Fear is the surrender
the loss of control
the never reconciler
nothing breaks its stronghold

Feeling is tactile
not an abstraction
each draws a picture
in translation.

Feelings belong
to the heart
but their tinge
is reflected
in the eyes
and persona
unintended
off-guard

to ourselves
we could lie
our secrets
we could hide

somehow
we give away
in some part
we could
if we choose
to pretend
but aren't that smart

does she fancy me
do I imagine
or am deluded?
what's in her heart?

quietly she stands
a few yards away
not a single word
she does say

a message
she does relay
her feelings
she lets loose
from her demeanour
to me she's pleading:
stay, please stay
don't walk away.

FEELINGS
Feelings
are                 drifting clouds
ever               moving           at the whims
of winds        effervescent    ethereal
like                 ships             without anchors
will- o’ the wisp       where      are their homes
of what         substance        are they made of

like             the rose-bud         just nascent
like             ****** love           just unfolding
like             life                       mystifying
like             a lover’s  dream  somewhere hidden
like             shadows              haunting

I                was wrongly        taught
feelings   were                    rocks impenetrable

experience    now                     teaches me
feelings     are                    life’s   shifting landscapes
strange    quietly                evaporating
in            the mind’s         labyrinth
I               am glad             liberated
in             the realisation  
I am         not                   made of rock

Their feelings they have hardened
life shouldn't be allowed to hurt anymore
the heart buries itself in deepest sand
in some faraway hidden shore

where only the moaning
of the sea and the winds are in store
the self dissolves and in silence weeps
it vows never to suffer as before.

Me, you, him and one more fellow
sailing in the ship out at deep sea
alas it was leaking fast--what should I do?
all that I needed to do was to save me!

By all means
have fervour
only ensure
you don't fall over!

Let there be light
the world is shrouded in darkness
it will banish the sorrows of night
and its accompanying sadness.

Each heart is a silent candle
a nascent flame in waiting
when love has come to settle
peace and joy shall adorn every morning.

Life could be lived
as though in fiction
for we are not what
we seem---a true condition?

The wife said to her best friend:
'I HAVE to file for divorce
this husband of mine to no end
is having Internet social *******!'

After all is said and done
(  fill in the blank--everyone)

At the end

      where would I stand?

Before my eyes
I finally shut
this line I'll write:
ah, poetry is the GREATEST*  art!

I could give up time
but not you, oh never!
every kiss shall be sublime
oh, don't you leave me ever!

FIRST LOVE

I buried my wild youthful dream
In the sand of a faraway shore
I promised myself
Never to return there any more.

Time had taken flight on relentless wings
I thought I was brave and strong
Still that dream returned to haunt
Like the endless echo of a melancholic song.

Once she said she loved me
Begged that I would not abandon her
‘  You are my heart’s content, my solace
Believe me--I will love you forever’.

How fragile and forgetful is love
Who knows its inconstancy?
Love that betrays murders the heart
‘ La Dame Sans Merci’.

Who knows the secrets of the heart?
Is love an illusion and fantasy?
Who knows the how and why
Of that which is life’s most profound mystery?

Explain it  if you may
You would need words to cover
The whole sky and the widest sea
It would be wise not to endeavour.

I am dying, dying now
And that distant shore speaks to me
You must return before your last sunset
Perhaps, perhaps, you will be set free.

I buried my wild youthful dream

In the sand of a faraway shore

I promised myself

Never to return there any more.



Time had taken flight on relentless wings

I thought I was brave and strong

Still that dream returned to haunt

Like the endless echo of a melancholic song.



Once she said she loved me

Begged that I would not abandon her

‘  You are my heart’s content, my solace

Believe me--I will love you forever’.



How fragile and forgetful is love

Who knows its inconstancy?

Love that betrays murders the heart

‘ La Dame Sans Merci’.



Who knows the secrets of the heart?

Is love an illusion and fantasy?

Who knows the how and why

Of that which is life’s most profound mystery?



Explain it  if you may

You would need words to cover

The whole sky and the widest sea

It would be wise not to endeavour.



I am dying, dying now

And that distant shore speaks to me

You must return before your last sunset

Perhaps, perhaps, you will be set free.

FIVE HAIKU

1

At the last bus stop
a woman alights with child
a man waves to them

2

Two boys on the beach
quarrel over some pebbles
their mothers watch on

3  

Red late-autumn leaves
fall on old wooden benches
the park is empty

4

The crow on the roof
surveys its usual domain
It has not eaten

5  

Under the lamplight
a boy is kissing a girl
watched only by stars

FIVE HAIKU

1

Beneath the blue sky
a dinghy sails in the sea
sky and sea embrace

2  

Last rays of the sun
children hear the mother’s call
‘dinner is ready’

3  

Picture on the wall
I was playing in the field
Tears began to fall

4  

Rain falls on the roof
sa, sa, sa, sa, sa, sa, sa
all sounds are drowned  

5

Letter has arrived
I rush to read its contents
It reads: Love, goodbye

FIVE HAIKU

1

The sunset’s last rays
light up my beloved’s face
I just want to stay

2

Red autumn leaves fall
one by one on the  wet ground
the crows pass them by

3

The town languishes
it’s the coldest winter night
the streets are empty


4  

The same fisherman
the same river he travels
he feels not the same
5

Friends of long ago
meeting after fifty years
they struggle for words

5  HAIKU ( 3rd COLLECTION)

1

The last train arrives
  a man in dark suit alights
  the neighbour’s dog barks

2

    A broken cycle
    leaning against an old fence  
    who was the owner?

3

    The evening bell rings
     children rush home from the field
     it is dinner time

4

  It’s a holiday
  all the city’s shops are closed
  no beggar is seen

5
   In the wet marshland
   the pelican spreads its wings
   ready for take-off

FIVE HAIKU ( 4th COLLECTION )
1

In the dry marshland
the pelican flicks its wings
it looks at the sky

2   Where are you David?
I am in the garden mum
I caught a spider

3

No smiles in the train
mobile is the companion
long and sad faces

4

The telephone rings
the child rushes to answer
dad says he's not home

5

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain
water rushes to the drain
the kids clap and clap

FIVE HAIKU (5th COLLECTION)
1

Two old men converse
in low monotonous tones
their eyes seldom meet

2

Evening deepens
casting shadows on the field
the birds fly away

3  The bird in the cage
    it struggles to fly away
    as it thinks of home

4

I bought a painting
(from the antiquarian shop)
marked: ' painter not known'.

5

One of the kids cried
(they were ******* gelato)
' ****, I have dropped mine!'

FIVE HAIKU (6th COLLECTION)

1

The bird soared on high
too soon lost amidst the clouds
I watched and waited

2

Music heard at night
always makes me want to weep
what's in my heart?

3

In the crowded train
the mobile is life-saviour
it's the daily food

4

At a concert hall
wife whispered to the husband
Mozart was not deaf

5

The sky meets the sea
now your eyes are meeting mine
I know what they mean

FIVE HAIKU (7th COLLECTION)

1

White sand and blue sky
a broken boat by the shore
I thought of my youth

2

At the concert hall
right time for all to impress
ne'er mind the music

3

Balloons in the air
kids throw away their text-books
their parents look on

4

We are all dreamers
but our dreams are not the same
we don't tell others

5

Pen and blank paper
the poet looks through the window
his hand starts to move

FIVE HAIKU (8th COLLECTION)

1

I saw a green snake
no time to think of its name
I just ran away

2

Moss grows on the fence
on which rests a tiny bird
the camera clicks

3

Insect sounds at night
a glow-worm flutters about
flowers droop in sleep

4

Goldfish in the bowl
blowing bubbles all the time
does it sleep at all?

5

At the gambling house
all eyes were on the machines
many sad faces

FIVE HAIKU (9th COLLECTION)*

1

Mother on wheel-chair
young daughter pushes and chats
they seem so cheerful

2

A hidden old lane
graffiti spread on the wall
who and when painted?

3

Among the antiques
stained photos of long ago
of married couples

4

Hamburger outlet
mothers wait in a long queue
' mum, I am hungry!'

5

Pots of red roses
so prominently displayed
the florist wears pink

Learn
from
mistakes
of yesterday

What is that life
that's not somehow fixated?
Freud was an addicted collector
somewhat obsessive and deluded

Flashback into time
but in measured slow motion
past scenes revisited
in controlled emotion-

the blind pursuit of success
without the least compassion
never an eye for the good of others
all was self-preservation-

'I have but you have not
I hold the superior position
you are left too far behind
while I ride high on massive acquisition'--

now the darkness of life and time
sets in without individual distinction
pride and pomp will take a back-seat
as even the most powerful are locked in self-isolation.

Floating, floating, floating
floating in the thin air
drifting among the myriad clouds
high, so high up there--

lost in the stratosphere
(beyond time) of nowhere
carried by winds so fair
with such bliss none else can compare-

away, away, away
from the angst of fever and care
in this newfound realm beyond
where peace and beauty declare

their glory. As though borne
by mysterious wings-- there
earth melts into nothingness.....
(the alarm clock rings---I drop from the air!)

Flowers know their season
    those of my heart know none
    be it the bitterest winter
    or when the world is baking in melting sun-

    sprouting from its evergreen garden
    as though love's tender blush as just begun
     in such alluring blends--red, blue, pink and golden
    for her I'm waiting--- from her dreamy eyes I could never shun.

Should we remove the flowers
from the stem where they belong?
would they not weep to be snatched away
from home and their loved ones? Don't we do them wrong

in violating their rights to be left alone?
the vase is their prison and for freedom they sadly long
while we pass by without even giving them a single look
celebrating our party in wine, dance and song.

I was a child then
leaves and flowers
I adored even when
they were drenched in rain-showers.

My joys multiplied
foliage of every kind
stirred my imagination
deep impressions it left behind

seamless colours, shapes, sizes
a collage that did humble
the paintings of the masters
whatever genius they did assemble

time has stolen such grace and majesty
old age is telling on my face
I'd gladly perish with every
flower or leaf where belongs my place.

It's sheer folly
to be at variance
with somebody
an imagined enemy!

What's wrong with my being silly
if folly were to make me happy?

It's the loss of so many--a ubiquitous malaise-
too much chagrin the world indeed does know
the planning, the craving , the competing
and achieving--they take toll and life loses its glow-

footloose? an inane poetic advice
don't say that--it's puerile--oh no!
life is never a holiday nor a charmed tale
and really there's nowhere to go--

travel?  wanderlust? nothing better to do?
only the idle, the fool and mindless do so
leave the field, the sea, the mountain and hill alone
why bother which way the winds doth blow?

watch, oh watch how the share-market prices rise
up and up and the bank account's figures grow
footloose? take a break, relax--are you out of your wits?
success, power and money is the only show we know!

Light of weight
timid at heart
society-shy
I stand apart-

footprints are meant
for the strong and the large
the sand I walk feels me not
it has no reason to barge.

A step at a time
   light as feather
   leaving no footprints
   untraced by any other--

   distance is relative
   neither near or far does matter
   the journey and not the arrival
   does count better and more sought-after.

My beloved, say nothing
just give me your tender hand
our eyes will do the telling
our very hearts we will understand

Our human life
                Is but part of nature
                Splendour is everywhere
                There’s endless beauty to treasure.


                My artist-eyes roam the earth
                I see the beauty, not the terror*
                Of wild life and animals
                 My heart feels no tremor.

                How else could I paint
                If I set myself asunder?
                I should be the observed
               As well as the observer.

               Life is the undefinable mystery
               Yet I would count no creature as error
               My art is gratitude and surrender
               To some deep Unknown Power

Life then
       an image
       a symbol
       a metaphor?

       are words
       real?
       what do
      they mean?

      what's love
      do lovers know?
       a lacuna
       a shadow?

        you and I
        blood and flesh
        we don't belong
        don't we clash?

         the moment
        the hour
        ghost of time
         under cover?

         only this I trust
         poetry's power
         in it I'll die
         yet live forever.

The life best lived

is still a foreword

there's much more

waiting to be said

Oh Lo
write a-gain
each word a sweet echo
a bright refrain!

Too much philosophising
ruins the joy of simple living

Many reasons there are
  for forgetting
  I can't tell what yours are
  I choose the non-remembering.

Remembering is easy
forgetting is hard
less to do with the mind
it's more about the heart--

memory binds like cello-tape
it's a permanent resident that refuses to depart
digging into the darkest corner of the being
it unrelentingly tears the person apart.

It's in forgetting
that I best remember
the sunlit moments
of the past---they gather

when painful memories
take leave.  My heart should never
retrace the paths of pain trodden
which have long drifted away in time's river.

For J.A.
My violin is my very voice
my deepest thoughts it does convey
amidst my darkest lonely hours
it drives all my sorrows away-

to a celestial realm we belong
where beauty is beyond words to say
the edge of eternity we together touch
where the brightest sunshine adorns every day.

My song has taken holiday
my heart is lost in the wilderness of nowhere
love is bitter and walks away
life slumbers in listlessness.

Tomorrow--what has it to say
and what would my past love declare?
she might walk by but would not stay
useless of me to utter: life's unfair!

Poets voyage in the same boat

towards the Shore of Beauty

though each writes in different mode

their hearts flutter in shared humanity