Category: poetry

suraj wahi hai, bas tareekh hi badli hai

phir kyun itna kolahal

phir kyun itna utsav

kya tareekhon ke badlney se

arth badal jaatey hain

kya sandhrbo ke asthir honey se

spasht aks dhumil ho jaatey hain

where is the vessel

where is the drop

why is it empty

why is it cracked

what happned to all the smiles

you harvested from the faces of children

you met on the way

what happened to the designs you appreciated
on the cowdung cake  heaps

why are you so desolate

why,

before i start my journey

will u not offer me some sweet

i remember, when i was a child

you always did that

have i grown up

or Mother, you have become reassured

of my well being

will my resolution to resurrect truth remain

i have been carrrying

the cross all this while

on my shoulders

after all can i leave hope

that truth will prevail

worrries of my friends will give way

and their hopes will sway

the breeze always their way

i will quietly fade away

how do i sustain the hope
of a cloud to rain in a parched field
when there is a river here
and a lake there
waiting to be replenished
why will
cloud be carried away
by the careless wind
far too busy with her own dreams
of storming the spirit of thirsty streams
to the dried beds
of what was a pond
the birds have deserted
and now ants are also going away
how do i sustain the hope
then’

how do i clarify
why was i sleepy
when you were telling the story
abhimanyu
was listening
in my womb
not knowing that my sleep
delayed for so long, so often
because you know why
will not let him live for long
what could have i done,
i carry the guilt for so many centuries
and every time
i feel sleepy
the face of abhimanyu asks me
to clarify
how do i tell him
i did not know
i still do not know
how do i defy
you
O lord

soak the time, tame the tide

said the happy squirrrel,

without any reservation or pride

i did not know

how do i soak the moments

which are laced with the smiles

of the time that i wish

i had by myself all the while

but alas, i am

not allowed

to seek

the solace that sustains

my quest for peace

i have to run, and run again

so that tide does not carry

the boat anchored in the sea

i am quiet, u too remain quiet

who knows in the silence

will speak

the spirits in balance

you are a big river

wanting to meet only the sea

but have no reservations

on assimilating the small streams

i am a rivulet

just flowing in this season

may dry up tomorrow or next day after

will you let me

be part of you

so that all the vapours in the sky

soak the time

tame the tide

and leave a trail

for some one to follow

who has no faith in future

or past

but has a desire to cast

a shadow of his love

on every step

of this stair

where sages have walked

but afraid of despair

mind is restless
and body is tired
the boat has survived
but the river is in spate
still,
you ask me to forget
and focus only on future
but then there are images
hidden in the clouds in the sky
if i see the sky
i get restless
and when i keep eyes below
i remember
all the stories you narrated
all the songs you sang
all the poories you fried
and all the arguments
you decided not to have
why do not i just rest
less in the shade
and more under the sun