Garden of hope

Unruly hair
Unblemished skin
Untouched by the world
Bathed in innocence
The morning dew is her companion,
The flowers are her confidants...
She uses the sky as her canvass
To carve shapes with a sprig of grass...



Brilliant eyes
Beautiful lips
Blossoming youth
Learning, feeling, sensing.
The rising moon is her guide,
The setting sun is her secret-keeper...
As she reaches for his hand,
In a starlight symphony as fireflies strike a band...

Withered limbs
Weathered face
Wounded heart
Awaiting autumn...
The darkest night brings hope,
But every dawn brings fear of another lonely dusk...
As she stares at the garden, her youth's spirit-
And makes wishes of eyelashes longing for another visit.

Thirst...

Her throat is parched and her lips are dry
even the sweetest nectar and holiest water can't defy
This unquenching thirst
Born from a lack of words
Lodged in the unreachable depths of a withered heart
They refuse to escape from lips waiting to part

She tries to speak-
Find Some expression, even if it's meek
Of unrequited love
Of unappreciated effort
Of unfaithful friends and loyal foes
Of emotion sapped by unrelenting woes..

Oh! Won't you look into her eyes so hollow
Yet you can see the pain that runs deep, iris steeped in sorrow
One touch will unbreak her
One kind word will unleash the tears
That will dissolve the lump of what's been left unsaid
That will revive a soul that's trapped and near-dead...

The Hearltess Angel

He arrived

Like the first ray of a spring morning’s sun

Quiet yet ambitious

Hoping to light the world

He did hers – with his brilliant thoughts

He – the unaware genius

He made his way into her life

Like the fresh drops of a monsoon shower

Seasonal yet persistent

Quenching the thirst of a parched earth

He revived her life – with his constant company

He – the unwilling saviour

He warned of his departure

Like autumn’s shedding leaves

Slow yet certain

A reminder of empty days and lonely nights

He unravelled her hopes, undid the good

He – the heartless angel

And, now like the cool winds of winter

He moves noiselessly, stealing warmth

His icy coolness leaves her tears frozen

And she is stranded on the verge, the brink

Wanting desperately to summon emotion but unable

He – the unlikely friend

But, he will stay

Like the distant star in the velvet night sky

Aloof yet brightly shining

A glimmer of hope for a weary traveller

He – the reluctant memory

A Lifetime...

She stares without seeing,

Looking back at me with unblinking eyes,

That tell secrets wordlessly speaking,

Of trapped ambition or severed ties

Forlorn she stands - unsmiling and speechless

Her lips so arid as laughter has withered away

For a fleeting moment her eyes lose their emptiness

Filled with a fond memory of a forgotten friend or a sunny day

Lonely she stands singular and stoic

Her rigid limbs unmoving, frozen

Even as crowds move around her - thick and quick

Betraying the remnants of arrogance, confidence that once was brazen

Staring back at her – I am trapped in a timeless vacuum –

Face of regret, body of unexpected defeat, aura of gloom

And it is like looking into an eerie mirror

Prophesising a reality far from dreams, of a remorseful future

And I open my eyes

To see the miracle in each second

As the repressed secrets buried in them

Flow like tears down my cheek

I free my ears to catch the beats of life

And the sudden surge of energy

Finds release in the tapping of my feet

My lips twitch upwards in a reluctant smile

As my resolve grows stronger -

What will be, will be

But it won't be from of a lack of trying...

Possessions

These tables around which we would once gather,

To share boisterous chatter and solemn silence...

These windows that liberated the sound of our laughter,

Filled with gaiety you only find in the company of friends.

These walls which were once witness to us living,

Within which toiled and rested, did and dreamt...

These corridors that once echoed our thinking,

As we faltered, fell yet made another attempt.

These roads upon which we once strolled,

Together, step-by-step, hand-in-hand...

These streets which we once explored,

Making our own paths – random and unplanned.

These are symbols of a time gone-by

Reminders of what shaped my being

Though others may now those tables occupy

And through those windows, new eyes are seeing

Within the walls may blossom new lives

And the corridors may carry a different sound

On those same roads, another march arrives

And more unseen streets await to be found...

Though, to my successors these symbols I resign

These memories will forever be mine.