Chord

Faces forgotten
Words long gone
Look them up here and there
Old pictures and words
Some people exit without a trace
With known intent, sometimes
The chord stays, a thin one
Weathered by time
To remind you of its strength
Long ago.

The dress

Where is that dress
I had left it in the garage
Or maybe at the front door
Just as I was rushing out
I had shed it
It was an obedient soul
Deprived of love
Agreeing more
Arguing less
Customised for here
The land I went to
I didn't need it there
Just my skin was enough
My bare soul
Weathered with love
Affection
It was me
Just me
Now I have come back
And forgot my dress
There was an eruption
A knock on my head
To remember my dress
I found it this morning
Now I am set
My naked soul
Go to bed
Till dawn, for many years
Let my dress protect you
Leave your spirit
Untouched.

One day

In thirteen years our limbs will be tired
We will move out of this clockwork
Sans responsibilities of our little ones
We will move to familiar lands
Amidst loved ones and known tongue
A place where we took flight
Into our love and our life
There we will see the rain
Holding hands sipping our evening tea
Listen to the birds chirping niceties of their love
In those quiet evenings we will relive our moments
Of love.. Of life..

?

A half circle a line a dot
Sits in your mind to rot
Many many words precede it
Alas nothing follows
Sometimes there are no words
Just a blank face
People dont read the words
Or the half circle or line or dot

I think I know the answers
I can still read faces
The veil is so tightly wound
To mask all the words
Some words still peep out
Unaware...

The wait is long
Nevertheless the veil will crush
Under its own burden and someday
The words will follow
The half circle the line the dot...

Say something!

The solitude of the evening
Gnaws at me
It crawls over me
Like a crippled lizard
Minutes ticking away
Turning into silent hours
They grow like a monster
Dwarfing me
There are distant voices
Laughter...
I long to hear
Words...
I ought to utter
Lest this boredom
Inflicts upon me
A darkness
So pitch black that
Blindness gives up
In its fight for blackness
I want to set free
From these walls
Of roaring monotony
There is an urge
To just scream
Scream out loud
Someone out there
Ought to have a word or two
To say.. to me..

Finding love

My limbs are tired
They inflict a pain deep inside
I move and they pull
Chords within
In these tender moments
I find love
It runs deep to tell me
The strings of marriage
Have a deeper commitment
There was a need
Burning inside
To hold your hand
To feel your skin
To know the feeling
That I was protected
Ah my limbs fail me
The chords within
Resonating tempos
The feeling lingers on
Like the dew..

Do they know me?

They think they know me
do they really know me?
They take the smile as happiness
They don't see the inside
The don't see the behind
I have passed many stations
Most untold most best forgotten
But it is me who passed them
So do they really know me
There have been heartbreak
There have been sorrows
There was this station of the mind
Where i left behind many relations
They look at me
And think this is me
Those stops of loneliness
Those abysmal silences
I drove past them at snails pace
And yet they think they know me
They tell me it's not about me
Anymore
Its about others
Will that make me me
Or make me someone they want me to be
I want to be me
With all the stations i have passed
With all the flaws and grievances
With all the smiles i attempt
Just me
Just let me be me.

Imperfections

With all my imperfections

I lay myself to rest

With a flashing strike of the metal

Against my hands so soft

Or a wrong turn of the wheel

In busy crowded freeways

Or a gulp of sweet tasting

Bitter fluids

Or gulping down of a handful

Of cylindrical white globules

Which one

Which one of these

Will end this act

Of utmost imperfections?

The clock now ticking

There is no turning back

Will time stop

Will my loved ones mourn?

May be they will, maybe they wont

Even for a few days

There will not be a vacuum

Emptiness anywhere

Except in the two shining faces

That I brought forth to earth

Aah their smile holds me back

Maybe I am perfect at least to them

A small ray of life

In this me full of imperfections.

I walk back once again

From where the sea ends

Onto shores

With two shining faces

Splashing in the water

Leaving footprints on the sand

I will come back again

To explore the end of the sea

Maybe the next time I make the journey

I will not turn around

And find the abysmal perfect silence

In this life of imperfections.

Behind those...

Somewhere behind those wooden windows
You are holding on to your loved one
There are smiles around
And I lonely, tired, battered

Behind those glass windows
You are sharing a meal
Emotions flowing through words
And I quiet, solitary, silent

Behind those big windows
You are looking out at the cold winter
Feeling the hug and warmth
And I yearning, cold, bare

Behind those small windows
You are lost in your dreams
Of the future, of belonging
And I real, sans dreams, sans hope.

What sorrow lies behind those big eyes
The smile which is there yet not
The loneliness in the crowd
The cold blanketing the warmth that could be
The realisation of the truth
The blind chase
Where do i stand
Where do i stand

All over a cup of coffee

A girl with packed bags waiting for someone. He arrives and she is glad. They order a coffee. Two guys worth a big screen laptop probably making music over a cup of black coffee. An old man with a relatively younger guy with a laptop sharing a few thoughts from his grey hair over hot coffee. Two girls basking in gossip and friendship waiting for their order yet in no hurry. A guy leaning over probably trying to convince the girl about something before ordering coffee. A friend and spouse walk in, tired from the chores of the day to sit down and relax over a cup of coffee. Lots of words flowing around, lots of thoughts being thought.. All over a cup of coffee..

Rains

Have you heard the sound of rain? There are o water droplets doing their gigantic fall from the sky, but noise of an approaching thunder. The sound lasts for only a few minutes and then you see the clouds emptying out their load of emotions, dance of joy like the dance of a peacock or maybe the weight of sadness running down as tears. It really depends on your emotion how you perceive rain.
Scientifically, rain is accumulated precipitation pouring out, but poetically or emotionally it could mean a thousand things.

And yet nothing drips...

every word lashes
like a sword
the edge shining
cruelly sharp
they make cuts
on my face
on my hands
on my legs
nothing drips
nothing liquid
nothing red
the scars are there
deep inside
repeating the words
a feeling of numbness
sets in gracefully
creating a void
and nothing drips
nothing liquid
nothing red.

Simplicity

the simplicity of life
beckons upon me
the stress now away in the distance
the thoughts simple
the words now simple
just sway in the winds of time
leading the way for you
no thought of whys
no room for thoughts
just pass by
the sunsets
one by one
the simplicity of life
beckons upon me
and draws me
to yesteryears
where we were young
with no qualms about relationships
the simplicity of life
brings a thought
of why there was room
for all the million thoughts
for the years of a thousand sunsets
that went unnoticed
hidden behind the walls of stress.

Painted masks..

The act ends

The final bow is made
Applause starts rolling
Slowly at first
Then rises
To reverberate against the walls
Till everything is quiet again
The curtain falls
The painted mask melts
Hello says the mirror
To the real me.

Out of words

I am out of words
To speak and to write
There are thoughts
So my mind still works
But so haphazard
That they make no sense
I tried writing them down
Oops I forgot, I am out of words!!

Bloom

the flower petals all closed
a silent wind passes by
and kisses the petals
in its surge
the petals start to open
the flower begins to bloom
opening up to the sun for the first time
alas the clouds move in
hides the suns face
a drop of rain lands right on the petal
the flower droops in its weight
the petals now destute
never to bloom again

Something

days pass into nights
nights pass into days
the moments rolling by
there is a wait for something
something would take cue and happen
not sure what
not sure where...
darkness of the night
creeps into my bedroom
moonlight smiles
through the blinds
emptiness of the room
casts a shadow
on images shaping into dreams
the candle light flickering
in the corner somewhere
is burning its last drop of wax
hoping that something would take cue
and happen
not sure what
not sure where....

Yesterday and Tomorrow

आधी ज़िन्दगी कट गयी
ज़िन्दगी बनाते हुए
अब पलटकर देखती हूँ
तो सूना आसमान दिखाई दे
रेत पर बनाया होगा शायद
शायद बनाया ही नहीं
गुज़रे हुए कल पे क्या रोना
वोह कल फिर आया नहीं
आगे की ज़िन्दगी बनाने चली
पर कुछ कम दिखाई दे रही है
अँधेरे  से भरी राह है सामने
मंजिल भी अपना रास्ता ढूंढ चुकी
अकेली सी एक राह है शायद
शायद तन्हाई साथ है
यह सूरज डूब रहा है
फिर जाने उगेगा या नहीं !!

Reappearing smile..

oh thou cruelest dark clouds
conspiring against mine wishes
may you pour down
with your mightiest strength
do not adorn my face
do not drench me
i am sailing past griefs
cast by your evil thoughts
leave me alone for now
and let me dry my tears
for tomorrow is another day
and i need to grow a smile
the face should look happy
and the world should be
just as it was today...

Confusion

the sense of boredom sets in
way before the activity starts
there is anticipiation that something will start
yet there is no hope that it will
it may be lazy
it may be good
full of life
fulfilling your eagerness towards life
there are a list of things
that the mind wishes 'if'
there is a list of events
that the mind pushes back
its all a confusion
when you know where you want to be
but cannot.