This type of success
   is deplorable
   and worse than failure-
   it has no moral fibre!

The future
will be in my hands
as the past
and the present-

life can't insist
on its own way
I alone choose
how to stay

amid its vagaries
even in its darkest day
I don't succumb
I'll have my say-

time I'll tame
and keep it at bay
I'm my own conqueror
I'll do it my way.

Free lunch?
Of course
I'll go to my kitchen
nothing will it cost

Not yet, I'll not speak
   my words are still in hibernation
    they haven't ripened
    meantime,  I'll keep-

    the rose doesn't rush
    to bloom before its time
    the song to be sung
    must wait for the right rhyme-

   to you last summer
  my poem in praise
  I sent-- but you didn't reply
  though my tears had welled for many long days-

  autumn and winter will revisit once again
  perhaps my poem might then appeal to your heart
  my words then will find their fullest flowering
  every single one in love and devotion will impart

I can't be you
you can't be me
but we can come together
in mutual respect and dignity

Because of doubt
I live more freely
my life would be static
if lived in certainty

Writing to me
is not escape
rather ideas
to shape

to do away
with dubiety
lacuna, uncertainty
in search of clarity-

I know the limit
of my ability
I'll not venture
beyond my boundary

but to persevere only
humbly and patiently-
I'll leave no legacy
in this my endless journey.

A very thin piece of paper
can cut as deeply as a knife
this proves that what's potent
has nothing to do with size

Love that's obsessional
     is close to being pathological

I don't lead
    nor wish
    to be led
    both I don't need

He who can't control his temper

will never make an effective leader

It's better
not to be liked
then to none
would you be obliged-

to be liked
is to be tied
to others
your freedom being cast aside

Your heart
  is the home
  of your religion
  nowhere else-
  it's the sacred region
  where sanctity
  and prayer bloom
  in its every chamber
  and room-

  here where silence and worship reign
  not a single harsh voice is heard
  only you and the Ultimate
  are in intimate conversation

  time and self melt away
  all that is,  is pure transcendence

Let not your hope
   be placed on a tight rope:
    the holding would be precarious
    and the outcome might be deleterious

I
  you
  other people--

  in total
  this makes
  the human triangle

Never under-estimate
the power of negative thinking:
it's rational , practical and realistic
and sets a person in preparing
for an adverse downturn
armed with some well-prepared solution-
such a mindset is eminently admirable
and enhances the person's chance of winning

while pipe-dreams dominate positive thinking
with its slogan:  '  You're born to be a victor'
such is will o'-the-wisp -- the worst error!

Never ignore the strength of negative thinking
it will bring positive thinking to its kneeling!

Change-
an ambivalent word
where will it lead?

Terra incognita
a country
alien and strange

would there be treasure
or a quagmire ?

Would it be icy cold
at the Arctic Pole
or the hottest heat ever?

Did you choose
or was it upon you imposed?

Now,  caught in this whirlpool
there's no turning back
to the utmost you are tested-

would you be victorious
or succumb to failure?

Who would admit
part of their life
is lived in myth?

The logs have burnt out
    outside the winter winds howl
    couple in deep thought

What I write
might not be read
I won't be put off
nor be hurt

for to write
is to lift me
beyond myself
and to set me free

They are too sure
       of their ins and outs
       I'm satisfied enough
      to live in my doubts

I will live by faith
  and not by the dictate of fate

Something from my inside
prompts me to write
it has nothing to do with pride
nor to prove I were right

myself I would miserably fail
in setting my thoughts and feelings aside
it would be like a bird with clipped wings
unable to lift off for its natural flight

Live simply
hold all things lightly
receive gratefully
give generously -

speak honestly
act kindly and humbly
pray devotedly
love unequivocally

I wish
to be simple
not special
the latter
would only
make me artificial -

what best fits me
is the plain and natural
nothing in excess
I need no other call

Life is erratic
to live well
we've to be adaptive

Words used properly
are each a note of the symphony
most poignant they are--verily-
when weaved into the enchantment of poetry

I can' sing nor dance
for you-  I've no talent
only love you
I truly can-

I'm neither rich
nor handsome
no education had I
how can I ask for your hand?

Every young gallant man
across the entire land
to woo you will rush
with the most expensive diamond-

ah, poor me, I can't afford
to buy you even a tiny present
you'll never walk this my way
though from afar I can sense your sweetest scent

The self changes more
    than the world
    it's less settled -
    human nature---typical!

Say it once
if need be, twice
it begins to suffocate
if said thrice

Dutifulness

is more important than success

Learning
    without application
    is a dead-end

The greatest impediment
is not other people
but the notorious 'I'-
the mother of every trouble!

When you can't cease searching others
    you absolutely lose your own self

It's necessary to trust
but not always a 'must'

West:  You are more than what you think you are

Zen and Taoism:  You are less than what you think you are

Everyone wants

to be a leader

though they can't

even be their own teacher

Not life but me:
    I'm the maker
    of my laughter

In the far remote
      a person of no note
      my true self I discovered

Zen


Not knowing

is insight's true beginning

Music in the wood
listened to by bending trees
a moment of bliss

To a fellow-writer


We are one in sharing

the wonders of writing

and the splendour of living

I'm no dancer
  but can still be
your best lover.....

I know not --truly--
what I'll tomorrow be
it's more than likely
I would do something silly

It's infinitely better
      to be honestly ignorant
      than being pseudo- intelligent

Nothing is more frightful
than the secret inside
compared to all the forces outside

How could I pervade
     over another
    when myself
    I'm yet to discover?

Without lies
most of mankind
wouldn't have survived

What's the use
of wisdom
without freedom?
It's dreadful enslavement!

People learned more
from brokenness
than wholesomeness :
they had suffered the worst