Tic-tac-toe
three in a row,
he swings hard,
alarm bells go,
a knife and knife
a circular ring
who's got the guts
to come clean?

Slurry of blows,
slurry of speech,
maybe there's more
to being a leech,
a man made of pride
a man made of sorrow
what's a man to do
when he can no longer borrow?

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­This poem is self translated version of my Hindi language poem titled " अपराधबोध" published in pratilipi (Feb. 2019)
Can be read through the link ==>> https://bit.ly/2l4MIXz
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Today all of Sudden, I do remember again
The time that has elapsed since long
The bygone lovely childhood
The yesterday that has passed
The good old childhood friends.
I do remember some blurred faces
whose names, I couldn't recall

I do remember my teachers
Still in the same look and form
I remember their scolding
I remember happiness on their faces
I even remember their angry faces
Their orders to stand up on the bench
Their punishment to pose as a rooster

I do remember now
The essence of their teachings
I followed all their teachings
But I had to suffer a lot
So, I packed them all tied them in a knot
And thrown them all into the trash can.

This is not an allegation against my teachers
That their teachings are not valuable
But, I discovered, I was not capable
To follow their valuable teachings.
In this modern era of practicality
There is no respect for human values
Human values have been deteriorated
Due to changing definitions of the words
The whole dictionary has changed.

I admit I have committed crime against my teachers
Since I left the righteous path shown by them
And followed another easy path on my own
But what else could I have done?
I had no power to change the present era -
I alone do not have the courage to be an era-rebel
So, I gave up the right path and followed another one

But may be, inspite of this  
my teacher may forgive me
But can I forgive myself?
No! Not at alI, I don't have this right
After getting pardon from my teacher
The gravity of my crime doesn't decreases

So by the way if my teachers pardon me
Even then, I can't be free
From the guilt
I must have to live
Bit by bit, Suffocatingly
This will be my punishment
Yes, this will be my punishment.

Lips red and sweet as wine
And eyes that will never leave my mind
Her voice is calm and puts me in a trance
But loving her is a crime
And I'll accept the consequence as it is
For a chance to have a dance
And I'll seal my fate with every kiss
And hands intertwined.

Quick with a gun
bullets; one two three
I love you, shoot your mercy in me
They took you away, I've lost everything
I'm too scarred, tonight my pistol sings

❇❇❇

I just wanted to come with you
show me your hometown
I just wanted to be like you
far away from where they gun us down

I won't let them take you away
I'll stand my ground
I will make it all okay
Pinky promise, I'll never let you down

Violence and blood hail around me
I'll take my cover
This might be the last thing I see
But anything for you, my darling lover

My lynx sat the world on fire
The madmen fell to the ground
With you, my love won't expire
As long as you're safe and sound

I was too late to catch your flight
But your soul is safe with me
We didn't get to say goodbye
The eternal sleep has its claws in me

❇❇❇

Shoot me a line and I'll go there
If you're not breathing, I just don't care
Like Bonnie and Clyde against all odds
We bleed freedom; we can't be stopped