetry isn't for you
If you stare at the paper
Begging for words
Looking at the whiteness stare into your soul
Making a hole in the heart
Then, it isn't worth it
People hate the truth
And poetry is the truth
If you don't have the courage to speak
Write about a suicide victim
Or peace in the war
Then, you cannot be poetic
Only love is poetic
Remember my words
Even the truth is poetic
But, if you write to get women
You are just wasting your time
Because true love needs a lot of *******
I remember when I could smell Autumn
Now that fragrance has gone away
With a woman I once loved
If you feel like me
Then write a sad poem and let your soul cry
Because no one else will

As heaven's angels glow with the grace of few
And our Earth basks in delight of such beauty
None would be kinder or lovelier than you
And if celestial bodies wandered free
As it would be no easy task to mourn or woe
Take respite from the desert of endless time
Be with me through beautiful cosmic shores
If you watch for the stars, I will temper tides
I will be in your sweet thoughts, soundless
As the heavens shine in otherworldly splendor
And holding us in its unseen presence
Possessed by your sadness and others'
If the stars were not so far from lovers
I would brighten in your lovely laughter

I knew nights like this
Did not come around often
It all started with a phone call
Telling me, I'm home alone
Only you deserve me
All of this uttered from some soul
I glorified long ago

Cold December night, I think
If I look closely, the streets of Delhi
Were streaming with clouds of foggy
Moonlight that curled into an endless steam of tea and romance
The kind of fog that covers the top of warm lips
Embraces the eggs lying cold desolate on a bachelor's tray
As I drifted out of my home on an empty stomach
My mind in a rumble over the row with my Dad
I couldn't recall where I had seen those lights
That had turned yellow now
That day, I bought a cigarette in haste
I remember because I got it on a loan
The vendor says,"It's alright. You smoke all the time."
I could hear the humdrum of my heart yell to an unrecognizable roar
Not a dull one, straight from the lion's den
Maybe, I might die soon enough before I pay him for the endless cocked lighters and cursory cancer sticks
I rushed into the Ola cab, bought some chewing gum
Condoms for the bedroom
A matchbox for the road
Her kiss was in my list
The cab driver says,"45 mins, boss."
"Can't you go any faster?"
"Well, the traffic is what you see, what you get."
Man, gaining my manhood would take a lot more than fights and nerves of steel
It would need *****
So, I let out a projectile of my lunch out of the car
It may have been those ******* eggs for breakfast too
Or the ceaseless music love run carefree

Anyway
So, I reach the door
There she is
Bright as a pale morning
Welcoming as a hug in summer
We made love with some haste at first
Until, the kissing started and we ripped our clothes
To reveal what was inside
Seemingly patient
Waiting for this day to begin
Ending sooner than a tornado on an ocean
Surmised by a whirling rain of Monsoons
Misty as the howling wind on Tuesdays when the car goes for a spin
Unshared and undiscovered by two souls
Who coveted and coveted
Only trying to sift through the essence of youth
All I discovered was, the old man I left back at home
The mother I left weeping
Never expected me to do things so recklessly
As I lost her in the end
Unwilling perhaps, the trains kept coming
And I could not stop myself from
Setting foot on the last one at midnight
All of them strangers

It's cloud's shapes
I am looking at
But, I cannot find you at all
Around where the path curves
Right along a garden
How sad love is
Yet, so out of reach
In this world
Of swirling daisies
And friendly flowers
Why is a rose so red
Why is the sky so white

The difference
Between you and me
I still love you
Even if you don't
Love yourself

If recluse was right for my love and trust
Better friendship, would lack no such tryst for us
Your footsteps pass my love's long day, often
Haunting the sin in me to ablution
Hallways and havens of lust we waste
Straddling the columns known by the wholly chaste
Of the college and courtyard, today
With the libraries sleeping away
On the venomous and jealous day

Writers and students
Sitting in bunches,
Like roses gathered
The thorns touched in bloom
Distant from the doom
Dust to dust
Between us
No more tomorrow, halcyon or sorrow
Ashes to ashes
Such prejudice shall never pass today

Today, today
It lurks in the hardships damaged now
Of working class martyrs dying for freedom
Today, today
And countless clusters of sweat and tempers
Each holding their spectacle for a lousy cigarette
Today
The pipes will turn cold
The streets will be filled
Everyone will be wearing the same skin
But, so loved for wearing it

That is how I feel for you, amidst the dissent,
I got sick waiting for the day.

The streets
Are full
I am lonely

A fly
In my closet
Cannot bee

There is a
Bead
On a dewy bud

The birds
Are singing
Maybe

The rivers look
Alive
Rainy day

You exist in my mind
You live in my heart
You hold a place in my lines
Which try to bridge mind, body and soul
Without you in my life
This poem is an incomplete metaphor
For love

It is when
We do not understand something
We cease to question it
Thus, turning to assumption
A child, although
In doubt
Will seek an answer
Sometimes such answers
Quieten the madness of our heart
Which is still a child finding its own genius
Sleeping in the chaos

Because the naked sun showers on the closed window
I have reached the end
Or lived to tell the tale of death
I wish I was dead, I am losing breath though

We, the people, bear a violent urge
To protest in our sleep
Our planet lives off the work of men
God needs to hear us all speak, I imagine him as a teen with headphones

The Earth can soak me up
To dry and cleanse it
We have to wrench the fabric of time, after all
The blood shed will haunt us, not as memorable as dogs in tutus

If a single life is wasted
Don't waste a breath on a new leaf or money on trees
So, how will our planet ever live?
I hope we have slavery next, that should last us a few more centuries

Never bare your soul
You are always part of the picture?
Black lives matter?
Honestly, who hasn't heard it before, except millions who should stop

In the garden
Charcoal paintings lie where I sleep
Burning coal curls my feet

In a deep sleep
I cannot feel heat or cold
Black or white
Maybe, time to color the world
Again. With red

Cases of wine
Oak and limestone
She has got it bad
The limelight

On her face, potent
Ill enough, sad enough for a fad
The prudent student is a sight
Hanging from the Giants box

Here at the dude ranch
Where watchers sleep
Waist to waist
Waiting for the next train from subway to subway

This place is like gossip columns
Gosselies, my town on a medicated night
For ******* dog like me
From Mariah, the maiden far east calling at three

In the morning
In the morning!

An actor
Plays a role
A director
Hangs himself
The stage set
Black and white
White and black
Back to back
A cinematographer
Screams suddenly
His camera, corpse
Movies make the poll
Life leaves easily
As difficult death is
Lifelessness takes a toll
Red, yellow, ruby; leaflets often dry, dusty face down
Posters are no longer possessed
The end

The fire of yesterday
Has hushed all the hellos
Often that escape ears
Yet, the goodbyes of yesteryears
Stay as close to me with your fears
Close to my heart where there are tears
The fire of yesterday burns bright
Like a lamp on the Ganges
Flicker, flicker on the river
Where I wash my sins
And bathe myself with dignity
I know hellos now sound distant
As a memory of a clean river
Goodbye is too permanent
So I say, farewell
As ashes take away my age and existence
Without false agenda or purpose
Like God paints the cleansed sky
Without malice or prejudice
Dabbling in colors
That is how the world ends
Or my world

It is the healed scars
That shine through a sad heart
Time heals all who dream for a better life
If only the sadness evaporates
Then the scars forgotten bring back what we lost
Shining brighter

If I put my feet in your shoes
I will keep talking to you
You shall follow me
If you have a bit of love
Then, we can see it through

A memory of us
In an envelope for when my heart is broken
Smiling ponderously and drinking my gin
What do you take your ice in
Be prepared, here is where we meet

A bunch of flowers with thorn'd ends
With a hint of sarcasm, the barmaids hold you
We welcome you to the new day
Fractured and insecure
We will be
Count to three, when we as one
Shall be released

The new day approaches
When the falcon hears the falconer's call
The sparks fly awry
While the lightning claps under clouded sky
I said if we count to three
We will be released
Do you trust the revolutionary?

In the black and bold night
A few moons, wrinkled and old with grey
The stars look down
I'm in a stranger's skin
Out of this whole world

My soul knows who I was
It looks for a glimpse inside
Dad says,"I have committed a sin."
He cries in disbelief and guilt
My heart only hears what I fear

It can simply wilt without feeling
On some days, it finds a numb feeling
Like a moth drawn to a candle
Blindly drawn to a candle
Now, I want to be free

Not from your flame
I am a part of your ocean of tears
A desert of endless courage
Free from fear
Free from the blind leading the blind

Since, you've been gone
The lotus flowers have flown
The rivers are ceaselessly flowing
But, the trees have no roots and cannot rustle in harmony
Mama, the land was ours

Since, I left our God-given farmland
The skies have turned grey
The heavens are heavy with rain
Both of us knew laughter
We only see a faint memory of it, today

Mama, the land was once ours
Will the rivers keep flowing in ravines
If you and I
Leave the withering wheat fields
To be washed away by the rain and broken streams
That hunger and dry sand has left behind

It takes more than money and friendship to tame our beloved country

COVID 19
2 months it has been
All of my favourite places are closed
I cannot meet my favourite people
I cannot go to my favourite countries and destinations, even though, I don't travel I still will complain

COVID 19
I cannot meet my psychiatrist and my favourite oncologist
Although, my psychiatrist is my oncologist, because I keep saying that 'This post causes cancer.'
I miss my friends and yet feel more connected through Tinder
The malls are open, but, I complain that the shops are closed to the common man without the smartphone and a wallet to buy luxury and mammon

COVID 19
How you have opened my eyes
I have learned to support the government and talk behind their back when some of my friends bang their plates and others stay silent in vehement protest

COVID 19
You must know the meaning of farce because you have the PM chasing after super spreaders and Anti-CAA protesters just the same

COVID 19
Without you, my favourite things will never be the same again.

Someone who
Is broken
Will never ask for help
Because they never know
What being put together is

In our time of weakness
We are who we are
Simply sleeping
Despite our betters telling us
To be stronger than the rest
Spending all of our love on weeping in the evening

We cannot take away the sadness
By sharing and passing the hours
Despite our friends trusting us
To be stronger in our moments of unrest
Simply sleeping
Take a pillow, now rest under the pale moonlight

We are both
Part of the same equation
Except you are the variable
And I am the constant
The constant sadness

When the sun brings the light after dawn
Your hair billows in the yellow sunshine and pale clouds
The stars light up a yawning night hid by the moon
If your smile were not lovely, I would be led aswoon
You are the only light I see in my dreams
That arises like dulcet tones of a lark to day
And sets like the blue tide on the bay