In the land that bleeds,
Sighs, weeps and screams-
Yet silent, sans vision
Crowned with unspoken dreams,

There lived a hope,
A wish to see the day-
A day not stained with blood,
The one five oceans away.

Paradise on Earth, as they call,
Breathes through nostrils burnt.
Its skin specked with landmines
And not a single soul concerned.

Two Watans, one tug of war-
To drag it in their maps.
Soldiers killed, the innocent blown,
Parched Earth, thirsty taps.

This never-ending show of greed,
Will shatter everything, they say.
So, to Kashmir, tranquility
Is but five oceans away.

the idea of someone
being in love with me
is laughable

Now tethered to a lonely space

A place without a warm embrace

T’is hard to break the ties that bind

The rope that hope could ne’er unwind

To want that love once unconfined

Could sail to Rome, or Greece, or Thrace.


Was want that placed within this vase

The scent of rose so to efface

The mournful song of nightingale

A blushed cheek song behind red veil

Now tethered to a lonely space


Where thorn once pricked now left no trace

Wrapped now in sails by lover’s grace

For stars aligned and wind behind

To break the tether in my mind

Dreams not tethered to lonely space.

r ~ 4/4/14

crisis chat will
only get you so far--
throws you a lifevest when
you’re drowning but doesn’t
tell you how to use it,
lets you flounder in the sea
uncontrollably gasping for air,
drowns you in the issues
watches you
as the current sweeps
     you
             away
and then tells you it’s going to be okay.

I'm tired of running.
I'm sick of trying.
I want to stop crying.
I don't know why I keep lying.
I can't keep living.
I know I am dying.
My time is ticking.
My God I'm denying.

have you noticed

how silent and calm the earth becomes just as the sun sets beyond the horizon

have you noticed

how even when a storm approaches in the morning, birds still fill the air with their lullabies

have you noticed

how low the fog lays as if ready to befriend and swallow up anything in its path

have you noticed  

how everything keeps living
despite all the changes that occur
everyday

have you