Kargil-in Memory

A nation mourned:
A tear in every eye, hands held out,
Soft words, “Your loss is ours too.”
No time for private grief.
Unknown to all a soldier dies on remote hills:
A martyr lives in public space,
His last journey
A gauntlet run through
Salutes and bugles, wreaths and garlands,
For final return to bosoms
Of Mothers and Wives, Fathers, Siblings, Sons.

A nation mourns:
Martyrs’ names a lost memory,
Wreaths and salutes to unknown faces
While a nation works and plays;
No more tears, gone the consoling hands;
A private grief in
Breasts that live the loss,
Eyes that still search for
Heroes who died
Once on hills, once in hearts.

Renewal

When a flower drops from your branch
Do you tell the next "Don't come?"
When a fruit is untimely plucked,
Do others hear your order,"Run!"
When sun switches sides
To draw a blanket of night,
Moon holds her head high,
Braving the dark, to set things right,
Calling on stars to come and sup
On mysteries, yearnings,or unknown sights,
To bring union of birth, to ignite
A new spark to life.

My Journey

My rainbow beckons from the sky,

This hill I'll cross to touch its hues;

A taller stands behind, hidden

From sight; mountains and vales

On I walk, closer to my dale:

Hoppety skip, hoppety skip,

One step back each time;

Journey prolonged;

Hand of fate? or siren's call?

A shady bower to rest awhile,

Soon storms and gales come crashing by!

Naming Game

The Rose is a rose
And always was a rose,
But the new theory goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is too, and so's
The plum. I suppose;
The dear only knows
What'll next prove a rose,
You, of course are a rose,
Now, and for years far and close!

Bridge of Fire

I walked down a bridge of fire
To reach a rose scented bower;
Reclining in its leafy shade a while
I rested, safe, serene:
But Hell fire followed me;
My life not burnt,
Yet scorched and singed
To graceless lump of flesh,
A Pariha feared and shunted,
Or submerged in heartless sweetness;
A self created purgatory
Rendering no escape.

Vision

Where are you? Oh, where are you?
I cried in fear,
My Mother, my Goddess, my Child,
Why have you deserted me?
I lay prostrate, in pain, in grief,
Unable to comprehend:
And then-
A vision unfolded!
Lightning touched my soul,
Ripples of life reverbated
As peels of laughter
Filled my ears.
There She stood; Her hand in mine,
A little child, my constant companion,
And fear vanished for ever.




















;

Song of a Despairing Heart

Why did you take sweet sleep from eyes,
Quiet content from my heart?
Why did you rouse flames in breast
That now but make me smart?
Why did you lend ears to dreams?
Long were they laid to rest,
Why did you bring hope to life
And put me to the test?
My soul I had lost to darkening night,
Why make it live once more?
Why light a lamp, and let it burn
When sadness lies in store?
This life, these thoughts, my love, my soul,
I put in your dear care,
Why gather 'em close, keep 'em warm,
Just to lay them bare.