Bonfire Night .

Under night sky its navy soot
Circular spirals of movement
We children watched
As dad opened the box
Mum gave out chestnuts
And humbugs
In our long back garden.

A match took off
Sending shivering sparkles
Upwards in coloured lights
Then the falling to earth
To dissolve
Melting into the cosmos
As sugar in a glass.

Cocoa in a mug
Surrounded by love
This was a best day
Of my life.


Love Mary ***

His head kept bumping on my shoulder
and he was not my father
or anyone I knew

he smelled as if a bath was overdue
and slept like wasn't a place better
than the ***** briefness of my shoulder.

Breaking down was my brittle patience
needled by his bristled cheek
brushed by his shabby dress,

was for rest the man hard pressed?

Wouldn't I have been nudged by pride
if the head on my shoulder was my father
happy to have him by my side?

as he gets older
does his blurry mind miss
a place where he is not alone

one or any shoulder
for an untimely nap in peace
a quiet stranger to rest upon?

एक लम्हा मुझे ,
हल्का कर गया ,

एक सांस मुझे,
खोकला कर गयी ,

बादलों की गर्जन मुझे 
झकझोर कर गयी. 

तेज़ हवाएँ दिल में 
दस्तक दे गयीं 

बारिश की चंद बूँदें 
सारे आंसूं बटोर गयीं 

इसी मंज़र के बीच एक 
शख्स चला गया 

नौ दरवाज़ों वाले घर को 
अंतिम विदाई दे गया 

गुज़रते रहे दिन, रात,
सुख, चैन........ 

पर जब आँखें बंद हो 
तो वही तड़प, वही मासूम की आँखें 

कितनी ही रातें आधी नींद हम सोए. 
कितनी ही रातें उसकी चीख़ से जागे हम … 

पर आज जब आँखें बंद हो 
तो झपकी भी ढंग से ना आये,

वह लम्हा वह सांस कुछ ऐसे बीत गया 
जैसे के हम हैं तो सही, पर हमें ले गया 

शब्दों और हंसी की बेतकल्लुफी ले गया 
सुनाई देने वाले शब्दों का सिर्फ शोर रह गया.…… !

I wish I could blend into summer
A summer as riveting as I've read in novels
Made up of crisp warm breeze and sweet fragrances
The sun not too high and not too hot
Just enough
So I can cherry pick in a golden sundress
And sit under the shade of the tallest tree
As old as my heavenly ancestors
Alas if only summer felt as beautiful
As a fictional background
And the stifling heat of a raging sun
Accompanied by the searing winds
Didn't make me wince and whimper
I wouldn't think twice
Before stepping out of my house
And let it's scintillating splendor
Drench me in an awe inspiring wonder
Rather than shrivel and recoil
At this onslaught of a scorching hot weather
Which glares at me when I look outside my window
Like a sinister slayer
With a red hot knife chiseled to perfection
Waiting to pounce upon me
The moment he hears a creaking of the doors
To devour me whole with a furious anger
His flaming knife slaughtering my body
Till I'm nothing but puddle of sweat
Trails of crystal clear liquid
Left to dry
And dissipate into the thirsty sweltering air
Thick with the moisture
Of other hapless victims
Now do you believe
Why I don't blend
But melt in summer

i fall in love too quickly

i let the air slowly drain through a pinhole in my lungs
because just looking at your face,
hearing your name mentioned in casual speech
is cause enough for rose red to colour my cheeks.

i dive so deeply into loving
that at times i've lost myself
in the maelstrom & had to pick up the pieces, forget your name
so that my vision could return to clarity.

i get ****** noses & butterflies
buffeting the organs inside my body, the body
that i just want belonging to you
for long enough to feel loved
& be your lover.

i wish i could express myself
in a more beautiful way than this
with words of silk & not sorrow, knowing
you're only to leave me lying here again someday.

i fall in love too quickly
& forget that love can rend my heart into nothing so quickly.