When I simply
most things
seem all right

Tomorrow
I might be
diminished
by destiny
but I'm still
my very own
in being free

Because commonsense
I subscribe to daily
I've no need
for philosophy

the latter does
confuse me
the former
sets me completely free

Even if you tried
your best level
there's always
the ungraspable

it's wisdom
to be humble
and focus
on the doable

I wasn't born strong
but when pushed
to the limit
a Herculean
I became-
fear I scorned
I began
to sing
my brave  new song:
I was miraculously reborn
and proved
destiny wrong

Life  never does cease
invoices to issue
anyhow we have
to pay the due

Tomorrow
    might be
   much the same
   as today
   but the emphasis
   will take
    another lane

Don't chide me
      I've done that
     to myself
     to last a whole century

Beware
when the voice
of the crowd
is loudest

Don't ever
allow time
to decimate
or diminish you

There's equal
if not more
wisdom
in not doing

Today you've
hardly lived
and for tomorrow
you wished?

The cart
before the horse?
It's wisdom
to pause

Not the lifelong angst
but the daily persistent ache-
Weltschmerz is the correct word
lucky if such you escape

You dislike me?
Fine---I don't mind
but this is the truth:
I've never disliked you

Are you an agreeable person?

Have I changed
  since yesterday-
  in what way?

Did I discover myself
because I was clever
or by just accident?
Of this I'm never sure

The past
wrote the future
it was the progenitor
of the latter

I don't come
knowing I'm not welcome

Your silence
I'll respect
no word
should I speak
that would be rude
and uncalled for
also, it would upset

in keeping
this distance
there's some
quiet understanding
between us

somehow we each
would also know
where we stand
and none would
the other offend

Some people
are too disciplined
too proper
too organised
and  sober
they watch themselves
closely all the time
and find
their true selves
only when
they are drunk

When you have
to buy time
it's likely
you'd face
some undesirable outcome

Those who know
how and when to shut up
will be welcomed
and much admired

The pseudo-philopher
is likely to cause moral disorder

The most ingrained idler
is the worst rumour-monger

Every husband
should acquire
some culinary skill
in case the wife is ill-
this the wise should understand

Life is a million things
I only need to understand
the essentials
and steadily I'll stand

The mountain
will blur my view
from where I stand
I see more clearly the content

The heart
might have poison
that the self
doesn't understand

Life's inevitable nexus:
'What next?'

Every tear
has a tale to tell
but the self
might not understand
its true content

My religion
is humanism
and my heart
is close to its region

The past
will not be silent:
it has wounds
that still last

The smile of an old man
can't be the same
as that of a young person-
but the latter would not understand

Not for me
the laurel
I don't qualify
at all-
simple poetry
I write only
as my muses call

masters
of the past
each at
their sublimest
that I recall

they are
the light
I'm just
the shadow
far, far away
from their poetic hall

yet, driven
by steps
large or small

up the writing wall
I must climb
my heart's desire
to fulfil
ere
my life's nightfall

Not now
but the future
shall reveal
my hidden story:
I'm just
the beginner
I'm not yet
myself-
still in formation-
that's the reality

half a voice only
at this moment
so tiny and faint
as from the wilderness
lost in the wind
an unknown identity

yet I care not
if none
would read
my story

after all
it's not meant
for posterity

I was
I am
and I know
what I should be.

I've chosen myself
not because I've talent
only that my life
can't depend
on anyone else
lest I were
to end
in my self-constructed
lifelong prison

to live
demands freedom
without which
I'd but be
an inane
and doomed person

Grant me resilience
not intelligence
the latter is not
life's quintessence -

the former
is my unfailing strength
and never has cause
for any absence

If I lose myself, death would be a better option-- I live because I've not abandoned myself, despite my weaknesses and failures, and also because I've dignity and honour, like everyone else in the universe.  

No one nor any single identity can ever take away my freedom and my right to be.

Don't polish
your mirror
it sees you clearly-
without error

don't go out
to buy another
it's the same you
you can't court its favour

I've not abandoned
myself--oh no!
I'm not lost at all
of this I surely know

This too well
do I know:
the world
doesn't need me
not at all

but
I'm within it
away I can't go-

with my weaknesses
my failings
my foibles
even such so
my path
therein I'll set
my will
I'll follow

my right
my intrinsic self
the world
can never overthrow!

My ally
is always nigh
whether it's day
or night

walking faithfully
by my side
in every stride
I'm set right-

its image
is in my mirror
whenever
I look inside

Poetry
life's sublimest vibrancy:
every human sentiment captured
all beauty, enraptured

It can wait---the universe-
  understand yourself first

The best cure
is found--verily
in not being ill-
this is the surest therapy!

Life -
to have meaning
has to be lived
with some tension
even with defiance
lest it begins
to fade and sag
in its tameness
comfort, staleness
and acquiescence

it never does escape
the ****** and force
of the vagaries
of circumstance
which stare
in our faces
and challenge
and test us-
we are losers
if we bow out
in any instance

here
in a lonely corner
I stand
buffeted by storms
and turmoil
but remain
unfazed
and unshaken-
my every inner resource
I'll freely draw upon
every ounce
of courage
I'll summon
undaunted
as to the contour
of the future
I valiantly glance!

There's a point beyond which pain can no longer hurt the sufferer
as the person has overcome the greatest sorrow that has come his way.

Indeed, the spirit of man is infinitely stronger than the harshest sling of fate.  In this epiphany, he becomes larger than life and death, and emerges, as an uncrowned hero, though known to none else.

So much have I suffered in my illness and loneliness, with love never in sight,  but I've come to accept this suffering as it gives me meaning and the will to live my life every moment to the fullest.

My poetry is my prayer and my religion which give me the courage and strength to endure my daily pain. Of late, my cough has worsened and the weight on my lungs has been unbearable and I pray it will subside the next day.

Suffering doesn't diminish beauty which I've found in my writing, my love of life, of nature, of those I love and the truth in my heart.
I'm certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of imagination.

If I were to die upon the morrow, I'll have no cause for regret as my life has been lived to the fullest and as I've been touched by beauty which is too sublime for words to describe.

( * Keats died a week aged 25 after this from consumption which had no cure at that time)

Do not love me
too much
I might be unable
to reciprocate such

thus, I'd rather
that you love
only if I deserve-
that would be enough