To the Accompaniment of “Land of Hope and Glory” on a CD Player Piped to Speakers on the Artificially Turfed Football Field


                             “Here, sir, the people govern”

   -attributed to Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and others

Beards flowing over beer-swollen bellies
Tattoos, tee-shirts reading “I’m With Stupid”
Knee-pants, hairy legs, knives worn openly -
And some of the men are dressed that way too

Bubba caps worn defiantly during the pledge
Cell ‘phones at full wail during the opening prayer
Too few genetic codes and too few teeth
Rattling loudly during the valedictory

And air-horn cousins out on probation
To lend some elegance to graduation

ज़िन्दगी में एक वक़्त ऐसा भी था,
जब मैं कुछ  भी नहीं था ,

ज़िन्दगी में मैं आज भी कुछ नहीं,
पर तेरी नज़र में  ए-परवरदिगार

मैं तब भी इंसान था
मैं अब भी इंसान हूँ। 

वक़्त  बदलता रहा, दिन बदलते रहे,
ज़िन्दगी में लोग जुड़े , लोग बिछड़ते गए,

जुड़ते लोगों ने, जुड़ते इरादों ने,
ज़िन्दगी को  .... 

मजबूती दी, ठहराव  दिया,
दिशा दी, नाम दिया,
शोहरत दी,पड़ाव दिया।

बिछड़ते लोगों की नज़रों ने 
कभी भगवान का दर्जा दिया
कभी  इंसान के काबिल भी ना समझा। 

बीता समय बीत गया 
उम्र ढली दिन बीत गया 

इसी दुआ से ज़िन्दगी को रुक्सत दूँ 
के
बस तेरी नज़रों में इंसान बना रहूँ 

इंसान ने हमे क्या समझा 
इसकी न तब फ़िक्र की थी 
न ही आज परवाह है… 

Sparkle in Wisdom.

I know a person
Who began doing ****** with her son
She seems to be
Going to live forever
She used to be a great person
But now
People pretend they are not home when she comes around
I am a person
Who smokes *** with my kids
And I'll drink alcohol
Too
And let me tell you
Some people are real *******
When you add alcohol
I'm not sure why there's a line
Of illegality
With drugs
The worst drug of all
Is tobacco
And I love to smoke
I'm a hott mess
But drugs
In general
Are a hott mess
Because clearly
We've been dealing with it
Inappropriately
Who can blame us?
Drugs are irrational
It is considered a mental
Illness
Drug addiction
(That might be no longer true
But it used to be)

Sometimes the rain drops
are so big and succulent
like mangoes
and tears
and temple bells
at dawn

The parched earth
smiles
and welcomes all
in her embrace
the rain drops
ripe mangoes
endless tears
and mystic sound
of temple bells
at dawn

On the bank of a rushing brook
I sat for hours watching its course.
Peered into the clear gurgling mass
That cascaded down from a mountainous source

Like a slithering snake, it slinks and slips
It babbles downhill night and day
Rolling and gliding through plains and dales
It winds its way to the wider bay.

Dipping my fingers in its icy chill
How my hand got repelled as from a shock!
In its ripples stirred by the kissing breeze,
I saw trees, clouds and the jutting rock-

All floating in queer, fanciful shapes,
Shuddering, trembling and standing still
And the fishes leaving zigzag trails,
Swishing and swimming in the winding rill.

As I quietly watched her speedy flight
With her ***** rising in mournful heaves,
In my ears fell her whispering soft
Orchestrated by the rustle of quivering leaves

I hardly knew the time speeding by
Nor noticed the birds’ homeward flight
Or the Sun moving to the west end side
And the Sky reddening at his sight

As the brook thus continued her headlong ride
To be mingled finally with the ocean wide
I walked, brooding over man’s relentless stride
To be merged eventually with the Cosmic Guide.