Rakesh Rai is as sweet as sugar;
Whenever you are in deep anger
Go to Rakesh, Anti-hatemonger;
He never his duties did Malinger
He has been as sweet as sugar;
Sooths one down and is eager
To help whom problems appear.
I never found him an Ogre;
With him I always felt stronger
He can easily fight wildest tiger.
He is a tiger in education stronger
Who advised to stay Sanket eager;
But as I had Monorhyme dearer
I left such a strong man ever.
Regret though Sanket have, Sugar
Will leave me and my poem never.
Problems does not persist longer
With him let it be old or younger.
With him tensions, no doubt, linger
A lot of worry and threats augur,
What use is Salad without vinegar;
Hard but useful is Rakesh like timber.
Rakesh sir is as sweet as sugar.

We all are haunted. We all have demons.
Demons that are invisible, invincible.
Some makes us strong others leave us feeble.
Someone once said, you can never completely comprehend
or not even pretend
to understand what's going on in someone's head , not because it's too complicated but because it's not meant for you.
The person may be your family , your love or your best friend, there will always be something in their shadows
hidden and there's not much you can do.
Those shadows are put there to show them where does the light come from.
To push a man in the right direction.
But sometimes when the light is stronger and brighter than it supposed to be,
these shadows grow darker and denser,
taking over eventually.
But even the darkest places on earth let alone in heart ,
can be lightened up with just a spark.
But a man drowned in darkness ,
can't get his hands on the switches that lighten up the room.
He is too blind even to ask for help,
he doesn't see you there but in your heart you know you care.
But the man starts to get skeptical ,
that doubt does nothing but just fastens up the fall.
He ends up shooting in the dark, ends up hurting himself.
Eventually he makes the call.
A deal with the devil.
what he thinks will end it all.

And you stand there ,
watching him drown;
But all you could do is stare.
Give excuses to yourself , how you couldn't do much or nothing at all.
Unwilling to accept that it was also your fault.

We all crave , we all break .
We all love and love can save.
Some demons are invincible
but all demons are avoidable.
You know you love him or her
but that's not always enough.
You have to show, even if a little.
A small thanks or a mild smile
these small things are all that's needed
to light up a spark.
and sparks start fires.
in some cases fires save lives.
- Rakesh Swain.

Let me swap your window view with mine.
Better yet, let me open a new window
anywhere in the world:

Swap my clouds with the widow Lotta
that delights in the sight of six boys skipping
on the edge of an Amsterdam canal

who then furtively disappear into
the dark wide open doors of the
*** Palace Peep show across the street.

Swap my lonely rainy sky with Bess the
matronly Cotswold poet courting Badgers
to fight over tossed scraps of Savory Pie.

Swap my lulling dark with Akhenaten
gazing at the sacred African ibis as they
chant and soar over the Pyramids of Giza.

Exchange my blue with Jean Paul
watching yellow turn red to gray night
in time-lapse from his Cassis maison.

Barter my coffee for Rakesh’s tea
and his Hindi copy of the Yajur Veda like
a still life posed on a blue  window ledge.

Ransom unbargained Chiara’s Roman tableau
in red clay tiles surrounding a blood bell tower
beautiful enough for a young Da Vinci’s pastels.

Exchange breaths with Kiko as she panics
when a Tokyo bullet train convulses through,
a reminder of both our unstable lives,

Until memories of Mary dancing in the  
downpour of a Manhattan summer shower
fall through the hospitals, the last goodbyes—

until there I am, a scared little boy
starring out my bedroom window
awaiting dawn for another chance

to splash in the blue blue kiddie pool,
walk in the un-paned grass, shouting
to the white sky that follows me always.