Poetry

 

Mirages 

Twilight sky, shadowed out

illusions or just a thought

wanderers scattered through

somehow lost, old and new

somewhere reflecting wild

an adult, youth and a child

vanish into grey horizons

shadows of yesterday’s sun

distance and then some time

summer or winter any clime

i turn around and walk away

blink an eye and ease the sway

now it’s there and it’s gone

surreal is how it shone… 

—

For Oneshotpoetry

(Photo : Personal collection)

—————————————

From a point, radiating out

circling and spreading through

a thought, a sublime one

for you and some for me

resonate and carry though

hiding and surfacing

mingling and meandering

through weeds and lotus leaves

then back to me, centering

you catch and send it though

They are but mine…

——

(Photo: Personal collection)

——————————–

They Are But Corridors

Forever in Immortality

Freedom your door to escape

I am but the multitude taking on life

The pillars of strength often tall

Crumbling by the wayside and fall

 

Stories that I see and devour

In so many hues, oft-repeated moves

And cages of life more for some

Succumbing then sleep-walking

Wearing blinders, not seeing

 

Helping hand and a succor

Depleted of vigor and tired

You run seeking sanctuary

I follow being there and watching

The crowd swallows you sooner

 

An extended hand, you take

Then cocoon yourself to agony

Disappearing from humanity

Protecting your soul from vile

Your own master, holding the key

 

Shards of memories you step on

Bleeding and gasping for air

You are but one on the sidewalk

With nary a care, tortured inside

Seeking respite, benefaction too

 

 I see them through windows

And half open doors, pushing on

Serenading the mind, yet falling back

Taking recourse to death and tides

Life consumes and spits one out

 

Fight back and stay your ground

Not wounded and limping, silent

Call in the strength and the pillars too

Not letting go the light and the song

Take a detour and trod on fearless

They are but corridors you run through…

———————

Muted Stairs

Mere shadows and oblique words

          Slats of despair and ponderous flights

                   Reminiscences and ecstatic thoughts

                             Warm hues and picturesque bays

                                         Solitary paths and arduous tasks

Bellicose veins and soporific dreams

           Shredded fears and incisive hurts

                      Shattered glasses and blasphemy too

                                Singular walks and sylvan promises

                                        Shifting sands and serenading gales

Veiled plumes and heady fragrances

           Razed mankind and divine graces

                      Soft caresses and primordial needs

                             Meandering vanities and capered runs

                                   Prolonged space and mindless shivers

———————————————–

Nature’s Song

May 19, 2010 ·

 

Breath-taking views and rapturous thoughts

Reflecting ponds and cumulus skies

Shady boughs and sonorous sighs

Serene vistas and peaceful glens

Melting moments and floating thoughts

Heavenly beings and drowning silence

Passionate minds and liquid hearts

Newborn suns and floating moons

Surrounding me and swallowing me

Hugging me and entrapping me

Beguiling me and silencing me

Pacifying me and cajoling me

Enraptured in her nurture

Surrendering to nature

Counting on her forever

To bring me back

Together.

 

Streets With No Name

May 11, 2010 ·

 

Passing cars, spewing smoke

Skidding tires and signal lights

Traffic jams and vacuous stares

Pale lights and neon signs

Skyscrapers and falling shacks

Grimy façade seeming heartless

Potholed streets with gaping eyes

Lose a step and totter down

Stench of death and muddied thoughts

Selling a dream to anyone around

Shadows of the night beckon

Raw, untamed the human spirit

Looking up for benefaction

Rounds of gunfire and lost lives
 Walking on with sole less shoes
Hole in the heart and grimy too
Pinch me now, shake me up

Here today, gone tomorrow

All that’s left of a yesterday

Just a few more nameless streets

 ———————————————–

Sacred

   

Entwined in the branches I see truth

Dangling its naked self raw on the hide

Struck by lightening and wounded too

Bare and exposed facing the storm

Pinnacles of pleasure that once was

Standing rooted in misery and death

Reaching for succor and life to the sky

Walking away with faltering steps

Rising, fighting elements for a lifetime

Never thought it would see the light

Filtering through yesterday’s leaves

Gathering on the ground and blown away

Like a wind wafted seed it flies yonder

Seeking life and after-life

And see it through the fog and tide

Bedeck it with new spring and shine
Memories of a touch so light
That can’t let go even if it tries

The journey and the stretching limbs
Is  to behold and watch with care

As it stays grounded waiting for spring

Remember in passing and smile once

 For today is as sacred as yesterday too
Sacred…

—————————————————-

Eternal Quest

  A blank Canvas that creased out

Waiting for artistic brush strokes

To leave an invisible name

A street with no name curving up

Waiting for a lonely pedestrian

To grace its path and leave footprints

A river with no boats meandering

Waiting for a paddle to stroke its veneer

To leave a thousand sweet ripples

An open azure sky inviting

Waiting for the birds to fly in formation

To leave behind a pattern of flight

An open book that fluttered

Waiting for serene eyes

To read those lovely inscriptions

 Crying children with open arms

Waiting for parental love

To hold him and hug him close

Lives that stands in eternal quest

Waiting for salvation

To achieve the impossible

And say the quest is over

—

—————————————————–

Dusty Streets

 

Danger on the streets mom

You didn’t tell me

They slick you and throw you

Out in the wild

I was only a kid when they stole me

Of my dreams

They got me to join them soon

Gone to hell in a day

Its today they said or never

You left me no choice mom

You said you will live

You said you will stick around

But you weren’t there

They did you in and threw you out

On the dusty streets

To pick up the pieces and walk

You said you couldn’t

Not today or tomorrow

I learnt to walk on my own mom

I limped and crawled

Wherever my feet carried me to

I cried for days

I wanted to be normal that’s all

But fate didn’t let me

Infernal is my existence here

I pray and I seek

The dusty streets are all I have

——————————————————————–

Verses

Verses as they came:

 

Safely Moored…

 Anchored sturdy upon a pond
Calm and safe that little boat
Quietly lies she in an inlet tonight
In the fading light of the eastern sky
She will catch the tide with morrow 
With no wild sea beyond her shores
We too in life are proved and tried
Some ride out while others fail
Reaching for the harbor walls
Much before darkness falls
Safely moored…

 

 Continuity…

 Drowning in your endless rivers

Waking up to chills and shivers

Silvery twilight slowly reaching

Quietly then I stand there breathing

Sweet serenity often that beckons

Compromising that often I reckon

Together flying past minds

Soaring and letting go binds

Somewhere when it all crashed

Hopes of all kinds dashed

Death

And then rebirth

Elusive

Devoid of continuity…

 

Shreds…

 The fog rolls in tonight from the ocean

adding a strange sense of disquiet

and ambiguous silence.

Pulverized thoughts lay scattered

on the sands of time

washed and cleansed by the tide.

Memory…

  Make me a memory,

I could write a few lines

Obfuscating dream & reality,

Sailing on choppy seas

Spying a lighthouse, yonder

Rowing to its light, beacon

Night fog rolling in, misty

Tears lined my eyes…

 Make me a memory

I could sing a few lines

Serenading myself and you

Drifting along the shore

Seeing the wind blown leaves

Spreading its light and colors

Fall sweeps in and takes it away

A smile creased my lips…

 Make me a memory

To live and die for

As I savor life…

————————————————-

Shut My Eyes

Surreal is what it is

Pin pricks that open wide

Trying to unshed tears

Beholding scenes

That I don’t want to see

Clasping and holding tight

Never ever letting go

Blind is what I want to be

Take away that light

Shut my eyes

And let me be

The strife, those travails

Of poverty and violence

The falling and rising

Of blackness around me

It hurts and it stings

And squeezes my orbs

Steadying my gaze

When I am turning away

Shut my eyes

And let me be

Those sights I saw before 

Only haze they now bring

A touch of magic

Gone with a blink

A vision and euphoria

Is what I seek

Of a perfect world

With an imperfect me

Shut my eyes

And let me be

———————————-

Streets With No Name

 

Passing cars, spewing smoke

Skidding tires and signal lights

Traffic jams and vacuous stares

Pale lights and neon signs

Skyscrapers and falling shacks

Grimy façade seeming heartless

Potholed streets with gaping eyes

Lose a step and totter down

Stench of death and muddied thoughts

Selling a dream to anyone around

Shadows of the night beckon

Raw, untamed the human spirit

Looking up for benefaction

Rounds of gunfire and lost lives
 Walking on with sole less shoes
Hole in the heart and grimy too
Pinch me now, shake me up

Here today, gone tomorrow

All that’s left of a yesterday

Just a few more nameless streets

———————————————————————-

Urban Serengeti

 

 

Walking down the streets of life

I take a turn first left, then right

I cross the street and run

Run some more faltering

The vertical boxes and

Zebra crossings, trapping me

And daring me…

Neon signs and halogen lamps

Casting shadows big and small

Just sitting by the sidewalk

Staring at cars whizzing by

Shouldn’t I be in one of them?

Just driving down the

Winding road…

Just me and my self

And a thousand thoughts

The music blaring and

Passing milestones

Just free as a bird

Taking me away, to secret places

Away from this urban life…

Where life stands still

And time is just a frozen word

Where night blends into day

And stars shine with the sun

No questions asked

Nor answers sought!

———————————————-

Somewhere

Somewhere

 

Somewhere it traveled on…I saw entrails of a past

Somewhere the road ended…I saw lost tracks running

Somewhere the track stopped…I saw they twisted out

Somewhere there I was standing and watching

Somewhere in the sanctuary…I ran in wild abandon

Somewhere in the recess of my mind… I danced a song

Somewhere in the path to success…I stopped a minute

Somewhere there I glanced and smiled

Somewhere out there a light…I closed my eyes

Somewhere in my sleep I dreamt…walking on the edge

Somewhere along the journey…I saw serenity

Somewhere there I stopped to breathe

Somewhere in a deja-vu…I erased it all

Somewhere in my ethereal self…I slipped again

Somewhere winding through…I found the reason

Somewhere there the tracks ended

———————————————————-

Are we human yet?

Are we Human Yet?

 

We surrendered our freedom

Mounting the steps to gallows

Slaughtered it all endlessly

Hedonism and damnation

Skepticism with mockery

Quarantined thoughts and souls

Egregious follies carrying us too

Condemned to mechanic lives

Exerting to its sways pitifully

Razing lives for religion

Raping innocent apostles

Stampeding to see the divine

Bombing and blasting through

Euphemized pains that linger

Our remorseless journeys

Tirelessly vengeful and alive

Are we human yet?

—————————————

(After the Orissa debacle of mindless rape and violence)

Tears for Mumbai

Smoked out and blasted away

Flying around witnessing it

Armed to the teeth, they came

Killed, maimed and destroyed

As I sat watching on the sills

Brothers of mankind are we?

Smiling they pumped bullets

Emptied their AK-47s and left

Segregating few and taking away

I screeched and cried unhearing

My voice drowned in the battle

I fluttered around and rested

Messenger of peace I’m called

I couldn’t do a thing to help

My wings clipped and beak tied

I leant my broken wings

Bloodied, injured and shaken

They walked out in a shock

A brother, wife, sister, father

Someone to somebody they are

Cowards, beastly and inhuman

My heart bleeds and watches

Was this what was taught?

Not martyrs my men, killers

Is what they made of you

Unfeeling and remorseless

Can’t you see it, you’re wrong?

They are wrong, they all are

Neither heaven nor hell awaits

Your crimes against humanity

Why, oh why you walk so?

Not superior or inferior

In race we are all the same

Here today, gone tomorrow

You stake claim on a world

That is no longer safe

Betrayed and vanquished

On the monument of faith

They brainwashed you,

They killed the real you

And you killed the rest…

———————————

Photos- AP photos

February 15, 2010 Posted by serenemusings | Poetry | 26/11, Mumbai, terror | No Comments Yet | Edit

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