Moon that rests in a sky so dim,
Take my soul and wipe my teary rim.
Pull me up, to a hight so far.
That when I reach, I can touch a star,
Keep me safe, when I fear abyss;
All it takes is a loving kiss.
Let me stay, till the world is lost.
I'll leave my heart, if its the only cost.
Then when I may stand on my own two feet,
Send me off, so the next world I can meet.

The Girl in the mirror...

How the world got changed
In a mere moment!

Flower-like dreams got crushed
Under the sudden darkness,
And a tiny star
Twinkling with celestial music
Became lustreless and mute.

Tales of frolicking fairies
Lost their charm,
And the lips of the branches
Gently kissing a stream
Became totally numb.

Eyes knew for the first time
That they carried tears,
Sobs got arrested in the throat
Like the daisies strangled by weeds.

The girl in the mirror
Lost her smile.

© Portia Burton

I carry the clothes on my body–
a plain t-shirt and sweater leggings–
attempting to stay warm and keep cool.
I carry my backpack,
my heavy, heavy backpack,
to carry the things I can’t carry in my arms…
my books, pencils, papers, and keys.
In my arms I sometimes carry more books,
sometimes a cup of chai, and sometimes, nothing. Sometimes
I wish I carried a little bit more time;
then I could carry the things I’ve left behind.

I carry all the parts of me simultaneously, and I am full now.
I carry my eyes, for without them, my path would be blurred,
and I would be ignorant.
I carry my ears to hear music and dissonance and
I carry a heart to feel the soundwaves and make sense of them.
I carry my nose to hold the sweetness of a flower in my lungs,
and skin to caress their soft petals,
without plucking them.
When I carry nothing, I sleep,
and in my dreams, I carry the clouds and the stars beyond them.
From there I may see the things I have yet to carry.

I carry my own weight across the populated Earth.
I carry my own gravity and the light of the sun.
I carry the stars from my dreams, and from them,
I create constellations in broad daylight.
I carry my heart.
I carry the soundwaves of voices like
space nymphs, singing songs I want to remember.
I carry the sight of people coming closer and drifting further from me,
escaping and re-entering my orbit,
an arm-length or a light-year away.
I carry their images and sometimes,
I reach for their silhouettes and I try to feel their thoughts.

I carry my heart and it is full.
My heart is filled with emotion,
and my emotions are the Earth’s turbulent winds
across a golden, sun-kissed field and
the sound of a waterfall crashing into
a pool of water at the bottom of the valley, and
equally the eye of the storm in which
the world is a spinning oblivion,
but here, it is quiet.
My heart is the recollection of times past
in a yellowed, well-worn tome awaiting a reader and
the diary of someone whose story begs to be forgotten.
My heart beats for someone to understand its journey,
but it longs to understand what it beats for.
I carry the silence and the music alike;
I carry the Earth and all its wonders.

some words , poets
make me stop and visit reality
others
take me into space
and time ,
limitless

From the dust of my memories I put you together,
I am trying to glean you from the sands of time that have separated us.
There is no poetry in me, nothing hidden or secret that I can say, just that
Though we had long known each other, we now simply
Know
Of
Each
Other
And this, to me, will always be the finest tragedy,
The coup de main of time

I watch you though the layers of lies that are Facebook
Instagram
I see your words dry up and sometimes flow
A stream few others love; the sweet cadence of the
Silent rhythms I have long loved
Your tribute to the bea(s)ts inside your heart

You always reminded me of silver,
The tarnished kind,
Sitting quietly in Colaba market
Waiting to be touched, loved, occasionally dropped,
But always retaining in yourself
The sleek splendor reserved for someone
Proud in the knowledge that
When the moonlight shines on her,
She would know how to shine right back.

Beloved,
You are married now,
And no words dance between us
I have listened to you on nights
With barbequed meats simmering
Moths fluttering
And laughter tinkling
The wind caressing your stray hair as if it knew
That you belonged to it all this while.

I will burn into the back of my otherwise undisturbed skull
The pictures of you in white,

I laugh.

Seeing your delight
In a dress
We never thought you’d slip yourself into
So evasive were you,
But nothing stopped you when your mind was made,
Falling in love with a man who could listen like the ocean

From the dust of my memories, I draw you out
Through the sands of time I see you,
Living in a world where
The stars dance for your joy alone.

Someday, somewhere beyond this life,
We will meet each other in the spaces
Between two others’ lonely fingers.

I am my agony
I am my self doubt
I'm the mounting problems
When I'm down and out
I am lack of faith
I am turmoil
My love turned to hate
On this mortal coil
I am discord
I am at a loss
What I can't afford
No matter the cost
I am my confusion
I am my flaws
I am what I am
From surviving them all.

It's all an illusion.
The fame,
The fortune,
None of it matters.

So look at who you are
Is it who you want to be?
Is this where you are
Or where you want to be?

It's all an illusion.
The fear,
The freedom,
None of it matters.

Are you running away from here
Or running to somewhere?
Is this excitement
Or are you just scared?

It's all an illusion.
The fact,
The fiction,
None of it matters.

Does this world exist
Or is it in my mind?
Are you real
Or my imagination?*

You're the illusion,
My dear,
Because you were never really here.