This is the age
    of angst and rage
    the evil of man
    has exploded
    and morality is dead-
    nations in wars
    and conflicts
    innocent lives
   have been lost
   yet there's no sign
   of pity or remorse-

   the tears of mothers
  and children fill the earth
  the lives of husbands and fathers
  are sacrificed for no worthy cause

  will there be peace?
  Will poor souls be consoled?
  Will love overcome hate?
  Will evil be cut away from its wicked source?

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

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

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!

I'm a bachelor
what love is
I don't know
poets romanticise -
their way
I don't follow-

my married friends
I asked:
'What is love?'
Their eyeballs
nearly dropped over

in rebuttal
they put me
to task:
' Would you know
the taste of an orange
apple, pear or plum
if you hadn't eaten?'

To them I replied
' When I got married
  some fine day
  perhaps
I might know
but right now
it's still a question-mark!'

I don't wish
to know more
it'd only cause
me more sore

'DO EVERYTHING ONCE’ ?

‘ Do everything once’—how common the exhortation
  Why just once, why not twice or even thrice?
  How many lives have been ruined
  By this inane advice!

  ‘Do everything right’  
   That should be the way to go
    Life has too many pitfalls
    Those who have fallen will tell you so.

In destitution I went
        to the pet-shop to buy dog-food
        the salesgirl sternly asserted
        ' it would do you no good!'

          I persisted: what dogs consume
         that surely I could
         she gave me a wicked look
         which spoilt completely my day's mood.

A stupid question
of course I don't know-
that prompted you to ask
so that a poor figure I would show.

Do I ever need to touch
the magical moon and farthest star?
I have much more than much
our hands reach out to each other's and hold no bar.

It's not the world I've done with
(I don't go out seeking any enemy)
but one person--the singular-
the most unaccommodating---ME!

Do not believe in me
for your dear life's sake
rather place trust in yourself
thereby avoiding a grievous mistake

Do not love me
too much--I can't repay
I'm less than worthy
the right words I can't say-

in my silent heart only
I whisper: love must survive the darkest day
for my wrongs, I beg you to forgive me
if some day you should cease to love me, I'll go gently away.

Do not measure me
unreal is my outside
a camouflage built tightly
a deception there does reside.

Do not remember me
I'd rather you forget
lest I were duty-bound
to reciprocate-

the day is darkening
soon it would be too late
these are my last few words
I've nothing more to relate.

Do not say to me:
'I am not ready'
it begs another question
'when would that be?'

Just answer with heart and soul
in unequivocal honesty
we would then know
how to move on-- sans uncertainty.

Are you brave enough
to be like him--just for a day?
a 21st century Don Quixote?

Don't tell them

they wouldn't believe

lest you end up

in utter grief

Don't say
     you love me yet
     me you hardly know
      and would later regret

      watch and study me
      in every facet
     my warts and all
     where my goals are set

      love should not be
     the subject of haste
     abide by your time
     in patience, diligently wait

If you are
too busy
or in great hurry
don't write poetry!

Don't say 'love'
when the proper word
is 'like'
meaning it does hurt

Don't tell people
what you know
all you need to say is:
' I don't know].

Tall-poppies
will be cut down
those hidden
upon them others don't frown-

don't tell people
your likes or dislikes
the books you've read
your travels-- none delights

in your boasting
they find such as most irritating
the moral:  be quiet
say nothing!

Don't!  Please don't give me
as for that I never did ask
it would destroy my individuality
and saying 'no' would save me from being put to task!

Don't aim
to be a brandname :
you will go very far
just as you are

Life does not inspire
     it only makes you perspire.

Don't cheer me
my race has just begun
not for public show
only for myself
no one has to know-

every life is its own
its footsteps
it has to faithfully follow
in quest of its true self
to reach a meaningful tomorrow

I'm an unfinished product
I still have thousand miles to go
don't cheer me at all--
that's really uncalled for!

Don't chide me
      I've done that
     to myself
     to last a whole century

I ain't young
any more
time has spoken
but I don't deplore

you'll see me
at the dance-hall
in rhythm and rhyme
unfazed at all

I'll be at the village-fair
to taste the latest ware
and admire the ladies
in their best flashy wear

if invited I'll go
to the stage to sing
though not a good singer
I'll give my everything

don't you say to me:
I'm too old and a useless thing
my heart is the green meadow still
I'm as buoyant as the brightest spring!

Does the clock
click backward
for your sake?

Don't ever
allow time
to decimate
or diminish you

DON’T GET MOON-STRUCK

Don’t get moon-struck
It’s full moon tonight
You would lose all your senses
You can’t think right.

You hear the  seductive music playing
The **** buxom lady is singing
Your heart goes wild with beating
You can’t hold back your longing.

You go forward to the singer
With your fantasy and say-
Join me for a drink
Midnight is still far away.

Meantime, the band goes frantic
(The moon never seems more bright)
The rhythms sound like those of Bolero
Of reality you totally lose sight.

You have had too much wine
Courage is talking louder and louder-
O Lily, I truly love you
I could never love another.

How sweet would the honeymoon be
Under the beautiful Hawaiian night-
I am the world’s happiest man
All my woes have taken flight.

Twenty-five years hence
It’s full moon again
You walk alone in the sombre night-
'Ah, I never knew love is so much pain'

Don't be too eager to remark
on your neighbour's garden
just look carefully at the rot
of your own backyard

I'm not referring
to my credit-card
(don't own one)
but verily to my heart!

Don't pick me-
I am a pygmy.

because
it's BLANK!

The cat--meow, meow
the dog-- wow, wow
the lover--now, now
the saint---bow, bow.

The philosopher---how, how
the cattle-farmer-- cow, cow
the pig-rearer     --sow, sow
the Zen-practitioner--Tao, Tao.

This couldn't  be true--you'll agree
I wrote a nonsense 'poem' called THE DAY
A few readers replied in a jiffy
And remarked: It's OK!

Henceforth no serious verse (in any tense)
Should I write---nonsense is much easier
Wouldn't it be nice if life were non--sense
Then wouldn't everyone of us be much happier?

Don't regard
me a poet
I'm not
perhaps never
to qualify
as one-
a solemn truth

still swimming
in the sea
of words
often struggling
to keep
my head
above water
to escape
drowning

so
don't call
me a poet
I'm only still
a weaver
of sentiments
a learner
from the Masters
a lone traveller
in the desert
in search
of self
to place
myself
right in
fitting words

yet
I despair not:
it's enough
to have
into such
ventured

When things
are taken
for granted
nothing
moves forward-
apathy
and indifference
take hold
of the person's life
he exists
in the wasteland
he has created

gratitude deserves
the greatest respect-
it's a mark
of true humanity
that has to be
always cultivated

DON’T TRUST MY WORDS

Don’t trust my words as even I, myself
of all people, have begun,
quite often,
to doubt my own utterance,
the urgency, this (self-professed ) poignancy
behind these skilful,  self-deluding words,

For,
how could I speak against myself,
be my own accuser,
and become the laughing stock
of all those around me?

You see,
I have become a prisoner
of my own words, the seeds
sown since my childhood
have taken hold
surreptitiously
of my whole being:
I have become what my words
want me to be.

So, my love, if you still love me
or think you still love me or know
still what love is
you should not ask,
but be quiet… look into my eyes,
feel my pain, share my sorrow-
we would both find truth
beyond words
in this borderless silence.