MY MONSOON

The skies above pregnant with monsoon
sending tremors of early labour
And the child of heat and dust kissed its mothers forehead in showers today!
My feeble heart too swells with the memories of a lost monsoon
Writhes in pain all the while
Pangs of disownment thunders
But my heart's child wont come out to greet its mother in showers of bitter tears,
Stalled in silence,
Pregnant with the memories of a monsoon
My heart will keep on writhing in pain for ever and anon
Its child will not come out to kiss the mother's forehead in showers of bitter tears!!

The Valley

Do not call me back my dear friend, no more play of hide and seek!
Remember those boisterous games we played
In the meadows so green under the orangish sun
Then our evenings were mirthful and our sleeping quite fitful
A happy moon smiled at our windows each night.

Changing Seasons then blocked the beaming sun
The meadows were turned miry and uninviting
Compelling us to play hide and seek in the valley
Where darkness sneaks in like a thief at noontide even

With the blindfold you tied on my eyes
And with shaky faltering steps I trot here and there
I grope in the dark to search you out my friend
It scares me to play hide and seek in the valley

I then untie the blindfold in frenzy
To seek out your familiar face so dear
Do not hide far from me friend
The valley with hovering shadowy shapes put me affright

Let us now run off to those meadows familiar
Let us wait for the seasons to change for us
Because the blindfolded eyes drive me down
To the valley of shadowy shapes to the valley of shadow of death!

from my fav poet Tagore

Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not
(from Gitanjali - Tagore)

Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.
Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own.
Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter;
I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest.
Through birth and death, in this world or in others,
wherever thou leadest me it is thou,
the same, the one companion of my endless life
who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut.
Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of the many.

PORTRAIT

In my mind's eye it was picture- perfect!
Backdrop serene,
Colures vivid,
The canvas inviting!
So with my tool special
Dipped in the palette of myriad colors,
Like a magician
Swirling his wand,
With strokes careful
I tried to sketch my mind’s imprints,
Calling to life the portrait in mind,
But I then found my picture astir,
Strokes running riot,
Colors in stampede,
The canvas a rampage!
With brush getting limp in my hand,
I stopped and raked the mind’s canvas,
To arrest the image that appeared so real,
To capture the obscuring vision in vain,
Trying to draw the picture-perfect
Trying to draw my picture-perfect

MY MIRROR

Days start with playful communion with my mirror
Shooting mischievous glances and smiling gleefully
My mirror stands tall adorning its place on my wall
The morning light that seep through my window
Smuggle in sachets of radiant hues to my mirror
Then before the bustling hours of the day
I gaze into my mirror and get myself daintily decked
The hues deftly blend to veil all my distortions!
When the day grows old and the rays ablaze on my mirror
Stealthily I move to steal a look at my self in my mirror
Dreading the burning rays of the mature sun that might cajole
My mirror to remove the veil that covers my sunken face
But my mirror saves my face scattering the rays ablaze
To the nooks and corners of my room in kaleidoscopic splendor
My mirror always stands tall adorning its place on my wall!
Days end with a deep and vigilant look into my mirror
Without the veil and the blend of beautiful hues
Then in the dimly lit milieu of my chamber
I still find myself almost beautiful in my mirror
Holding back my feminine impulse to pose the ancient riddle
I whisper instead, my customary qualm to my precious mirror
“Mirror mirror on the wall can you beautify my soul too”
Then slipping on the cloak of silence, as though in a dream
My mirror you smile and stand tall adorning my wall!

PLAY ROOM

My heart your play room
and you make each visit a celebration
with those playthings I've shelved for you !
My everyday fairy-tales your rattles,
unsought advises your teether.
My told and untold secrets your building blocks,
chaotic emotions your hobby horse !
And my tenderness flowing rocks your cradle !
But then you vanish in a split second,
leaving scattered toys all over the room,
your gleeful laughter echoes in the void!
Now come my babe, I've again made your room,
all your toys spanking clean,
come fill this air with your mirth,
and play that play that scatters your toys !

The Full Moon

We walked under the moonlit sky
The full moon shining on our cheeks
Your little fingers clasping mine
Our path narrow and destination near
The silent neighbourhood wrapped us
Like a warm blanket in the cool night air
Your cooing and chirping in between
Like the soft chiming of Christmas bells
Filled in me the nostalgia of a world I left behind
Thank you my little one for walking those few strides with me
And bringing the joy of a world I could never aspire to reach in this life!