In   the   yard   there   is   a   tree
It's   been   there   quite   a   while
I   look   at   it   today
With   a   quiet,   wistful   smile.

From   years   long   gone   a   vision
Of   a   child   looking   around
I   see   –   as   he   surveyed
Brown,   beaten,   barren   ground.

He   knew   without   quite   knowing
That   something   was   not   right
They'd   said   the   earth   should   hold
Full   blooms   and   flowers   bright.

Despondent,   he   saw   no   blade
Of   grass   –   no   copse,   no   bush.
Not   just   a   leaf   to   wipe
The   sudden   tearful   rush.

With   grubby   hand   he   rubbed
Tired   eyes   that   woeful   weep
And   turned   from   whence   he   came
To   the   silent   house   to   sleep.

But   first   upon   the   table
He   saw   what   had   been   left
As   mothers   are   wont   to   do
A   mango   for   him   was   kept.

With   practised   ease   he   clambered
Onto   to   the   nearest   chair
And   the   pensive   fruit   he   ******
Leaving   stains   on   face   and   hair.

Then   something   he'd   heard
Came   to   mind   with   startling   light
He   look'd   through   the   window
His   eyes   were   shining   bright.

He   toddled   back   outside
And   saw   the   distant   wall
His   gaze   fixed   upon   it
Threw   the   kernel   like   a   ball.

Then   came   in   back   to   sleep
From   the   yard   with   barren   earth
And   when   he   woke   he   heard
The   sounds   of   talk   and   mirth.

And   as   is   a   child's   way
He   forgot   what   he   had   cast,
In   the   pleasures   of   today
Past   deeds   are   often   past.

The   seasons   came   and   went
The   child   to   manhood   grown
He'd   left   his   parent's   house
For   a   place   he   called   his   own.

With   the   passing   of   the   years
Memory   too   lost   its   recall
Though   on   chance   he   told   the   tale
Of   the   kernel   by   the   wall

One   day   'cross   oceans   distant
A   man   came   back   to   claim
The   child   of   the   child   returned
To   the   house   that   bore   his   name

And   in   the   yard   he   saw
No   patch   of   empty   ground
But   a   giant   mango   tree
Fruit   flies   flitting   around.

And   in   its   shade   he   stood
Amidst   flowers   of   different   hue
And   tried   in   vain   to   see
The   wall   his   father   knew.

In   the   lush   green   of   the   yard
The   distant   wall   was   hidden
And   with   no   conscious   thought
Came   a   sight   quite   unbidden..

On   the   spot   where   he   stood
He   saw   again   that   child
And   reverent   bent   to   taste
Fruit   lying   in   splendour   wild.

The   grey   upon   his   shoulders
Gnarled   bark   of   the   tree
The   wisdom   of   the   years
Was   there   for   him   to   see.

He   knew   it   was   the   land
And   the   rain   in   season   due
That   gave   the   tree   and   yard
Its   colours   and   its   hue.

But   all   that   he   could   sense
Was   a   child   trying   to   see
Bright   flowers   and   green   grass
Where   they'd   said   they   should   be.

Like   him   perhaps   there'll   be
A   woeful   child   who'll   stand
And   plant   another   tree
With   the   kernel   in   his   hand.

From   simple   deeds   are   born
Life's   flavours   and   its   treats
From   little   children's   longings
Barren   nature   too   retreats

When   he,   his   child,   and   children
Are   gone,   the   tree   will   stand
A   symbol   of   the   miracle
Wrought   by   a   child's   hand.

I often try some way to find
To tame the rioting in my mind
They’re all gone -those dear to me
None left to listen-none to see

So who’s to know what lies beneath
Unseen- where anguished torrents writhe
Born of a choice i made one day
That’s left me alone along my way.

There was a time when i was free
And smiled at whatever i could see
Waiting  for that moment’s call
When deep in love i would fall.

I turned and sudden she was there
The vision that left  me unaware
Of everything and everyone
Radiant as the smiling sun

I lived  each day and each night
Waiting only for her sight
Till the day she took my hand
Said she was going to a distant land

I tried but could not make her stay
She said she had to find her way
It had been nice, the time with me
But now she needed more to see.

Its decades now- but i still wait
My gaze fixed upon my gate
With still a hope that i will see
Her smiling -coming back to me.

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

I think it’s time to now sit back
And stop searching for another day
I’ll tell myself the tales I own
Of things that happened along my way

I would say if ever asked
Life’s been a merry ride so far
Marked by treasures found and lost
And visions near and then afar

There were times when I could sense
Things weren’t what they were to be
I’d let some fleeting joy dispel
The fears within that none could see

Countless times I’d ask myself
Is this the path I want to walk
Long silent stretches shorn of sound
A quiet yearning just to talk

We leave so many things unsaid
Using words that should’nt have a voice
We live deluded that we control
Ourselves and our every choice

Nor you and I; the Fate’s decide
What the morrows hold in store
I delude myself; for the heart is young
I won’t sit here anymore

RBM

A TALE OF SEASONS 
New  Delhi  22/4/99


I   saw   the   gray   mists   rising
Cresting   high   o'er   the   tide
The   thunder   of   the   tempest
Lashing   shores   bleak   and   wide

I   watched   the   heaving   breast
Gasping   out   a   tortured   plea
As   the   tempest   shrieking   struck
From   its   home   beneath   the   sea

The   tears   of   headless   trees
In   pools   of   blossoms   lay
Torn   limbs   with   studied   care
Ranged   along   the   traveller's   way

I   heard   the   groans   of   men
In   silent   impotence   caged
Mute   spectators   they   stood
Even   while   the   tempest   raged

But   then   its   ordeal   over
Nature   relented   for   a   while
I   saw   the   first   faint   twitching
Of   the   beginning   of   a   smile

The   pangs   of   birth   were   over
I   watched   sweet   Nature   bring
Midwif'd   by   seasonal   Time
Earth's   golden   child   of   Spring

Soft   fragrance   lined   its   cradle
Of   coyly   blushing   blooms
Woo'ed   by   a   gentle   breeze
It   wafted   through   my   rooms

I   saw   the   Gate's   were   open
In   tranquil   skies   above
The   Heaven's   gift   of   sunshine
Sent   for   the   child   with   love

The   tears   the   trees   had   shed
To   nectar   turned   by   Night
They   nursed   the   smiling   infant
Midst   gurgles   of   delight

Spring   skipped   her   way   to   youth
Light   footed   'cross   my   dreams
Her   songs   of   joy   had   echoed
'Cross   mountains,   vales   and   streams.

While   still   her   locks   shone   gold
Time   led   his   Earth   to   bed
For   Nature's   rules   are   strict
Four   times   the   Earth   must   wed.

Their   union's   long   been   fated
Their   childrens'   names   are   known
Spring,   Summer,   Autumn,   Winter
Each   in   their   image   grown

I   wonder   what   she's   thinking
As   she   looks   upon   each   birth
The   angry   face   of   Summer
Her   soft   Spring's,   lilting   mirth.

Her   Autumn's   clad   in   sunsets
Quiet   Winter   pensive   stares
Earth's   pride   is   shared   equal
By   the   offspring   that   she   bears.

When   Summer's   fiery   temper
Scorched   her   dancing   ground
Then   Spring,   soft,   fragile   creature
Could   no   longer   skip   around.

She   waited   knowing   another
Would   quieten   Summer's   ire
For   Autumn   lowers   the   temper
Stills   Summer's   raging   fire.

Freed   of   the   Summer   sun
Mother   Earth's   in   shadow   ******
Her   Autumn   gives   her   clothes
Of   soft   gold   and   melding   rust.

With   quiet   and   firm   demeanour
He's   dressed   ever   so   neat
Some   hues   of   Spring   he   wears
With   a   mellowed   Summer's   heat

His   time   is   short,   he   knows
Cold   Winter's   in   the   womb
But   Autumn's   ever   cherished
For   his   colours   break   the   gloom

Staid   Winter's   born   in   white
Earth   nurtures   him   in   turn
A   quiet   life   spent   awaiting
For   his   sister   to   return

Of   all   the lovely   siblings
I   do   love   Spring   the   most
Her   laughter   and   her   colours
For   three   Seasons   had   been   lost

I   loiter   across   the   meadows
Spring's   gaiety   by   my   side
Her   locks   of   gold   are   rampant
Like   the   frothing   of   the   tide

Each   year   the   Earth   is   fertile.
Spring,   Summer,   Winter,   Fall
I   envy   her   her   children
And   her   equal   pride   in   all.

I hung that one last moment
Low down that lethal rope
As the noose squeezed away
My last and fleeting hope

I wondered what had happened
Had Blind Justice lost its way
Could not that  gentle Mercy
Stop the dawning of this day

Last night was never ending
Lying numb in darkened space
I heard my daughter's prayer
For the dawn to hide its face

They said that I was guilty
I know I was guilty too
Could  they not see I tried
My wrongdoings to undo

I returned from where I'd fled
Back to the home I'd known
-that home that I had wounded-
For my actions to atone

They say that time is fleeting
One's life with dangers fraught
I cursed the steps I'd taken
That turned my life to naught

I told them what I knew
Of the actions that were taken
By others of faith and family
That left my spirit shaken.

Was I just one of them
Or was I of different mould
Could  not they tell the difference
From all that I had told.

A father and a husband
Counting seconds of his life
Now asks for peace and honor
For his daughter and his wife.

I remember now when you and I,
Would try to study side by side,
And of the hazel chocs I'd buy,
To bring you a moment's sweet delight.

We'd laugh and talk of everything,
Except what we were there to learn,
And I'd try into that room to bring,
The fires that within me burn.

I'd transform that little room of ours,
To show what we from life could take,
And clothe us in dream laden flowers,
To bring back to you what you'd forsaked.

We'd dream together and laugh aloud,
And when you were gone, my heart was glad,
That for a moment I'd burst reality's cloud,
That  had made your eyes so sad.

To show what I'd give to you,
Of life's freedoms that you had shunned,
And when I dreamt I thought you knew,
It's in dreams that life's deepest passions burned.

And when I was alone at home or where,
My sight could not your face behold,
No clouds of anxiety hovered there,
Your love would warm the deepest cold.

In lonely moments when I cried,
Your love with me will stay forever,
I knew not envious Fate's decide,
When and where Love's bonds to sever.

Yet no sadness mars my moments now,
What we have shared will ours remain,
You spoke of parting – in your eyes I saw,
The fires within us burn the same.

Love's gentle embers that once had flared,
I'll let passions breeze fan anew,
While you with Logic's dust have dared,
To colour your morrows in a darker hue.

Grieve not that this world has tried,
To make what you weren't meant to be,
Tho' smiling lips your dreams belied,
The pain was there for me to see.

I think not ever love let me down,
For we dreamers must change each day to night, Else how can we our Times transform,
Into a moment's fond delight.

Todays bleak, the morrows unknown
Increasingly I dwell  on the past alone
Memories now shape a comforting space
And give me strength each day to face

A   quiet   place   nestled   upon   a   hill,
A   garden,    chairs,    moods   soft   and   still,
Sat   musing,    lost,    yet   somewhat   aware,
Of   a   stray,    nagging   care.

I   sensed   the   first   faint   footfall   sound,
I   closed   my   eyes   and   from   around,
Mirth,    naughty,    chuckled   through   the   trees,
Light   footed   rain   danced   on   the   eaves.

O'er   hilltops   delicate   graceful   weave,
The   clouds   in   ritual   begin   to   cleave,
To   trim   her   star   studded   gown
And   daintly   clothe   a   sleepy   town.

Walk   soft   -   Night   now   claims   her   way,
Her   dark   ushers   the   day   away,
Muted   light   silhouettes   the   stately   trees,
I   heard   her   song   upon   the   breeze.

Quilted   shadows,    sleepy   flowers   turn,
Dreamy   eyes   with   strange   passion   burn,
A   sudden   fragrance   lent   it   voice
I   watched   them   with   their   Night   rejoice.

I   held   her   words   before   they   fled,
In   gentle   tones   to   me   she   said
"Others,    today,    in   festive   mood
Celebrate-   Why   alone   do   you   brood? "

"Let's   walk   together   my   secret   way
'Cross   hill   and   vale   where   done   dare   stray"
She   beckoned   -   I   yet   held   my   place
Distrusting   of   her   smiling   face.

"Behind   me,    look,    do   you   hear
The   sounds   of   joy   and   of   cheer"
I   said,    watching   from   afar,
Gaiety   hostage   to   that   hour.

Through   frosted   panes   the   candles   glowed
And   talk   and   laughter   freely   flowed
Then   her   mist   reached   out   to   me
Blurred   my   eyes   I   could   not   see.

Drifting,    gliding   o'er   time   and   space
No   longer   rooted   to   one   place
"Pain,    Sorrow,    revelers   of   the   Day"
She   said   "Here   they   dare   not   stay"

She   said   "   'Tis   time   for   us   to   walk
Across   to   see   and   hear   their   talk
I've   given   you   vision   to   see   and   know
The   passing   comfort   of   the   candle's   glow".

Within   me   a   sudden   joy   was   born
Of   knowledge   that   what   Day   had   torn
Night's   touch   would   mend   and   make   it   whole
Cloister   a   lost,    troubled   soul.

"They   seek   the   false   pallid   light
And   try   and   keep   out   the   Night
With   fading   lives   and   laughter   short
They   live   afraid,    Fear   is   their   lot".

We   strolled   together,    I   and   Night
To   that   door,    well   out   of   sight
A   table   clad   in   rust   and   red
She   chose   -   the   candle   wounded   bled.

One,    protective,    with   his   hand
Shaped   a   vain,    trembling   band
Around   the   flame   -   Night   looked   and   smiled
I   watched,    unseen,    as   he   tried.

To   keep   the   gust   from   wounded   flame
Night   went   on   with   her   game
Her   companion   breeze   raised   the   stake
To   help   her   the   fragile   band   to   break.

To   shock   his   hand   to   chilled   retreat
Abandon   candle   and   his   seat
The   dead   candle   lay   where   once   it   glowed
Talk   and   laughter   no   longer   flowed.

Night   said   "They   are   creatures   of   the   Day
Unworthy   with   dark   Night   to   play
They   shun   my   caress,    they   fear   my   hold
Dulled   senses   and   with   spirits   cold."

"I've   shown   you   what   there   is   to   know
Some   lives,    brief,    like   candles   glow
I've   chosen   you   to   walk   with   me
Awakened   senses   and   with   spirit   free."

A   parting   smile,    she   turns   to   go
Shimmering,    fades   in   a   rustling   flow
I   watch   a   new   dawn   break   the   sky
And   brush   the   dew   drop   from   my   eye.

When,    now,    my   weary   days   are   long,
I   draw   a   chair,    await   her   song,
The   garden's   quiet,    moods   soft   and   light
As   we   embrace,    I   and   my   Night.

My day’s done;the night begins
With narry a star in my sky
Of dark clouds and memory’s stings
Harkening back to days gone by

There was a time ,still’d by thoughts
When rythmic words did easy flow
Some spoken and some silent kept
The treasured hoards from long ago

No turbulence could hold its sway  
Dawn and dusk both wore a smile
Dark shadows heard a silent prayer
For lingering dreams to last a while

Alas the pen that once could craft
Words that made passions flare
Now lies dry - like an aged man
A withered tube beyond repair

Yet I try with care and skill
Just a drop of ink to find
To write of laughter and of joy
And still the tortures of the mind

Peaceful slumber closed lids shield Dreams.
Jumbled memories, flashes of the future
Create a bewildering kaleidoscope of colour in my mind's eye.
And I see myself stark naked amidst swirling mists,
Each particle a symbol of past events, of future happenings.
Uncomprehending, incomprehensible.
Unknowing, perturbed by what may be,
Outwardly I sleep,
The epitome of serenity.

Peaceful slumber closed lids
Shield Dreams.
Jumbled memories, flashes of the future
Create a bewildering kaleidoscope
Of colour in my mind's eye.
And I see myself stark naked
Amidst swirling mists,
Each particle a symbol of past events, of future happenings.
Uncomprehending, incomprehensible.
Unknowing, perturbed by what may be,
Outwardly I sleep,
The epitome of serenity.

I keep asking myself-was it real
The Time that you and I were together

Or was it merely a quirky gambit of  Fate
Whose cup, tho' full, needed a drop.

Night's shadows on blinding sun rays ride.
White-maned the moon betrays the tide.
The sea in still'd splendour sleeps,
Dry eyed fulfilled emotion weeps

The ghosts of past breathe life anew,
Broken words in thoughts their strength renew
Lips strain to speak, there's nought to say
Dull eyed ache holds the world at bay.

Tormented season storms a changing land
Summer's snows they say are close at hand
O Autumn your bloom in mischief peeks
While Spring forlorn her flowers seeks.

Winter garbs the earth in shimmering heat
And lies the truth disdainful treat,
The dirge its merry note extols
Death roams the land, life fettered crawls.

As frenzied mothers their dryness curse
Young children will their parents nurse
Prison bars are freedom's last refuge
Tyrants weep to hasten the deluge.

Smile then you Gods your game is played
And tomorrow's awakening today delayed
Sober man now to the womb returns
Still-born the Child breath mutely spurns.

Night's shadows on blinding sunrays ride
White-maned the moon betrays the tide
The sea in still'd splendour sleeps
Dry eyed fulfilled emotion weeps.

The ghosts of past breathe life anew
Lost words in thoughts their strength renew
Lips strain to speak, there's nought to say
Dull eyed ache holds the world at bay.

Tormented season storms a changing land
Summer's snows they say are close at hand
O Autumn your bloom in mischief peeks
While Spring forlorn her flowers seeks.

Winter garbs the earth in shimmering heat
And lies the truth disdainful treat,
The dirge its merry note extols
Death roams the land, life fettered crawls.

As frenzied mothers their dryness curse
Young children will their parents nurse
Prison bars are freedom's last refuge
Tyrants weep to hasten the deluge.

Smile then you Gods your game is played
And tomorrow's awakening today delayed
Sober man now to the womb returns
Still-born the Child breath mutely spurns.

ENCOUNTER


Along   rambling   paths
Of   unstructured   conversations
-   Nowhere   to   Nowhere   -
We   met.
Strangers   –   in   step
Till   the   crossroads.

Then   I   spoke
And   watched   my   words
Trudge   again   a   solitary   way
Silent   echoes   in   emptiness
Unheeded   and   unheard.

Just a hint of clouds clothes the icy summits
As they send down a cool breeze
To proclaim the Spring.
And trees and grass that heavy hearts Behind Winter's doors had sheltered
With flowery smiles bend each way
And greet their mates.
And bow down to me bemused,
As I wend my way among them
Drawing deep breaths of Spring's messenger.

The sound of laughter fills the air
As roadside waterways in merry cadence roll away
Having fed at leisure on the melting snows.
And a sudden flash of white arrests my eye
As a paper boat dances on the water's crest
And sinking in a trough vanishes from sight
And is gone an unknown way.
And looking up I espy its elfin creator
Whose sparkling eyes today cannot perceive
How much his life is to be like that boat's journey.
Riding each crest before a trough its presence reveals.
And at the end no crests, no troughs Just Eternal Peace.

And now the night quietly creeps up upon the world,
And I sit here musing
As the sun in a blaze of glory is going away
But yet, with a golden finger stretched across the skies
Beckons the wayward moon to share the day.
And like a bridal ****** from behind her veil
Casts her lover a fleeting glance,
The heavens with cloudy cover shield the Moon
While I sit here longing for a glimpse of her radiant face.

Go on, my moon, play your games with me,
I shall wait patient till your longing is as great as mine,
And you, blind behind heavy veil, not knowing if your lover is gone or waiting,
Cast aside all pretence and reach out your hand to mine.

There are many who sleep tonight with thoughts of tomorrow
I'll savour again the scent of today.
How we humans in vain endeavour seek our Morrows,
When the Presents are still here to stay.
And how soon we forget that Yesterday was once Tomorrow,
We were looking ahead, it became the Present,
And ere we realized – It quietly slipped away.

Smoke from chimneys heralds the dawn of evening,
Warm fires light hearths, as the day draws to a close,
And I watch, solitary, from my pinnacle,
As men hurry home, their daily pursuits over,
The noise of cars, raucous shouts recede in the distance,
With the dawn of evening.

Each with his secret dreams, his hopes, his sense of futility shields.
As the deepening shadows encourage his imagination.
Between office and home lies a world of make believe,
When clerks become officers, and officers ministers.
When the weak become strong and the strong almighty.
Till the home is reached.

Familiar sounds shatter into bits all hopes and dreams,
The warm hearths, the smoke from chimneys,
The smell of food, the signs of reality,
Increase man's frustration as he prepares,
For another day of his humdrum existence.

The day is done, the night descends,
And I watch the morrow bring another –
A further realization of his impotence.

Dusty spring days when blue skies are veile'd,
And life's songs on falling notes are scaled,
Seeking refuge then from lost desires,
A man into a silent world  retires.
Closed in by thoughts on rocking chairs,  
His aloneness with a glass of beer he shares,
And  drifts into silence no sound can rent,  
Of memories, to gone days, erects monuments.
And the froth bubbling incessantly,
Creates images and all he’s lost he sees,
He walks beer soaked stumbling still
Rests himself on the window sill
Gazes at flowers smiling bright
In the raindrops glistening light

Soft words tumble from his mouth,  
In bleary stupor  he looks up and shouts –
"That laughing rain  kisses flowers
(Reminds me of tears and lonely hours)
And that bird singing in the trees,
Reflects its own beauty in all that it sees.  
While I, seeking solace in golden beer,
See this, yet my eyes still shed their tear."  
Just one thought now plagues his mind
Why could I true love not find
People came  then left my life
Burdened with more emotional strife

In anger then his bleary eyes are clear,
Glass shatters and spills all the beer.
He walks *****,  his feet are stumbling still,  
But visions from his window a hope instill  
From his window he  gazes at skies above,
Trembling fingers light another smoke.
That rising leads him by the hand,
Guides him, stumbling to another land.

Where spring skies of dusty clouds are rid,
And budding dreams in smiling flowers are hid,
Bright birds in open splendour sing,
Crystal raindrops new songs of joy bring.  
Where peace in gentle silence abounds,
And despair its knell no longer sounds.

In rapture shouts to heavens blue and clear –
"At last my freedom here is near,
for I have lost – there's nothing left to lose,
And the crossroads are here for me to choose.
To build monuments that perforce must crumble,
Walk roads where I perforce must stumble.
Or caress flowers that dreams untold,
In vivid colours for me unfold.

My peace is here, where human sounds
Are silenced  – just loneliness resounds.

Turn away from me if you so wish
I’ll hold on to an  empty space
Togetherness is strictly time defined
My solitude’s cloaked in  eternal grace

When Winter's nights seems dark and never ending
And heavy snows a white glowing mantle cast And howling winds in frenzy drive Man and beast to shelter.
And the Heaven's deluge this earth with tears
And nothing stirs.

Then warmly clothe yourself and shut out all sound
And a covering blanket around your shoulders throw
And an empty place set aside
With gentle touch a candle light
And in its flickering flame shall once again
My eyes gaze upon you
And then-think of me.

And when the Summer's winds parch the land
And you seek refuge by the waters
And frolic in the sands
Spare a moment.
And when the night is dark and the moon is high
And frosted waves in frenzy beat upon the shores
And roll and ebb
Sit alone by the waters as they touch your feet And as the tide to the heavens reaches
Within shall my passions live and roar
And in every wave that touches your body
Shall my lips caress you
And then-think of me.

And when the skies are angry
And in grey colours shade your life
And when the rains come
Remember far away a man bare chested
Screams your name
In defiance of the Fates
That deny his fulfilment
With every drop that falls upon your window
In its ****** shall you hear my words.

On clear nights, a gentle breeze,
And the moon high and bright
Sleep in peace by your window
And in every moonbeam that caresses your face
Shall my fingers seek to recapture
Past moments of Love
And then-think of me.

And when Autumn comes and the trees are sad
For lovers parted
And in sympathy drifting leaves
Create a russet carpet for your steps
Go out alone and walk barefoot
And reach out your hands
And I shall come soundless from the trees
And walk by your side
And then - think of me.

And when your Spring is here
And a bright golden sun kisses the earth
And trees blossom heavy cannot bear their weight
And bend and bow in your path in greeting
And once proud blushing roses shameful hang their heads as you walk amongst them
Then laugh out aloud and remember
Somewhere I smile, content in your happiness
And yet again – think of me.

As   the   shadows   lengthen   on   the   sleeping   tree
Nor   you   nor   I   know   what   the   morrow'll   be,
Bear   with   me   –   this   verse'll   the   chapter   close
Indulge   one   last   time   a   poet's   fancy.

Sentiments   that   sealed   lips   did   not   betray,
Words   that   I   oft   was   afraid   to   say,
Fearing   Youth's   headiness   would   make   you   scoff,
Storm   past   the   barriers   –   laugh   if   you   may.

When   away   you've   been   in   a   distant   land,
Life's   dusk   is   drawing   near   close   at   hand,
These   words   may   yet   another   Dawn   reveal,
Another   morrow   help   a   night's   gloom   transcend.

You're   young   now,   life's   tide   is   at   the   peak,
Each   prayer   grants   you   just what      you   seek,
One   day   with   effort   will   their   joints   unfold
Fingers   –   that   with   grace   stroke   your   cheek.

If   at times  you're   alone   and   feeling   scared,
Pretences   stripped   and   reality   bared,
No   force   will   then   dare   you   to   touch,
If   you   for   others   too   have   cared.

Remember   when   you   walk   a   lonely   way,
A   helping   hand   on   a   stumbling   traveler   lay,
Pass   not   by   with   disdain   –   In   tolerance   grow,
Nor   let   your   smile   another's   faith   betray.

Look   around   you   –   There's   lots   yet   to   feel,
Bleeding   wounds   that   bleed,   no   balm   can   heal,
Stop   awhile   --   could   not   these   wounds   be   yours?
With   gentle   touch   the   flow   seek   to   seal.

Dead   souls,   spirits   about   to   break
Lost,   groping,   unsure   what   to   make
Of   life- you'll   meet   them   oft   enough
For   the   blind   a   little   sight   forsake.

In   your   journey   will   you   shed   a   tear,
Seeing   old   men   a   youthful   burden   bear   ?
Smile,   waking   to   a   bird's   carefree   “Hullo”
Break   down   the   walls   Nature's   song   to   hear.

Let   your   senses   wake   and   your   heart   be   free,
Smell   the   rose   when   others   the   thorns   can   see,
Seek   not   to   quench   the   passionate   fires   of   life,­
Behind   flashing   flames   though   dying   embers   be.

Perchance   the   day   will   come,   I   do   not   know,
In   casual   encounter   we'll   say   “Hullo”
And   turn   away   our   separate   paths   to   walk,
Estranged   by   Time's   rushing   flow.

I'll   see   you   then   as   when     I   write,
And   wonder   if   what   I   wrote   was   right,
Tho'   poets   are   fools   ,  captives   of   their   senses,
Their   words,   like   stars,   diffuse   the   night.

My   pen   has   writ   what   I   could   not   say,
Cherish   my   words   --   do   what   you   may,
My   solace   is   I claimed the right
To share with you some thoughts tonight.

Dusty spring days when blue skies are veil’d,
And life's songs on falling notes are scaled,
Seeking refuge then from lost desires,
A man into sublime unconsciousness retires.

Closed in by walls of thoughts on rocking chairs,
His loneliness with a glass of beer he shares,
And musing, drifts into silence no sound can rent,
Of memories, to days long gone, erects monuments.

And the froth bubbling incessantly,
Creates images and forsaked thoughts he sees,
That, shedding their ethereal existence,
From his mind into his room descend.

And soft words, uncontrolled, tumble from his mouth,
In drunken stupor lifts bleary eyes and shouts –
That beauteous rain tho' dying kisses flowers
(Reminds me of tears and lonely hours)

Which pitying heavens in sympathy have sent,
To help me this foreboding gloom transcend.
And that bird singing in the trees,
Reflects its own beauty in all that it sees.

While I, seeking solace in golden beer,
See this, yet my eyes still shed their tear.
In anger then his bleary eyes are clear,
Glass shatters and spills golden beer.

He walks *****, his feet stumbling still,
But moonlit raindrops a new courage instill
And changing shape the crystal drops he spilled,
Have now a new way for him revealed.

Lifts shutters and gazes at skies above,
Trembling fingers now light another smoke.
That rising leads him by the hand,
Guides him, stumbling to another land.

Where spring skies of dusty clouds are rid,
And budding dreams in smiling flowers are hid,
Bright birds in open splendour sing,
Crystal raindrops new songs of joy bring.

Where peace in gentle silence abounds,
And despair its knell no longer sounds.
In rapture shouts to heavens blue and clear –
"At last my freedom here is near,

For I have lost – there's nothing left to lose,
And the crossroads are here for me to choose.
To build monuments that perforce must crumble,
Walk roads where I perforce must stumble.

Or caress flowers that dreams untold,
In vivid colours shyly unfold.
To smell and breathe free air and sing,
And shut out the thoughts that despair bring.

Here can I that Spring leave behind,
Whose tortured memories scarred my mind.
For as Nature's children forever know,
There'll be springs again to come and go.

My peace is here, where from human sounds
Life abstains – but loneliness resounds.

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.

Soft blows the Heaven's whispering wind Saying nothing yet still something's heard -Like notes of a once -elusive Spring
Warbled by Winter's solitary bird.

And sudden my mind in gay abandon
Trolls the paths of a distant day
When twice five years -not a moment more
Innocent upon these shoulders lay.

There was, then, a summer's place
Daintily nestled upon a hill
Where many an hour of pensive thought
I'd spent in silence warm and still.

And nights hazy mists remember
Dwelt on street lights dim and low
With old men safely picking steps
Along gently sloping roads below .

Silent tiptoed the nightly rain
On sloping roofs and tender eaves
Entranced I'd see the pine trees sway
Sigh to their moist rustling leaves

I was fashioned ,to me unknown
By Grandfather -stern and tall
Whose tales of ghosts and djins that walked
Would hold my nightly hours in thrall..

In a verandah bare of face
That gazed upon a leafy vale
Of bards and poets and heroes brave
He told me many a moving tale.

Shadows danced on mountain paths
That wandered lost into the glade
Where nestling pines defying the sun
Cast a softly scented shade.

We knew along those winding trails
Many spots , most quaint and small
Where from the bustling crowds we'd flee
That thronged the town's central Mall.

The summer days were mostly warm
But sudden the thunder darkly rolled
Shivering along those neon lit streets
Stood silent doorways wet and cold.

And when the summer skies were spent
And lightning's flash no longer flared
Like mushrooms from the forest floor
The windows popped and people stared.

Prudence sought a moment's stay
But with that evening's siren call
None waited for the roads to dry
It brought the crowds onto the Mall.

Many spirits of past generations
Daily meandered thru' the town
And people dressed in Sunday best
Traversed that road up and down.

They came to see and to be seen
Boys and girls- the young and old
The warmth from seeking eyes dispelled
The damp and sometimes chilling cold.

When the shops had shuttered down
The dark bade 'night to man and beast
The music played in private rooms
Of friends gather'd to dance and feast.

Lightheaded from the evening spent
Before the first light of the morn
We'd sing to all those silenced streets
And await the breaking of the dawn.

Dreams oft born of that haze
Left many cheeks a blushing red
Hands were held, some glances shared
Some words were heard without being said.

Oft the highpoint of those months
Came when Auckland's fete was laid
With rosy cheeks in neat discipline
Stood girls in brown and yellow plaid.

Many a smoothened cheek that day
Was with fragrant cologne splashed
Many a heart that day was captured
Many a hope that day was dashed.

Many an hour was later spent
Designing chances again to meet
Many a tongue learned by rote
Words a chosen one to greet.

Another place no less famous
Lay some distance from the Mall
Whose quiet greys with hints of red
Adorned the girls of Tarahall.

Just glimpsed faces ,names unknown
Drove the boys to patient wait
Roads that somehow chanced to pass
By Auckland's or Loretto's gate.

Many a summer there was spent
Away from cares of school and books
Many a moment cherished still-
Stolen touches in secluded nooks.

I grew to manhood in that town
Of carefree summers bright and free
It's many summers since last I went
Its people and its sights to see.

The ghosts I left still roam the hills
Some wizened -others grey but well
They search another lad of ten
Their spells to cast -their tales to tell

Soft blows the Heaven's whispering wind
Saying nothing yet still something's heard
Like notes of a once -elusive Spring
Warbled by Winter's solitary bird.

And sudden my mind in gay abandon
Trolls the paths of a distant day
When twice five years -not a moment more
Innocent upon these shoulders lay.

There was, then, a summer's place
Daintily nestled upon a hill
Where many an hour of pensive thought
I'd spent it's 17 hoursIn silence warm and still.

And nights hazy mists remember
Dwelt on street lights dim and low
With old men safely picking steps
Along gently sloping roads below .

Silent tiptoed the nightly rain
On sloping roofs and tender eaves
Entranced I'd see the pine trees sway
Sigh to their moist rustling leaves

I was fashioned ,to me unknown
By Grandfather -stern and tall
Whose tales of ghosts and djins that walked
Would hold my nightly hours in thrall.

In a verandah bare of face
That gazed upon a leafy vale
Of bards and poets and heroes brave
He told me many a moving tale.

Shadows danced on mountain paths
That wandered lost into the glade
Where nestling pines defying the sun
Cast a softly scented shade.

We knew along those winding trails
Many spots, most quaint and small
Where from the bustling crowds we'd flee
That thronged the town's central Mall.

The summer days were mostly warm
But sudden the thunder darkly rolled
Shivering along those neon lit streets
Stood silent doorways wet and cold.

And when the summer skies were spent
And lightning's flash no longer flared
Like mushrooms from the forest floor
The windows popped and people stared.

Prudence sought a moment's stay
But with that evening's siren call
None waited for the roads to dry
It brought the crowds onto the Mall.

Many spirits of past generations
Daily meandered thru' the town
And people dressed in Sunday best
Traversed that road up and down.

They came to see and to be seen
Boys and girls- the young and old
The warmth from seeking eyes dispelled
The damp and sometimes chilling cold.

When the shops had shuttered down
The dark bade 'night to man and beast
The music played in private rooms
Of friends gather'd to dance and feast.

Lightheaded from the evening spent
Before the first light of the morn
We'd sing to all those silenced streets
And await the breaking of the dawn.

Dreams oft born of that haze
Left many cheeks a blushing red
Hands were held, some glances shared
Some words heard without being said.

Oft the highpoint of those months
Came when Auckland's fete was laid
With rosy cheeks in neat discipline
Stood girls in brown and yellow plaid.

Many a smoothened cheek that day
Was with fragrant cologne splashed
Many a heart that day was captured
Many a hope that day was dashed.

Many an hour was later spent
Designing chances again to meet
Many a tongue learned by rote
Words a chosen one to greet.

Another place no less famous
Lay some distance from the Mall
Whose quiet greys with hints of red
Adorned the girls of Tarahall.

Just glimpsed faces, names unknown
Drove the boys to patient wait
Roads that somehow chanced to pass
By Auckland's or Loretto's gate.

Many a summer there was spent
Away from cares of school and books
Many a moment cherished still-
Stolen touches in secluded nooks.

I grew to manhood in that town
Of carefree summers bright and free
It's many summers since last I went
Its people and its sights to see.

The ghosts I left still roam the hills
Some wizened -others grey but well
They seek another lad of ten
Their spells to cast -their tales to tell.

Perhaps the morrow at last shall bring
A dream, a hope, a lightened way
And old songs, tone weary, again shall string
The broken chords of another day.

When dark despair, the morning's light eludes,
Days, dusk to dusk, the dawn's betray;
Then illusion's green the winter's blight deludes,
And beholds a Spring's flowering spray.

Muted lips that stifled, soundless stayed
In whispered breaths mouth tomorrow's prayer
And lost Hope that once had endless strayed
Rests at last in eyes that sightless stare.

Heart's heavy, forlorn burdens done
Light airy moods again grace the day
Yester nights foreboding shadows shun
Walk by my side – walk along my way.

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.

I often try someway to find
To tame the rioting in my mind
They’re all gone -those dear to me
None left to listen-none to see

So who’s to know what lies beneath
Unseen where anguished torrents writhe
Born of a choice I made one day
That’s left me alone along my way.

There was a time when I was free
And smiled at whatever I could see
Waiting  for that moment’s call
When deep in love I would fall.

I turned and sudden she was there
The vision that left  me unaware
Of everything and everyone
Radiant as the smiling sun

I lived  each day and each night
Waiting only for her sight
Till the day she took my hand
Said she was going to a distant land

I tried but could not make her stay
She said she had to find her way
It had been nice, the time with me
But now she needed more to see.

Its decades now- but  still I wait
My gaze fixed upon my gate
With a hope that I will see
Her smiling -coming back to me.

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 bye
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.

Lord just take my memories away

They wont let me sleep – they ruin my day

Let me be blessed with a baby’s mind-

Gazing only ahead —with nothing behind

In the loneliness of night
Amidst the rustling of the leaves,
Let me savour life's delights,
Here in solitude and peace.
As I walk by lonely roads,
The heaven's cast their mantle down,
Of sublime mists and with loving fingers,
Dress my land in darkness's gowns.
A lonely rickshaw pulls along,
There a scooterist honks his horn,
Tho' there is nothing left to beg,
Yet the beggar chants his song.
Along darkened paths by India Gate,
Those majestic trees lovers shield,
And still waters amidst rolling banks,
A mystical awesome magic wield.
Here I hear a frog call out,
It must be a lover's call he makes,
There a serpent slithers on,
In eerie silence not a leaf he shakes.
The sounds of humans here are strange,
Amidst these silent lawns and trees,
I wonder what that bird is thinking,
As this human being he sees.
Am I then a stranger here,
Was this not too made for me,
Grant me just a moment now,
Here to stand and again to see.
What you and I have lost my friend,
Grant me a moment more to savour,
Amidst these darkened lawns and trees,
Here to taste life's real flavour.
Take heed my friend, and look around you,
Moments such as these are few,
When hand in hand by silent waters,
We glimpse the paradise we knew

Oh Lord, Your Child needs now an heir,
Just one bright star to guide us where
Wise men gather, not mere fools
Content just being the Devil's tools.

You'd sent Him once this world to mould
Thru' words of love and tales He told.
I had no chance His hem to hold,
No time to watch that dream unfold.

For I was born a shade too late
Not to His world but one of hate.
Where man with man with violence deals
The poor one starves, the rich one steals.

Truth is crushed and lies are told
The honest cower, the corrupt are bold.
Where ideas born of shameful birth
Make deadly mayhem a cause for mirth.

Where teachers teach the tomes of hate
And men decide each others Fate.
Where rapes become a daily game
Played by men in your name.

Where wounded streets scream in vain
For a healing touch to dull the pain.
Of man's assaults in the name of God-
Where children play with gun and sword.

Where crystal skies are staunched in grey
From funeral pyres and life's decay.
Where Earth bereft of flowering seeds
Just holds the graves of man's misdeeds.

Where widows wail in stark lament,
Their men are dead their lives are spent.
The mother seeks a long lost child
Amidst a ruined world turned wild.

Tormented, lost her anguished eyes
Gaze in horror as reason dies.
Its place usurped by Hatred's flame
Lit by men who chant your name.

Scarred by horrors they see and feel
Those broken souls before you kneel.
The ****** earth with tears they mark
They seek the light caught in the dark.

Tattered shrouds a silent quest
They call to you for final rest.
Oh Lord let them His face behold
Lend them now His hand to hold.

Oh Lord, Your Child needs now an heir,
Just one bright star to guide us where
Wise men gather, not mere fools
Content just being the Devil's tools.

You'd sent Him once this world to mould
Thru' words of love and tales He told.
I had no chance His hem to hold,
No time to watch that dream unfold.

For I was born a shade too late
Not to His world but one of hate.
Where man with man with violence deals
The poor one starves, the rich one steals.

Truth is crushed and lies are told
The honest cower, the corrupt are bold.
Where ideas born of shameful birth
Make deadly mayhem a cause for mirth.

Where teachers teach the tomes of hate
And men decide each others Fate.
Where rapes become a daily game
Played by men in your name.

Where wounded streets scream in vain
For a healing touch to dull the pain.
Of man's assaults in the name of God-
Where children play with gun and sword.

Where crystal skies are staunched in grey
From funeral pyres and life's decay.
Where Earth bereft of flowering seeds
Just holds the graves of man's misdeeds.

Where widows wail in stark lament,
Their men are dead their lives are spent.
The mother seeks a long lost child
Amidst a ruined world turned wild.

Tormented, lost her anguished eyes
Gaze in horror as reason dies.
Its place usurped by Hatred's flame
Lit by men who chant your name.

Scarred by horrors they see and feel
Those broken souls before you kneel.
The ****** earth with tears they mark
They seek the light caught in the dark.

Tattered shrouds a silent quest
They call to you for final rest.
Oh Lord let them His face behold
Lend them now His hand to hold.

Oh Lord, Your Child needs now an heir,
Just one bright  star to guide us where
Wise men gather, not mere fools
Content just being the Devil’s tools.

You’d sent him once this world to mould
Thru’ words of love and tales he told.  
I had no chance his hem to hold,
No time to watch  that  dream unfold.

For I was born a shade too late
Not to his world but one of hate.
Where man with man with violence deals
The poor one starves, the rich one steals.

Truth is crushed and lies are told
The honest cower, the corrupt are bold.
Where ideas born of shameful birth  
Make deadly mayhem a cause for mirth.

Where teachers teach the tomes of hate  
And  men decide  each others Fate.  
Where rapes become a daily game
Played by men in your name.


Where wounded  streets scream in vain
For a  healing touch to dull the pain
Of mans assaults In the name of God-
Where  children play with gun and sword.

Where crystal skies are staunched in grey
From funeral pyres and life’s decay.
Where Earth bereft of flowering seeds
Just holds the graves of man’s misdeeds.

Where widows wail in stark lament,
Their men are dead their lives are spent.  
The mother seeks a long lost child
Amidst a ruined world turned wild.

Tormented, lost her anguished eyes
Gaze in horror as reason dies.
Its place usurped by Hatred’s flame
Lit by men who chant your name.

Scarred by horrors they see and feel  
Those broken souls before you kneel.
The ****** earth with tears they mark
They seek the light caught in the  dark.

Tattered shrouds and silent quest
They call to you for final rest.
Oh Lord let them his face behold
Lend them now his hand to hold.  

RBM

Not   yet   the   tide   of   war   is   spent
Red   stains   the   Tigris's   timeless   flow
Death's   haze   cloaks   my   lovely   skies
Stark   my   temples   smouldering   glow.

My   mothers   carried   in   their   wombs
Old   spirits   of   an   ancient   land
Today   my   children's   pride   is   torn
By   a   cursed   invader's   hand.

Resounding   to   a   stubborn   faith
For   years   I   watched   each   day   behold,
-Tho'   hostage   to   a   callous   world-
My   children's   spirits   strong   and   bold.

There   were   days   when   hunger   struck
And   ills   had   found   no   chance   of   cure
I   saw   my   children   ,    young   and   old
Still   keep   their   faith-   fine   and   pure.

My   name   adorned   so   many   a   verse
And   long   ,    my   gates,    the   traveller's   sought
My   glories   they   could   scarce   divine
Whose   souls   by   dimes   and   cents   are   bought.

I   thought   those   tales   of   ancient   times
The   renown   that   once   I   had   known
Would   stay   marauding   guns   and   tanks
And   let   bloom   the   seeds   that   I   had   sown.

I   thought   there   was   still   the   hope
That   Time   had   taught   most   men   to   feel
The   anguish   of   the   orphaned   child
Watching   Death   its   parents   steal.

They   seek   to   wrest   from   deep   within
The   essence   of   my   children's   life,
Their   falsehoods   born   of   grasping   greed
Condemned   me   to   this   ******   strife.

Now   will   they   strip   this   fallen   prey
Like   vultures   gathered   from   afar
None   sought   to   hear   my   anguished   cry
Or   stem   this   accursed   tide   of   war.

This   ancient   land   will   nurse   its   wounds
In   silence-   nor   lament   the   day,
But   nightly   my   desert   winds   shall   curse
Those   hands   that   dared   upon   me   lay.

Tomorrow,    Tomorrow   -I'll   be   there
When   my   tormentors   long   are   gone
So   Mother   grieve   not   for   your   child
Await   with   me   those   to   be   born.

They'll   nurture   till   the   end   of   time
The   seeds   of   anger   and   of   hate
Raise   to   the   skies   my   hoary   head
And   roar   defiance   at   my   Fate.

Such   thunder   will   the   Heaven's   rent
The   stars   avenging   orbs   of   light
As   ancient   spirits   across   the   land
Chain   foes   to   dungeons   of   the   night.

I'll   rise   again,    tall   and   strong
Eternal   as   my   desert's   sand
Nourished   by   the   coursing   blood
Of   martyrs   of   this   Arab   land.

Not yet the tide of war is spent
Red stains the Tigris's timeless flow
Death's haze cloaks my lovely skies
Stark my temples smouldering glow.

My mothers carried in their wombs
Old spirits of an ancient land
Today my children's pride is torn
By a cursed invader's hand.

Imbued with a stubborn faith
For years I watched each day behold,
-Tho' hostage to a callous world-
My children's spirits strong and bold.

There were days when hunger struck
And ills had found no chance of cure
I saw my children , young and old
Still keep their faith- fine and pure.

My name adorned so many a verse
And long , my gates, the traveller's sought
My glories they could scarce divine
Whose souls by dimes and cents are bought.

I thought those tales of ancient times
The renown that once I had known
Would stay marauding guns and tanks
And let bloom the seeds that I had sown.

I thought there was still the hope
That Time had taught most men to feel
The anguish of the orphaned child
Watching Death its parents steal.

They seek to wrest from deep within
The essence of my children's life,
Their falsehoods born of grasping greed
Condemned me to this ****** strife.

Now will they strip this fallen prey
Like vultures gathered from afar
None sought to hear my anguished cry
Or stem this accursed tide of war.

This ancient land will nurse its wounds
In silence- nor lament the day,
But nightly my desert winds shall curse
Those hands that dared upon me lay.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow -I'll be there
When my tormentors long are gone
So Mother grieve not for your child
Await with me those to be born.

They'll nurture till the end of time
The seeds of anger and of hate,
Raise to the skies my hoary head
And roar defiance at my Fate.

Such thunder will the Heaven's rent
The stars avenging orbs of light,
As ancient spirits across the land
Chain foes to dungeons of the night.

I'll rise again, tall and strong
Eternal as my desert's sand
Nourished by the coursing blood
Of martyrs of this Arab land.

The day will come-I know well it will
When dark shadows crowd your way
And you in vain will try and  fight
To glimpse again the light of day.

Distressed you’ll question “Lord why me?”
The Heavens are silent- and no answer give
For they know you had made a choice
Of the kind of world where you would live.

From within a silent voice demands
Look o’er your life- each year, each day
And balance the little good you did
Against the evil that marked your way

There was a time when pure of heart
You reached for those who’d fallen down
But then the shadows that crowd your way
Of greed and lust, within you were born.

And sudden an array of faces swirls
Of those whose lives were drenched in pain
By you and those whom you corrupted
In a sordid quest for personal gain.

A haughty head with falsehoods crowned
Today disheveled lies in the dust
Time moves on with no patience left
For your repentance, though repent you must

And those whom you called your friends
Stun you with silence -not a word they say
As you wait for their hands to reach
And lift you to live for another day.

The judgement’s passed, you are done
Just a body and a guilt filled soul
That’s lost its chance to repent
And can only hide in a lightless hole

There is a lesson from your life
For those whose lives are yet to start
Choose well the path that you will walk
And never from that path depart.

In distant lands, my day's labours done,
When darkness o'er the vale holds her reign,
Like darkened trees to moonlit stars whisper,
Softly yet again I'll murmur your name.
Of wintry nights on snow laden eaves
The fading embers cast their eerie glow,
By the hearth memories surround me
As days come rushing back from long ago.
When along darkened paths I walk alone,
Imagination brings you to my side,
Grasp your hand lest evil chance befall,
And ****** from me this moment's delight.
My time is come and all is past and gone,
The flesh decayed, the mind with age grown lame,
Yet a single ray of hope lights my life,
Perhaps somewhere you too murmur my name.

Grow in peace, grow in grace
A lioness-yet soft as lace
A somewhat serious smiling face
Glory and a song to last

Sorrow smiles to hide its face
Remembrance is never past

Hope, heavy on despairing wings, struggles
Melancholy takes a tentative step
From a long-shuttered closet, encouraged
By emotions,
Reluctant hostages to the mind,
Straining for expression in the timeless sanctuary
Of a smoke-filled room.

Silence steals stealthily along neon lit corridors
And only the clamour of turbulent thoughts
Rents the tranquillity of forgotten time.
Still'd, silent room and vain anticipation
Of the shrill telephone's jarring note
That today would substitute for melody.

Nicotine-stained fingers endlessly count
The minutes of disappearing hours
Since last daylight visited the gloom
Night, yet not night, haunts the shadows
Temperate moods briefly exult
Between hope and despair.

In gestured futility, solitude's compassion
Claws at the walls of the mind's unbarred prison
And I watch wounded morrows' plummet
Impaled on yesterday's barb
When carelessly unthinking, I had heralded
A transient dream as my angel of joy.

Soundless stirs the morn, in deep slumber fed
And nudges awake the frost that clothes the night
Anxious, the drowsy bird tests its wings
Lest the night's torpor's robbed it of flight.

The first radiant sunbeam launches the day
Proudly gloating, thrusts aside a stubborn star
The mellow chirping notes of the Morning song
Penetrate the consciousness-tinkling afar.

Dreams with clutching fingers strain to hold
Dissolving colours before the unseeing eye
Yet softly, like melting snows touched by Spring
Leave blurred images no reality can defy.

Curtains flutter, flustered ghosts flee the room
To distant lands, in exile for the day
There to sulk in gloom 'till twilight's kiss
Heralds the hour is come their games to play.

A touseled head lifts, a tentative hand emerges
Groping directionless rubs an eye in peeking wonder
An uncoordinated foot for a slipper searches
(Eggs and bacon wafting) –  
and Night's Kingdom's rent asunder.

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.

A quiet place nestled upon a hill,
A garden, chairs, moods soft and still,
Sat musing, lost, yet somewhat aware,
Of a stray, nagging care.

I sensed the first faint footfall sound,
I closed my eyes and from around,
Mirth, naughty, chuckled through the trees,
Light-footed rain danced on the eaves.

O'er hilltops delicate graceful weave,
The clouds in ritual begin to cleave,
To trim her star studded gown
And daintly clothe a sleepy town.

Walk soft - Night now claims her way,
Her dark ushers the day away,
Muted light silhouettes the stately trees,
I heard her song upon the breeze.

Quilted shadows, sleepy flowers turn,
Dreamy eyes with strange passion burn,
A sudden fragrance lent it voice
I watched them with their Night rejoice.

I held her words before they fled,
In gentle tones to me she said
"Others, today, in festive mood
Celebrate- Why alone do you brood?"

"Let's walk together my secret way
'Cross hill and vale where done dare stray"
She beckoned – I yet held my place
Distrusting of her smiling face.

"Behind me, look, do you hear
The sounds of joy and of cheer"
I said, watching from afar,
Gaiety hostage to that hour.

Through frosted panes the candles glowed
And talk and laughter freely flowed
Then her mist reached out to me
Blurred my eyes I could not see.

Drifting, gliding o'er time and space
No longer rooted to one place
"Pain, Sorrow, revelers of the Day"
She said "Here they dare not stay"

She said " 'Tis time for us to walk
Across to see and hear their talk
I've given you vision to see and know
Passing comforts of the candle's glow".

Within me a sudden joy was born
Of knowledge that what Day had torn
Night's touch would mend -make it whole Cloister a lost, troubled soul.

"They seek the false pallid
And try and keep out the Night
With fading lives and laughter short
They live afraid, Fear is their lot".

We strolled together, I and Night
To that door, well out of sight
A table clad in rust and red
She chose – the candle wounded bled.

One, protective, with his hand
Shaped a vain, trembling band
Around the flame – Night looked and smiled
I watched, unseen, as he tried.

To keep the gust from wounded flame
Night went on with her game
Her companion breeze raised the stake
To help her the fragile band to break.

To shock his hand to chilled retreat
Abandon candle and his seat
The dead candle lay where once it glowed
Talk and laughter no longer flowed.

Night said "They are creatures of the Day
Unworthy with dark Night to play
They shun my caress, they fear my hold
Dulled senses and with spirits cold."

"I've shown you what there is to know
Some lives, brief, like candles glow
I've chosen you to walk with me
Awakened senses and with spirit free."

A parting smile, she turns to go
Shimmering, fades in a rustling flow
I watch a new dawn break the sky
And brush the dew drop from my eye.

When now my weary days are long,
I draw a chair, await her song,
The garden's quiet, moods soft and light
As we embrace, I and my Night

As I sit beneath this tree,
And look as far as I can see,
Sun drenched lands rolling fields
That a bounteous harvest yield.
The farmers move behind their ploughs,
Toil and work with sweaty brows,
Then as tapering stacks they raise
Of long stalked wheat or golden maize.
No other sight so lovely
Than this, my soul, can ever be,
And a longing fills my heart,
To turn to dust become a part,
Of these magic fertile sands,
Of my land, of my land.

Now I watch with heavy heart
All those sweaty backs depart,
For the darkness now draws near,
In a sky of crystal clear,
I long to sit here all night long,
To listen to that koyal's song.
I trace their steps homeward bound
And listen to the haunting sound,
Of the flour mill by the creek,
As it chugs without a break.
The road is narrow, the road is dark,
As it winds along the park,
Where graceful trees the moon do seek,
And whispering winds to flowers speak.
A humming bee its day is done,
Now flits and frolics full of fun,
As it darts from flower to flower,
Sings a lullaby this hour.
The darkness deepens, the skies are clear,
As the foothills now draw near,
How stern like sentinels they stand,
O'er my land, O'er my land.

In the distance a chimney's smoke
(Gray'd the sky as it rose)
Where it goes no one knows.
My home is come I leave behind,
The sleeping flowers, the whispering wind,
The chugging mill, the humming bee,
And as I sleep, I shall see,
From beneath a towering tree
Gazing and wondering what more could be,
Beyond those sun-drenched fields and sands,
Of my land, Of my land.

Would I that time and space would cease
And emotions spent from their bond release
This spirit to roam in realms unknown
Light as a star, soft as the breeze

Sometime, with a thoughtless flick of the hand
You plant a seed in the soil--and it grows
Like the huge mango tree in my back yard.

Over decades it blooms, bears fruit,
And grows tall and sturdy
A resplendent umbrella

Beneath which to rest a tired soul
With a sigh of joy-and wonder
At the experience that permeates your being.

But the God's are envious that
A Creature fashioned by them
Can sigh in joy-More than once

A bolt of lightening incinerates
What you worshipped
And as you watch the scorched roots, burnt leaves and ashes
You find yourself wondering--

"was it  ever worth the value you placed
on the result of a thoughtless moment
-that fashioned times of intense beliefs
and emotions blessed by  nature

Yet left you alone with the carcass of your dreams

NOTHINGNESS

I look often at tomorrow
Sensing a deep darkness
In the heavens and below

I search through my past
For that one little light
Just a moments soft glow


To end this nothingness
I wish time would hurry
But it too moves slow

The wounds are still open
And the blood still pools
At my feet-Defiant and aglow

Mirrors mock lost dreams of a distant night
Deepening frost tempers the haughty brow
Quiet patience befriends Time's eternal chain
A darkening vigil guards the morrows now.

Silence endures an agonised moment's cry
Barbed memory stings, still drawing blood
Anxious lids in vain, despairing try
From prying eyes to shield the surging flood.

Sorrow exploits dumb Silence's willing trust
As faltering smiles attempt the world to cheat
Trampled emotion now seeks a healing touch
Despair and Hope in equal measure meet.

In passing, callous Time looks back
An indifferent glance, yet something holds it still
Perhaps it hears the anguished call
Of a Dawn searching a Night to ****.

A remembered grace tortured limbs embrace
Fatigue a moment steps aside
Listless fingers the worn fabric caress
Another smile gestures to stem the tide.

You   gave   me   a   moment
A   moment   to   savour,
The   truths   I'd   forsaked
Of   life's   hues   and   flavour

A   moment   to   voice
New   thoughts   –   and   some   old,
A   moment   to   wonder
To   fear   or   be   bold

A   moment   to   walk
Those   paths   I   would   tread,
And   clothe   with   new   words
Old   songs   in   my   head

A   moment   to   smile
At   the   first   light   of   Dawn,
And   stroll   with   the   leaves
'Cross   a   dew   dampened   lawn

A   moment   to   ponder
On   walks   by   the   streams,
The   visions   I   had   fashioned
From   the   fabric   of   my   dreams

You   left   me   a   moment
My   spirit   to   hold,
On   lonely   winter   nights
To   keep   out   the   cold

Like   others   I   had   days
And   moments   I   knew,
I   lost   all   those   moments
In   a   moment   with   you.

With   a   whiff   I'll   recall
That   fragrance   anew
Of   a   single,   stray   moment   –
Long   forgotten   by   you.

Of   a   rose   on   a   table
And   a   candle   well   placed
Two   strangers   and   a   song
That   the   moment   had   graced.

You   gave   me   your   Moment.
I   give   you   my   Hours.
I'll   dress   them   in   moonbeams
And   crown   them   with   stars.

Will   you   take   what   I   give
Such   offers   are   few,
Of   hours   made   of   moments
And   each   moment   for   you.