Even the weakest among us
will somehow survive
strength even thin as a straw is not to be scoffed at
it builds up to a critical mass with time--- to strive

and not to yield transforms
the most ordinary men into heroes
though unknown they thrive
and stand up to life's loneliest sorrows--

the strong have been too complacent
self-indulgence has weakened their spirit
they struggle to hold their own but sadly
they have lost their vigour and wit--

man is not born to despair
whatever the adversity be
amidst the ruins and misery
he rebuilds and triumphs in his fullest nobility.

I could find shelter anywhere
even in the cruellest weather
but the sanctuary of your heart
is closed to me and I wonder

why you regard me thus--
did I cause you grief ? Never
did I ever such intend
or have you found another?

If loving you is a sin
then call me the vilest sinner
how would I seek absolution?
I await your order.

This I'll say ere I walk away
You aren't getting any younger
I am desirable, strong, brave and kind
Once I've gone,  you might regret forever.

I'm dying
but death I deny-
I'm still living

though hope is not in the offing
yet  with every dawn
there's sweet unfolding meaning

as I've loved living
there's not a stint of sadness
in my soon-to-be departing

I've been listening
to Schubert's Das Tod Und Das Madchen#
death is a friend--a thought so comforting

my poetry is my life entire- -singing
to me is each line drawn from
my body-system which is failing

you my friends who brought me poetry books for reading
late into the night I kept awake
I'd been through Keats, Shelley, Byron, Wordsworth and Browning

yet more,  the other poets remaining--
the true poet never gives in to weeping
his poems triumph over everything

you, my dear friends, now I'm biding
you good cheer, do promise you would go away smiling
knowing I've loved every moment of living.

Last night I dreamt
I was a butterfly
light,  so light
as I glided like a feather on high--

all around was an endless expanse
of flowers of all colours---I
could hear them say---' You are not dreaming'
( I woke up ---still desiring I could fly).

All of life is summarised by
just two words---wishing and wanting-
wouldn't life be a mistake
if we know not the ecstasy of loving?

and thus strengthened each of us walks
the earth like the most blessed being
our faith is renewed, our hearts are at rest
and enlightenment gives us all the joys of living.

We are the shorelines
watching the ebb and flow of the tides
every wavelet as it ceases reminds
us of life's transitoriness-  only time abides---

the sea is gloriously beautiful
under the summer sky
but its splendour fades away
as winter in its sombre greyness draws nigh.

Emptiness
space infinite
without circumference
it is
boundless
borderless
nameless

being itself
being nothing
it needs no name

being self-sufficient
nothing else it seeks to claim

de nihil, nihil fit
from nothing, nothing comes
that which is empty
has nothing to give

to hold to its own
nothing can it receive

it is a law unto itself
and defines itself not
it does not even know
it is the mystery of mysteries.