Everyone has a mission
but so many fail to arrive
at the desired destination

No, I don't think global
it's enough, if I think personal:
I'm not qualified for the former
I'll just stay happily with the latter

Life is a point of view
I'll be me
you'll be you
we're all equal--verily!

I can't
you can-
take over
my man!

I can
all others too can
any credit can I claim--
I'm no special man-

isn't all life
about can't and can?
The two stay with us
up to the end-

I've little talent
my life is less  of 'I can'
of the 'I can't' I'm not ashamed
truly I can't be a leader of men!

You are your own voice--- courageous
many writers indeed are afraid
of being themselves

Tomorrow
   we should never under-estimate
   a new world appears
   gives us every reason to celebrate

Feeling
is more forceful
than thinking

There's no power
greater than this:
when myself
I have over-powered

When I came to realise
how stupid I was
it was enlightenment
as I suddenly came to myself

If life were a straight road

wouldn't you walk away

as it would make you  so very bored?

I choose steadfastness
  over success

Marriage is compromise-
  what's the breaking-point?
  Will it somehow survive?

The dark woods they invite me
  amidst it I explore
my love I will meet
it's much too early for sleep

Don't look at life
through starry-eyes
it's not a fairy-tale
you'll wake up to realise-

neither is it
the dream you desire
set your feet right
on earth-  let your fancy expire--

love and beauty how they sparkle!
Know this: they will wane and fall to sleep
all that's experienced is illusory
which memory will find very hard to keep-

trust not the fine-tuned words
of the poets---they are half-asleep :
let's not look at life through starry-eyes
reality is harsh and truly cuts deep

Your words are enough-
speak no more
the walls are trembling
with the weight of your voice
our ears are sore-

rumour had it all over
no fool would your suffer
nor would tolerate dissent
as you asserted you were a Superman-

we're as such too puny
to be part of your rare society
of elites-  we'd be completely silent-

at the public-square
you will seize the mike
and compel to be heard
and regard everyone as an idiot!

Cold  rainy forest
faraway from human eyes
it holds deep secrets

* not mine, from a fellow-writer in HP

Between knowledge
     and morality
     the latter
     I choose  readily

I'm deadly serious
about not being serious

Look and if you wish
smell the radiant rose
don't you snap or shake it-
it's too fragile and delicate
or its fragrance and beauty
will come to a close

how patiently and how long
it has waited to pose
itself to show
and please the world-
let's listen to its tender plea
and allow it to blow-

in its short allotted time
it does sadly know
after the end of summer
its days will be over-

as its last petals fall
none of us will see
its tears that are within
each , concealed and enclosed

The day fades away
but it's not in a state
of loss or decay

every moment of it
has been absorbed
into life's intricate web
and within it will stay

to be retrieved by those
who have been part
of that tapestry
sometime, somewhere

and I all alone in watching
the faint daylight flitting away
in time amazed and transfixed
am in the same pageantry and display
but can't find the right words to say.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
am I handsome at all?
If you say  yes, I'll be delighted
if you say no, I'll not be disappointed

for I really can't gauge my look
though some pretty women each do book
me as their chaperon in some outgoing
and bribe me with their sweetest whispering-

never once did I ask
about their marital status
my poems they read passionately
and wrote to me secretly and romantically-

mirror, mirror on the wall
if you do understand me at all
why don't you say yes readily
such that I'd know my life has been lived so abundantly?

This I dare declare
    the pauper could be happier
    than the billionaire -
    he has no care

Between knowledge
and morality
the latter
I choose readily

Compare yourself
at finish of day
with that when
you rose at dawn-
in what way
has your resolve changed
or are you disappointed
with what you did
during those demanding hours?
Were you let down
or did you fail to give your best?
Are you regretting now?

Of myself I can speak
too high goals I don't set
my limited talent I acknowledge
competing is not within my league
only quietly I do my level best

when the sun sinks
in the evening
I don't despair or regret:
my duty I've discharged
I'm satisfied, content and glad
towards the next morn
I'll set the same modest target.

Excuse my silence
it shows neither contempt
nor indifference
let others finish
their every sentence

for my thoughts
are far from forthcoming
I'm still the mist and haze
dewy, not yet crystallizing  
into the form desired

until then
I'll be silent

while others argue
and dispute
without sense
or end

Life-  the hangover
the fret, the angst, the fever

the whatever, the wherever
whosoever,  the sufferer-

do we have any say
about what we choose or prefer?

yesterday, today
the glory or the decay
the ascent, the fall-over-

to sleep, to dream, to rest
after the grind and endeavour
is there the best
after the worst walk-over?

you and I---whosoever
each a lonely watcher and survivor
just a tiny cog in the mindless wheel of tomorrow

The young have left home
lured by the city's clamour
village of elders

Every age
   wants to create
   its own story
   to be different
   from and challenge
   the past that hovers-
   above its head

   it doesn't succeed:
  the present is the carry-forward
  of what went before
  it's a hybrid identity
  and commands no exclusivity -

  sages of the age
  carry within them
  the wisdom
of the ancients'
  from their fountain
  they eagerly drink
  and recognize
  the unbroken link

The obvious
        isn't exciting
        people choose
        the nebulous-

       facts are boring
       rumours they prefer
        of truth they
        really don't care-

        the thing is there
        to see they don't bother
        it interests them not
        the scene they just pass over-

        the logic of reason
        they deliberately ignore
        so obstinate are they
        and know not their delusion

He who can't
tolerate others
has a psychological problem-
himself he hasn't accepted
he has yet to learn
to self-transform

I'm not a think-tank

only someone

who isn't afraid

to embark on what he can

Don't be a sponge
or a carbon-copy
you're born
to create and to be free!

The wheat and the chaff
how to sift the former
from the latter-
such many don't know enough!

Which should I choose to be?
A bottle sinks in water
a cork--   never!

I'll not talk
of the end of time
only say: I hope
for the best outcome

Even genius knows not itself
and alas ! poor and paltry me
with my so limited knowledge
how could I move to the next level?

....but I don't want

to be regarded

as a brand----I'm human

not an item!

The time is now
no more tricks
pretense or lies
own up lest you drown

in self- deception-
you can't run away
delay or hide
you've been found

and labelled the scoundrel
no word would you find palatable-
we all took you as our friend
how badly we've been let down!

Look not away.own up
your face you should turn around
if any redemption were to be
you'd have to change-- right NOW!

None is a loser-- though alone
      if each still holds their own
     never mind the success or failure
     the self that treasures itself will endure

The body----burden.

The mind----distraction

The heart------passion

The spirit------transcendence

I'm an old bottle-
don't throw me away
water I can still hold
I might save someone some day-

durable I still am
in every way
with no crack nor leak
trust me, I should bravely say!

I'm not talking
about power-stations
motors, engines or machines
but our human energy
which makes all things turn-

herein is the flowering
of our arts--the blooming
of every talent, the inspiration
to create beauty, the bending
towards the truth and beauty--  unending!

The love extending
to others,  the heart praying
for every human-being
the daily exercising
of kindness, goodwill reaching
out to all, whether strangers
neighbours, friends or kin


what nobility, power of character
what strength, what magnanimity
in one word that changes our lives---ENERGY!

If you have got
your priorities right
surely your life
will be bright.

What is it to be great? The word is too often misused. Who sets the standard? How is greatness measured?


A person can use the word subjectively in pride and self- praise, but it counts for little or nothing in the eyes of others.


I should be very careful and circumspect in making any claim and will instead say: I'll do my best and hope my hard work will pay off.

I and you, my friend
we needn't hold each other's hand
but we both understand
we are joint sojourners
in this temporary land
which we can't claim
to be our rightful home-
life is the owner
we are each only a tenant-

whatever,  in dignity
we still stand
our lives are our own
we'll not give in
to life's dictates and whims
we aren't afraid
to be our very own

You and I
together we'll stand
in sunshine or rain
to the very end

' Absence makes the heart grow fonder'

My version:

Absence breaks the heart asunder

Indifference
stings more than
contempt

Kindness
is enough religiousness
even unknown, on its own
it sparkles silently in devotion and faithfulness-

it's the generous giving
wherever it's present
the fountain over-flowing
the love that's unceasing -

kindness
is the alpha and omega
its helping hand
is always near, never far

I'll string together
in a basket life's trivia
and cast it gladly
into the nearest river-

only a few poems
and songs of mine will I keep
myself to contemplate and console
when in future days to revisit-

life is the assembling
and the detaching
in their own time
as along with it I  keep engaging-

I'll string together
in a bouquet my every memory
my every dream, my every inspiration
as I live lovingly, tenderly and freely

Self-love, self-respect and self-trust
for a good life this is enough
and we are insulated against
the hurt and callousness of others