We should be light and empty.

Isn't death so much relief in its nothingness?

Because I love life, death to me is only a metaphor

Let every moment

every encounter

be a silent prayer

1.  Expand your capacity for love, empathy and sympathy

2.  be humble , patient and content

3.  mind your own business

4.  don't judge or criticise

5    be fair and generous-
give everyone a chance

6  listen well

7.  accept the good and the bad

8.  pursue a simple life

9.  be grateful

10. have humour

We can't be diminished
by any outside force
unless our essentiality we relinquish
or give up our moral cause

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

Sometimes I don't need

either wine, coffee or tea

I just want to lie down

and enjoy being just me

I'll cling to the life of feeling
there's too much constraint in thinking
the heart should be ever unfolding
too much ruminating is beauty's sad demising

To the innocence

of my childhood I should return

every adult experience

leaves nothing much to learn

DESIDERATUM



Live simply

think clearly

choose selectively

speak truthfully

tread cautiously



act honourably

practise honesty

give generously

accept gratefully

be humble in victory





lose graciously

praise genuinely

show empathy

cherish dignity

face death courageously

If it were desired
with myself I would start
the world has its own business
it cares not for my living-art---

life's mysteries I can't grasp
I hold most dearly to my own heart
despite every uncertainty and hardship
from acceptance and patience I would never part.

It should be enough
life is stronger than rancour
discard the ugly stuff
dwell in the sunshine of splendour--

hearts that are tender, how they laugh
embrace truth and beauty in every wonder
meekness finds its way through terrains most rough
to utmost humility we should readily surrender

It would be a new beginning
  when the vain-glorious self is set aside
  the ego evaporates into nothing
  with the demise of pride.

  A fresh life would be waiting
  beauty enters the heart to abide
  in the fusion of love enduring
  is there any wanting beside?

Whether within or out
speak gently, do not shout

Why would I want to be ahead of others?
with none I strive
I have too many problems of my own-
with myself I struggle all my life

even if the whole wide world were mine
and I were ahead of everyone
I would be nothing and am empty if I belong
not to myself and would come undone

I would rather
be a useful something
than a worthless assemblage
of a thousand and one thing

Before I can act courageously

I must first learn to live reverently

I will not be anyone's favourite

enslavement that would be

my silent and humble self I will celebrate

there's no other way to be happy

Go forth into the day

         in unheard prayer

         pave kindness on your way

         be the unseen sorrow-healer

I do not get up in the morning saying to myself:

I will win.

Silly statement!

Winning what?

Am I exceptional and better than others?

And what I claim at the end of the day as winning might just be fantasy, hubris or pure nonsense!



I should rather say:

Walk gently into the day, be silent and unseen, know your station, perform your duty diligently, mind your own business, let others be, they have their roles to play too, let conscience, patience, humility and compassion be your guide, be kind to yourself, think not of material gain but of value and meaning, accept the setbacks and disappointments of the day, don't attribute blame to anyone, accept and acknowledge your failings and mistakes without bitterness, lend a helping hand to those in need, never seeking thanks in return--and when the day is done,  be grateful that you have been blessed with the gift of life and given the opportunity to participate with your fellow-beings in creating a better and happier world--

     in this you will come to realise that life is about giving and not winning.

I will tread gently
and slowly
poetry dislikes poets
in too much hurry

...but desire
  is more the moment
  after that
  it no longer does burn

If it arrives too soon-
your heart's desire
would you aim for the finest
or the simplest aspire?

Let not desire
be avarice
the latter
leads to griefs.

It's not
what I desire
that marks me
but what I don't
it's the difference
between earth and sky
two poles each
unto its own-

desires oh
how they imprison
caged is the heart
it weeps alone-

I had wished
to be made of stone
walled into bricks
I wouldn't have to moan-

but the harsh winds
of time had blown
and chillness had congealed
into my very bone

now as age rages
every desire I disown
my feelings have frozen
seeds of irreversible angst
I have sown.

The angst of day
has spilled over to the night
restlessness intensifies
hope fades and all is blight-

tomorrow will ensue
would things go right?
the heart sinks low
the poet loses the will to write.

The earth is deeply choked

it's dying, dying for air

beauty is gone in smoke

but so few do feel or care-



man is no angel but rogue

his ambition has turned the fair forest bare

the backbone of nature it callously broke

the carnage it brought is felt now everywhere

Detached
   only then I see clearly
   trapped before
   now I am free

Verboten---the word 'detumescence'
do not use this word in faint-hearted women's presence

Dewdrops
each speaks
like a tear of my heart
of bruises
and brokenness
of love
that vanishes
as each drop
is vanquished
in the mid-noon sun

I have lost
the will to love--
in my wintry heart
my life is done

Dialogue
sadly
most die
in deadlock

We are not one
but both--the external
for people to see
the real person in the internal-

Freud was quite sick--a fact it is-
his phobias were phenomenal
outwardly confident and austere
inwardly his psyche was abnormal.

Not looking back
restless is the heart
not planning ahead
gives a shaky start-

which road is best to take?
how to find life's living art?
is every choice a mistake?
it's not enough though one is smart.

Should I
or should I not?
my thinking shifts
I don't trust my thought

Saying yes or no
is equally hard
two forces are at work-
not just the brain but also the heart.

We don't like
our own company
we rush to our friends
to soften our inner misery

What should I write?
How should I write?
Today I'll set poetry aside
I just don't feel right.

My ideas are far from bright
my imagination has taken flight
my heart has feelings hard to describe
I suffer from the worst poetic plight.

Did I eat something wrong last night?
(The clinic is closed--I can't see Dr Shirley Kite)
my frustration seems to reach the height
I feel like someone who has lost his sight.

But why should I write?
I am paid nothing for what I write
poetry I must set aside
then I would be just right!

That I shall do on my own
not by others--never!
my self-diminution
I am my own judge and saviour.

Sometimes
the right direction
is not what's outside
but in the realm of one's intuition

I never knew
tomorrow
was hiding
beneath my bed-time pillow

Never mind the least
the torn book-cover
it might make the best reading
if treasures therein I discover

You and me in engagement
that but leads to disequilibrium
both of us couldn't be in full agreement
one of us would rage and squirm.

Relationships they tend to lead to estrangement
at their boiling-point do cause wild delirium
nature has endowed each person a strange temperament
when all is said and done, we are each our own planetarium.

Disgrace
when disgust hits the face

Life is disguise
trust not what's before your eyes

The mind should never bully the heart

lest it were to split the whole person apart

Most roads of life
are not wondrous
they impede and obstruct
never lead to the oasis
of the heart
while longing
is left bereft
panting and weeping
it falls apart-

how deceptive
was the journey's start
the world teemed then
with beauty and promise
youth didn't hesitate
nor need to regard
dreams were born
to decay and perish
with nothing to celebrate--

how love did tremble!
how bitter were its tears!
how it had lost its faithful art!
how the moments lengthened
into  the grind of sterile years!
how shadows had darkened
the lover's once-true heart!

Dismal is the day- verily
silently moans the heart
the angst and monotony
the bane that wouldn't part

but none could run away
of life everyone is a part
there are few joyous words to say
break, break and weep must the heart!

Not just
this May
but every May
don't dismay

..and time shall come
   not to hold my hand
   but to say: you will dissolve
  like the withering flower
  
  I'll not back away
  nor shed a tear
  the first kiss of love's lips
   so near it still does linger

  the scent I will remember
of her hair, her smile
the shine of her eyes
in that long-ago summer

love waxes but her memory
is short-- she doesn't promise
to cherish or stay forever
such a bitter lesson for the left-behind lover.

Because of you
a thousand miles
is* near---I can reach
you--with my heart and mind

Knowing how
to distance
oneself
is a great living art
proximity suffocates
relationships fall apart--

people are self-seeking
their needs and moods oscillate
how gratifying
it is to be with my Labrador
such joy and warmth we celebrate!