Time said to me, pompously
'I have had enough of you
don't you realise
I have done you favours--many?

I replied, not angrily
but soberly:
'  I asked for none
  all that I did or
  didn't do
  throughout my life
was the outcome
of my being born into the world
to play my small part
lest I fail myself and others around

how could I have taken advantage of you
as you are known
for your parsimony?
indeed mankind regards
you as tyranny

I count you neither
as friend or enemy

you have your things to do
and I have mine
it was you who raised the question
we should just stop talking
I have work to do
responsibilities to bear--so many

You have had enough of me?
but I have the right to be around
life is an open book
and a real democracy
so, respect my right to be
my integrity
I am not a garrulous
or recalcitrant person
just a simple bloke
who likes to live a quiet life
taking care of my own business
and not one
to poke my nose
into what others do
as you are doing
right now to me

I want to keep my boundary
and not have you lecturing to me
I am a free man, in every way--free
don't you have the humility
to understand and see?

You have had enough of me
it's your opinion
do I really have to listen) ? '

No, I am not a legislator
of the world*
only a voice
a tiny voice
( vox clamantis in deserto)
but the winds
shall carry the words I write
and scatter them
over faraway fields
mountains and seas
wherever destiny bids

somewhere
somehow
someone would get to know me

just words
words drawn
from the blood of my heart
words I have lived with all my life
and loved like the most passionate lover
words that have made me stronger
than I could ever  have imagined
words that have made me cry

they began so innocently
and I toyed with them
one by one
syllable by syllable
phrase by phrase
sentence by sentence

eureka!
I  have discovered
words are alive
they give meaning
to all that is in life
and above all
they define what I am
and have given me
the building-blocks
of
what is
what is not
what should be
what should not be
how to
how not to
to be
or not to be

the jigsaw puzzle
pieces are coming together
and a clear picture is emerging
( a long drawn-out process
but how rewarding!)

Words I no longer could leave behind
and they would not want to release me
then the day came
when I realised
I became words personified

no, I am not just flesh and blood
any more
think of me then
as nothing else
but words
just words

THE ARTIST'S SOLILOQUY*

I reproduce the world
in pictures
man in himself
in life
and in the universe
this eternal inter-play
is the sanctum
of all my works

I am a visionary
(a humble one
but no less sensitive)
I cry more than I laugh
as the world is the place
where mankind's tears fall
without end
due to man's own making

the heart desires
what it should not
for things
that don't sanctify
but man is weak
and morally falls
too easily
and drowns
in the nameless sea

nature weeps
for the callousness and greed
of man
who has her beauty defiled
and marred

progress
what progress?
it's just the breeding-ground
of greed and indifference

bulldozers knock
down the trees
chemicals pollute the seas
grasslands and fields
are sacrificed for construction
land has turned into concrete--***** and ugly

as I paint
my heart
is heavy-laden
and I ask
over and over again
what has happened to man?

World-focused and-world-rich,  heart-poor
    plethora of words--void of  content-
    slogans---speakers' delusions
    kindness--a weak word
   power--the deadly kiss
  (but those who wield can't see this)
   peace---it has gone to the bin
   war---the death of conscience
  love---has gone asleep
  ( often bottled up with the tightest cork)
  lies---survival tools
  (they bring rewards)
   friendship---size no bigger
    than a flower
   (can't compare with the size of any ship)
    wisdom--'wish-dom?'
    courtesy--everyone wants to be
    first in the line--can't you see I am busy?
   the ego--no boundaries does it know
   money---to have more is healthy
  (you with none--what a pity!)
   tomorrow--what tomorrow?
   ( today is the reward--the next day is too late)

     like the flower
     forgotten and neglected
     deprived of sunlight
     it begins to shrivel
    then it withers
    and dies

    man has lost his heart
    morally and sadly he dies-
    death of the worst kind

I am not ready yet
(far from it)
to allow my heart
to take over my life
it's still tainted and blemished
(the past its stories unfold)
and I am not even at the threshold
of self-realisation
nay, so far away
looking through
the distant deceptive mist
half-lost, tired and bewildered
while time is gnawing at my feet
I hesitate, I doubt, I tremble in the cold
like one trapped alone
in the depth of the desolate Arctic
without sleigh, food or water
what next?

the ice on which I stand is breaking
the cruel winds are lashing
my head is swimming
my strength is waning
and I say to myself:
I shall perish
and be buried in the snow

(here a miracle starts to unfold)
my heart
suddenly speaks to me:  
be a man
stand up and walk on

is that an illusion?
no--it's not

The ice suddenly turns into solid ground
and I walk into the sunshine of a summer day

My heart speaks again:
patience
patience
patience

and I begin to understand

Motto for today-
be silent
be still
be calm

close your eyes
for a while

breathe in
deeply
breathe out
slowly

be not in a hurry
(that's a step
closer to being happy)

step back
observe
listen

watch every word you say
such that
you don't offend
nor should you get
in someone's way

it's another day
and everyone is doing 'their thing'
as in a stage-play
some would be so eager
themselves and their wit to display
let them be
it's their day
(not for you to say)

but to myself
I can say-
put your ego
away-
it will be a great day.

Thus speaks the mind:
put away your MRI machine
I am beyond matter
my latent potency it can't detect
I am invisible and amorphous
even I am not aware of my own mystery
and what propels me
to do what I do
I know no boundaries
as I am seamless

and strangest of all
I don't even know what I am
however hard I try

I have a million questions
but have no answer

so take your machine away-
you are just wasting your time
trying to define me-
the unidentifiable, the incomprehensible and the immaterial