Tribute

You are the candle I forget to light,
The flame I fail to guard,
You show a light, I do not see,
The warmth I turn to clod;
You are the shame that burdens my heart
The failure I carry through life,

You are a flicker that bursts into flames
An unsheathed sword of assault,
You are the soundless shout of our hearts
You inspire to stand and speak out.

The Unknown One

Unclothed I lay, broken,

A rag doll thrown to the dogs,

Did you not know me?

Or did you ignore me?

I am the Mother that cradled you,

The sister you vowed to protect,

The sweetheart you profusely loved,

The unborn you sent to her death;

I am the friend who stood at your side,

In your boyhood your teacher and guide,

I am your dream and your dreaded nightmare,

The Goddess you worship in fear.

I am a challenge, not a token mere

To let me breathe and live do you dare?

When I walk by, who do you see?

Is it a mirage or is it me?

A Mother, sister, or daughter you know, 

Yet strangely,a woman you ignore; 

For her no love nor tears; 

No space to play, to breathe, to live,

An object of lust, a prey

To stalk or kill at will.

My steps are bound, my freedom is caged

I am subject to your rage

Less than a beast I live and die.

With none to hear my unuttered cries

And few to feel my anguish, my pain

Yet from within strength I gain:

My fire burns in a desperate world:

My true nature I'll surely unfurl,

Beyond your known realm of the dark

I blooms, a lotus embedded in murk

A rising sun awaiting dawn

Surging upwards to my morn.

Mask

A mask fashioned for face,
One more for heart,

So snug they fit none can tell apart.

Face-mask worn all day,
Heart mask now and then,

World sees both and cheers aloud amen.

Day by day the masks grow in length, 

Day by day they go from strength to strength,

And lo! the hidden heart and face

Cry in vain, for they have lost the race.

Moods

When I am lonely I sing of sands

Of frolicking winds in distant lands;

When I am lonely I dance with the waves

With swift footed clouds I run a race.

When I am pensive I sit in caves

Step back from world of rants and raves;

When I am pensive I melt into skies

Suffused with sun rays I set and I rise.

When I am gay I bloom with flowers

I bask in glory of golden towers;

When I am gay I like to play

To lark along on my way.

When I am sad I hide in smiles

Lest my pain burst forth and shine;

When I am sad I open my heart

To twinkling stars so far apart.

Time Ill Spent

Often times I come to say

Just how much you mean to me,

My world steps in to claim my mind

And I move away.

Tomorrow is another day

Ample time to have my say.

All at once Death pounces in

To snatch at you, marauding through

Life’s corridor- and you are no more.

Broken- hearted I stand,

Ruing now the wasted hours,

The times I turned back words of love.

In Praise of Strife

My Child! Together we've walked on fire,

Not one fell blow, but sortie after sortie

Assailed to vanquish Strength; to subdue Hearts-

To pull down edifices of yore:

Fighting, turning, changing tracks withstood

Unruly winds, oft torn and bleeding,

We've grown from strength to strength in spirit

Head held high against hostile friends.

On crooked roads we've made our way,

On shifting sands we've built our homes,

To relentless strife we've pledged our hearts

Undaunted, striving, not for calm waters,

Ever reaching higher beyond earth's bounds,

Life in death, death in life we have found