Category: poetry

will you just stop here
will you throw away the prop there
play is yet to begin
the sound test is over
but will viewers see all of this
what you wish to say
and what you wish to hide
will you just stop here
walk on, walk on
a few moments more
when teh curtains rise
you can decide to be there
quiet
still
stubborn rock like
unmoved by the anxiety of all around

will you trust
that every evening
i asked Kaali
how did your day go today
i am aware
the echoes of my prayers will reach
the steps of the temple
where you pray
we pray
she prays

it does not matter
so what if i had repaired
the banks of your river;
we meditated in verandah
and hoped that flow will continue

did it rain there
how come all the stains
are washed?

i know
you wanted to twine around the tree
weakness of trunk
was your complaint
but then
that’s the way it was

i heard some whispers
last night
the drops of intermittent rain
seemed a bit unsettled
the queue was long
at your altar, O Kaali
but i waited
till
whispers in the air
told me your wish
and i turned back
i had to meditate more

did i ask
even if you did not tell
the long shadows
short changed memories
the crawling insects
on the fissured barks
of a lone tree
in a moonlit night
did not eat all that they could
they were persuaded
that some had to be left
for burning the funeral pyre of
those words
just words
i had heard on that night
when creative urges
and boundless energy
were strewn all around

why do i remember you so much
O kaali

why are clouds feeling so compelled to rain
only in a garden too far from here
why are winds so anxious to sway all the dried leaves
away from my garden
why can not white ants fertilize roots of the tree
under which i prayed for your coming back
what has happened to the curtains in my window
they dont even make a pretense of covering my tears
will you still come back O Kaali

stir the jar
why keep it still
so long
be there, is it too far
but keep the door a bit ajar
one never knows
when our paths turn
and door becomes a window

am i waiting in vain,
but how can any wait ever be in vain
dont we reflect
dont we question
dont we reinterpret
every memory is renewed
seeds of self doubt sprout
we nourish them by waiting
why should any wait be even in vain
let me wait
even more