Expectations are the baggage we carry
Getting cumbersome, with each passing day
We always get the unexpected from it
Our back seems to be crumbling under the burden
Weaving a web of expectations, and getting entangled
Unable to ameliorate the obfuscated mind
Reciprocating, with the intention of fulfilling expectations
Our steps become heavily laden, unable to walk
Even though a life beckons without the paraphernalia
We have already walked away from it, with our expectations**




© Amitav (Radiance)

How many faces you wish?
For you are not true to your own
Can you bear the burden of many?
Posing as everyone, but you
Even the mirror will be flummoxed
Ashamed to show the real you
Maybe a face forgotten long ago
Waging a war against yourself
An army of many faces adopted
Will bring you to the gallows
That will be the end to your identity
When you will be unmasked

I was brought into this house
Ordered from the local furniture shop
Made to order according to specifications
I am a wingback,
Upholstered in full-grain leather  
True to my rich heritage
I was placed in the library
Amongst the illustrious works of famous writers
Half- a - century have passed, providing support
To the backbone of the family
Although tired, he finds solace in my cozy embrace
I give him my wings to fly into the world of literature
Cervantes, Bunyan, Bacon, Goehte, Dostoevsky, Chekov, Tolstoy
Some of the names from the illustrious collection
Not all were privileged to have a seat here
He was transported to each era, savoring the rich legacy
Of literature down the centuries
I was privy to the mind-boggling debates
Which he conducted with himself
Trying to reason each work of literature
A mere wingback rose to be a companion
Providing sturdy support on the mahogany legs
One fine day the reading session ended in deep slumber
Five decades of bonding and companionship came to an end
Now, I stand here, forlorn, at the corner of the library
Reminiscing the reading sessions, and siesta
The wingback does not have the wings to fly away from this bond




© Amitav (Radiance)

Started walking along the path
Where life was leading me
Towards a destination chosen
Not chosen by me
But was willingly following
To a predefined destination
Then I came along a bench
Weary I was travelling
The bench gave me respite
From the grueling march
I inspected the torn soles
As the pebbles were hurting my feet
Bleeding profusely
I thanked the bench
Where I could now rest for the night
Lying on my back
I connected the dots on the night canopy
Slumber took over
Dreams of a new road, I could see
Sleeping off the weariness
I woke up to a new day
The bench which taught me to wait
Another destination chosen by me
Clouds have cleared away
I knew the path to walk along
I was a traveler with purpose
My destination, waiting for me

The distant source of light
Brings out the shadow of you-
A Reflection of you
Following you everywhere
A replica of your inner self
Brought out by the light
Which embodies the soul

At the quiet corner of the beach
Quaint waves come rushing
To embrace the shores
With desire deep within
Even the jagged rocks seem to melt
Such is the intensity
Love can persist forever
And deluge the toughest
Life is so rich
When love resides within

Seek freedom from the anxious mind
For, you have the freedom to choose
Break the shackles of intimidation
Claim your freedom for the sleeping madness
Wake up to a world of freedom, for it’s yours
Freedom for the prejudices and the dogmas
Claim your freedom for the untrusting world
Freedom beckons you from the deepest caverns
Thwart the advances of violence, and seize freedom
Do not pay heed to the abusive words
As your freedom to speak up is jeopardized
The weakest of hearts and minds, resort to violence
And their abode inside is wrecked by loss of freedom
You freedom will come when you walk out
Opening the gates of your heart to freedom
The weak personalities seeks to strangle freedom
To dominate the beautiful souls, as they feel threatened
Assert your freedom; this is becoming a puppet’s world
Always made to act when the strings are pulled
There is a world full of love and freedom waiting for you
You just have to cross the threshold of the murky world
Only you can win your freedom, if you choose to
Seek freedom, and slam the door on the world of captivity





© Amitav (Radiance)

Dreams are yours
Color them as you like
Vibrant hues of the world
Are on your palette
Paint a rainbow
Or, rainbows over rainbows
Look up at the sky
Lots of colors
And explore what lies beyond
Over the rainbows
And head held high

We are all painters
Holding a color palette
Conceiving a painting
It’s how we mix the colors
Depending on our imagination
Whether we paint happiness
Or scenes of saddened gray
Situations yield the paintings
Sometimes splashing all colors
Or else black colors gloom
Universe has mostly dark energy
Yet, we have found our colors
To paint our abode, we inhabit
No matter, colors of joy and sorrow
We celebrate all colors
We are all painters, wielding the brush
To create new colors of hope

Glistening with beads of passion
The curves accentuated with every touch
Every drop of love quenching the thirst
Enraptured souls breathing life in to each other
Creating a surge of emotional waves
Drowning the lovers in the intensity
Emerging from the depths, to alpine moments
Euphoric bodies merge, to be one*






© Amitav (Radiance)

All that we know maybe distorted
Or a methodical manipulation
Where truth is obfuscated by few
Which spreads like an epidemic
Words used with vested interest
For us to play a role given to us
Memorizing the scripts, to deliver
Speeches with someone else’s ideas
Thoughts and feelings engineered
To suit the machinations of few
With sinister ideas to play with the mind
A conscious and intelligent manipulation
Bereft of the tools of our own judgment
Our perception is not even ours
For the mind has been violated
With the scheming and methodical manipulations

All the beauty around
Surrounded by the destructive minds
Beauty weeps alone

The mind toiled with vengeful thoughts
Seeds of arrogance were planted in furrows
From where regressive thoughts grew
Watered by the seething flow of rage
Draining the soul of all the positive juices
Now left with a parched soul, full of cracks

Mind cannot reason the reason of the heart

Creativity is like fleeting moments of brilliance, which albeit, occurs regularly

While sitting under a tree
I could touch the roots above
Wondering, how deep they traveled
Each one holds ground
Creating a network
With the synergy
Communications takes place, there
And passes through the trunk
Right up to the branches
When leaves whisper among them
Trying to communicate with wind
To pass on the messages
Those are rooted deep
What may be going on there
We will not know
Roots that explore beyond
Century of stories buried
This tree stands testimony
To the events
The tree stands tall
Weathering many adversities
With roots to bear all
Which have traveled deep
Enveloped by rich soil

When the mind is in conflict
Nothing pleases the heart
Every resonance creates disharmony
Echoed from the sharpest edges
The conflict is amplified in the soul
Not aligned with the universe
Conflict of the mind takes over

Nature has engulfed the Earth with Love
The roots firmly entrenched on terra firma
Sometimes nature’s fury uproots it all
Bringing with it, devastation galore
Yet, nature heals over time, lush green with life
Kissed with Life, by the eternal rays of the Sun
Water nurtures with the juice of Love
Breathing Life onto this planet
For Nature is Life, and we keep on strangling it
As Nature’s comeuppance may uproot us all
Our fate firmly bound to Nature; do we have a choice at all?*




© Amitav (Radiance)

Misguided fire of passion
Burns one’s own abode
Even the tears of remorse
Can’t douse the raging inferno

There is solace in being alone
Memories etched in the heart
Loneliness cannot breach
Memoirs scripted by them
Every word infused with love

When minds start warring
Reason loses its way
Chaos prevails*






© Amitav (Radiance)

Dripping honey
Attracted to the honeycomb
Beware! Bee stings…

The morning sun rays bathing the soul
Waking it up from the dreaming consciousness
Eyes soaking in the awakened beauty
Taking off the cover of night, to reveal a new day
Sun rays swathing over the valley
A watercolor painting over the Earth’s canvas
Vivid colors are splashed to create a spectacle to behold
A wave of warm embrace caresses us
As we get ready to rise up to the occasion
To usher a new day and new dreams in our heart




© Amitav (Radiance)

Obscure sounds
Reverberates
Flowing through
The silence
It’s an Enigma
Waking the
Sub-conscious
Beautiful sounds
Voices ethereal
Time seems to
Flow by you
You feel submerged
In the waves
Of each note

Destruction leaves a pile of garbage
Heinous deeds which rakes up a stink

There’s serenity here
Words have no meaning
Everyone’s speechless
Surprised with the calmness
Clarity of inner calling
Voices never heard before
All the time there
Yet, oblivious, all this while
Narrating the inner story
From the core
What we are capable of
Living half the life
Now, the other half comes forth

The lies were silent
And the unassuming heart unaware
Accepting them as truth
That did not believe the truth anymore

Rains lashing down
The thunderous clouds
Applauding every drop
The clouds have opened up
Their hearts to bring hope
To the parched souls on Earth
The seeds have been lying dormant
It’s time for them to germinate
Covering our garden with greenery
For it will find roots in the soul
Deeply entrenched with belief
That every shower does not wreak havoc
It also ushers new life and hope*













© Amitav (Radiance)

Sometimes one has to face the Chimera
Attacked from all sides with lethal intensity
Fighting an imaginary demon, a solitary war
Either, one will emerge a winner, or demonized
Tame the Chimera, before it annihilates

The art of being humorously disagreeable*~ Amitav