Cold on the outside
Tending the hurt
Tender inside
There’s always that one
Who wants to be out
But can’t
The fear of
The glass
That cuts
Is transparent
But hurts

Invisible the sting
Stinging the pain
Pained by the misery
Miserable they remain
Invisible

No
No more
Cant put up
With the same old dominant stuff
A rebel, politically incorrect, stood up
All knowing the consequences
Of subsequent distance
Better alone
Than to be weighed down by the pretentious

Much to think

The chatter

In the mind

Many thoughts

Circumnavigate

Nineteen to the dozen, can’t talk like that

So I write and post

These endless words

Miraculously mysterious

The images in the eyes

Not a match for the one in mind

The visionary, sees through

The little bird chirps
Eats healthy worms
Her mama and papa feed
She is ever hungry and sweet
Hidden in between the basil leaves
Danger lurks and meows
The little bird knows no fear
She is full of mirth in her baby steps
Ever cautious the parents
Keep a close watch on the baby’s steps
Her wings have grown and she  
wants to be limitless and touch the sky
But before that, she must learn to fly
Her parents preach
She loves to explore, and so does the cat
She is
Well fed with milk and chicken wings
Yet greedily
She goes for the little bird
And cuts off its flight and her little wings
With a mouthful and a sly smile, the cat  walks away with her act
The parents’s shrill cry in the morning hours
Stabs my heart and gives out a helpless cry
Sick and Locked indoors
In her limited life
The little bird brought joy and hope
In her flightless baby steps
May her soul fly into the infinite
And be limitless

✨✨

A mask for all, to live
A means of livelihood for some

Smiling eyes behind the mask
Unrecognised face, keeping distance

Parks in the neighbourhood closed
Odd hours for a walk in the neighbourhood, unmasked

Work from home, not for all
Economy at risk, lives eclipsed

The sacred fire stands witness to the 7 vows taken, a marriage solemnised
Designer masks unveiled

Paranoia may ****
Purity still protects, wins
Here’s to mask an unprecedented year

Unmasking realism
Nature’s green, truthful and clean
Heals every being

There’s more to it, than what meets the eye
There’s more to it, if you know why
Thoughts have feelings, they are alive
Words have meanings, they know how to fly
There is always a reason for every known, why??
If only, it could be known to every eye

Those days science and literature did not mingle
In came life and it said lessons you must learn
Logic, rules and the laws of life
Metaphorically matter
Riddled with emotions
Cradled in the hearth
All together

Disperse and drift
Hail the wind
And sail

Buoyant
The force of the sea
Mysterious

Unmoved
Take root
If you must
And
Be

I want to fail and fall
Free fall to my safety net
One time two times sometimes
And again

Like a clown
I want to cry and laugh
Bounce back and  stand tall
And again
One time two times sometimes
recall to free fall

In a nutshell
May, maybe not
Redundant sometimes
Recoil Recall free fall
And bounce back along

I want to create something new
From the residue
And learn to fail and fall
And free fall to gravity
Once and for all

Mirrored thoughts

Silent - Millenial

What do you see

Accord - Discord

    Gap

The stream has a dream it never stops
It flows and follows the *****
Whichever the path
Slows down to fill the uneven holes
Moving down the sun parched hills
Quenching the thirst of every tree
To unknown territories and places
Folkloric melodies it sings

Saving
Lives
Economy
And
The strife

Every thought
A puddle that clouds your mind
To roll in like a playful child
Sometimes long enough
You mull
To be shrouded by
Sooner or later you dust it off
And lay it down
To be puddled by new
Growths of green
Colour of a faded lime
Not long enough
A forest never enough
There is winters and summers
Seasons of all
There is always, spring
To fall upon

His Slender tender shoulders
Shoulder the responsibility of his family
Vibrant orange cartoon print shirt
A mere reminder of his childhood
The jute sheet he owns
A spread of colours and shapes
Of many vegetables
He sells every morning
To add to the earnings
He has learned the trade young
Captivating, his innocence

Anger and grief
Lethal the combination
Can either run you down
Or can bring down everything around
To be able to rightly express
and be understood, the same
Everyone needs
To be free from
From anger and grief

Sometimes
The thought of thinking
Is the last thought on your mind
And thoughtlessly
You are thinking
Of thoughts
That take away all your time

I have been inspired
Not yet, to write
Happy thoughts begin
But  don’t end in words

Shimmy and shimmer
A wedding in the family
Reasons to smile, asunder
All that brings us together

Band Bajaa Baraat, and the celebrations unfold
Rituals followed through the midnight
Vows taken around the sacrosanct fire
Rose petals and blessings showered on the newly weds

Our boy, brings home his pretty wife
Happy thoughts
And new beginnings
Words don’t justify

Gentle genuineness
Gentleness of words
Genuinely felt by gentle hearts

Flippant  persuasiveness
The words, persuade
Upheavals, irregular, pulse of the heart

Your presence is daunting
Mandatory it’s to wear a mask
Breathless my thoughts within
Upending, life saving task

To watch and keep our distance
Untouchable, it makes one feel
You have arrived, for a reason
Beyond our comprehension it is

Taking away the loved ones
Closely, I have witnessed, few
Our loved ones, you caught them too
By the grace of god, they were set free

Every single day
Your presence somewhere out
Is known, not seen
To me you have taught to be stronger within

To be freer than yesterday
yet not claim someone else’s freedom
Love and compassion, in heart
Keywords of this blessed life

There is a roar building inside
A silent scream, faintest sigh
In the river nullified

An ocean with no waves
Bobbing up and down
The creatures of quiet

An ocean with a roar
Awaiting a shore
Awaiting the shore

Sea waves soar
Gulls dive in for a treat
Triumphant
slowly they flap their wings
Sun at the horizon, its job for the day done
There’s a secret untold
The moon to unfold the stories of the day
In its own light

A tough outer shell
Soft inner core, within
In crevices deep
Lies sweet water still

Calm and swift
The duck glides by
The pond
Where predators lurk

Like the powerhouse
Its energy source, profound
When it lights up
Brightens the whole town

An inspiration
Lies in the unlikeliest of places
Manifests itself
In Petals of lotuses

Sometimes in life’s unexpected turns
Time unveils
Solutions right
Hidden
In plain sight

Do not suggest me
On what to follow
You have eaten the cookie
Better clean up the mess
No crumbs on my floor
Suggest me not
Leave no trace
I’ll hide and remove unnecessary suggestions
I know what I want
And can take my own decisions

The doors, open
The home somewhat broken

By the stream
The poems we read

Missing from the home street
By the stream, meet

Read many, some new
Some you always knew

Time forsaken
Doors open, somewhat broken

Missing from the home street
Lost, maybe found

By the stream
The poems we read

Truth is true
You believe in it, as you believe it is

Lies
You believe it is, as you don’t believe in it

Perception
You have your own and believe in it

Untruths
Hurt, as some truths do too

As
Truth is true
You believe in it, as you believe it is

Hypocrisy is for real
Fake, it cant
Truth withstand
Ever evolving the virus
Some minds can never
Be vaccinated against

The woman on the street
Up and early, she sweeps
The litter off the concrete
A job to keep

Through the window
A world slows down, not sleeps
No traffic snarls, on the highways
The signal silently beeps

World at the moment, changing
Good and bad, the exposed pieces
In Unity and humanity, there is hope
Together, for the world to live in peace

The places I’ve visited and then left
Only to revisit to know more
The experience of the untouched untapped resource

For some it comes easy
Some struggle the ****
Pushing and pulling, the invisible doors

Then on a rainy day
Wait for the clouds while they pour
Filled with dreams of paddy fields
An experience of abundance
And some more

✨

Every new thought that comes to my mind  

The words warn me with a sign of exhaustion of the mines

“Do not deplete our resources
Please keep in check your carbon footprints”

👣

Once a spoonful
Placed in a bowl
Not too sugary, just a dash
A sweet aftertaste
Cascades down the wall
A mural too grand
The room can’t contain
The yard beckons
A canvas warm
Where flowers bloom
In pinks and blues
And varied hues
The bees visit every noon
Their home filled with
ample food and sunshine
Where growth and beauty resides
Once a spoonful
The balmy thoughts
Now in the garden flourished
In myriad hues
Forever a boon
The vast expanse

Hesitant
Overloaded
Bored
Which of these
Or
All of them
Will Hp ever let us know
The way it feels with / of
All the words

Dispassionately detached
The flower from the stem falls
Its fragrance lingers
in the last moments
A life devoted to its deed
In time, with revered passion fulfilled
🥀

You are being fed
As you please
Don’t forget
They store cookies

The beat of every heart
Felt same
Hurting
Crying
Smiling
Trying
Again

Meditation for the mind
Inhale the essence of nature
Feel it in every vein, relax
Exhale
Don’t forget
Try again
Rejuvenate

🌿🌿

The rose, red in sun
At prime poised and posed in pots
Fragrant potpourri

🌹

From the corner of the eye
He peeked out for the teacher in the corridors
None in a close sight
He signalled to the peers
While one of them mimicked the teacher
Adjusted her glasses as the teacher did
Before and after the children greeted her
Amidst giggles and hushed tones
The children and their little fun
Between the classes, lost
Locked doors now stare
At the empty corridors

Awaits

Scent of the flowers
Crisp words, and sepia pages
Vivid memories

Fiery red,  rage free

Greens have gone into slumber

Hope and peace awaits

If only, he had someone in his weaker moments to hold him and assure him that how much he is loved..

Depression can be faced by anyone and the times today are challenging enough for the sanest

Film industry, looks all glamorous to the outside world, and within, these actors / actresses are living multiple lives except their own

He was well educated and had faced challenges enough to have made a place for himself

If only he had help in his weaker moments

Yes deeply saddened by a life so beautiful and young snuffed out too soon

It’s been raining for days
And the sun seems to be unfazed
Behind the clouds, it retreats  
Savouring a sun-time, free

The evening brought a surprise
It rained with some sunshine
A magical moment revealed
The breeze playfully chimes

Droplets of rain glistened
Long and short, like beads
As the breeze played along
Trees danced to a new song

A momentary dance
rain and sun chose
Magical moments froze
Green leaves quivered
On every branch on trees

Little footprints

Up and down, the slide

Merry, they go around

In the park

Swinging

See-Saw, they play

I know it’s you
Can see the similarities
Even though masked

I know it’s you
I have an instinct and I know
That’s true

But who is to say
Masks protect, so we wear
A sight, not rare

You let it slip
Didn’t strive for
The slot is full
Your calendar too

Days passed
New slots were allotted
The busy note
Reads the same

Was it priority
That took all the days
New slots never taken
Empty spots forsaken

What mattered most
And not, lost forgotten
Perforated pages
From the calendar erased
Blurring numbers and days

A long story
short

Keeps
My attention

Short

Two rows of seeds
Gift wrapped in ***** of mud
Two I had planted in pots
In a month’s time, I remember
I plucked a few lady’s fingers
Lovely the produce
Soon they faded
Gardening and growing vegetables not my forte
Love plants, but tending to them and nurture
Not what I can do
So I further gift those seeds
Where they are nurtured and nourished
And the fruits and vegetables
Well produced