The English Charnel
of course,
he meant Channel
but he could have said
funnel or whirlpool
and we'd have known.
because
it's becoming the graveyard
of those poor souls
who fought hard
to get here
and
never made it.

After midnight
when the memories of stars light the sky.

have you been there,
where the air is so clear that
you can hear yourself breathing?

you look at the heavens and
start believing,

I believe in
something that's greater, you can
call it the architect or call it the creator
but something far greater than this.

Being alone,  I stare at the sky,
Wishing its laws were mine to command;
I would dim the moon's refulgent light --
Might that help Heaven to understand?

Just as the moon's radiance would be missed
If it were abducted from its realm,
So my ship sails with no guiding light --
Too long I've stood alone at the helm

Would the dreary woodland not rejoice
Hearing the song of one faithful bird?
Yet, alone I trudge down Life's harsh path,
Deprived of Love's reassuring word

Being alone, I find no reason
To greet the dawning day with a smile;
I see no sense in praying for strength
To carry my cross another mile

Being alone, I cannot believe
There's a God who feels pity for me;
Without Love's light my ship navigates
In the darkness . . .  and I'm lost at sea

And if it's a sin to renounce faith
In a God who cares,  then cast your stone!
No form of chastisement could be worse
Than this bitter pain of being alone

It rains now
As you rest your head on me

बादल गरजे बिजली चमके
सावन बरसे सब कुछ सरसे
मयूरा नाचे पपीहरा बोले
पीहू पीहू की ध्वनि गूंजे
      घुंघट पार साजन ही सूझे

हरियाली ने सेज बिछाई
तितलियां रंग भरने को आई
देख देख कर मैं शर्माई
सखियां करें सवाल अनूठे
‌        जवाब इनका एक न सूझे

साजन लगे सरोवर सा प्यारा
मेरी आंखें चंचल लहरें
रह - रह कर साहिल पर ठहरें
यह प्यार की पहेली कैसे सुलझे
       साजन मेरे सीमा पर उलझे।।

And then
the night
comes flooding
in, like
a spilled beer.

Fear is a
rabid bat;
fatally
infecting.

Loneliness is
an ice cube
in a bathtub
melt-
ing
slow-
ly.

Love is a
flat toad in
the road of
life.

Hope is a
broken dish,
an empty
pocket,
a shattered dream.

Life is a sparrow
in the cat's mouth,
an abscessed
tooth, with no
antibiotic.
It's a whale
in a frozen
ocean;
an eagle in the
city.

Insanity is
digging for the
courage to
continue
day after
day
after day.