rising
from an ocean of obsidian blue
i spy consciousness,
blazing brighter than a billion suns,
fine tuning all it touches.

the blue god is neither awake
nor in slumber
but in a meditative trance.
in his effervescent presence
time turns to ice,
as an orange-lotus blooms
deep within me.

© 2024

sitting here,
accompanied by a cold, dreary november drizzle,
i sip that cup of ambition
yearning for a little melody.

we could’ve been a little something!

as i soak in a tub of melancholy,
i ponder over this incomplete jigsaw puzzle with a gaping hole in the middle.

when will you see that you’re the center piece?
and may be the solution to the riddle.


© 2023

truth be told,
the ticking hourglass will never be our friend.
cos it keeps pushing my milky way
farther away from yours.

somewhere along the way,
you found dharma.
leaving me to waltz on that dance floor alone,
like i did to you, millenniums ago!

back then, i became
poet, philosopher, king and the lord of the universe.
while you stayed behind,
a shy country lass with lotus eyes
pining for my love.

in the quarrels of love and life,
you hid my golden flute
and threw away my loaded dice,
which helped me win
the mundane games of *** for tat.
leaving me now with an inexhaustible quiver of karmas eager to fructify.

as i stand here in a tree pose
regulating my incoming breath,
i the yogi
eagerly await for our galaxies to turn,
perhaps, even collide and kiss some day.

© 2023

only
in that sacred space
between
your perky pink-tipped globes
will my breath be tranquil,
free from the turbulent windmills of the mind.

let anyone come or go
let wild elephants rain,
but promise, to never abandon me.

as i shoulder heavy karmic burdens from this time at bat,
you’ve been my partner in crime.

lock me in a tight embrace,
cos when the waves retreat
and my treatise on love is complete,
there will be no page in which you’re not.


© 2023

with cupped hands
i chase this beautiful orange sunset
to the ends of the earth,
as the universe grudgingly makes other plans.
here, manhattanhenge calls!

fallen red maple leaves neuters a virus,
but only after many stolen dreams and lives,
now time’s scars fill the contours

an iridologist’s tools don’t lie
her love for me, never shy
but as i lie on the bed of the cosmic serpent, i smile,
knowing time’s true turn
and with it,  life, love, death and dreams

© 2023

a novice,  
i may be....

learning the lexicon of love
from a practicing grandmaster
whose expressive kohl-rimmed eyes
dart from side to side,
speaking a million languages of the heart.

transfixed
nay, transformed
an intimidated admirer of hers,
i’ve become,
from such a great distance.


© 2023

how can i ever forget
those penetrating moist eyes
before we bid our final goodbyes.

ringing in my ears now,
are mellifluous incantations
flowing from the synchronized lips
of brahmin priests at this open air temple.

here,
i, as budhanilakanta
adorned with marigold flowers,
recline on a celestial snake,
pondering the blue print
for the next cycle of creation.

one hundred eight lamps
are waved in arcs
as salutations for me,
witnessed by humble devotees.
a spectacle to match
the fireworks of the Milky Way.

but it’s your chosen silence for now,
which resembles the night sky.

as i search for a melody
deep within me,
your face is the pure dawn i seek.
your haunting voice,
the raga, i yearn to hear.

can’t we immerse in the simple joys of human life?
can’t we just add a few more chapters to our cosmic love story?

© 2023

that streak of light
in the distant dark horizon
can only be you.

in the waters of the ocean
i’m just a wave,
while you pervade as its wetness.
if flowers were black and white
those would be your eyes.

the paper you tossed in the cold air
was me,
but time turned paper to poems.

one day you love me so deeply,
and the next
you hate me so bitterly....
why darling?

is it from the burden of entrusting  my marigold heart to you?
————————————————————

by this man-made lake
a steady drizzle hums,
the sun, yesterday’s news
as nature’s palette turns green and gray.

staring into the gun metal sky
she nuzzles her hennaed hair
into his gandhian lap,
mesmerized by the pitter patter
she dubs, as tears from heaven.

a bow-shaped stone bridge on the near horizon,
red-eared sliders floating on the water,
the pencil thin architectural skyline,
even the floating melancholy mute swan
beckons monet to rise like the phoenix
and have a second go at whimsical life

but not me,
with a cornucopia of life-scars to show,
and a ticking clock that’s monotonously relentless,
this trip to the crease better be
the last time at bat


© 2022

forgive me
for committing the sin of looking for you
here, there, and everywhere.
forgetting the cardinal truth
that you’re the omnipresent one!

to think i could think of you,
the one who’s beyond all thoughts
my trespass too.

forgive me.....

© 2022

i bow
to the dark one,
hued like the rain bearing cloud,
who adorns this universe as his anklet.

that deep hum,
in the cosmic backdrop
his outgoing breath

dulcet tunes
from his golden flute,
the gravitational field
binding our Milky Way.

salutations to the unborn one,
who’s also the eternally playful one.
karma keeper of the cosmos,
bearer of the mountain of human pain!

© 2022

with zen calm
he awaits,
the next chess move of whimsical time

li’l does ‘time’ know,
he’s way beyond it.
legacy etched in stone,
this warrior of awareness
marches to his impending destination
steeped in silence.

as his life flashes
in that rear view mirror,
his beatific smile says it all.

i’ve attained nirvana!

© 2022

why does this world with all its contents
seemingly disappear like sugar in milk,
each time i stand
in front of your sanctum of bliss?

seek Govind,
the one, the only
with all you’ve got.....
or else,
in his snare of illusion
you’re forever caught

© 2022

all faces, bodies and limbs
in this variegated universe
belong only to you.
all feelings, thoughts and sensations,
simply yours too.
all of existence is just your dream!
even the bliss glimpsed in my deep sleep,
a chip of your inner peace

when you wake up from that long trance
to perform the cosmic dance,
we will all merge with you,
like moths to a flame


© 2022

singularity is
when you hold me tight
on a sapphire night,
magic made
twisted under satin sheets
beneath the nonchalant moon
 
your intent gaze,
cuts through mist of illusion,
gently whispering “detachment”
from a banausic existence
 
love and pain
swell deep inside my fragile body,
as i sink
into the infinity of spacetime,
where the gravity of your love alone
bends my aching heart

© 2022

despite
the macabre march of corpses
straight into the raging funeral pyres,
it’s the icy waters of the Ganges
from your matted locks
which shiver my timbers

amidst
mellifluous incantations,
one thousand and eight lamps
floating on this mystical river
sparkle in an anemone glow

here,
a great sage
was taught a befitting lesson
in humility and spirituality

as i melt
hearing this soulful octet
in praise of this ancient city,
its most important inhabitant smiles......
truth be told
i’m in a Varanasi state of mind


© 2022

even
the beads of your sweat
warp
from the intense gravity
of those dense but sensuous orbs,
making a gentle detour
like a river,
before flowing into the whorl
of your beautifully chiseled navel

© 2022

from the vantage point
of the triangle of desire,
all i see are the delicate hands of Rodin,
which now have become your chiseled face.

as the world sleeps at night
i wet my pillow with tears.
tears from the joy
of knowing the intense ways
in which i love you,
deep within my subterranean mind.

love
knows no possession ....
yet i covet you,
all of you,
even the concept of you.

why did you come into my life
like a whirlwind
only to then vanish like a mirage?


© 2022

everywhere i look
your blood laced fingerprints.
everywhere i hear
those tintinnabulating anklets.
everywhere i smell,
the overpowering musky marigolds.

but where are you my black goddess?

when no one in the universe
can match your ravishing beauty,
have you chosen
this time
to hide inside pure dark matter?

© 2022

many a night
i lie awake
with remembrances of your silky touch
and a zillion rousing thoughts
racing through my occidental mind.
each time,
longing for that soft embrace
laced with the hope of it all.

tossing,
turning,
just waiting....
for the elusive sleep to descend


© 2022

🔥
🔥🔥🔥
🔥🔥🔥 poems🔥🔥🔥
🔥are  🔥often 🔥birthed🔥
🔥 in🔥fiery🔥 moments  🔥🔥
🔥🔥where 🔥life🔥 is🔥 lived🔥
🔥 right  🔥at the razor’s edge🔥🔥
🔥while🔥firmly 🔥🔥immersed🔥
🔥in🔥the🔥flames🔥🔥🔥🔥of🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥 pure awareness🔥🔥🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

  © 2021