Eyes

Eyes

my stars

blinking, staring

looking

through moments

in light and darkness

beauty, bounty

poverty, animosity

generosity

through difference and strife

rolling in circles

in the circus of life.

Eyes

I have a myriad of them

shining inside, like gems

as witness;

music played,

stories written,

images painted,

on the canvas stage

eyes at ease

pumping heartbeats

watching hatred,

guilt without wit

magnanimity and kindness.

Eyes

I have them

in my bones and flesh

they run through

the bloods

the veins

I have them adorned

in my ears

like shining jewels

listening

to the sound and silence

of cries of hunger

lies and betrayals

masked as friendly walls

standing in between

created and cremated selves

eyes break them all.

Eyes

everywhere

have fire water and air

running in me

stars oceans breeze

will never ever cease

to see

to see

to see.

Eyeing life

however hard you may try

the stars will befriend you

enrich you

fill you with happiness

from the holes

you have buried them inside

eyes

will help you rise.

Then you could come back to me

Clarity,
are you with me?

I am seeking the roof
speaking from the ground
in my hat and my feet
I have your sounds around
gray clouds thunder used words
bounded beliefs
have covered the brown book
leaves need to be free;
but clarity
are you with me?

Warm gestures
spreading the heat,
dead with still, immobile strength?
Skeleton words re-opened from the vault
overwriting its own obituary
yet talking of liberty
seeking the sky
grounded, buried
in words;
overlooking the beggars
claiming to eradicate poverty
are you still there with me,
clarity?

With what amazing foolproof reasoning
you stayed mute
in front of the court
where the lady was disrobed,
because they were molested by her spark?
On the hidden field
a disciple’s thumb was butchered,
because he was sharper?
To the hilltop
a shepherd had to carry his wooden bed
because he was talking of love
in a language you did not understand?
All this happened
under your behest,
in full sanity.

Oftentimes, now
stories are burnt
deforested, tonsured.

How long, for how long
will you stay,
freeze the blood,
choke the breaths,
make humankind helpless
in the name of a pervert process
why don’t you make your way
and let things be?

See
without you
clouds will whistle and sail
rainbows will shine after the rain
the world will glow in delight
the sky will not fall.
You standing so far like an inert wall
would you ever be overwhelmed with shame
come out of your lies
would you,
despite stony ears and eyes
clearly hear and see
horizons stretching in harmony,
could you endure the sight
of the roof and the ground
secure and sound
without wrath, bloodbath
taking a different path
without you
for a different journey.

Then, with nothing,
you could come back to me
For then
I could be in your company.

Men at work

I was happy in my virtual world

editing, chatting, working

playing with engaging words.

When all of a sudden

I find the net disconnected.

Work stationed! Didn’t know what to do

waited blankly for an hour or two,

I saw something, can I ever forget?

By chance I met

those corporation men

out of nowhere

shredding a tree

and with it, they cut for free

my helpless wire

hanging lost, in indifferent air

red with anger I was on fire!

How did this happen you tell me hey

they just said sorry and went away.

Countless phone calls waited with pain

for the men to come and connect me again,

it happens only in India said my friends

when surprises trap you from end to end.

I'm happy to be here smiling with you

they came late, but connected me anew.

Now, I keep a close watch on those men at work

​​​​​​​so they don’t cut me off with a virtual jerk.

Averse to judging a verse

Averse to judging a verse

At the temple

is the gate to liberty;

judgement is the lock

gratitude the key.

Let me write poetry

let me spare the bard

under the greenwood tree, on the road

his angst let me store, be free

in the infinite peaceful abode

follow his advice, quit the dry books

with heavy looks

drink his words of worth

keep them all around, inside me.

Hold your tongue please,

let me love; read and write the lines

on the leaves, brown and green

wherever the heart lies

in vices, virtues, at every scene

let me take them in, at ease.

O what do they care

those budding fruits

blooming flowers

meadows and showers

rainbows, seas, thunders

O what do they care

those chirpy singers

let me read and write the lines

look at them without infliction and lies

embrace them just as they are

not scratch them with an incompetent scar.

If words express the chaos and cadence

with truthful pain and pleasure

not with designed pretence

then with gratitude I will

hug them and treasure.

In the journey of life as I

move along

my forehead locks

to judge the songs;

it unblocks, loving the lines,

their hues and cries

as gratefully witness

my ears and eyes.