A prayer that's self-centred

will not be answered

Marriage that has lost its laughter

becomes a withered flower

Life---a mere dewdrop

    how soon it will stop

    lo,  bright is the sun

    joys let's celebrate ere the day is done-



    in fondest love I stretch forth my arm

    tarry, not, my beloved, come, oh come

    to your beauty I'll now gladly perish

    you, you alone, are my dream's eternal wish

Myself I value- dispassionately -

but never ever to excess

honesty, truth and humility

I must never fail to address

An outdoor shelter

amidst lush plants and flowers

scene symphony

Don't worry about my name

you and I have both known sorrow

we are already acquainted  as such

that's all we need to know

I don't wish to be known
or I would be less my own

Don't force friendship

out from me

it will happen

when we are both ready


and you know surely

friendship is a high price to pay

so many have ended in misery

each in disappointment walks away

Hope is rough terrain

the steep climb, movements in pain

tears before the gain

Happiness speaks of life's half only

the entirety is spoken by tragedy

Colours' effluence

they merge, ****** and converse

become a bouquet

The past loathes to rest

it roars back to unsettle and lash

If life were a game

what would that be?

can you hazard

to give that a name?

Life can't be reduced

to an equation or system

there're just too many variables

each disparate--a conundrum

Geese heading for home

early moon rises o'er marsh

deep silence pervades

Between the dream and reality

the self struggles itself to find

the fantasy and the beauty

that haunts the heart and the mind

To the innocence

of my childhood I should return

every adult experience

leaves nothing much to learn

On slender branches

yellow sprouts stretch out to sky

a perfect morning

Rest, be still my heart

let the dark clouds melt away

love is here to stay

The hidden language of the heart

is reflected in her eyes

and in this particular regard

they portend the promise of paradise

A then tiny lad

'this is expresso' said dad

he's gone--I am sad

City drenched in rain

scenes appear like silhouettes

coloured umbrellas

When music's tender voices die

their echoes live vibrantly on

drifting to the faraway benign sky

new hopes and dreams are born-



what's sublime outlasts time

beauty wakes to greet every dawn

love in longing awaits the sweetest days to come

memories will bless hearts that are constant and fond.



inspired by Shelley's MUSIC, WHEN SOFT VOICES DIE

When human voices decay
and fade into the wilderness of time
and hopes seem so faraway
I will hold to music my soul to calm-

my forlorn heart will not weep
sorrows will not hurt or numb
I'll put the darkest hours to sleep
and rest in music's welcoming arm.

Birds perch on old rock

as emerald tides close in

a new day is born

Love is melting together
a relationship timelessly glued
two hearts and souls they quiver
life's highest bliss pursued-

moments shared to ever remember
times so glorious and good
a millennium cannot sever
true love shall suffer no servitude

There's a wasteland in every heart

     that awaits to be cultivated

     with love, patience and due regard

     an oasis of beauty and joy will be rewarded

I am still myself

whatever the past

age is never my fear

in love, joy and grace I trust-



the world doesn't exist for me

I needn't stretch out my hand anything to grasp

old scenes still keep many smiles

sweet memories never waste away like dust

We'll all know at the end

    silence shall have the final word

    all our ramblings will be proven

     to be inane and absurd-



     life, the perennial abstract--the we, the they

     the I and the you-- the dearth

     of meaning, the existential emptiness

    only around its dubious peripherality do we aimlessly skirt.

The very sap of life
  is beginning to dry up
  we're losing the virus battle
  even with our mightiest club-

  towns and cities repress their tears
  there's hardly joy in the cup
  ominous clouds blot out the horizon
  upon our very skin gloom and fears they callously rub.

Faraway village

under misty autumn sky

pervading silence

Dear Rosie,

It's true a large part of our character is shaped by our genes but we still have a conscious choice to become the person we want to be.

Most creative people tend to be introspective and some are melancholic too.

Love of our self and others makes us lose our egocentricity and we warm up to life's possibilities, beauty and wonders.

Life is never static and at every bend we can carve our own paths to find meaning and work towards self-fulfilment-
we are free agents and we always have choices.

If we have known suffering, heartaches, loneliness and alienation,
we will emerge stronger, kinder, more compassionate and, slowly and patiently, we will mature spiritually and come  fruitfully to our own--
with this self-discovery, we will be reborn and no future adversity can ever perturb our equanimity and tranquillity.

May you find the peace and joy that you so well deserve

from a fellow-writer

Every want is a bearer of disappointment
as nothing in life is ever guaranteed

The bad belongs to the good

sadness is to joy alloyed

life is perpetual flux indeed

what's built can be destroyed

Slender reeds afar

caressed by breezes of morning

river sings its song

A silent garden

reflects family's story

forebears are long gone

Where hilltop winds blow

gently against ancient trees

history unfolds

Nature treats the same way

           in regard to everyone

           if you don't believe what I say

           just ask the independent sun

Old home utensils

rugged beauty in kitchen

forebears remembered

My boat as my bed

I stare into pale night sky

lulled by gentle waves

Sandpiper's refuge

by the edge of blue water

in silent splendour

Sea of  blue and white

gentle waves caress brown rocks

beneath benign sky

Silence and solitude

      leads to the highest altitude

Let not the mind

be a dust-bin

of others' unworthy thoughts-

keep it clean!

The wound that's not yet bleeding

          is much worse than that which has bled

          it still exists in suspended suffering

          while the latter is free from that.

Silent is the night

shadows linger in forest

two figures appear

The hidden holds

a deeper mystery than the seen-

love that's unspoken

is the greatest beauty--the eternal evergreen

Humanism is my religion

none other do I know

my heart dictates

its voice I must follow

We are born
to live forever
in the love of beauty
nothing will sever

our loyal tie to life
in her mystery and splendour-
come, my friend,  every moment
we'll celebrate-- it's now or never!

Dear Samantha,

Don't rush, enjoy every moment as you move along, create your own rhythm and pace, don't look to others, trust yourself, be a friend of life, open your heart, embrace truth and beauty---life is a long journey---there are many moments to be cherish, also many that upset but every step forward is a lesson in living.  As long as you don't lose faith, you will fill your life with joy and meaning.  Best wishes