I stepped back
into the corridor of the past
'You aren't welcome!'
(It sternly reprimanded!)

  You've your own life
  mine too I've crafted
at different directions we now look
  we should best stay parted

   for nothing do I owe you
   though me you once commanded
   from your chain I've broken
   all your obstacles I've circumvented-

   don't you come this way again
   I'll have you relentlessly stranded
   you might hold me in my thought
   but I don't want to be remembered!"

You don't need
to search for light
if you have created
it inside

...but time-lines
  are not for me
  they'd only inhibit
my creativity-

nature knows
when to appear:
with end of autumn
winter will be near-

if I write at all
it must surely be
from my heart's bidding
in complete spontaneity-

let the addictive scientist
focus on his lonely laboratory-
calibrations and measurements
(in time-prescribed) to the minutest accuracy-

mine shall only be
what I ascribe in my heart-line
unfettered and without boundary
whether I write in prose or poetry.

Life--  more the decoupling
  than the matching

It takes four or five years
     to qualify in engineering
    mine takes a life-time--
    it's called 'life-engineering'

     copyright. I have not come across this term

That which is accomplished
is less relished
than that which is nascent-
the flow of becoming
of blossoming
the yet -to- be
the ripening-

even love should wait patiently
for its consummating
look at the sky in dawn-breaking
its beauty is only the beginning-

be still, be calm, be gentle
my heart in longing
when you wake up in the morning
you'll find the greatest blessing

Don't display

your love in public:

it's lack of decorum

you'd be regarded a creep!

When knowing
what to unlearn
is more important
than to learn

To find your true self-- verily-

requires only honesty and humility

intelligence is not necessary

Perception
is superior to education

Swanson Street is yawning
  the pubs are closed
  street-lamps flicker
   cabs are waiting in rows-

  some revellers are drunk
to  Flinders Station how they struggle
a woman is singing La vie en rose
a bird is chirping on a church steeple-

a sudden gust descends from nowhere
it sweeps discarded papers and debris into the crispy air-

a hungry and mangy dog scrounges at the bin
it's pitiful and finds but a banana-skin-

under the lights of Princes Bridge
a few tramps and vagabonds are asleep-

at this sombre hour why am I still wandering?
Time I've lost count of, sitting on a bench in poetry-writing

Quest and conquest:
the former speaks of self-fulfilment
the latter is about self-aggrandisement

By the silent lake
kids lined up their paper-boats
under the bright sun

Early morning mist
hovering o'er wet tree-tops
first flush of birdsong

The debris and quagmire
    the remnants of past time
    let's mould them to our fashion
   for a meaningful outcome-

   nothing shall be lost
   if to nothing we succumb
   from ashes springs the phoenix
   the basest can be made sublime.

....but time
   has no home:
   to exist
  it must roam

  yet omnipotent
on its very own

   most feared
    by so many
    especially
    when they're alone

   being homeless
  and to none belonged
  it can be irksome:
  its uninvited presence
  is often carelessly thrown

  but
when the world is asleep
it feels a deep sense of loss
in being totally forgotten

....and the time has come
    to pause, to be silent
    to be still, to reflect
   to piece together
    the parts that have been broken-

    the stepping aside
   myself to examine
   to revisit every past scene
  none of which can be forgotten

for memory is just
too persistent
too stubborn
and makes unwarranted demands
on the vulnerable person

but I'll step into myself
to stand on alone
and claim
what's that I own-
my dignity
my freedom
my will-to-be
that can never
be taken
away
or ever stolen

I searched outside
to no avail
being such denied
I looked inside

and what a surprise
( the experience was never in my past life)
'twas as though I'd discovered
an earthly paradise!

I can't-
leave me alone
we have nothing
in common-

I'll walk
in another direction
(without enmity)
towards my desired destination-

every life is lived in the singular
each knows its own ken
freedom lies in the self
it belongs to no clan

and so delighted I am
to know my silent plan
to move forward
to explore, reach and expand

Be still-
you'll be stronger
than steel

I write
but never claim
to be right
nor to seek fame

only as a keen observer
of the myriad manifestations of life
a humble truth- seeker  and curious wanderer
amid  its doubts and uncertainties that run rife

Moonlight and roses
wine intoxicates
lovers hug in quietness
every heart celebrates

for tomorrow
will come like a robber
this night will lose its wonder
still I'll choose to be wooer !

Do not in any way test me
I had been forged--painfully
in the burning crucible of time
and suffered so deeply

alone, to no-one known
and my wound is still in slow-healing
like Prometheus I held on
defiant, indignant and unyielding

for life is lived singly
with every pain being borne silently
those who have themselves overcome
are among the the strongest and the most free

hence, do not try ever to test me
your own cross you might have to bear heavily
some day- we're common travellers in life's journey
how we rise above calamity will mark our very humanity

Shabby words
        are much worse
        than shabby clothes

I'm of no account
   I don't need to be noticed
  or found

It's not a matter of waiting
it is life in its unpredictable flux
no one is ever in control
time ultimately holds the cards-

what you're pursuing
however grand your design may be
they are like leaves drifting
precariously  in life's mysterious  sea-

it would appear to be
there's no escape from destiny
the silent and ubiquitous hand
that brings joy or causes misery-

but what does count at the end- nobly
is our rising above every calamity
in our hope, faith and patience
which will mark our very epiphany

Not everything makes sense
but why should we bother?
There's beauty in every rose that blows
and wonder that beckons at every corner.

The sun shines without our bidding
the waves they whistle with every tide
the stars and moon know their rightful places
there's always joy where love is by our side.

Questions that vex too many there are
all such we'll bypass and set aside
let's listen to the beating of our gentle heart
let the glory of each day be our constant guide.

Upon the blushing of every dawn
we'll sing songs of gratitude and grace
life's burdens and chagrin will fade on their own
as we step into the delight and promise of future days.

I can't detach the past
it claims to be my alter ego
with all my might I did struggle
its words were stubbornly so: I'll not let go!

It pleaded pitifully before me:
you're the only one I know
from you I assumed a reality
to your death I'll follow!

My certainty
creates uncertainty-
it's a fixity
which stifles
making me
less free

There's light in my heart and soul
my darkness will disappear
upon each dawn I wake
hope is always near-

in humility I daily pray
for other sufferers' as well
we are all one united family
our common stories we share and tell

Success is rare, very much so

failure is that which does abound

and, not belonging to the former, I know

great company will be ubiquitously found

My own inspiration I'll create
waiting outside myself would be a mistake
what I'm breathing on my own is purer
and my works wouldn't risk being inferior

The deepest love is silent
      its poignancy is lost if spoken

Yawning stars and moon
       clouds drifting to the unknown
       shadows on windows

What does it feel like
to be rejected and abandoned
when so harsh and biting words
against you are spoken?

In the endless sea of faces
amid the excitement, you're alone
when the crowd roars in laughter
nothing's out there to call your own?

It's only you, no one else
who's the lone person
to stand unfazed and determined
to the nth power yourself to defend-

those who chided and are now watching
still with grin and hungry to scorn
you'll shout to them, proud and defiant:
'I'm the incarnation of Prometheus --I've won!'

Delve into the heart of things
   to truly understand-
   most see only the outer layer
   and are left in the wasteland

The future's greatest challenge:
MQ---moral quotient
infinitely more powerful
than EI (emotional intelligence)

copyright

Most labelling
  and name-calling
  is the product
of prejudice
  and self- justifying

The greater the fear
  the more violent the anger

Conversation:
   too often
   it leads to the wrong direction

There's neither
     the gain
     nor the pain-
     be indifferent

That which is light
      is easy to carry-
      being overloaded
      in life's journey
      is man's worst misery

They know
      because
     they learn
     to let go

Give me someone
who has no regret
perhaps even the saint
is not free from such

They say: to forgive
is a spiritual gift
I think otherwise-
it's never complete

Education
is less important
than edification

Nothing more spoils
than choice

The burden of life
   is easier to bear
  than that of the self
  which has unspeakable care-
  also the erosive wear and tear

Memory
the joy
and the misery-
would life
be better
if it were
deleted--
completely?

There's a time
    for absence
   as for presence-
   each with a different outcome