lost and found

all the lost prayers

where do they go

filed somewhere

as a record

of rejected applications?

gathering dust

faded with age

there's a prayer

long lost

no hope fueling it

making it soar

what's a butterfly

without its wings

i think the heart

it holds them

close to itself

long after the brain

abandons them

and when we die

it's not old age

that kills us

but it's just

the heart filling up

of these prayers

long lost and dead

-------

Pic by Basu. It's the opposite to all that this poem is about. It's hope. For all prayers.

The bubble burst

he sits there

tear-streaked cheeks

bleary eyed

staring at the place

where the white of the bedsheet

meets the white of the walls

voices have kept him awake

a strange cacophony

lulling him to sleep

only to snatch him from

the edge of the land of dreams

long has he sat and moped

blurring the lines between

words that were actually uttered

and ones he conjured up himself

his is a state of eerie nightmares

that stay for the day

she was here yesterday

and she's gone now

a strand of hair

on a tear-soaked pillow

is all that remains

he should remember

all the fights they had

and yet he remembers

the smile she smiled

and the tears she cried

it's morning now and

the light creeps up to him

touching his toes

he looks on, startled

straining to remember

the night that has been

-------------------

Photo by Basu. Those are my hands in the pic :). Had to burst about 20 of them before he got the perfect shot.

round the mulberry bush

every morning and every evening

the sun and the moon, they

stand at their doorsteps and

with a wistful look in their eyes

resigned to a fate of

eternal damned separation

and two moments of love

in a twenty-four-hour day

----------------

क्या कहते होंगे चाँद और सूरज

जब दिन/रात भर के बाद

एक दूसरे को देखते होंगे?

दिन/रात का सिरा थामे

कब से घूम रहे साथ

जाने कब होंगे पूरे

हमारे फेरे सात

------------------

 

कितने दूर, कितने पास

 

 

 

We were too busy
In our I's
The 'us' that could be
Would never be seen
With closed eyes

Each one standing
With an outstretched arm
Hoping the other
Would take the first step
And so here we are
Standing orphaned
On our islands

And there are the words
Useless ones we threw around
All the beautiful ones
We threw away
An ugly beautiful cacophony
That now flows between us

So we stand here
A mere shout away
With dried up voices...

 

-------------------

 

Photo by Basu. It is the opposite of all that this poem talks of. And yet it somehow fits :)

Point-of-no-return

How can I be sure that I am in love - the love people keep talking about, the love I had always wished I would stay away from??

Let’s discuss the symptoms you have. We’ll make the diagnosis later.

I keep having these dreams of her. I try but they just won't go away.

But this has happened to you for so many other girls. A passing infatuation - a crush as it is called - would have the same effect.

I love talking to her, or rather - listening to her.

This could be true for so many other people - members of both sexes. It could easily happen with people who share their interests and passions with you. You don't fall in love with every person you love to talk to.

There are times when I suddenly remember an incident involving the two of us. And it invariably brings a smile to me.

What’s the big deal here? Look, she's your friend, we aren't debating that. It’s but obvious that you'll remember the happy times you've spent with your friend and this memory will obviously lift your spirits.

I can't watch any romantic movie without imagining the two of us in place of the protagonists in the film.

Now, that's what we call an overdose of this genre of movies. Remember Pavlov and his dog?? You’ve been similarly conditioned by all those flicks you've watched all your life. You have a chat with a girl and the next logical step for you is a dinner and then dates. And then the two of you end up spending the rest of your life happily ever after. Bullshit!
 
No other girl interests me these days.
 
Oh! So you are monogamous?? Now there must have been something that attracted you to this particular girl in the first place. This something must have been a factor differentiating her from the rest of the crowd. So while you're stuck on this one quality of hers, there's a slim chance that you'll like anyone else. But it still doesn't prove that 
You’re in love with her.
 
But she's so beautiful.
 
There you go. It was this superficial attraction from the beginning, wasn't it??
 
It isn't only her beauty that I like in her. She has many other qualities.
 
Of course she has. So have many others - and you know that.
 
But I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. And I know this didn't happen for anyone else. I want her to be with me forever. I don't care if I don't talk to her, or don't see her - only if someone can assure me that this hiatus would lead to an everlasting continuity.
 
Why, then you are surely, madly, deeply in love. 

Shit!!!