What genre of music do you like?

Mind:
What to declare
My love for soulful old melodies
Or pragmatic modern beats?
For there is no room for error here

Heart:
I am but a simpleton
As far as I am concerned
There exists just two genres -
The one I love and the one I don't.

The sky exploded red that evening
as the sun descended on the valley
and in the silhouette
I remember
the oil lamp lit up by her door

With cold winds and tired legs
I made it up the stony trail
and through the fatigue
I remember
her little hut puffing chimney smoke


A simple meal to fill me,
a fire to remedy the frost
and in the light of the flame
I remember
her eyes adorned with a desolate shine

Night fell soon after
stars danced in the naked sky
and as the moonlight kissed the peaks
I remember
her warm hands subtly grasping mine


On the morrow
we said our farewells
but as I started my descent
I remember
a sudden pang of insoluble woe

and I rushed back
the path of green and stone
with all the nerve I could muster
I remember
leaving a letter in a makeshift envelope


As often as I was entitled
I found myself back in the lone hamlet
as if to keep an unspoken vow, every time
I remember
her eyes of sadness, her smile of greeting

until the day we broke tradition
for there was no familiar face
where the trail ended
I remember
the cruel north wind cutting me open


A decade since,
of prayers to false gods in prodigal shrines
and with eyes shut
I remember
her hair billowing before the winter snow

In the monotony of city lights,
of skyscrapers and street neons
rising cigarette smoke up in the sky
I remember
the dance of the stars, the warmth of her hold


--

Every time
I dare go up the hill since
and gaze at the empty summit,
These memories seem to keep waning

So as I move across the highway this time
I remember
to forget the trail route to heaven.


-X-

The fire roars,
It crackles and spits
In the great hall of Temptation
I delve inside to drown my grief

The walls radiant,
The tapestry fresh painted
The carpets emanate warmth
A lure for all my senses

Feasts of fantasy
Atop the tables are lain
The smell of milk and honey
Much inviting to taste

But I dare venture no further
Lest I forget
The oaths I swore to Sorrow
Return with haunting regrets

So I turn away
In hastened retreat
**** all sweet desire
For love that cut so deep

-x-

When she takes the hairpin out
and the darkness of the night flows down
Sparks of fire in those streaks of brown
And in that ocean tranquil, I wish to drown

When she rolls her eyes in annoyance
the world stops it's pitiful rotation
Time realises it's gross subjugation
And I relish that helping of frozen frustration

When she arches her brows inward
I pray that her temples don't fall for my error
A silent earthquake which may devour me forever
And in my heart held hostage, I feel it's tremors

When she twists the corners of her lips in a smile
the Sun starts peeking out from the clouds
Spectral drums in my heart beat aloud
And for this petty victory, I feel so proud

When she speaks into my ears
I lose all grasp on language and grammar
In her divine symphony composed of glamour
I cannot help but lose myself, feel enamored

-x-

As the clock keeps ticking, I ask but of her
these moments priceless
Knowing well that she may love these lines,
but not the man who writes them

Again the winds have shifted
The light swings another side
The shadows start dancing
Abandoning me in plain sight

-X-

The sunset by the sea
My feet naked, embedded
in the sand
As the waves greet me with ferocity

Punching back with clenched fists
Saltwater foam, elegant comb
through my hair
The ocean with all its depth condescending

All the colours of the universe in
a sky tainted, so gloriously painted
like a fresco
Of an olden cathedral I'd never seen

Sweat and salt and sand in my clothes
My eyes swollen, their whites stolen
unconsciously
Innocent are not the tears of the sea
---

Slow as the waves recede
with the retreating tide
So does the venom in my veins
and come loose the nails in my head
The shore sprayed with new hope
The night sky of a new moon arrives
Darkness heralds doubt
Yet I'm relieved to be
in the absence of the light
that seeked to
blind me last night

How the night turns cold
as I sit under the stars
The grass grows moist
around the plastic mat
Droplets of dew appear
on the walls of the tent
As I tune in to the nocturnal
song of the crickets

The fire dies, the fire dies outside.

-X-

-x-


You heard the man
He was telling a lie
But it felt harmless;
so you had let it fly


Into the web
of nameless, faceless arachnids
who chewed it up
and spewed out in typeset


With no recourse,
it spread across the threads
As they kept on spinning
their yarn of hate


It grew with ancient tales
of temples broken, villages burned
And threats of history repeating itself
unless all debate was adjourned


Till a house of cards it was no more -
but a fortress you couldn't move
For you had by then forgotten
what used to be the truth


-x-

As children,
playing outside
to our hearts' content
was only when
we came home filthy

As society,
then why must we
clean up our act
and turn a blind eye
to censorship?

-X-

डर लगता है उनसे नज़रें मिलाने में
के दिल घायल ना हो जाए अनजाने में
भुगतते हुए साजाए मोहब्बत
बेखुदी की हदें पार कर दी इस दीवाने ने