O dear time,
I blink my eyes and you pass..
pinching my attention..
making  me realize how far you have taken me with you
that when I look back..
I see a long endless bridge of ceremonious past
built with the  bricks of
an immensely spirited childhood
and a carefree wonderful teenage..
and now when I turn back to see forward..
All I can see is the mosaic you have constructed..
with the  streaks and dazzles of an unseen future..
which is calling my novice feet
to walk on its Zigzag path...

"Come back to me.. I will honor you as my future bride"
Those glittering eyes wanted his mermaid back to his side..
Years ago, when he left her broken..
Erasing the scribbles of her heart ,yet unspoken..

By this time every single drop of her love
got thoroughly evaporated all above
the brook of  mighty lust and desire..
She had become the spark of her own fire..

Gracefully,she replied-"The past can never come back to you..
One who disregarded my choices should not call his love true..!!"

*Resolved, Resolute and Earnest than ever
Today, she respects the vastness of her new sky..
Radiating the rays of peace from that smile..
She bade him her last, the last goodbye..

A garland I wear
made of flowers of the past..
A fragrance it spreads
to the nostrils of my heart..

And the flowers grow
heavier every single day..
making my shoulders
so weak to face 'today'..

 *May the thorns of today
  and the bushes of tomorrow
  help me move on,
  making those flowers hollow..

That day turned out to be the most beautiful day for her to cherish...
Her pale face had finally got a reason to smile..
Swinging with amusement in her semi stitched rags..
She was utterly colored with the rainbow for a while..

The pocket she had, could feel the coins jingling..
*It was like the first shower of rain falling on the land of her heart..
Finally, She could answer her 'a week old' hunger..
Someone pitied her poor hands and gave her life a short lived start..

The sun dipped down to meet the sea water
and the shore saw those barefoot friends...
The shareholders of  the old splendid days
and a classy tale..
Soon the warm reddish rays sprinkled
to every corner of the sky..
So firm was the hold of the hands
that they had been using to tease each other
and run away to hide in a place nearby..
They knew that the breeze of every day in these four years
that they had breathed out merrily
is never going to be cast again in the shadows of their lives..

Scribbling their names in the sand
that got drenched by their tears and the low tides of the waggish water..

They left and walked towards the different ways
leaving behind the glorious and rich saga,
and taking along with them-
The timeless stock of memories
scratched to keep their every single nerve
full of rejoices forever..

I climbed the dark heaven to meet myself alone..
To smell all the roses and espy the stone..
Nevertheless, the cloud was frozen and the breeze was calm..
I saw her descending and coinciding with my palm..
Her plain white vesture was contrasting my red..
She was diffusing the divinity that I could not even bled..
Our faces were same but our aces were inverse..
She owned one whole entity while I was a disperse..

The moment was priceless and so were my emotions..
It was indeed the most breathtaking phase to my notions..
My other twin was bounded with a definite time span..
She was entirely a woman with the heart of a man..
"You don't live inside me, I have never sensed you inside,
Painted with shyness, you rather live like a bride.."
I peeled up my heart and had the eagerness to know..
If the sun lives in me, then why do I fall like the snow..

She smiled and glared down on me with the rays of her starkness
and told me how sturdily I have been lidded under the darkness..
Holding the flowers, she stands in the island of my soul..
She ponders my echo and waits for  the control..
She imparts her colors when my pallet runs out..
but puts on her cloak when my demon comes out..
Surprisingly, I asked  "You are my part. Why don't you fight out..!?"
She had an answer. She works eternally from the hideout..

In the midst of the stirring stillness, she reminded that I had to leave..
Ironically, I could not crave for what I had been dying to receive..
The same ladder showed up and slanted me back to my nook..
and the wind narrating slowly what I had given while what I had took..
I returned to my place which was as murkier as ever..
I sensed the time-It was cursive and clever..
Perhaps I will reap more strength to deflect the chirping into the roar...
to mend every single lapse and bring her back someday on my door..

सूखी स्याही

बैठी हूँ सन्नाटे में.....मन मे लेकिन शोर है.....
उजाले से लिपटी हूँ.....पर अंधेरा हर ओर है.....
कुछ हसरतें हैं मन में.....जो सिकुङ-सिकुङ के रहती हैं.....
बह जाने की धुन मे न जानें क्या क्या सहती हैं.....
जेब की भार की चाह ने देखो क्या बना दिया.....
मंजिलों को छोङकर भेङचाल को पनाह दिया.....

कदम तो चलना सीख गए लेकिन थिरकना भूल गए.....
खिला दिए फूल पर महक छिङकना भूल गए.....
न फिकर थी,न जश्न था..अब मैं जिंदगी की गुलाम हूँ.....
पहचान पत्र लगा के आज भी गुमनाम हूँ.....
दूसरों की बहुत पढी..सोचा चलो खुद की कहानी लिखा दूँ.....
कोरे पन्नों को समेटूँ और सूखी स्याही गिरा दूँ.....


                                         -स्तुति त्रिपाठी