Shadows of Things Unknown

Lurking below the dark waters

Are treasures unknown

And dangers too real

Scared be us, but of what?

Inside the black darkness

Enter we must

But with hopes of what?

Sheer tragedy or happiness unbound?

With time clicking in your head

And sweat dripping down your back

You take a step forward

Knowing, there’s no other way

What’s to be expected

From life’s great moments

When they are mere illusions of today,

The only real thing being tomorrow.

Shadows of tomorrow,

Leering at you today.

Will you walk ahead with head held high?

Will you?

The Doe-eyed Girl Like Many Other

The doe-eyed girl

Tapping on my window

Like the insistent tapping of a bird

Wishing to escape from a cold storm outside

A plaintive sigh beckons me

To look into those honey colored eyes

I look away because I am a coward

Scared of the guilt, threatening to barge out

She could sense it too

There she stood, her palms outstretched

A baby strung to her small being

Like the scene from a macabre play

I shake my head vigorously

Pleading in my own way

With a blank stare trying to see nothing

Numbed by the ocean of differences we share

Her liquid eyes began melting my heart

A faint glimmer of childlike mischief

Shines from within

In spite of a face aged by her life conditions

Responding to my innermost emotions

My ice-cold heart thwarted out of its numbness

I reach out into her world, our world

And pull those emaciated cheeks

The light turns green

Flashing an impish toothless grin

She bounces away into oblivion

While her doe eyes linger in my heart.

Only Human

Shivering with delight

The green frond above

bouncing with colour

The red earth below

The magic that maketh

Heavens burst out

The magic that maketh

You and me enthralled

Forgive me for my sins

Forsake me not when I call to thee

I did what I did just to survive

And yet these evil clouds beckon to me

A silver of glimmering hope I live for

My hearts an aching

Waiting for mercy, heavenly or otherwise

There is nothing else that I be praying

And as I close my eyes

I hear a voice within my head

It was all meant to be this way

With an air of finality, it said

Not a believer of fate

Or the quirky stuff our lines proclaim

I still can’t help venture a wondering

As to the proceedings of this life game

Is it what we do?

Or do events unfold at their whim?

Do we reap what we sow?

Or is it all truly a holy mess?

I know just this, when fear strikes

And despair threatens me thus

I close my eyes to be subjugated

To my weakness of being only human.

Something Incomplete

Take me away to the wild wild country

With not a soul to wait for,

With not a reason to cry,

Just a lot of green, with a hint of colour

Hurrying through life

Has not been my forte

Let me go somewhere to behold the sight

The sight of blue white sky and the ocean beneath

The gold yellow flowers under the dark starry night

A TRIP LONG OVERDUE- A SUNDAY WELL SPENT

Each one of us have dreams and imagine trying to fulfill them one by one, the sense of satisfaction one gets is beyond any other thing in the world. I have wanted to take this road trip for a very long time and it was the biggest relief when my dream actually fructified. It was a Sunday well spent. Packed my bags and set off in true roadies style, eight of us on four bikes. The only regret was that I did not know the two things that were essential on a road trip. I don’t know how to swim or ride a bike but those are dreams for later on when someone patient would actually teach me those skills. Moving on, as we kept travelling, the sun slowly rose over our heads.

Believe me, the sight of a night sky studded with stars slowly changing its hue to a rosy pink, with the sun as an orange topping over this delicious canvas, is something that would inspire me forever. A rising sun is the sign of hope and good things to come in the future. 120kmph was the normal speed and within a span of one hour we covered 70 km. The going was slow but where is the hurry? The world may move on as it pleases on the highway. We took our breaks, just soaking in the sights and sounds of fresh country green with rocks scattered around as if it were all the design of a very talented artist.

With the progressing day and the rising heat, the landscape changed, giving way to valleys and forests, dried up as a result of the approaching summer. It changed my perspective about the concept of beauty. Beauty need not always be apparent on the face. Beauty lies in the stark naked rocks with no cover from the sun; it lies in the dusty roads wherein the haze obscures a reality and gives us the sense of being transported to a world beyond ours; the dry scrubs of forests making us a behold a new shade of summer; the small rivulets reminding us of the paradise within. Who said that summer is not beautiful? That it is colorless or lifeless? Cringe and cry all you want with the heat but interpreting the words of my favorite author, the tongues of fire that ravages you externally soon becomes a part of you and you become the fire, after all it is about conquering a threshold of pain.

With this grand realization in mind we move on, the speed was increasing, the desperation to near the destination gaining vantage. And here we are within the center of earth. As if a huge bowl of earth was scraped from within the core of this planet. This is me describing the heat. But the wonders of wonders!! Instead of the molten lava flowing in the bowels of the earth, we found sweet cold water. Bursting from an unknown source, drenching us with a fulfillment of all the promises we made to ourselves. It was the most amazing experience ever. A bottle of beer in hand and a happy song on the lips, we jumped into the water and took to it like a fish. Exploring greater reaches of the falls, we conquered our fears step by step. Soon the heat of the rocks just added to the pleasure we got from the cooling bandage called water.

It was indeed with regret that we packed our bags and made our way back home from the Kuntala Falls, 270 km from Secunderabad. I would never forget the newness of this adventure, the hardships suffered and the bonds of friendship made, etched forever in my memory, thank you guys.

An Ode to a Dear Friend

Beware, the fainthearted

Friendship not being for the weak

The deep chasm that grows from within

May not be strong enough for you to bear

This is an ode to a friend,

Someone close to my heart

For someone who has defined my life

Distance is good for a short short while

Cracks might fall and they maybe patched

But dont let this upheaval of feelings

Keep your dear friend for forever away............

Spoils of a War Fought and Lost

Hurts like mad

To decide whats important

Livin for others or living for urself

Dignity being the last salvage

In a war with no winners

It is dignity I choose

For whats the life of a mongrel?

Gettin stones thrown at

And abuses hurled at you?

Nothin is worth the trouble

So you grab that last trophy

And run like mad

Away from all the despair

To a new tomorrow, a new life

Good luck to you, to myself and

With the choices one makes.