Lazy   mists   o'er   mountain   peaks   are   raised
Nature's   touch   a   rejoicing   world   has   graced
Kissed   by   the   pallid   lips   of   regret
Tomorrow's   dreams   on   yester   grave   are   placed.

Wet   eyes   a   million   lights   reflect
Where   a   few   have   shone- so   does   past   regret
Pain's   moment   to   everlasting   pain   transform
And   joy's   songs   to   dirges   turn   through   neglect.

I   raised   my   eyes   and   the   Heavens   in   crescents   ­shone
Like   Halo'ed   flowers   ******   brides   adorn
Angels   chorused-   my   mortals   ears   had   heard
With   Autumn's   breeze,   my   Spring   blooms    have   blown.

Passing   fancies   by   friendship's   name   are   known
And,   in   passing,   past   ties   disown
Love's   words,   though,   in   soft   memory'll   linger
Come   night   –   each   alone   the  day   shall   mourn.

The raindrop's ******, ever so light,
The dancing moonbeam, playing at night.
The gentle caress, not the tightened hold,
The fleeting glance, not the staring bold.

Not the blinding sun, but the candle's glow,
Not stormy seas, but the river's flow,
Not rushing waters, but the gentle shine,
Of unshed tears, yours and mine.

Not the spoken word but the parted lips,
Not the reaching out, but the elusive slips,
Not heavy perfume, but the fragrant whiff
Not stormy quarrels, but the lover's tiff.

Early Dawns in the hues of East,
They stir me most, that stir me least.

Love's ways are strange, I know not how
But parting's sweet – And the pain is now
That we're together.

And when you are long gone it’s not the days
We were together – But when we parted ways
That I'll remember.

Song's for the asking, Music's dear,
Tattered notes in the discerning ear
Spill'd colours across the canvas spread
Undaunted the artist looks ahead.

Clumsy feeling stumbles across the page
Spidery lines are traced as if in rage
At mocking crowds that anticipate
His failure at the hands of a laughing Fate.

Anger spills from a slashing stroke of red
Anguish from the easel rears its head
In green, the world, his fancies capture
Dull moves the brush, in reluctant rapture.

Hollow songs by struggling fingers born
Orchestrated by a soul that's torn
'Twixt turning in Logic and Reason's dance
Or twirling in a graceful dream filled trance.

His eyes are open, he seems to gaze
Sightless, staring as in a daze
Hearing songs that alone he can hear
Strangers to the mortal ear.

And visions of elfin beauty spring
That to the canvas his brushes bring
Of golden sun, rustling trees and mirth
Frolicking clouds between sky and earth.

Once reluctant fingers dazzling play
Joy's songs to lighten a gloomy day
And those who watched a canvas bare
Now stop in wonder to turn and stare.

“There's magic in that artist's hand”
They say as wonderstruck they stand
Fame's halo rings a bowed head
His dread is gone and in its stead  

Recognition sounds its clamourous gong
Shatter'd peace, and shattered song
Inspiration got lost along the way
Mediocrity now holds its sway.

He longs again for the mocking stare,
The time to stand and not to care
As running colours on the canvas spread
And he, unknown, just looks ahead.

I'm weary now and seek to rest
I need a place to stay
A hand to reach out for
A smile to light my way

A voice to beckon to me
When silences stretch too long
And eyes to hold my tears
Someone to walk along

Prodigal Sorrow wears a new face.
Untended my door welcomes strangers.
Drifting silence resounds Within emptiness.
Constant companion Of the unfulfilled .
Stubborn shadows Defy the day
Amidst their jostling lives toss and turn.
Crippled senses support indiscretions
Hostage to tempestuous moods Reason cries.
Blurred fantasies sound the knell
Of ill-defined purpose -still born.
Stark images of what is
And what could be -endlessly displayed.
Tempests rage Within,
Without the  sea redeems itself.
Benign neglect clothes the tattered form.
Hand outstretched Life implores the living.
Once welcome guest ensconsed,
Litters my home -no longer welcome.
Amid the stars radiant Galaxies
Of uncharted dreams Seek direction.
In the cradle stirs anew
The pulsing rhythm of human *******.
A dawn illuminates
A new way, a new path.
Ajar, the door
Crowned with tentative blossoms
Ushers a smile.
Myriad choruses in tandem
Drive Sorrow out
My home is yet mine.

Dreaming as the sunset kissed the sky
By the lake I heard a lady cry
On my question "Alas" she wept aloud
With each sunset a little of my youth will fly

Oh gentle lady by the lake
Why weep you here for beauty's sake
A lost youth your eyes in the pool can see
From Time's gaze a shelter of dreaming make.

For even as the koyal in the trees shall sing
And blossoming flowers herald the spring
The ale from our barrel will drip away, my love
Fill now your cup- some cheer to bring.

Come, come my love, leave behind
Your whims and fancies, your troubled mind
That youth and beauty that a mockery make
Of life-their crippling chains unbind

In dreams did my mind reveal
Life's truths-and in mute appeal
Beseech me-let youth and beauty by
Her laughter did all that knowledge steal

It didn't begin-it could not end
Just endless hours somehow to spend
-E'en as mornings turned to night-
Telling tales a haunted soul to mend.

Once, just once, upon a Dawn
By my window, a bird forlorn
Sat singing wisdom's song to me
I rose and grasped-and the bird was gone.

So I clung on to what I knew
Must surely die-just like the dew
With morn-Time's callous winds destroyed
My laughter as over my life they blew.

Yet, still, I seek those moonlit pools
And worlds where bold Folly rules
Seeking paths some more to stray
My skies ablaze in radiant hues.