There was a time when I was sane
when I used to walk among daffodils.
When they used to open up and sing
their unadorned song from hill to hill.

There was a time when I was sane
when the trees used to sway
and the leaves used to rustle
just to lay their flowers in my way.

When I was sane,the eagles
from their eyries,used to fly high
and block the sun with their wings.
Just so it wouldn't be in my eyes.

The clouds would come at my call.
And the rain would fall only for me.
The diamond drops would break
and bedeck the ground at my feet.

Looking at the night sky,
at the star studded lanes,
I would see the moon smile at me
and know that I was sane.

I used to create new worlds
with living words from my pen.
Full of marvels they used to be.
But that was all then...

Wrapt I was in fantasy
while the world moved on.
It has moved away from me
while,impassive,I looked on.

People said I was not sane,
told me that where I lived
there were no daffodils;
No promise in how I lived.

Now that I'm cured,I see
that I'd been but a fool
who believed Horton really lived
in the Jungle of Nool.

No magic rings in reality.
No wonderland or wicked witches.
No Elves nor dragons.
Not even Quidditch and snitches.

Now cured,I see reason.
The flowers never did sing.
Nor did any eagle fly for me.
Reason came but relief did not bring.

All those words I created,
All those worlds I cherished,
All too soon yea all too soon
All have but perished.

Now I see people toiling away
in richness,poverty and ignorance.
I see children bent with age;
In their eyes,everything but innocence.

Reluctantly now moves my pen
as I try to make new worlds.
Stringing letters together it desponds.
As lacking life,they are but words.

Everything used to be wonderful
when I knew I was sane.
Now that I've seen reality,
I know I must be insane.

I stroll into the bathroom
newspaper tucked under my arm.
The silent morning ambience
holds for me a special charm.

Whistling,I lift the toilet seat
to take my morning leak.
I'm stopped up short
when I hear someone speak.

"Morning bro,what's up?",
came the voice from below.
I stared in utter disbelief
at the toilet saying hello.

"Don't freak out",it said.
"Just do your thing,I'll do mine.
We can be the best of mates
till the end of ***** time."

"Oh well",I thought
and started where I left off.
Aiming into a talking ***..
Isn't easy..Hey!Don't you scoff!

"Wow!You've got a lot stored up"
quipped the rude toilet.
"No wonder they're saying there's
a drought in the nearby hamlet"

On-off,on-off came the flow
as the seat moved up and down.
Only later did I come to know
I own the most loquacious loo in town.

Irritated I told it to shut up.
"Bro,what will you p### into?",
it laughed,splashing water around.
No arguing that,it speaks true..

"Hey did you hear?
Old Loo-pin next drain
got married to Pottyara.
I hate her,she's too vain!"

"Work on your technique mate,
I've seen toddlers do better...
My,my!Seriously?!Still got more?!
I'm getting wetter and wetter!"

"Will you hold still!"I shouted.
"Hey don't take that tone with me.
Being watered in the maw ain't fun.
Swap places and then we'll see!"

"It'd be a lot more easier",I reasoned
"if you would stop yapping.
Who cares about super toilets?!
Now just start lapping!"

"Okay sheesh,someone's grumpy.
What?!show some pity on the loo!
Hey!Wait!Stop right there!!
Sh##,now I've to take poo too?!"

"Okay get this over with quickly.
You're choking me!!Aaaahhh!!!
Okay,never ever again take
chilly sauce with pizza!"

As I flush and leave,it cries
"Oh the horror!the horror!!!
All the perfumes of Arabia
cannot wash away this odour!"

I have kept it safe,
locked in my safe.
Preserved it with care.
Not a speck of dust,
no evidence of a fungus.

Yet I'm uneasy.
You see,I can't sleep.
They'll come for it.
They'll come after me.
I've got to hide it.

I take it in a casket,
cushioned and conditioned.
I wear a hood to cover my face.
I run through the masses,
through the cleaning robots.

In the future,a lot has changed.
They've stopped making them
saying they're bad for health.
But people still crave them.
And I have the last one.

I run into a dark alley,
open the lid to make sure.
A whiff escapes out.
The man in the corner catches it.
He starts coming towards me.

I walk away fast...
"He's got it",he yells.
People stare at me.
Start coming at me.
I take to my heels.

They're behind me.
Come from the side streets.
They're everywhere!!!!
I run through the trees,
run up a mountain.

They've cornered me.
No place to run.
Guns in their hands.
I take a step back and
I trip on a stone.

The casket opens and
it comes flying out...
and falls down into the abyss..
NOOOOO!!!!My precious!!!!
The last brownie!!!!!

I sit leaning against a tree
on the edge of a grove
under a star strewn sky
regarding a stream close by.
Waters glimmering,it softly flows
running to the river with glee.

Curious,I approach on my knees.
I see little lights in the water,
not of stars yet not within reach.
Phantasmagoria of images in each.
The stream runs to wider waters
thus carrying dreams to set free.

Now following the stream,
I walk beneath a dark leafy canopy,
the twinkling water the only light.
Like as in the darkest of nights
when the eyes can't see,
the heart being led by dreams.

Coming out into the open
I see the river stretching away
and a crescent moon rising afar.
I descry to my right a pale star
gliding near with a gentle sway.
Enthralled,I stand as one frozen.

Out of the night looms a ship
gloriously and delicately wrought,
silent oars dipping and rising,
smooth waters before it parting.
Truly a star it has brought
casting on the rest an eclipse.

She stands on the deck,alone.
Clad in white and in radiance,
slender yet not frail,
wearing a diaphanous veil.
Her gaze transcends transience,
Her beauty belittles beauty known.

Her eyes linger upon mine.
It seems but for a fleeting time,
a fleeting moment of eternity.
A moment of serendipity.
The vessel with a grace sublime
sails away,hallowed by her shine.

Topping a rise comes a knight,
armour soiled and stained;
weary yet elated
riding his black steed.

The Princess in her tower sees
and gives a delighted cry.
She leans out her window
and hails the knight:

"**!Brave knight!
Whence comest thou?
Tell me thou seeketh me
for I wait for thee."

"Truly",answered the knight
"It is for thee I am come
my fair lady
and to take thine hand."

"I've sailed the seven seas,
toiled through forests and mires,
traversed deserts and dunes
looking for thee".

"Oh the joy!"whispered the lady
and cried,"My brave knight,
glad am I to hear thee but
Didst thou slay the dragon?"

Answered the knight,
"My dearest lady,
I have fought the giants,
conquered the orcs
and tamed the lions."

"Oh brave art thou
my worthy knight.
But didst thou slay
the mighty dragon?"

"I have escaped from dungeons,
caverns with unnamed fears.
Scorpions and serpents
I have crushed to the earth."

"Wonderful art thou
my worthy knight.
But didst thou slay
the fearsome dragon?"

"I have ridden the behemoth,
subdued the depths,
searched the clouds and
fiddled with thunderbolts"

"Magnificent art thou
my worthy knight.
But didst thou slay
the red dragon?"

"Lady,you are besot
with the dumb worm!",he said.
"I wonder if she",he thought
"has been crazed in that tower"

Sighing forlornly,
said the princess
"I canst not leave here
till the dragon is dead."

As the knight turned away
to ride back,she asked
"Whither goest thou?
To slay the beast?"

"Nay lady,nay
I go to slay the dunce
who wrote you
into that tower."

"What meanest thou
my dear knight?!
There is another knight
who dabbles in magic?!"

"Nay lady,nay.
He is not a knight.
He uses his quill
to weave his musings."

Cried the princess
"Oh mighty sir,
Oh Weaver with the quill!
Canst  thou hear me?"

"Yes dear lady,"said I,
"What do you desire?
What can I do
that will please you?"

"My dearest Sir!
Oh my bravest hope.
Slay the dragon
and make me thine."

"But my lady
as much as I desire to,
you should know there is
No dragon in the story"

(Silence pervades)

"Oh my dear knight!!"
cried the lady to the rider,
"Slay this goon
and we shall be one."

Uh-oh...Time to put down the pen and run.