Fantasy and reality--
the former tickles
the latter stifles

Far enough
I've gone
if no meaning
I've found
it's time
to step back
to once agan
reflect
on the why
of things
life's lacuna
its mysteries
at every corner

perhaps
I've travelled
too far
in senseless search
when the answer
is already within myself

but it's not too late-
to my heartland
I've  now returned
emboldened
freshly awakened
by experience enriched
nothing has been lost
or stolen--in no way
have I been diminished

Farewell should not be
melancholy
it's the moment
that will flower in memory.

Farewell to the song
to every beauty beside
life is not eager to last long
joy is reluctant to reside

dreams to the foolish do belong
the heart is weak and cannot guide
the journey's road-signs they sadly prove wrong
in the end only disenchantment and sorrow abide.

To die should hold no fear
    but is a life fulfilled
    the day's sunshine will wane
    unto night's silent hours it must yield

  yet it will be good to learn
  how gladly to die
  in the calmest acceptance
without heaving even a tiny sigh

  too much of being life-enamoured
  is in an unbreakable net being caught
impermanence is the eternal law
all things will end in naught

beatitude it is in farewelling
my heart has no sense of loss
whatever that which is beyond I question not
unto that unknown I must willingly cross.

So, this is farewell-time?
You haven't stayed
long enough
the essence of the now
you've hardly grasped -
the seed you've just planted
is still germinating
under the silent grass:

a call far too soon
evening is yet
to come to pass-
you didn't give
love a chance-
its faithfulness
you've failed to trust-

youth has just woken
let its hours last
spring hasn't set in
you've let go
much to fast

too impatient you are
too eager away to rush-
all your hopes
and dreams
you've foolishly
into oblivion cast!

Know this:
there's no coming back
you've broken someone's heart
the line of no return
has been drawn
oh, how sad
how grievous
alas! Alas! Alas!

By then
we'd no longer belong
to nor need each other
and taken different paths
to the eternal unknown

the most sublime
is never spoken

there would be
no reunion
but silence
all-pervading
dead is every note
and song

words stop
they evaporate
into nothingness

farewell

the heart is at rest
nothing else
need be discovered

It couldn't  be far
it's only 10,000 miles
for the love of you
I'll travel to the furthest star

Life I will diligently farm
such that the richest harvest
would be the outcome.

He who has no fear
minds not whether
the journey
is far or near.

I've said too much
it's time to fast
words of mine they festered
meaning they hushed.

Freedom of speech I did abuse
its content no longer do I trust
a prolonged hiatus I badly need
that I might grow in understanding at last.

Father said
  to dutiful son Peter:
  why marry, my boy?
  you would be locked up forever!

There's nobody better than our father
exception!  Our mother!

Don't you say to me
' Draw your line'
  pencil and paper I have none
  don't you know I'm also blind?

For a favour I shouldn't ask
  others are more deserving--
I would be put to task
to care only of my own well-being

Fear
the self locked-in
no exit
it's stuck on the skin

Fear--the sense
of impending doom
courage flees all at once
and has no room
to stand on its own
by imagination
compounded
which adds further
to the gloom

the cure
is not to fight
but to empty
the self
that which
is empty
has neither
uncertainty
nor fear-
at all

When it's perceived
something external
is stronger and threatens
fear arises--it's a phenomenon internal.

The day that fear crept into the human heart
the whole world convulsed and all order fell apart.

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

Does feeling
incorporate
unconscious thinking?

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 can't be replicated
they are specific- moments created
each bears its particularity and nuance
every encounter is marked by difference-

(say) a man is attracted to a woman
the first sight induces a wild passion
when they fail in love at a later date
that rush of affection might have disappeared:

of such human nature is made:
there's no known way of escape.

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!

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.

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.

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

Work harmoniously with your team

Learn
from
mistakes
of yesterday

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