Forget high-flung
philosophy
only four words you need to know
to live life well and happily-

here are the four pillars of wisdom:
(hold them in your mind and in every activity)
they are so easy to remember-- surely-
'perhaps, 'maybe',  'probably' and 'possibly'.

The last bird-song has faded from the hill
The first stars  are awake, serene and still
I'm waiting by the silent lake
You must come to me for love's sake.

Here far away from the human race
None will see us as we embrace
Billions of lovers the moon and stars have seen
They know what love is and what it has always been.

Somewhere in time
do you still remember?
I was sixteen and you were fifteen
and you said to me: 'I'll love you forever'.

Somewhere in time
you left me for another
fifty years have taken flight
I really don't want to remember.

This call--mysteriously so
I scarcely know
from whence it does come.

It will not go
away
it insists that it must stay.

I can't make out
is this the voice of the past
or the future?  How deeply I doubt.

There are no words
in the call
more akin to faint chords of music--how they enthral

and I seem to be dangling
among the stars and the moon-  ----celestially--
(am I dreaming?).

Soon to sleep  succumb my weary eyes
and suddenly words dawn upon me
in my dream---you are your own call--there's no mystery.

Think not old age is about wisdom
rather it's about many an uncertainty
and doubts despite the myriad of experiences
life is not understood by years lived--it remains the deepest mystery.

Beggars beg in the open#
       all others beg in thousands of ways that are unseen by the world

The intellectuals can't claim
that they know more about life than the common people-
it is plausible that the latter may know more than the former
through their unique experiences, intuition and innate insight.

Between courage and patience,
I choose the latter as it is more enduring.

I should not say:
Let me understand life first  before I start living
but rather:
Let me live life first before I start to understand it.

The first lie is the hardest
all others
are easy

Don’t compare with others
only
compare yourself with the standards you have set for yourself

A flicker of light
is not seen or felt in the day
but shows its glitter
at night

By all means, be harsh with yourself
but
be gentle towards others, even to the undeserving

Don't say: I want love
instead say: How much love can I give?

Since ignorance is bliss
why should I care about knowledge?

This is common---too common--
                  You said this of another:  'Your arm-pit stinks'
                  He hit back in equal measure:
                  'Mind your bad breath'

Is this true in the lives of so many?
        ' I'm so busy
        Minding the matters of others
        I've no time left for me'

Most people seem to be chasing
   the things that mean least
   in the garden of life they ignore the flowers
   on the weeds their eyes instead feast

One word
saved my life:
Enough

It's harder to be not
     than to be
     yet the former
     makes me truly happy

' Do you understand me?'
A most awkward question to pose
It weakens you and the addressee
Senses your insecurity-- with a sneering nose

Would come the reply:
'What do you take me for--a fool?'
Think before you speak
You command respect when you are sure and cool.

Walls
divide borders
walls
they
separate
people
they alienate

walls
do not speak
but they hurt
and torment
in their grim silence
' verboten'
' no entry'
' go away'
' you aren't one of us'

the worst of walls
are those built
around the heart
they grow impervious
they are impregnable

walls are the refuge
of those who can't feel anymore
(they might as well have faces
constructed from concrete and mortar)

because I love you
no wall do I need
I'm an open sea
ready
to  receive you
as you step into my watery bed
in the sweetest embrace
face to face
in complete silence
that calms
every single wave

love knows no barriers.

Do you choose your dreams
or are they ****** upon you?
most of us seem unsure
it's what dreams do

that is the source of mystery
for you become a person bold and new
transcending life's banality and finding
a stronger and clearer voice--that of the reborn you.

When there's too much of me
I stop
and feel uneasy.

It's the perennial theme
the inexorable -the world and me-
it's real--not just does seem.

If there's too much of me
I must assume--the external
of things has encroached on my liberty.

I can only live
outside of me to some degree
beyond such I can't give.

Too much of me
I should not want
it would be a malady.

This, this only
will set me free
when there's little left of me.

I should never aspire
a leader to be
that would
be self-imposed slavery.

Neither should I
a follower be
in rejecting both
I would never lose my liberty.

They, they--the young-
they whisper behind my back
it's all written in their faces
(the young never think they would ever grow old)
' Look at that old man in the corner
at the end of his days....'

Hardly do they know
it's but my beginning
my glorious and sublime beginning
(time has its duty performed
with its too impatient brush
painting rough wrinkles and lines
all over my sunken and pallid face

yet it can't unseat me
here I am
still standing
on firm and unshakeable ground
never stronger
never more durable
never so resolute
never so sure
and secure
as I'm now
at the road's divide
where I walk in freedom
alone
on my own
heaving not a single sigh
nor would you ever hear
my moan

ah, it's the depth of winter
(I'm used to its harshness
and its frost doesn't bite anymore)
let the snow-flakes fall
one by one
in their selected time
each taking its turn
as a note in a rapturous song
follows another in sequence
in perfect rhythm and rhyme-
there is a sweet melody
in every motion of nature
only if one would lend one's ears
to the majesty of its music)

as I watch
from my worn-out curtain
I've time --- more than ever before
to count them
as they gently drop
on the silent garden floor

(am I a child again
in my purest innocence?)

how faithful, steadfast and robust has that tree
in the garden stood over so many years
(under its shade I happily rested as a child)
despite the wildest winds and storms
and the harshest winter
its branches still hold out
though more bristle and weaker-
thousands upon thousands of leaves
have grown old and now scatter
all around the last few drooping flowers

yet I know
come next winter
it will still greet me
as we are not
at the end of days

every moment
every season
is just
a new beginning.

The world is full of wise people
grant me that I be a fool
sadly I can't take lessons from such
myself alone I must school.

How I value my ignorance
wisdom has never been my domain
in the daily classroom of life
I learn word by word, again and again.

Each word speaks to me
more endearing than any teacher can
like a little child I listen to its voice
so tender and kind --never had I heard such from any man.

The world is full of wise men
but to that corridor I could never belong
grant me that I'd never my ignorance disown
only that I should not do wrong.

Einstein was great for his relativity theory
  but so naive in matters of matrimony
  Shouldn't  we say then his emotional intelligence was really low?
  This must have dealt his E=MC squared a deadly blow!

How can I make you
any promise?  Weak
so weak I am-- too many
I made to myself and broke--too ashamed to speak

after the events--damage I would cause you
and your hopes to the ground I'd smash
forgive me, my friend,  myself I can't trust
to say further is mere balderdash.

At night I see
myself
more clearly.

Daylight
obscures
I can't think right.

There is mystery
when the day is done
the mind is set to grasp reality.

Silence rules the night
(day is silly clamour)
the heart's feelings are at their height.

This calmness with none in sight
while sanctity and purity* its cool balms shed
I've touched the sharpest edge of beauty--how I love the night!

Courage speaks loudly
but patience is quiet and infinitely stronger

'It must be true
as not everyone can be fooled'

I walk in my garden
it seems to know me

My dog looks glum
as it can read my feelings

The birdie asks its mother
what is our postal address?

I can't abandon my tears
because each is my friend

The stars shine not only for me
but for all.

Don't say goodbye
say you will come back to me

I read your letter
and couldn't hold back my tears

I woke and recall
every word you said last night

It suits them
if I walk away
they would make sure
I don't stay

and this is the worst cut-
they would then say
'That man is a coward
He hasn't the courage to stay'.

A promise is a debt
  though not written on paper
  once made--from it
  you can't sever.

  You borrowed in gold
  and with gold you must repay
  a promise made is more than gold
  it has to be fulfilled before you pass away from the light of day.

There's no place to run to
no place to hide
self is dissolved
disintegrates--the tide

of blame and shame
inundates
and swallows up the sufferer
who struggles and suffocates

no help
is in sight
conscience is sharper
than the knife which with all its might

knows no pity
nor shows respite
this is worse than the execution avenged by an enemy
more cruel than words can describe.

Whoever or wherever you are
should you look at the stars with their faint but self-assured light
know that somewhere in a far corner of earth
there's this weary old man who walks alone at night

heaving a long unrelieved sigh
for mankind's irredeemable plight
for demise of kindness and humanity
for untold sorrows of millions as nations fight

proclaiming:' Dulcis pro patria mori
the clamour roars and deafens in hateful might
never mind if civilians are sacrificed
we are on the side of right'.

How serene and content are the stars
nestled in the tender cradle of night
while we poor mortals *****
in self-destructive darkness---with no real hope of seeing the light.

Do you want to hear more?
you I would further deceive
I 'm the trickster who always wins--
words I have perfected--a liar and thief.

Lonely women, sad women, rich women, neglected women
so many had fallen for my charms---I am poison-hidden
their money they parted in the name of love--all in an instant
I gave them hell and destroyed their dreams of heaven.

In the eternal spheres
where galaxies meet
they sing
and one another greet

as they have done
billions of years ago
taught by their forebears
their love of music never ceases to grow.

When mankind has gone to sleep
the winds and the clouds on high
can hear their celestial notes
drifting throughout every corner of the sky.

Poor earth,  where nations fight
where behind every agenda hides a lie
I watch the firmament and think:
for us the calm and gentle galaxies in sympathy cry.

Let the mind
be unprejudiced and free
let the heart find its true place
stand aside, be still and reality
will be seen and felt
in a new note and key
the veil is lifted
life assumes clarity
the best lessons are learnt
from compassion, selflessness and charity.

You say
' my wagon is heavy'
and this is my reply-
' the wrong people you carry--

unload them one by one
you they don't love
they came for a free ride
such people you don't deserve'.

We are all escapists
one way or another
moments overcome us
to our moods we surrender

comfort to seek
wounds and bruises to heal
courage and patience to renew
while past scenes their unwelcome presence reveal.

We are all escapists
one way or another
life is indifferent and takes no sides
we laugh and we cry, we rejoice and we suffer.

Believe not those who proudly declare
they are the invincible optimists
when the tides of life rock their boats their hearts sink
overnight they would turn miserable pessimists.

No one's permission you need-
living your life
is not like getting
a licence or permit
to do this or that--or passing
an exam-
you are
your own government
you are
your own authority
you owe none
any obligation or duty

it's your playing-field
to none
do you yield
only that to yourself
be sincere and true
for none
does care or bother about you
in their selfish and often
blind and senseless pursuits
so sad indeed but so true

it seems to me
it's best not to have a name
as namelessness attracts
the attention of none
it sets me completely free

how churlish
are so many
who assume
they are born
to superiority
who proclaim:
' look to me
be my follower
in me
you'll find your destiny'.

how much more
I 've learnt
wandering in the wild
of nowhere
where nature teaches and smiles
the flowers greet me
the breezes sing their songs
in glee
the butterflies, the bees
the birds,  the insects
the warbling stream
the dancing leaves
nature in her pristine beauty
beneath a mild and gentle sky
each living thing relates their own story

only, only
I should be silent
humble, empty
ready
their voices to hear
(how innocent this elemental life
that does over the folly of man transcend--
how sweet, how comforting, how endlessly dear!)

here
there's no coercion
no human clamour or commotion
here's perfect freedom
that teaches me every lesson
about living
I am transformed
transfixed
to the mystery and splendour
of timelessness

no one's permission
I need
this, this is my truth
my salvation
my liberation.