He drew his sword
I ran away all at once:
I chose to be a coward
than to be dead-

upon another
he thus drew
that person had a gun
and shot him deadly through!

So drunk
with the wines
of the world
all worries
set aside-

all holds unbarred
freedom reigns:
strangely beats
the heart
(as never before)-
home is forgotten
a new life
seems to start

and why not?
Each life
is a choice
lived
in its own way
though outsiders
might judge
such as waste
or spoils
as self-destruction
but
who out there
does dare
  judge?

In vino veritas
the self
must itself trust
before it ends
in dust-

fill the cup
to the brim-
more yet
this surely
isn't the last!

You don't need
to apologise to life
or people
if you had not
gone out
to deliberately
hurt any

if
in failing yourself
all that is necessary
would be not
to repeat such
in future

we are all fallible
we live far from the ideal:
in accepting ourselves
we move on
hoping to be
better individuals

It's always
more of the case
that I can't-
gladly I accept
and allow
others
to sit in front

the world teems
in endless talent
the moth can never
reach for the star
I know from what
such people have done

in a quiet little corner
I watch and listen
hoping to learn
knowing my lessons
have just begun

my case
I rest
just being myself
is enough gladness
and daily fun

* from Shelley

Only being empty
can one be free:
all else is burden
and unhappiness -laden

Don't give me love
if I don't deserve
if you do
for life such
I'll preserve:
untainted
and time
will bear witness

love-- only a word
but pure and sacred
as a prayer said
in a temple
or a church

how brief
life is
a frail leave
on a stem
to be shaken
by the winds
and fallen
easily to the sod

to you
I must come
ere it's too late

as I've been loved-
the world entire
now belongs to me:
unto you mine
I'll with my life
faithfully reciprocate

The quality of happiness of an ordinary person, even an uneducated or lowly one, can be much richer than that of a wealthy or an intellectual person's as it's uniquely its own and can't be compared with that of another.  

Call this a gift or grace but of such I've no doubt at all as I've known such people.

We should never say someone is happier than we are-
what happiness we have, even a little, is itself adequate blessing.

No one knows
my name
the winds blow
past me--all the same

all I want
is to be alone
with nothing to claim
only myself to own

I can't be
more than others
but to myself
will be no less

Life has to be lived
with some tension
lest it begins to sag
and reduces a person

for to rise above
the mundane
one can't afford
to be complacent

look at genius
and people with passion
for the highest they pitch
in every season

observe how
they embrace every moment
as though it's an epiphany
lest its. beauty be stolen

If your house
is in order
you're already
a conqueror

Humour
is different
from laughter-
it's subtler !

Teaching oneself
is much harder
than teaching others:
there will be excuses
for not being diligent

It's hard to be oneself
the world is too strong
in its persuasion
it will not leave anyone
to be their own

millions of thought-seeds
it has everywhere sown
so many would have
into unwary minds fallen

myself I must save
lest I were to drown
in this polluted zone

by carving my direction
as my boat sails into the unknown
despite the thickest mist ahead
I'll come eventually to my own

Is it life or you
that's the burden?
Between the two
what's the conversation?

Life says in a subdued tone :
I leave everyone to their own
they each have their will- alone
over me why should they groan?

There's no true freedom
as long as there's still the acquiring :
it's realised only when one
has given  himself to the relinquishing

I choose ignorance
over pretence

There are only
  three types of people:

  those who love life
  those who hate life
  and those who are indifferent

I've been too used
to waiting
it has defined
my life
yet it still remains
in my thinking-
it is a virtue
most worthwhile

for immediate
or quick satisfaction
is not my pick-
it only does belong
to the spoilt child

there's the sweet
looking forward
to a brighter dawn
with the promise
grace will adorn:

I'll hold on
to the waiting
even if
I've to walk
the longest mile

In my sorrow
I long for the days
of my childhood
where peace and grace
crowned my every moment
alas!  To such I can't return!

Adulthood is bane
and almost a prison
with its angst and grind
which can't be defined
even by those
with the sharpest mind-
reason is blind
where's ever the gain?

In my tears
lonely and silent
for those joyful days
I desolately yearn
knowing
they will never return

Everyone wants
to be heard
but their own voices
they drown
and forget-

to themselves
strangers
they have become-
in a barren desert
they are lost
and tossed
totally desolate

with their life-story
unread and unrecorded

People can't tell
what's more or less
nor what's worst
or best

so they compare
with others
and after a lifetime
never know any rest

You can't sing?
Never mind
just hum to yourself
some joy you'll find

Be sure:
are you the issue
or life
or other people?
To yourself
be true

I don't thirst
to be first:
just following
my pace
I'll do no worse

Bypass
if you can't
get by
with others

I've to be brief-
listeners are busy
they will rush
for the door
when they regard
my extra words
as unnecessary

Yourself you should please first-
they can wait--- others and the universe

'Better late than never'-
such a fallacy
cold comfort it is-
you've missed the opportunity !

Don't show yourself
too often in any place:
people's boundaries
are clearly drawn
they fear your presence
might have them displaced

If you don't know
when to pause
trouble to yourself
and to others you'll cause

Don't tell all
and people
won't with you
find fault

What kills life
is the 'too much':
people are blown away
with their true self they lose touch

Language states
music suggests
between the two
the latter has greater depth

This is the perennial bane:
much of life is unsettled
an unwelcome  situation
faced by most people

This is what love says:
enough has been said
the same words
I'll not raise

The greatest force
is language

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