At the old market place, there is a locksmith
The slipshod ancient road leads to his shop
In the business of repairing locks and making keys
For almost half a century, a dedicated soul
Right from a tender age he picked up the skills
Accompanying his father, to learn the tricks of the trade
Slowly he became adept at repairing the locks
Like a wizard, replicating the keys, for those have lost it
His name spread quite afar, for people sought his help
In times of trouble, as they were locked out of homes and shops
He knew the heart of each and every lock
Reviving at the touch of his dexterous hands
As if he used to command the locks to open at his will
Like a ring master at the circus
Each and every key combination were memorized by him
Recalling them like a mathematical genius
With the permutation and combinations, he found the magic numbers
He wielded the keys like the archer’s precision
Always hitting the bulls-eye
He knew each and every house in the town
For, over the years, everyone had come to him for help
He was the only one who knew the key to open any lock





© Amitav (Radiance)

This is dedicated to the chair in the room.

No, not the elephant. He is too obvious. He is merely an inconvenience people ignore as they go about their lives. I mean the chair in the room, rather all the chairs in our lives.

Chairs are silent, to us they only seem to have the purpose to support and comfort us. this is to those who go about their lives asking for little and drawing no attention to themselves. Yet they are always there to give us a break. To help us get our work done, to help our tired legs and minds.

This is to those who are selfless in their relationships. For they give no expectation of returned favor.

This is to the chairs in our lives.

Falling to pieces in my bed

Thoughts of you dance through my head

All my friends say you’re no good

But I don’t care what they say

You’re on my mind all through the day

Although this poem is short and sweet

It tells you how I’d be complete

If only you would think of me to

Because I wrote this just for you

I.
Please give me shelter
from the rain and snow
Give me a place
where I may grow.
I'll mend you up,
make you look new.
Strike a fire in your hearth
and make those coals really glow.
All I need is some solace,
and a place of sanctuary.
I dearly need to get out
of the rain and snow.

II.
Grant me to watch the roses
creep along your stoney walls;
you look so ravishing
sitting abandoned in these feilds.
There is Perfection in your windows,
Triumph in your thatched roof,
Wisdom in the worn walkway
leading to your door.
I see love in your sturdy structure,
And as those roses grow up you,
you grow more upon me....

III.
The seed of my affection
becomes a burning infatuation.
I've plummeted into a
great sea of flames
contorting and licking and biting and twisting
pulling at me like the waves
caressing your near by shores.
I long only to stroke the stones
of your existance, to run my hands through your dirt
and through your grass.
I long only to exemplify you, worship you
To me- this home, this shrine, this temple,
you are omnipotent.
To be held above all else,
a treasure to be beheld by only myself.

IV.
As time creeps along
your walls commence to crack.
Your straw turns soggy and brown.
You are leaky and drafty.
and your door hangs crooked
as you begin to slouch and decay.
Yet, I shall stay.
I wrinkle and become stiff and grey.
I will not leave you, I refuse to stray.
For you've given me shelter,
you protected me from the snow and rain.
So for you, my love shall never wane.

You are perfection
From your lips to your skin
Tanned body and your dedication
To music from within
The aura that bursts
Setting fire to the stage
Your fingers that play
For effortless hours and days
Dreadlocks they extend
From your shoulders
To your chest
Tattoos that cover
Your heavy fingers
With images
Your smile
That keeps me happier
Than anything else
Your recklessness
I love it, the way
You brag around and tell
--------------
But you are a musician
And I am just a girl
I watch from afar
There's always this distance
Like every other fan
In this world

n.j.

Oh mother must you still have to suffer?
For sacrifices you have given me
A sweet love I have known from no other
A love so true, so pure, so rare to see
Through your hardship I came unto this life
Through your guidance I had learned word for word
Wonderful mother and enduring wife
Defending her family shield on sword
Why has life drained you so much forcefully
But yet you resist to give up your fight
For your child, your husband, your family
As you lead the way as a shining light
May life give you the justice you deserve
Your loving legacy it shall preserve