The day passes you by
Like a cat strolling on a wall
The bricks inside crumble with time
As you watch her with
The corner of your eye
You look at your palms
The creases and folds and fine lines
Roadmaps to your dreams
You think you could cup the world inside them
If only you could begin
A cloud wipes the sun from the room
You lie flat on the bed
Eyes shot up to the limit of the sky
But the roof is thatched
With the straws of dread
You could have seen the sky
You could have been the stars
Yet the day will pass you by
Because you didn’t start.
Meet me in your gaze
As I laze around in your world
Read me a happy tale.
I know you'll spread
Slippery smiles on my face
I'll run my fingers
Through your stubborn hair.
Cover me in soft silence
When the noise pours in,
I'll sing for your ears
And yours alone
Hold my hand even if I fumble
Let me see the sunset
Become an ocean in your eyes.
Let us carve a new world
Of our very own.
Let us be a home.
I went for a walk yesterday. The evening was a blue blanket Draped around my skin I walked into a dream. My hair grew into a bush of roses The red of their joy Splashed scarlet upon my cheeks. I checked for thorns, My fingers returned without a prick. Oh, the air was so sweet Like a child’s candy daze Sticking to my face like a warm embrace.
Drops of light fell like leaves on my path I stepped on them, unthinking, A fraction of a moment later I held my breath, afraid, Did I bring back the dark? It took me by surprise, when the little pools of light Jingled under my feet, Flaring through my form like soft thunder. Every step staged a firework show.
I wish I had nowhere else to go But the sunset had begun. I had to return. As I turned to retrace my steps I was almost about to wake, When I heard my dream speak, “I know you have miles And miles to go before you sleep, But don’t you forget, if you don’t pause to dream Your eyes will see a solitary street When there are thousands not taken. Goodbye for now, I bid you adieu, I wish your dreams May all come true.”
Don't burst my bubble
Let me glow
Let the spring of my feet
Flow of my speech
Girth of my grin
Be intact
Let me do a happy act
Let me look at the sun
And everything it fathers
The red flowers
The green leaves
The warm blue sky
The innocent hours
Let me love you and her
Cocooned together
Let the springs of your feet
Flows of your speeches
Girths of your grins
Engender mine
Don't burst my bubble
While I can still
Reflect your shine.
I'll be fine.
It's strange how the night is
Walking to the sun
It's strange how it's ending
Before it has begun
The stars, they are guiding
The blue, lonely night
But I cannot find him
And I'm not alright
The sliding alleys
Sleep with the trees
The soft snoring leaves
Sing their lullabies
The lamps, they all flicker
Dreaming of the sun
And oh, how it has ended
Before it has begun.
The dead Shiuli tree stands like a grave
Mourning its unborn flowers.
I hated picking them up every morning
From our little backyard soil
During Durga Puja
The air hung heavy with the sweet scent
While ants crawled up my feet
Mosquitoes feasted on my flesh
But once my basket was full
I'd stare at their beauty
The little white flowers
Throbbing with their little saffron hearts
Sang of a time
Calmer and earthy
A time of faith in a goddess
With as many as ten hands
To defeat evil
A celebration danced with
Beats of the dhaak.
Now my hands are full
With questions and silences
I want a basket to hold
To rush through the new Puja magazine
To breathe in the fragrant breeze.
The flowers have dropped
Through the emptiness between my fingers
The colours have faded
Before my overworked eyes.
The storm took away the tree one night
And left me stranded
With the dead arms of a broken tree
Wailing for a hug;
Now I'm grieving something
I never thought I cared for.
Mellowing in memories of the past
I shut my eyes of today
I hope for nothing more.
In the heart of the city I want to see you-
You and I
Separated by a vast road,
Cars speeding faster than thoughts
Sound reflecting from every surface-
All will turn into blurred lines and white noise
When we lock our eyes.
You'll know who I am.
We have never spoken, no,
Not in this world
But I remember you from the ones before.
In each of them
I'd written songs and ballads for you
Cried for your love
Loved in your name
And you have loved me too.
But parallels never meet
Neither did we.
All I ask is for you to
Meet me halfway there.
Even if it's impossible
Even if it's madness
Let us dare.
Give me a Sunday afternoon
Of noiseless naps and comforting silence.
I'll compare the blue of the walls next door
With the blue of the sky
With the blue of my veins and the blue of my smile.
It will take me a while.
The ceiling fan above my head
May go round and round
But not the hands of the clock.
Please, make the time stop;
I will give you my nightly sighs
I will give you my evening laughs
Give me a Sunday afternoon
And it will, maybe, be enough.
I know my thoughts will roam about I’ve got to bring them home, but how? They’ll peep in through my neighbour’s door They’ll tell me what they have more
I’ll play a tug of war with the spies Reel them away from the magic-eyes I’m tired, tired, tired, tired My anxiety soaring higher
Frictionless thoughts will slide past me Rushing out with lightning speed I will throw my net but it is torn I am sick and I am worn out.
My thoughts are still Beyond my will Roaming about.
