Perched upon a tree tall
sings a bird – yellow, small,
listening to whose beautiful song
parched earth sings along
Euphoria, euphoria!

Melodies that the bird sings
Ebullience its music brings
Flowers bloom and winds flow
Spreading smiles on the go
Euphoria, euphoria!

Yet the bird cares not
If music is adored a lot
Singing for its own pleasure
Crooning alone is its nature
Euphoria, euphoria!

Flowers, wind, earth or tree
The bird wants no captivity
When oblivious to others around
The bird sings in perfect sound
Euphoria, euphoria!

Glory of divine Grace
Fades away in thousand ways
Humbled Euphoria remains dazed
Before thy joyous beaming face.

Cycle of life moves ahead
clouds of thoughts fog my head
weary feet reach their goal
yet dryness permeates my soul
reflecting on the path behind
dark alleys haunt my mind.

Wildest dream meant longest miles
I started with the widest smiles,
game was I, walked it all
reached here without a fall
but now I feel everything gone
sullen emptiness fills bygone.


I see no mistake
I see no wrong step
where then did I fault
why did my joy halt
and so horridly I sense
this emptiness immense?


Why did I dream such?
Why did I toil so much?
What did I get, I wonder,
in hollow reasons I wander
only to find that although I've won,
I was following the horizon.


The child in me dies
the wise in me cries
as I glance my quixotic chase
I realize my empty race
I squandered my time, lost my dough
But worse are my spirits; were never so low.

Here a star and there a star
They destined our rendezvous,
For ages we were drifted far
And now we meet anew.

We belong to the same land
Common are our memories,
Playing together hand-in-hand
How we ignored worldly worries!

With time, taking our own paths
Estranged we, more and more
Like two ships voyaging strange seas
Set off from a common shore.

Chasing clock ticks, we forgot
How long we had been away
Amassed feelings jump a lot
When we meet again today.

And it all pours down like rain,
When old stories are again told
Time moves not and still remains
As the children in us unfold.

As I hear her distant laugh
Resonate in my lonely mind
A dark thought creeps up, again
Distasteful, shameful, unkind.

I rejoice in her laughter
Sweetness of which would long remain
Yet – I sense with it some bitterness
That douses my love in pain.

The moment of laughter she enjoys most
Though blissful, eternal, and heavenly,
Comes only when she laughs aloud
To wash away my memory.

He strove past a mammoth tree
Under which as a child
He weathered many a storms
Waiting for a moment mild.

Yet cared little he for times gone
Bidding not so much as a glance
To an old friend who seemed
Trifling before his new romance.

And seemed not to mind the tree
Neither surly nor grumpy
Just busy sheltering that night
A newly found puppy.

How resplendent looks thy lovely face
In these bright, fresh morning rays!
Paradise flowers do not bloom
With more magnificent grace.

Thy aura lights up the dark room
Of my heart’s nightly gloom
As a blink of those coy eyes
Fills my lonesome vacuum.

Surely it would now be unwise
To reject the blink’s disguise
As an invitation to embrace
And sink in sweet rejoice.

Cold morning kiss
Of the landward winds;
How zephyr’s misty pout
Along a smile brings.

The long white line
Goes farther than I see
Shows the incessant flow
And tireless industry

Of the vast ocean
With timeless presence
Basked in mellifluous music
Of the waves’ cadence.

I fall for instantly
This infinite pulchritude
Which gently belittles
My existence’s platitude.

It stood there, tall for decades
Years how many, no one knows
Until one night, falls it down
As harsh wind that night blows.

Seeing it fall, we all weep
Through the night, lose our sleep
But day comes and forget we all
....
Until
....
A lassie seeds a sapling small.

Splendid was the thunderous night
Of stormy lightening serenade
With cold feet shivering in fright
Dismayed you, all afraid

Begged of me to walk closer
And make you feel at ease
Unaware innocently how
Passion in night frees.

We walked some distance, hand in hand
Drenched in blessed rain fall
Forgotten is the fear of storm
As love came on prowl.

As storm poured and doused the earth
Until late in the night
Kindled on dimly lit streets
Keen desire to unite.

Suddenly we halt, with eyes locked
Sensing a sweet fragrance,
Hearing our heavy breathing
Acceding to closing distance.

Never learnt how hands toured north
And reached our faces
In heavy rains what wet our lips
Were those passionate kisses.

Gradually the sweetness grew
Entangling us in embrace
Ironically a gloomy storm
bestowed us divine grace.

Gushing in comes she
Offering herself to the shore
Racing up the last mile
Smiling wide to meet her lover.

Listen – the song she sings,
Melodies of her burbling flow
Shedding inhibitions of tranquility
How blissfully tonight she glows.

And eager for the rendezvous
Is her lover with high tide
See tonight his tender heart
That mighty waves fail to hide.

My dreams still see her appear,
bringing ephemeral happy cheer,
my heart makes a wish sincere,
to be with her like yesteryear.

but...

Yet again I shed a tear,
sensing she will never be near,
no longer though it is hate or fear,
just flows out my love, ever so pure.

Never in my dreams
was a thought so dreadful
so lonely, so aloof
neither in future one will

A feeling like this
the one in my mind
fierce and fearsome
dislike of a kind

A surge of pain
in my heart again
so yearning of the good past
as my present seems lost

My nightmare is this moment
this hour and this day
if I ever am to live again
it’s not with this moment,
not this moment...

For hours we often spoke
Weren’t those days sweetest
Nothing stopped me from reaching you
Oh, my friend, my dearest.

But little did I know then
That time would soon turn so sour
That our closeness would evaporate
And distances would grow far.

You slowly found less time to meet
So we chatted on phone instead
But in months it rang seldom too,
All my texts went unread.

Our dialogue stalled, gradually,
Our conversation faded away
No more philosophical discourses
Or casual how-was-your-day.

Well, I understand you got real busy
And I didn’t really have a complaint
So I kept trying to get in touch
As old habits I couldn’t restrain.

But your silence is often long,
So long that it seems perpetual
Helplessness overcomes me, at times,
How these times seem cruel!

But, so be it, says my heart today,
It has quite some time been,
Let me wait for my phone to ring
with your name on the screen.

There will be a surprise, I am hopeful,
A news will one day come, I am sure,
And until that moment arrives
I’ll reminisce times of yore.

I blame you not for the silence, Oh dear friend,
And angry I am not certainly
Just a little disappointed that
You have little time for me.

Oh, thou, a winsome bird!
Who soars great heights in no time
Who voyages the blue vast
With but its wings’ mast
To bless the stars divine
That beam a smile when thy song is heard.

Oh, thou, beauteous spirit,
The conqueror of the sea and the sky!
Fly low and come near me
How closely I wish to see
Thy beauty that from up so high
Bedecks the Sun when lowly lit.

But wait! Oh, thou, divine creature!
Don’t yet climb down; it won’ t be wise
To spread your mellifluous voice
On human planet to rejoice;
For then who will cheer the widowed skies
And lonely stars of the gloomy nature?

Oh, behold, lonesome me,
Solitary smile of the twilight sun;
Have you wondered how it would be
To stand steadfast as you burn?

Never asks the star’s soul
To be loved by those it lights
Spending time on its own
Chasing away darkness it fights.

Oh, learn from it, lonesome me,
Never depend on others’ mercy
To lighten up your spirits gloomy
And confer you with blissful glee.

Pain! My constant companion!
How closely you follow me,
Unlike the evasive Fun
That I rarely get to see!

Tear! My close buddy!
How you are always near,
When Smile jilts me
And gloomy nights appear!

Loneliness! My alter ego!
How you complete me,
Others will never know
Our bittersweet chemistry!

Life, a jigsaw puzzle,
of time and space
various sizes and various shapes
some pride, some disgrace
some fun, some woe
some friends, some foe
shuffling itself
fast so much
what remains is but
an intangible touch.

Today’s world
a dream otherwise
unmanifasted, non-existent
nothing solid, all void
and discreet
in space and time
no permanence, no continuance
no logic, seems magic
all moments, unintegrated
all places, not related
all on their own,
all alone.

But in memories
they accumulate
as a bulk,
mushy conglomerate
feel their touch,
not solid,
but inexplicable,
intangible and void.

Deep down mind’s dark alley
Lies a room, almost a crypt,
With old memories stashed together
hazy, misty, nondescript

They were once fresh,
vivid and flagrant,
in times sunnier,
merry and vibrant

Until –

A day a friend lost,
A day a love broken
A day innocence died
Or a day trust stolen

Each time filled this room
With never-to-return memories
And I stay away from the crypt
To save myself the miseries

I walked as part of a caravan
That followed a well known road
Which circled around a tall mountain
Before the nearest village showed.

And I said – "Look, my friends,
I from here spot a crevice,
The mountain has a narrow tunnel
But for men it may suffice."

They laughed at me aloud and said
"Friend – Don’t talk insane,
If there sure was a tunnel,
Would we circle around in vain?"

But I insisted we explored
The dark jungles with a few men
So we could walk shorter
And may have some time to gain.

My words fell on deaf ears
And they left me all alone
They said if I wanted to know
I could go on my own.

I did then branch away
And walked through the thick wood
Soon I reached the mountain base
And my spirits were good

As I entered a small tunnel
And reached its middle at once
I saw ahead the neighboring town
At close walking distance.

Glad I was to see the tunnel
Was large enough for ten fellows
It could pass my men easily
And save their walking woes.

Said I to myself happily
"I knew there was another way!
It is now time to share the news
Without any delay!"

But suddenly it began to rain
And dark became the sky
The light at the tunnel’s end
Dimmed slowly before it died.


I saw the storm wash away
The woods and the trees
Soon flooded became the tunnel
and mountain walls squeezed.

I saw no light, I knew no better
Than to hope for a miracle
Until a fatal burst of wave
In not time had me gobbled.

I saw from above my caravan friends
Thought I was safe in my tunnel shade
Until they heard no more of me
And believed I got strayed.

They forget me soon after
And took the same known road
Every time the passed the tunnel
But to explore they never slowed.

It hurts me not that I met my fate
Alone and untimely a lot
But I am sad that the mountain tunnel
Is yet to cross another thought.

THE WIND blew and touched the leaves
With his gentle seductive kiss
He promised a paradise abroad
More beautiful than this.

How irresistible was his caress
How captivating his charm
Soon leaves yearned to travel far
In their new lover’s arms.

In dreams like a newlywed bride
The leaves resolved to start anew
And readied soon to ride the wind
To old friends bidding adieu.

Quickened now the wind’s speed
Once leaves unhooked from tree
The romance showered ebullience
As leaves floated carefree.

But suddenly the wind swayed
Away from the promised land
Drifting close to a naïve daisy
Telling tales from a wonderland.

The leaves fell down and laid forlorn
Soiled, dusted, thrown away
Soon joined them a somber daisy
As the wind rocked the hay.