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885 · Apr 2022
from your matted locks
Rama Krsna Apr 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
inspired by the transience of life and the aarati offered to the holiest river in the world- Ganges
884 · May 2019
shiva
Rama Krsna May 2019
‘tis the tail end
of the blue hour

taking meticulous care
i string an empyrean necklace
studded with millions of shy stars
from our spiraling galaxy
around that blue neck of yours

enough of  these
moody celestials
playing dice with
the collective fate of billions below

‘tis time for your dance...

© 2019
864 · May 2021
half man.....half woman
Rama Krsna May 2021
i bow
in silenced awe
to a moonlit silhouette
of a half man,
half woman

a celestial being
for whom
an offering of
a garland of pink lotuses or dried skulls
merely the same,
each half
in dizzied love
with the other

as i ponder why?
he - the cosmic father
also became
she - the enchanting mother


© 2021
Inspired by a cosmic event in Arunachala which resulted in a beautiful painting done by the extremely talented artist Nalini Chandilya
863 · Dec 2021
not tonight
Rama Krsna Dec 2021
moments we shared
like the pair of white-winged doves
that soar above,
suddenly disappear
into the grey sky with a flutter,
without even a goodbye.

memories
of the glistening autumnal moon
of the less traveled winter path
of the long and unbroken intimacy
are all there is now.
i possess nothing except the past
where you loved me so tenderly

don’t tell me how you will caress her silky hair,
how you will whisper in her ears, of how much you love her.

the truth is always meant to hurt,
as your crystal ball
tells the tale
of how it will all end.

but not tonight,
in my own nocturnal dreams,
i rejoice,
where you embrace me in a body lock,
where my lips
press against yours.


© 2021
Rama Krsna Jul 2021
claiming to possess a “non existent” flick which “supposedly” documents “an affair that never was”,  you lit that strike anywhere match.

soon, all of rome was burning🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

darling grace, did you stop for a moment to wonder how a meandering earthly river could physically touch the infallible sky?  

things swing from unconditional love to bitter hate.  anger, angst and heartache replace joy, banter and sizzling moments of wanton love making.

at a distance, i see the setting orange sun behind the arches of the golden gate.


the space between us
no bridge can ever connect ~~
as memories fade


© 2021
a haibun is a prose poem of a story which ends in a haiku.
818 · Jul 2019
cosmic yoni
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
inside this black hole
where no light trespasses
his linga alone does,
smoothly into the event horizon
marking a point of no return

even sand clocks
at this gateway to heaven
tick slower
as gravitational time dilation
takes over

upon entry
no escape routes
or parachutes
exist for exit

only a free fall
into singularity
where space-time curvature
becomes infinite

odds of mere mortals
surviving this plummet
are nine billion to one

any volunteers?

© 2019
809 · Jun 2021
ephemeral (tanka)
Rama Krsna Jun 2021
death in the mirror
as time stealthily gallops......
my life flashes by
like orange tip butterflies
tap dancing from rose to rose


© 2021
a tanka is a Japanese style poem which is written with a syllable structure of  5/7/5/7/7
765 · May 2021
into this fire
Rama Krsna May 2021
into this fire
of pure awareness
i offer
the body
mind
intellect and ego ....

in the charred embers
of this funeral pyre
emerges
a pristine white lotus
with one thousand petals
each petal
a proxy for a billion residual desires
burnt forever

now,
time and space 
simply fade away

© 2021
744 · Apr 2019
ajna
Rama Krsna Apr 2019
my pink rose
during your heavily textured silence
i’ve quietly merged
with
the dance of the cosmos
my reflection
nowhere to be seen

yet if you look
with that third eye
you will see
me
in every nook and corner of this cosmos
in every smile,
every frown
and every tear
from here to eternity

© 2019
724 · Jun 2021
two invisible friends
Rama Krsna Jun 2021
with
an accepting smile
i embrace
those two invisible friends
knowledge and death

the bliss gained from true knowledge
seldom taught at any college,
that vantage point
from where
the lingering fear of death,
is vanquished

then
both of you
hand in hand
stealthily become my left and right half
as i merge
with the macrocosm

© 2021
inspired by the one and only Adi Shankara
678 · Aug 2019
glossy pink camellia
Rama Krsna Aug 2019
it’s time
to prune the shrubby black forest
and brush those silky cobwebs
off that glossy pink camellia,
the king bee is lonely
circling shiny petals
yearning for a taste of sunny honey

only when the honey bee
plunges deep into
the crevices of this tender corolla
will that rosy flower blossom

in a quiet corner
a ‘graceful cat’ meows

© 2019
670 · May 2021
maya.....part two
Rama Krsna May 2021
at the junction
of your vermillion adorned forehead
where the rivers of 
ida, pingala and sushumna meet,
lies the point of singularity
from where
our cosmos exploded
into this unwieldy clutter

with it
an unseen fifth dimension....
a spider like web of illusion
deluding all humanity
into incessant action
where
only karmas multiply

oh maya!
i implore you
to end
this vicious cycle

reveal
that white lotus with a thousand petals
sitting in your cerebrum,
where the love of your life
sporting that chiseled crescent
meditates
in contemplative silence

© 2021
Inspired by another amazing rendition of the goddess by the talented artist Nalini Chandilya

ida, pingala and sushumna are three vital currents that energize the cosmos
647 · Jun 2019
creator
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
all afflictions
imagined or otherwise
are created
in the turbulent ocean of the mind
and resolved
in the tranquil oasis of the self

why then an existential need for a creator?

© 2019
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
under a cloudless sky
in this city of inconstancy
a perfect half moon
dazzles

the dark half
my tamasic nature
the bright half
your sattvic smile

forget not
any light thrives only
in the depth of intense darkness
cos my crepuscular complexion
alone absorbs thy fiery splendor

darling ambika!
having given
every pore to you
nothing remains

(to be continued....)

© 2019
sattvic: pure, light, goodness
tamasic: laziness, ignorance
621 · Jul 2019
mallikarjuna
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
he
for whom
total abstinence or extreme indulgence
six of one, half a dozen of the other.....
sempiternally steeped in perfect equanimity,
effulgent as the primal flare
my crescent bearing jewel
who’s pure as jasmine

© 2019
arunachala:  the sacred mountain where liberation from the cycle of birth and death is easily attained
605 · Aug 2021
where less is more (haiku)
Rama Krsna Aug 2021
sharing this tiramisu ~~
the one more in love
gets a little less


© 2021

inspired by the japanese haiku poet keisanjin
dedicated to all those who are willing to share their desserts unconditionally
597 · Jun 2019
yama
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
light years distanced us
or so i speculated

the boat of life
steered by the sails of time
thru the tempest of kismet
brings me closer to home

just around the corner
a temple bell rings,
a muscular silhouette
riding a black buffalo mockingly smiles,
i hear his apocalyptic words:
I’m here

© 2019
Yama: god of death
563 · Jun 2019
crescent bearing jewel
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
tis the golden hour
atop this apsidal hall of sentience
seventy-two thousand bilva leaves
shimmer...
as four cosmic forces
simper
in mute surrender
to an eye-popping waltz
choreographed by
the crescent bearing jewel
who’s white as jasmine


© 2019
bilva: aegle marmelos
554 · Apr 2019
padma
Rama Krsna Apr 2019
daughter of the ocean
i feel
your pursed lips
place an antiseptic kiss
drawing all humanity
into incessant action
through an intricate web
of pure illusion
that only you
so masterly weave

oh great goddess
the lotus-eyed one
primal cause of all
those cupid arrows of yours
launched from
a bow of flowers
pierce my tender heart


© 2019
525 · May 2020
arunachala
Rama Krsna May 2020
inside that inner cave
shines an effulgent flame,
complexioned like camphor
bearing a crescent moon
he’s pure as white jasmine
sole terminator
of the veil of illusion
cast by the lilting tunes of
that captivating flutist

© 2020
524 · Jun 2019
kundalini 2
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
this bang from aeons ago
unleashes a dark centrifugal fury
in far-flung M87
devouring neighboring stardust

the other side of
this hawking spectacle,
a black king cobra
entrancingly coils
around a thousand-petalled white lotus
finale of an existential journey

misery over....

© 2019
see my poem on kundalini
Rama Krsna Aug 2019
in the far reaching circumference
of your eloquent silence,
a galactic gravitational pull
tugs me deep within
busting the black hole of my own illusions.

i spy
nestled inside your incandescent halo:

avatars, bliss. compassion, divinity, enlightenment, forgiveness, grace, holiness,
infinity, joy, kindness, light, miracles,
nirvana, omnipresence, peace, quiescence,
radiance, self, tranquility, utopia, veritas,
wisdom, xenodochy, yogi, zen master
all gift wrapped in one!

the a to z of sanctity.....

untouched by clocks
i stand as a king-side pawn
who’s magnetically drawn
to that shining white light
like a moth to a flame

© 2019
A to Z poem conceived in a state of deep meditation eulogizing the greatness of  the cosmic being.
494 · May 2021
cosmic love letter
Rama Krsna May 2021
my darling paro,

this throat
stained deep blue
from your magic touch
now dazzles like sapphire

crystallized
snake venom
hastily consumed
from the churning of
the universe’s darkest desires

unwanted remnants from the big bang....

in containing
that poison at the neck,
you sustain
the all important dance of love
continually going on
within my heart....
where
you alone live

love,
neelakanth

© 2021
A letter from Shiva to Parvati thanking her for all she does
485 · Jun 2019
summer solstice (senryu)
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
those watermelons
solace for the summer scorch ~~
her lips succulent

© 2019
483 · Jul 2019
akhila - a love story
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
akhila
queen of masks!
each veil worn
to germanic perfection
they’ve become you,
hiding that true deity
lurking deep within

each motley camouflage
a charade to quell
a rising dam
of kaleidoscopic emotions
bubbling from regrettable actions
of lives past

this towering fortress
surrounding your jello heart
self built, brick by brick
and coated with
the leaded paint of distrust,
is now impenetrable

akhila
sporting a thousand faces!
lose that stealthy visor of denial,
and true to your name
open your white silk kimono
at once
to let the tides in
and watch that inner pink lotus coruscate

who am i?

the beleaguered king
tired of wearing a million cloaks
and desperately looking
to lose them all
in order to find
my true goddess akhila

© 2019
akhila: a Sanskrit name meaning the enchanting one who is “whole” or “complete”
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
Cuddled in bed au naturel, legs twisted around that sculpted waist, I smell the english rose in the silky strands of your hennaed hair. But it’s his vetiver-tinged cologne sprawled over your swan-like neck which suffocates me.

An empty pack of Marlboro, after our hurried twist under the satin sheets,  is all that remains. Your distracted eyes during that last puff give it away. It’s our love that will go up in smoke.

continental drift
engineered by stealthy time ~~
shards of broken glass


© 2019
449 · Apr 2019
anahata
Rama Krsna Apr 2019
anahata, my darling
      how i long for union with thee

narayana, cosmic healer
      resides in this ocean of love

india, as always, for you and me
      offers solace to our bruised hearts

taamarai like
      you are grace and beauty personified

aaho purusika!
       thou art my love and my life
anahata: heart chakra/spiritual center
narayana: the lord of the universe
taamarai: lotus flower
aaho purusika: giver of the i-sense
417 · Jun 2019
human condition
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
the tree of life
with its roots entrenched in ego
incessantly watered by
the fountain of desire
flowers lofty expectations,
which when unfulfilled
crumble like dry leaves
from flames of disappointment
and the smoke of anger,
poisoning mind and intellect
till humans are human no more

© 2019
397 · Jul 2019
full half circle
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
in this sanctum
where no one enters
deity distinctly different than devotee
she dared

is it the audacity of hope?
or a star about to crash and burn
paying a hefty price
for karmas
well over five thousand years old

that was then....

reentry, this time around
permitted only
when duality truly ends in unity
just like the cosmic hermaphrodite

her residual ego
already deflated
needs to be surrendered
at the doorstep
before being permitted access
into this sanctum sanctorum of love

only then
this half circle
becomes
fully complete

© 2019
391 · May 2020
in the ocean of milk
Rama Krsna May 2020
starting now,
our parallel paths
meet next
not on wretched earth

but
at the end of time
in the ocean of milk
where
silly schedules or errands
need no heeding

this will be
another four billion years!

shedding tears of blood
i weave a garland of skulls
each skull
sadly yours...

as your sculpted body
bound by endless karma
makes its way
to the funeral pyres
before starting
another soulless existence

in the soul filled
“smashaans”
where all lives end,
is where mine begins.....

as i wait there
with a bowl in hand,
wearing only the sky
as my garment,
adorned with
a garland of skulls,
begging for nothing
except your soul

© 2020
Smashaans:  large cremation grounds where numerous bodies are burnt after death
384 · Jul 2019
merged with the macrocosm
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
in the rarified air of kilimanjaro
damsel vyomakesi
sporting parrot in hand
seduces
recluse vyomakesa
to another game of wanton love making

some five thousand feet below....

i battle
uphill
step by step
breathless
ambling into the den of lassitude

intellection and fervor dissipate
until that experiential void is hit
as frugal breaths get consumed
for unalloyed endurance
at that razor’s edge
between life and death

just then
the root mantra of subsistence
alights the anima
soham...soham...soham
it whispers

iceberg mendicant
you take a pause
from that fervid dalliance
with the galactic enchantress
to throw my way, an entranced smile

hermetical vyoma
armed with that beam
i’ve now merged
with the macrocosm

©2019
365 · Jun 2019
love’s remnants
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
for her
t’was garbage
fractured glass
on its way to trash.....
to him
each shard
a fragment of a busted heart
in need of resuscitation

remnants of a failed love

© 2019
based on a true story
363 · Jun 2019
winds of seclusion
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
these blue waves
flashing within
just tides
emanating from heaving orbs
transmitting lugubrious messages

this aroused
but dormant volcano
only rekindled
by the stealthy healer - time

nursing sporadic,
subsistence a smorgasbord of
trivial pursuit

that starry gaze
lantern for my winding path,
your buxom chassis
my goose down duvet
from the arctic winds of seclusion


© 2019
355 · Apr 2019
wish you were here
Rama Krsna Apr 2019
in a world
where a drama queen
sheepishly bares
tales she could’ve easily spared
oh Krsna
wish you were here

in a world
where world leaders lie
so adeptly on the fly
oh Krsna
i wish you were here

in a world
that knows no shame
where social media
deserves quite the blame
oh my dear Krsna
we wish you were here

why is truth such a rarity?
there just isn’t any parity
in a world that’s a total nightmare
dearest Krsna
how i wish you were here

© 2019
343 · Aug 2019
yearning to play god
Rama Krsna Aug 2019
as galaxies collide
black holes mate
and tectonic plates dance,
silly humans twitter away
asinine triviality day after day

this earth
already consumed by deathly Time
just a pimple in the universe’s prat,
about to be defecated
as cosmic excreta
to another remote corner of our multiverse

a befitting lesson
for a new generation of
lucifers, mammons and belphegors
puffed up with massive egos
yearning to play god

the real one quietly smiles
and now takes aim...


© 2019
340 · Jun 2019
die zauberflote
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
at the center of the milky way
rests
the reclining lord of sri ranga
adorning a diadem
accentuated with a peacock feather

complexioned like
the dark rain bearing clouds
his golden navel
the true seat of
this galaxy’s black hole

a waft of
warm sandalwood
floats all through space
as i revel in the lilting tunes of
die zauberflote


© 2019
Poem inspired by Govind Ramakrishnan from his book- my world in fifty words
339 · Jul 2019
till then....
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
at the exotic hotel
of your capricious mind
where occupants get recycled
like towels and sheets
each day brings
new hopes and excitement

but only for now.....

that great equalizer
‘death’
which no one controls
will have the last word

let the clock
measuring your time
which is ‘the lamp of my love’
show that
there can only be
one occupant in the more
pristine hotel of your heart

till then
bye bye....

© 2019
321 · Jul 2019
key ingredients
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
linguistic creativity
plus telegraphic brevity
spiced with a poet’s insecurity
make up the key ingredients
for high quality poetry

© 2019
317 · Jul 2019
just the two of us
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
each time
our concupiscent eyes lock,
hair on every pore
stands on end
anticipating the volcanic eruption
of libidinous passion
where
our tanned bodies collide
like galaxies
creating a perfect union

each interlude
devours a cluster of stars
from the fire generated
during the carnal ******
as vital fluids
get exchanged

is this why
the planets and stars
collude each time
and never let us come together?

or, is it because
when we do,
we trigger another big bang
populating
a whole new universe
with help from no one at all?

just the two of us


© 2019
309 · Apr 2019
higher love
Rama Krsna Apr 2019
my love for her
steady as a rock
blessed by the gods
born out of the seven sacred flames
which witnessed this divine union
is indeed pristine

but,
my love for you
primordial in nature
born from within my very soul
mixed with equal parts
of gin and passion
consumes my very existence

which love is higher?

let the powers of the universe
be that ultimate judge

© 2019
292 · Jul 2019
or so he thought
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
the loose lips which sink
the ship of his love
is a river
acquainted in the sky

a river whose muddy waters
from then till now
never touched
or drunk from

her directionless flow
in need of an alternate course
more befitting her ancestral line
than her
then “substance” based existence

or so he thought.....

instead her turbulent waters
true to nature
floods the ship of his reputation
capsizing captain and ship

hand on heart
enough death bells
knelled
from the ones who truly cared

ignoring warning signals then
he thought he was right

some years later
licking soul’s wounds
he picks up his bags of sorrow
ship wrecked

this too a cosmic play of sorts!

© 2019
275 · Jul 2019
one with thee
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
this land
i know not
yet feel in every pore
melts
the chocolate of my heart
and rains
clouds of memories
of halcyon past

like an unseen
alter ego
you become
soul’s soliloquy
in life’s theater

a tranquil resort
for spirit
that flys me away
from the forbearing demands
of existence
and the whimsical inexactitude
dubbed life

Soto!
in spirit
i have become
one with thee
will thou accept me as thy lover?

© 2019
there are some places you visit or don’t even get a chance to see but knowing it’s there makes you feel complete. this poem is about the feeling such places can give and the people associated with these places that make you feel this way.....
274 · Jul 2019
krsna’s plea
Rama Krsna Jul 2019
only when i hear
those magical words:
“i love you”
leave your enticing
bow shaped lips
do i have a raison d’etre

absent  
i wander like a recluse
half mad, half nomad
fully devoid of purpose

the altruistic love
you shower
eternally charges
the battery of my existence
sans la quelle
juke box of life ceases to play

these temporary duracells
are withering away radhika
end this tirade,
come lock your lips with mine
like we used to
in the good old days of the vraj

© 2019
This poem is an ode to the power of Radhika,  The eternal lover of Krishna
260 · Aug 2019
universal mater
Rama Krsna Aug 2019
gratitude maximus,
earthly moms
for bearing in your ******
the burgeoning seed of intense passion
planted for forty weeks
amidst severe contractions
and extreme corporal discomfort

makes me ponder,
how that burden measures
to the pain maximus
suffered by the mother of the cosmos
who patiently hauled and delivered
the primal seed of desire
from her womb
for god only knows how long?

© 2019
240 · Jun 2019
glimmer of hope
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
with each flutter
those kohl rimmed eyes
reveal
a mirror to her heart
lips fail to deliver
heart’s murmur

her slate of the past
now wiped clean,
a new future is chalked
ruthlessly trampling
past residue

residue
may be all that I am...
soul’s temple frail
from its combat with life
but
my resilient inner beauty
audaciously still seeks
a glimmer of hope


© 2019
230 · Jun 2019
lunar power (senryu)
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
riding a full moon
up and down the tidal waves ~~
this turbulent mind

© 2019
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
meet me
neither in this city of inconstancy
where your stress levels
have reached stratospheric proportions,
nor
on the rolling hills of sotogrande
where new devotees flock
to catch a glimpse of thy beauty

but in zen-like thlllai
where we once started
our cosmic dance duel
in shameless duality

this time retracting the universe
and fulfilling sesha’s wish,
where
the one that eventually became many
now becomes one again

© 2019
thillai: spiritual center of the universe
sesha: cosmic serpent representing the DNA
206 · Jun 2019
london fog
Rama Krsna Jun 2019
space between us
once brimming
with blazing sparklers
now, just cool mist
filled with reticence

this melancholic
london fog
like a standing Fender
strums up its own lyric

flashback....
to a tropical night
where
moon stoked waves
rapped a hip-hop tune

kneeling by a buoyant ocean
our lips locked
tanned bodies entangled
as goose bumps erupted
under the auspices
of a cynical full moon

© 2019

— The End —