I always wondered,,,
if I could, play you a tune
and sing blue moon,
would you listen??

If my hair were a little longer
and it flowed just like hers
If my skin were only clearer
would you take photos of me,
so you can see me when I'm gone?

If I were only braver
and grabbed onto the rocks
you would see a lioness queen
hunting for your heart
If I told you what I wanted
we'd be dancing in our socks
on a rainy day we'd risk our lives
crossing the river path
I think if only I were only braver
I could climb to your height
I think if I only were only better
I'd be able to send the letter
that I wrote you for your birthday
still sitting in my desk drawer

I think if I were braver
I'd take what I want
I think if I had courage
I'd face the monsters
If I really cared about myself
I'd tell you no more
I'd tell you  you have twisted me
and made me cry
I'm not gonna keep asking why
for I think if I were more
I would leave you behind

The slideshows keep on flashing in my eyes..
This sinless, innocent girl has grown to be wise..
From riding on a swing in the lap of my mother..
and sobbing secretly after fight with the brother..
The father's  little Serin has built up her wings..
Set up to face the autumns and the springs..

The big and magnificent aura in which I elevate every year..
I welcome my day with both fear and cheer..
The set of balloons, banners and streamers arranged..
The chocolate cake on the table and the gifts exchanged..
The memories alive have kept me alive..
The happiness which I gather; I instantly archive..

On this day, I pray to god at the rate of my blinks..
Though, he answers me sometimes with his misty blinks..
But, the canvas is vast and the palette is laden..
Each day, I rise and mature to be maiden..
Yes, I am the sailor.. The sea is mine..
I am the sun and my job is to shine..

                                     - Stuti Tripathi

सूखी स्याही

बैठी हूँ सन्नाटे में.....मन मे लेकिन शोर है.....
उजाले से लिपटी हूँ.....पर अंधेरा हर ओर है.....
कुछ हसरतें हैं मन में.....जो सिकुङ-सिकुङ के रहती हैं.....
बह जाने की धुन मे न जानें क्या क्या सहती हैं.....
जेब की भार की चाह ने देखो क्या बना दिया.....
मंजिलों को छोङकर भेङचाल को पनाह दिया.....

कदम तो चलना सीख गए लेकिन थिरकना भूल गए.....
खिला दिए फूल पर महक छिङकना भूल गए.....
न फिकर थी,न जश्न था..अब मैं जिंदगी की गुलाम हूँ.....
पहचान पत्र लगा के आज भी गुमनाम हूँ.....
दूसरों की बहुत पढी..सोचा चलो खुद की कहानी लिखा दूँ.....
कोरे पन्नों को समेटूँ और सूखी स्याही गिरा दूँ.....


                                         -स्तुति त्रिपाठी

He doesn't know me
Neither do I know him

There's a lake between us
Full of fish

The fish does not belong to him
Neither are they mine

That these fishes belong
to neither him nor me
is a link that connects us

A sky lies fallen in the lake
and through the slopes
of cloud I see
the fishes slink away.
The clouds fallen, still
show movement when nudged
by the fish

Could there be fish
unafraid of birds? Look
at that sky in the lake

Would he be seeing this,
I began to think
and whether he will read my thoughts
I could not imagine
what he saw in the lake, and
there was not enough time

Let him think whatever he likes

There's a cigarette in his hand
The fact that there's one in mine
is another link that connects us

I think the smoke from my cigarette
and the clouds are friends
That's why I mourn the clouds
floating bloated in the lake.

Reading the face you know
His thoughts are unlike
There's no sadness in him

He might be smoking
out of boredom

He's darker than me
That too is a link, but
he doesn't know that I'm white
and that my blackness is an act

He too might have been white
and would have gathered soot
after being left by a mother
who lost all his memories

Can't be, he's black

The lake of clouds
where sky lies fallen
My curls of smoke
in the company of clouds

A me, unblack

Translated by Binu Karunakaran

I climbed the dark heaven to meet myself alone..
To smell all the roses and espy the stone..
Nevertheless, the cloud was frozen and the breeze was calm..
I saw her descending and coinciding with my palm..
Her plain white vesture was contrasting my red..
She was diffusing the divinity that I could not even bled..
Our faces were same but our aces were inverse..
She owned one whole entity while I was a disperse..

The moment was priceless and so were my emotions..
It was indeed the most breathtaking phase to my notions..
My other twin was bounded with a definite time span..
She was entirely a woman with the heart of a man..
"You don't live inside me, I have never sensed you inside,
Painted with shyness, you rather live like a bride.."
I peeled up my heart and had the eagerness to know..
If the sun lives in me, then why do I fall like the snow..

She smiled and glared down on me with the rays of her starkness
and told me how sturdily I have been lidded under the darkness..
Holding the flowers, she stands in the island of my soul..
She ponders my echo and waits for  the control..
She imparts her colors when my pallet runs out..
but puts on her cloak when my demon comes out..
Surprisingly, I asked  "You are my part. Why don't you fight out..!?"
She had an answer. She works eternally from the hideout..

In the midst of the stirring stillness, she reminded that I had to leave..
Ironically, I could not crave for what I had been dying to receive..
The same ladder showed up and slanted me back to my nook..
and the wind narrating slowly what I had given while what I had took..
I returned to my place which was as murkier as ever..
I sensed the time-It was cursive and clever..
Perhaps I will reap more strength to deflect the chirping into the roar...
to mend every single lapse and bring her back someday on my door..

The forever kind of beautiful
by
Jude Kyrie

*I fell in love with her beauty
it snapped on my heart
like a bear trap
impossible to escape from.
she was not just beautiful
like a model smiling in a magazine
she had a beautiful mind
she radiated beauty to all she loved
from a sun deep inside her soul.
even in her sadness we all turned
to her beautiful warmth like flowers
to the light.
her beauty did not come only
from her lovely looks
or any other temporary source.
it was ingrained on her soul
she is beautiful in a way
that makes beauty immortal.