The History of Hope

He was born broken; one of a kind,
A scarecrow one can find
Here and there with splintered limbs
Taught to always be half blind
He was afraid even being undead
As if everything he never said
Can be heard through the silence
Warring inside his uneven head

His name he remembered still
Amen; meaning to fulfil
But there were ashes in his waistcoat
Of people he hurt but forgot to heal
So he ran and walked and also crawled
Eyes wide for one who had solved
How a caterpillar in the end
In a butterfly gets evolved

Days he spent in the random heat
With shivering hands and on hobbling feet
And at night he sought strangers known
Who could tell where few roads meet
And on bed made of carpet and cold
He laid his flesh when it could no more hold
The dreams of being young again
When the promises were getting old

And in the morning, midst the fallen dew
He thought of his life when it all was new
Now what he has was being taken away
When he already had so few
But as the sun climbs its ladder high
He marches once more to relive the lie
Believing same as Icarius
Wearing feathers would make him fly

And even today you can catch his glimpse
The old man, who begs and limps,
Through the mirror of mortal minds
He is the maker of all the hymns
One who tosses the coin for sun and rain
The progeny of unrequited pain
Hear his heartbeat as your own
And in your vein his name: Amen.

The Silver In My Song

The broken flowers they fell at my feet
Gold and silver, ebony and peat
And I knew not where this road may lead
Will I find in the end what I need
And I need...
A silence in the shape of the sun
A bit of violence with the face of a nun
And someone who won't turn and run
When I face down the barrel of a gun
But hear now...
I don't have a penny to pay as your price
I spend my nights cold and filled up on rice
And I know my heart is my own greatest vice
Always afraid that my love won't suffice
You can see...
Out there those houses of princes and kings
Whilst I can only shelter you neath my own wings
And I have no diamonds to tie our rings
Just the hollow of my chest to rest your sufferings
So beware...
Of my sweet words that may seduce and sway
They only ache so to take you away
And keep you happy come what it may
We will be children till our hair turn grey
But I know...
This poem seems just a practice in rhymes
And does not cover the cost of past crimes
But I shall spend every penny and all of my dimes
For our today and the end of our times
So...
Never forgive if you want but don't forget
The magic of those moments we met
And I wonder if it's my heart you now so hate
But wasn't our love written by the hands of the fate?
Thus I say…
The broken flowers they fell at my feet
Gold and silver, ebony and peat
And I knew not where this road may lead
Will I find in the end what I need
And I need…
You

The Nuances of My Nights

            A poet knows
The name of all places
And directions to none
- Not a Poet


I write because it hurts
And if I scream they will know my pain
I don’t want to scream
Don’t want to shatter the serene mirror
That holds together
All false reflections
The world holds dear
For the blame of it
Would lie on me
And I have enough confessions to pardon
In my soliloquy

I slept late yesterday
There was a tempest inside me
And my mind was anchored loose
I was swayed, buffeted
And at once painted still
As if my soul
Was the albatross
From the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
And I thought:
Every murder is a suicide in a way
Isn’t it?
To surrender the right of your life to someone else
Without a fight
There are many types of murders
Of trust, flesh and mind
Common massacres
Gruesome
One of a kind…
It’s getting dark

I should have had dinner
But the lights were too bright
And candles too dim
The plate felt soft
And the spoon too thin
Or was it me
Who felt brittle and blind
With so many dreams to dream
And so few days to do
(Now that was a lie
For I cherish my own incompetence
Like a child does it’s once favourite but now broken toy)

I am afraid I have found
The edge of my reason
And the world beyond (And would you believe it?)
Is a mirror…
It seems me and this mirror
We are obsessed with each other
In finding faults
In pointing out to one another
Our own shrinking horizons
Until one of us agrees
The threshold of our limitations

I slept late yesterday
(No, I already said that
Pardon, it’s the mirror reflecting my memories
God I am tired)

Good night

The Mist of My Mornings

Why cry about things you can laugh at
Said the quote on my bathroom mirror
It wasn’t funny
I thought
And smiled to myself

The nights have been short
Or perhaps it was I who has been stretched thin
Between two impossibilities
Of being here and being there
An almost everywhere
Every thought of mine now
Feels like a bullet through the brain
The very last; and in a way everlasting
But new ones creep out
Out of this philosophical yeast
Growing in the dark keeps of my mind
Nurtured with cold sweat
And self taught paralysis

The toothpaste tastes funny
Like old age
These are those days of winter
When sadness feels warm
Like a hug or a cup of coffee
Something to snuggle into and fall asleep
Sadness; the elixir of a dying man
Sadness, yes
And melancholy (Pretty word)
Made of me and the unholy:
Thoughts, dreams, desires
Snails creeping on a wet wire

I remember a time
When I dreamt of being a dog
And lie on the carpet
Of fallen leaves
Dogs can dream, can’t they? (Yes)
And so I dreamt of being a dog
To come full circle
A perfection
My being complete
A zero

The wind from the window
Touches my face
And I blush;
Love is in the air
Or is it despair?
How can one compare?
When being utterly unaware…
(I rhymed on purpose
For they say poetry must taste like a painting)
I gargle and gag
There is blood in my spit
A rose line
Branching out like a symphony
Clarinet and timpani
Violins and bassoons
Bach and Beethoven
Mozart who died too soon
The tap turns
A thunder
The tap turns
All silence

Good morning




December

My finger on the window 
Made a rainbow in the dust
And I could see my watered down mirage
Gasping in surprise
Laughter; a dry mist
From the flesh of my throat
As if my heart knew the humour
Was the one that I wrote
(I wonder if the people sitting at the table
Can hear, discern, decode, confirm)

I should have worn socks
It’s cold;
The floor, the walls, the ceiling
The curtains, the furniture, the feeling
Should I wear it now?
My toes are already numb
And the ankles ache
Yes, a mistake
To wear it now
Better to regret not wearing it at all
Than knowing the comfort I lost
It won’t solve
Anything
As such

It is December
I do not remember the last December
Or the one before
All the memories of past winters
Are glued together
Indecipherable
I was alone then
In more ways than one
Incomplete, high strung
To come easily undone
But not anymore…

She came from far
The horizon was her home
I knew her reflection
Was same as my own
Yet the ocean between us
This sapphire separation
Was daunting, nigh haunting
With adrift ships and lost anchors
And mad sailor men upon the shore
And lighthouses blinking
“Advance No More”

We sell paper boats now
Made of torn poetry
And write poems upon onion peels
And ripe tomatoes
It’s beautiful
The fragrance of homemade chicken
And her smile
And that nodding head
And the dancing waist
She is happy
So am I
This December
So am I…

Ether

I rest my faults on my tongue
And though it is textured as glass
The taste is of raspberry
Or blood
I fail to distinguish
My throat hurts
From the cuts
The bed is warm
Like unwavering ash
Like a tired pyre
And I search with numb fingers
My eyes; closed now
For this is a dream
I am not dead
For this is a dream
There is no bed
The room I wake up to is all ochre
And I am naked waist up
Breath fills my belly
And I shiver as the cold air claims my hunger
My lungs, this ribcage holding together
Heartbeats tearing to escape
Stands out
Like fingers from my skin
I am a man no more
Just random thoughts on a paper
And my infinitesimal existence
Like rings of rising vapour
I remember being beautiful
I remember being a being
I remember writing those lyrics
Which no man could ever sing
But it is cold now
And I feel I am too old to be young
Now it is cold
And I know I am too young to be old
The winter is at the window
And it is not going to wait
The fire is long gone
Now I am just a butterfly under the blanket
And I would have closed my eyes
Had the pillow not snored back
Whispering to me
All the things that I lack
Privy to my dreams
It does so on my behalf
So when my dream does shatters
I am not alone when I laugh

The I in Why?

I do not desire
To lie naked in a rattrap life
And lubricate my verse with victorian words;
Filled with awe inspiring acts
Led by mundane lust
Of Angels and Men alike
Nor do deep desires murder me
Nerve by nerve
Peeling away my eggshell skin
To illuminate the onion within;
A coiled rainbow, boiled white
Neither am I a shadow
Fallen far from crowded feet
Awaiting on indifferent paths
For a heavenly retreat
If at all I were to bare myself and be
One thing that should suffice how I see
Myself, in this crystal world
Of self reflection and askewed insight
I would be a thoughtful statue
Sitting alone in a far off land
With infinity in my head
And nothing in my hand