A Walk through the Dark

The sun has lost its warmth, the moon its shine,
No longer do I mourn this loss of mine,
Life now a trudging, uphill task,
Every word a lie, each face a mask;
No doorway can I find, no escape,
In each human touch there is rape.
In darkness burn a million stars,
Shine of twinkling lights, stays afar,
My path unseen, shadows around,
Each step a death, traps abound.

Love's Burden

You nail me to a cross,
You whip me like a cur,
My sides you jab to let blood flow,
My head adorned with crown of thorn
You mock with laughter and scorn;
My failing is grave, I have sinned,
For I have loved.
My heart I opened, my arms lent
For you to rest your burden:
I became a Pariah, the untouchable one
Used and discarded:
Yet I resurrect for your deliverance.

Broken Heart

Hold the broken pieces of your heart
In your hands;
Dont let 'em fall,
Dont let 'em stand alone,
They are your dream of love,
They're your soul,
Tho' they lie shattered
Dont let 'em go cold;
For all you know
They'll rise once more
From ashes of ruined life
To bring you to your shore.
So, hold those precious pieces of your heart
In your hand till life departs.

A place of my own

Find me a corner in this wide world
To hide a face to rest a heart to lose myself
In anonymity.
No more toils of hearth or trade
No more tears nor sweet smiles
Where glorious sunlight can not beguile
Where adder has lost its venomous bite;
Friendship and love,hate and blame
A swirling current casts aside
A mantle of white hues conceals
Peace be to the world
Peace to me

Surrender

Lord! Fool me not with your show of concern;
Your ways I have seen, Your heart I've learnt.
This plastic world you fill with pleasures,
To woo man's lust, then take measures
To thwart desire, to make man squirm
Till, in despair to you they turn,
Pain-filled surrender in their hearts,
For Grace and Mercy they implore at last.

Panchali proud laughed in glee,
Five spouses surrounded to fill her pleas,
Indraprastha they built out of bare lands,
Envious Kings came, staring to stand;
In royal court her vastra was shed,
Her cries for help unanswered were left-
Five brave husbands hung heads in shame,
Lord Krishna showered mercy, she cried His name.

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.