We climb the Koro hill.

Forty years and still ascending
gives a good feel.

We stand under a Madhuca tree
blossoming in March heat and rain.

From the hilltop
the valley down below
looks dreamy grey.

We've greyed and graded
past full bloom.

In the wafting fragrance of Madhuca
we pray to hold on
for some more.

My bed is still warm,
Still lingers the heat
Of her on the bed sheet,
Still warmly wet
With the drops of her sweat
From the toil she made
On this bed.
Strands of her hair
Are still there
Where her head
Touched the bed,
Trails she signed,
Her fingers designed,
While she was spent
For the divinest moment.
I know I can’t hold onto it
Her residues on the bed sheet,
I have to know in my head,
She’s warming someone else’s bed.

What magic is there in the spotless pin bird sky
Dreams sun in soft glow pause in whispered cry
Amid the cooing white doves bathing the aural calm
Lament the lengthening shadows of winters yet to come!

The silent wind stirs deep in to find the mind a wretch
Mourning of the moribund time of unseen wasted stretch
If only it could still pick up the threads of each instance
Retrieve what’s gone with them by a miracle one last chance!

The songs come back the past is heard in its sweetest voice
The years you lived you lived in full by your destined choice
Each of them the winters gone exists in sun kissed piece
So you live them this afternoon and you too they don’t miss!

You too they don’t miss is when the winter speaks its heart
For times will ever roll in amid the illusion that they depart
Amid the cooing white doves bathing in the aural calm
Someone you would be there in the shadows of winter to come!

Sometimes I feel so sad
burdened with the invisible
crying between heavy sighs
breaking under pain of a misty loss.

I'm alone in those times
under a sky of long past
in a place where moments gather dust
with faces I pine to see again.

Envelopes me a darkness
as thick as the feather of raven
stifling suffocating all I have
making what I lost on the way
golden treasures.

Sometimes I feel so sad
weighed like a blade of grass beneath brick
crying upon this passage a while
rowing rivers into the sea.

I was bleary eyed
when she left this morning

my sleepy sighs
couldn’t emit even a bye
just the sound of the lock’s click
made me sick
as did the lonely bed
that would make sleep such ****
make feel each breath
of heavier weight..

I fed the birds
to forget

the hour

she would be gone for a walk.

When chained in the abyss of sorrow
There's no light to show me tomorrow
I hum to myself sweet tune of a song
That lights up my heart before long.

It's the song that sets me free
Rain on the leaves, winds on tree
Cackle of a hen, cooing of a dove
Tides on the shore filled with mangrove
Night owls' hoot, cuckoo's refrain
They're all music made to **** pain
They dispel the dark, show me the way
Say life is a gift, live it everyday.

He scared the **** out of me
as he stretched his hands in invitation
and I would cry like hell
no no no........

The old gardener in between his toils
would come to our house for a glass of water
his thirst quenched would sing to me

baby I mean no harm no harm
come to me with love baby come to my arm
will take you on my shoulder
fetch you god's boon
will steal the stars for you
on your forehead paint the moon!

come baby just for once I really mean no harm
this heart longs for your silken touch
your caress tender warm

will fly you to the land of moon
lift you on feathered wings
fetch for you the god's boon
treasures of the seven kings!

my heart aches for you baby
my love rides high tide
in my arms be ever with me
don't from me go hide

will bring you the season's first shower
on your palm the morning dew
pluck for you the most fragrant flower
the arch of rainbow hue!

When I close my eyes can still hear
a child's no no no
and regret was lost in his fear
from a broken heart love's flow.

It was not till I had grown in years
and the gardener was long gone
mother told me he showered me cares
for I reminded him of his son.

The wind hissed in a queer pitch,
Waves broke with a thunderous roar,
The rapturously melancholic strains
Howled the entire length of land.
You might think I was on seashore
Caught in the swirl of saline winds.
Nay I was dreaming of the sea,
Pausing beneath a sky-etched casuarina!

poems flow from sheer habit.

the blue marble below him
looks a distant dream

wrapped in silence
frighteningly dark
he drifts away from it.

how he now lusts
for that curvaceous sphere
where he left his human part
to be adrift in the dark matter
rimless endless infinite!

once a patriotic earthman
he now travels a space
without nations borders
sinking into deeper ink of silence...

**he never loved his planet more
than from this distance!

He doesn't remember anything.

The dotted boats on the sea,
birds peeking from the bush,
a smiling ******* a valley,
a couple with a baby in the bus..

The places, years, situations
he looks at with a snug vagueness.

But he revisits them calmly
happy in the bliss of not straining
to remember.

The spaceship he boarded with them
is now cosmic dust.

Let them be left in that capsule of time.

Silent, dark, bats rest
Photos of a few days' guests
Peeling plaster, lost lustre
Years of life gone to waste?

The men now, little know
About the men then, hang hollow
The air dull, cracks on wall
The men now, will soon follow.

Once life, there lived galore
Dancing feet rippled on floors
It's all past, turned to dust
The masters left, so the ******.

Men now, they care not know
All will sink in time's flow
Cobwebs will rule strong
Spiders have survived long.

The barrel filled with ink spill on the sheet
Pulsate in joy dance to heartbeat
They dry up quick but not before
Sealing on paper all heart’s outpour.
Some are dark some pretty faced
Some orderly some badly messed
They fiercely battle none would be less
To touch your mind and find there a place.
Knowing too well impress they must
The fractional time for which they last
Freeze it chill or warm it hot
Smiles, tears, emotions, what not,
Doing it all the best way they can
Before fading out in their brief lifespan.

The barrel is full spilling on the sheet
Day in and out in ceaseless beat
Knocking time again on your door
Pleading you to listen to the heart’s outpour.

Just as I had penned the day’s last thought
I heard a pleading very faint
‘Would you leave us here in the dark to rot
Your palette’s leftover color and paint?
We ran the day out stealing for your sight
Whatever stokes your passion
Colored your dreams painted them bright
Molded each of them to perfection.
But you close the door on us once your job is done
Discard us in your mind with disdain
Instead of taking us out to spread on everyone
For us to be alive in your palette once again’.

This forlorn noon when the southerly breeze
scatters on earth the forest's flame
the Spring fires engulf the trees
my heart chants your name!

O wind carry my abeer to her
show not on them my tear's stain
whisper to her though she's far
mine she would forever remain!

Petal o wind her dark cloud hair
kiss deep her crescent forehead
hold me captive upon her stare
tell my love would never fade!

O Spring wind be my messenger
carry to her my passion's flame
tell her though she's now gone far
my heart only chants her name!

Under a grey winter sky
I pause while passing by
Dryness bares its fangs
On a bare thread hangs
Leaves desperate to hang on
Down below the grounds beckon.
For a moment a little doubt
Would new leaves sprout?
From surround serene and calm
I hear the winds hum
No doubt the spring will come.

On the stage
is the one
he is not

smiles shakes hands
holds close and tight
he is right on spot.

Hides the real face
speaks and shares
like he is a saint

blamelessly white
open in the light
without a taint.

Busy in the act
to keep away the fact
he is on guard

audience gloats
over crisp anecdotes
any dissent debarred.

From a distance
some in silence
read it in bold

the gore in the glory
the gaps in the story
and all that's untold.

thief, burglar, you're stealing again?
I told you not to touch my biscuit

never been a stealer dear never been
me a stealer? you surely don't mean

a lie at the start of the day?
and you aren't a liar you say?

I ain't no liar you know that sweet mate
I'm a liar when one is waiting at the gate
should I keep the biscuit back at its place?

I'm no liar dear I'm no stealer
come to be just a kind dealer
when one is waiting at the gate
but would go back without regret

enough stealer go start your day

*yay...............................................

Stepping out of me
ME encounters me
He doesn’t have my grace
Tells me on the face
It’s ME
Inside of you
That lends you voice
Otherwise you dumb doll
Is just a meatball
A zombie without ME
Eyes that don’t see
Ears that don’t hear
Live blind without a mind
Beneath skin bones 206
Always in a fix
Till breathes this ME
In you
Poetry

When he steps in
I see his reflection
On the screen!

Merry Christmas, the voice greets me
humbug I mutter under breath
greed hatred jealousy
only things you live with.

Keep to yourself your mirth
I sullenly brood
such lies are too heavy for this earth
done this place no good.

Relations under cloud of doubt
each soul bears a grievous injury
merriment had long gone out
the greet is just empty.

It's a pity you still find it merry
with all the injustice inequity
man classified quartered
children for food bartered.

Merry doesn't the word stink
while some choose what to drink
fuss about the flavor to savor
many reach it by thirsty miles' labor.

Merry can't hide away the glum
of human habitats in dingy slums
strewn on pavements under open sky
breathing refuses left to rot and die.

Still, Merry Christmas to you*, says the voice
the time is to give and rejoice
the world though is truly what you say
You, I, We, have made it that way.

Merry Christmas, the voice greets me
humbug I mutter under breath
greed hatred jealousy
only things you live with.

Keep to yourself your mirth
I sullenly brood
such lies are too heavy for this earth
done this place no good.

Relations under cloud of doubt
each soul bears a grievous injury
merriment had long gone out
the greet is just empty.

It's a pity you still find it merry
with all the injustice inequity
men classified quartered
children for food bartered.

Merry doesn't the word stink
while some choose what to drink
fuss about the flavor to savor
many reach it by miles' labor.

Merry can't hide away the glum
of human habitats in dingy slums
strewn on pavements under open sky
breathing refuses left to die.

Still, Merry Christmas to you, says the voice
the time is to give and rejoice
the world though truly is what you say
haven’t You, I, We, made it that way?

you know what it takes
you know what's the price
there isn't a love without a heartbreak
without unpleasant surprise!

you know how it breaks
you know about its curse
there isn't a love without a heartache
without bruises and scars!

you know the stakes are high
you know it takes your all
there isn't a love without a sigh
without the pain of fall!

you know its tearing claws
you know it leaves you hurt
still you love because
you believe it in your heart!

wind scatters the fallen leaves

mother roams helpless
child in her arms

fleas merrily peel the stray
and her two pups

girl offers her flower
for a dime

as the clock strikes three
the devout race for a glimpse

the deity’s stone carved face
beams with divine grace.

The terracotta shines in the westerly sun
when the man and the woman
fly on the temple courtyard
on the wings of time.

She touches the sculptured kiss
He stares at the ample breast
She blushes at the frozen mount
He awes at the curve and crest
She feels a longing to be his
He wishes seizing her for a kiss.

Shadows grow long on the burnt clays,

time to go separate ways.

One red streak
if were smudged lipstick
that landed on his cheek
when came his way a kiss!

If only did this kiss
stumble on his way
left remnant of a bliss
a memorable day!

He wouldn't erase them
but wish away a wash
preserve as a gem
the loud speaking hush!

He would keep this unspent
not let the mark grow thin
to remind him the moment
the kiss came flying in!

But the streak on his cheek
brightly glowing red
would heal in a week
was made with a blade!

She wakes me up deep in the night.

I understand you, she smiles
snuggling into me, her nose,
pressed cotton soft on my cheek

I have no strength, I cry
not one, for you

I love your weakness
love you for your weakness
her breath wafts into mine

and the boy stuck in his age
floats in the web
of the girl forever
forgiving.

when love takes wings
dances your heart strings
you feel stretched
miserable wretched
reborn as Cupid's avatar
tense like strings of guitar
find the world way too small
where she is the one and all
all of time and space
occupies only her face
you become too excited
to be farsighted
every word of hers
is music to your ears
blind in love with her
you're everything but clever
losing life's fun
jealous of everyone
till she says goodbye
and leave for another guy!

The man at the studio doesn't like us

we aren't pretty as the teens
not dazzling like the newly weds
our faces are pretty grim
smiles are once a river
foreheads dry riverbeds
eyes hold no commotion
but he does it for money
and winds up quick.

We walk to the river
where under the grey February sky
she plays with our reflections
babbling and breaking us
into unreadable pieces.

In between the sal trees
glistens the river in October light
inviting in the rustling of leaves
to kiss her gently breaking ripples.

She hastes down the rocky *****
impatient as the river gets close
giggling in the dream when her toes
embrace the chill of the late autumn.

The catkins on the other side
swayed vigorously to be with her
spreading with the wind their pollens
in a mad desire to touch her skin.

This October morn she was carefree
floating amid hijal, fig and velvet apple trees
with winds from the river on her sail.

I only watched the fairytale.

The higher you go
The fall delivers a harder blow!

last night's weary traveler
i was washing the car
under the blue skies..

suddenly the rains came
flooding my eyes!

below the golden flame
my hands were wiping metal frame
washing tyre's rolling pains
under the blue skies..

suddenly the rains came
flooding my eyes!

trickling sweats licked my skin
the car was turning shining clean
under the blue skies..

suddenly the rains came
flooding my eyes!

didn't know why couldn't name
sky was blue sun golden flame
smoked the glass deep sighs..

when suddenly filled the rains
fell noiseless from eyes!

She got her God at last.

Bathed and in white saree
she offers him his choicest food
burns his favorite incense
sits with him to converse
about the day and events
argues to make her point
smiles at his complaint
of less salt or more sugar
cries at his question
if she misses him
as much as he misses her
and the two reach out to each other
more than all the years
of seeking the fulcrum
to balance the bond.

Suddenly his shadow creeps on me
The tiptoeing man a new recruit
Walks with the tray of glasses of tea
There couldn’t be a man more mute!

The most conspicuously inconspicuous
He walks the office hall as in a trance
On a mission of filling and refilling glass
Seeing therein his salvation’s chance!

He moves around in a rigid detachment
Never hurrying and looking never eager
Except when he asks if you need sugar
All the day he repeats this one statement!

About him my envy I would now confide
Ill paid though he has taken life into stride
Lies unlocked in his breast the one mystery
One wealth to which he has found the key!

I held her in my gaze on the iron rail of summer noon.

This moment of humid silence wetting her heat burn cheeks

I knew would melt pretty soon.

Like moisture droplets on her lips and her palm’s sweat

This heavenly moment would retreat

With its phantoms of fancy it’s never too late!

Then sobered and in saner head

We would find our place under the banyan’s cool shade.

Here lies the dead wishes of men
once alive
the dense shrubs hide the pain
weeds thrive.

Here lies a grieving heart
once much joyous
the windows are broken and hurt
bricks break like glass.

Here lies the power of wealth
once pompous
now in ruined health
seems it wasn't all that precious.

Here lies the remains of heydays
once vibrant
with bones the jackal plays
reminds time is a tyrant.

Here lies moss on the wall
once finely painted
now dark and dull
the air is serpent scented.

Bamboo groves sing the symphony of winds
in their crackling I hear my heart
on the red lone summer road.

The village woman passes with her cow
she has no time for poetry
yet her radiance fills me to beg life
more..

O Death be a while away
I've taken root on this land.

‘The coffee is getting cold’.

The sweet retold
From her
Waiting with the winter’s brew!

No ambition I harbor
For here my woman
The best way she can
Makes steaming brew
Worth my savor!

She knows too
In the wintry nights
With her I crave to be
Sipping her hot coffee
With it drowning the winter’s pain
My only reward, best bargain
A sweet story retold!

‘The coffee is getting cold’
From her
Creating for me summer’s brew!

The cloth bazaar was quietly breathing rest.

I was scanning rows of hangers for summer shorts
picking up here and there
dresses without skeletons
smiling in the revelation
why skeletons don't need shorts.

I found a poem in one of those hangers
**** with no words
begging me to drape it with some
enough to make it one summer shorts.

Something welled up in my eyes
bare as the poem and as true
and thinking of it
I bought summer shorts
not one but two.

Ms Dolittle was giving her cuppa a sip
Her beady eyes drowned in deep brood
Last night she didn’t get enough sleep
The morning found her in a grumpy mood.

She had never seen them in all her years
Though read or heard about sightings
Dismissed them as mere conjectures
The believers’ flight on fantasy wings!

It might be the moonlight playing mischief with her
The moon can fool with such eerie nightly designs
Or maybe had a peg too many she couldn’t remember
She wasn’t unaccustomed to swigs of grapevines.

Whatever, she saw it clear not imagined in her head
The silhouette of her husband on the curtained window
Something she wouldn’t wish away as merely moon-made
He stood there upright waving to her in the moon’s glow.

Ms Dolittle brave as she is didn’t swoon or pass out
Just lay there motionless without rising to the summon
It was her husband about that she had no doubt
For in a troubled voice it said, ‘Come on’.

So there he was troubled for not having her company
And it was precisely what was worrying her
She had no idea with him how she could be

*She wasn’t yet booked for traveling that far!

star eyed yellow bloom
washed in sunlight's shower
the radiant healer of all your gloom
field full of sunflower!

The day flickers like a filament
before fusing into night.
Another day struck off from life.

Night and day
all will unfold the same way
the owl will prey a mouse
a woman will chant and pray
scent of incense will fill the house
the drongo will blend with the evening
and with melancholy seek one last insect.

The enveloping darkness makes me unseen.

Nothing stops
the earth will continue to spin.

The quirky signboard said it in bold
Welcome to the house of Sweet Fragrance
Here your hair will be shaped in the finest mould
While you relax in blissful trance!

I stopped by this name cute and smart
A hair losing shop called Sweet Fragrance
Tempted to go in though I needed no cut
Too impressed to keep a distance!

I stepped into a house with the finest smell
With the pretext to unburden my head of some hair
It was a Garden of Eden away from hell
A dreamy languor pervaded its air!

There wasn’t in the glasses a face to look
The place seemed a haven for the peacefully mute
I was offered a chair in the dimmest lit nook
To surrender myself to the forbidden fruit!

Time stopped blurred away my sight
I felt such bliss had no second chance
Knew why Adam embraced his plight

*Succumbed to Eve’s Sweet Fragrance!

Skins will wither times will gallop
But dear sweet seller never close your shop
So long throbs within my last heartbeat
Keep the shutter up feed me your sweet.

Words will frail looks will rust
But dear sweet seller run the shop you must
So long flows there love’s last stream
Keep the shutter up feed me your dream.

Breathes will frost the sun will pale
But dear sweet seller don’t stop the sale
So long my eyes aren’t dead blind
Keep the shutter up feed me your mind.

The moon will be gone stars will retreat
But dear sweet seller don’t stop the treat
So long the last lights in my eyes gleam
Keep the shutter up fill me to the brim.