awareness

Tree

Woman

Child crying non-stop,

Man calls for tea,

Milk boiling,

Maid will not come today,

Disobedient calling bell ringing,

Years roll down the cheek;

Audience sees this as torture…

Dancing to the tune,

Lady smiles, says nothing,

Looks at the morning tree,

Birds chirping;

Man

Man works through the day,

Brings fortunes, loans,

Ticking, tackling one by one,

Decorates home with comfort,

Ripples of giggles all around,

Everyday strolls into years;

Audience sees this as exploitation…

Man smiles, says nothing,

Looks at the stable tree,

Fruits and flowers hanging;

Man / Woman

Audience wins!

Man and Woman,

Now,

In their new roles;

Tongue-tied Tree smiles,

Goes unsung!

Separation, Anxiety

Separation, Anxiety

Separation

We were together,

For some so many days;

Vagabonds, trying to capture

A roof,

A ground,

A purpose;

A moth and a butterfly,

Playing,to plough

Caterpillars;

Days and nights have met moments

United in dusk and dawn,

In the room where we toiled, with our roles,

Everything that was meant to be; became

Furniture;

The space, a cradle, hums

Lullaby,

Yet the tune was not lost,

Something we found together

In unison!

Anxiety

Moonbeams,

Slipped off the palms;

Oh! Not to worry!

They will come again,

The traveller is in exile,

Moments that are found and lost

Underwater,

Lament a little for long;

In the ocean of sand,

Its cold yellow dust seeking the sun,

With a bowl; at night,

Rays appear like

Some sort of alms,

Hands that held for life,

Dropped like a leaf…

Days stolen;buried above the roof,

The moonlit room,

A dais now,

A stage!

trail

Waves thrashing on the shore,

Bombs blast the brains,

Chirping of birds from the trees,

Silence, silence;

Teachers banging dusters on the table,

Dewdrops bathing the grasses,

Magistrates hammering orders,

Thunders breaking wild,

Trains whistle on the run,

Drizzles soft and mild;

Times, times;

Audiences listen to the composition,

With flute in the background!

My Muse

Look!

My Muse,

I created you,

Before you were born!

I drew the curves

Of your character too,

Flawless, from all angles;

My Muse!

Sometime later,  

Innocently,

You appeared, rang in;

Mesmerized,

Enamoured,

Seemed a perfect match!

As the game began,

The carom men moved

At the striker’s call;

Eyed the queen,

Hitting hard…

Holes emerged, from here and there.

I am guilty,

You a posthumous gift,

I struggled to fill the gaps,

My Muse!

See!

What I painted,

Was best for virtual dens

I’d know

As picture, that wasn’t.

Here,

You stumble with cells and claws

My Muse, with flaws,

Imperfect, pleasant!

Illusion, truth

Illusion, truth

Sea, the sky

The sky, sea

Fish, birds; swim, fly

In places they should be.

Eyes, as ears

Ears, eyes

Sound, vision; for years

Little they realize.

Thoughts turn the nerves,

What is felt and seen,

A dip in sea, or sky pristine,

At ease the scene reserves.

Reflection

I have come to my place!

Calm, quiet, serene…

Full of bliss, all the time,

Fruits and flowers,

Animals and birds,

I call my playmates;

Water’s so clean,

In the ponds where I bathe!

Huts that I thatch,

Foods that I cook and eat,

Cows that I milk and feed,

I play when I work,

From dawn to dusk,

I am ready, always…

Prepared to take off!

Readers might have a different feeling if they decide to read from the last line to the first.

Sorry for asking you to read twice, but I guess it is necessary because, although there is not much of a difference between landing and taking off, the poem tries to catch the sense that is somewhere in between these two actions, and perhaps also because it is a modest step to create a sense of poem working against gravity… not disrespecting the law of gravity, but exploring what happens when the sense also rises above.

Life

Fruits and flowers hanging on every branch,

Playing on swings,

Talking, chatting, laughing; Ha!

Soft breeze, a little older, is giving the push

From outside, to all the parts…

Giggling ripples in instalments,

With their teeth open wide,

Immobility enchanted…

Outside with the inside,

All engrossed in the game,

Colorful flyers,of different shapes and sizes

Singing with them, to them

With and without sounds

In different tunes and pitches;

Some flowers and fruits have fallen from the branches,

Are caressing the earth;

All colours have merged voluntarily into

An affectionate black shadow…

Underneath

A traveller resting, ruminating;

In this place of luminous benevolence of Energy,

Life finds its space!

choice

This was to happen,

Sky showers nectar and poison at the same time;

Choice has no choice:

Conscious, unconscious,

Buds bloom and disperse

As stories are sung in the background, or on the stage

From the ground despite predicaments!

The shell doesn't have grievance when the egg pops out,

Rushes into an eager mouth;

A moving tree doesn't regret,

When its perfume sneaks into a stranger’s veins;

Desires oozing out of the barks dead or alive,

Back and forth, in moments flowing in and out:

Without shape and measurements!

shades of weather - some triplets

Wind on the meadow

Husband gifts a green saree

From the silk outlet

Please give me your hands
Gently as the waves ashore
For the rest I need

Image in the clouds
A child feeds a little child
Rains washed the headache

Leaders with white hats
A broken booth abandoned
Tensed voting weather

The first summer rain
The Sun and the Moon change looks
Busy ants unearth