-
Breathe
A rainbow lies spangled across lazy skies
Beneath it lovers gaze into each others eyes
And ripples dance across a silver swan lake
Tell me how much beauty can your world take
Wind in the willows blowing melodies on flutes
And fluttering butterflies in colorful suits
Hovering over flowers blossoming with care
This joie-de-vivre is yours if you dare
Look how the toddlers learn to walk
And bees buzz while their honey they stock
Poor ladybird slides down a dewy leaf
Put on a smile now, let go your grief
Watch the moon see-saw on this dark night sky
And the stars like diamonds glittering up high
The old wise owl goes two-whit-two-hoot
Just breathe dear - this is all for you
I know that rainbows come after dark clouds go
And butterflies as grubs were ugly to the toe
Bees sting and some nights are starless
But worst is living a life that is lifeless
So breathe...
Oh I wish I had two hearts instead of one
So I could still live with one of them broken
Heartbreak makes me feel like this inevitably
God knows how many I've been through already
I'm one of those people who wear their heart on their sleeve
Shining and pulsating with jubilance and ease
Waiting to fall into the hands of the first handsome lad
But jumping out too early and hurting itself real bad
My friends call me "merciless mouth" and "Peter practical"
Vehemently believing me to be not an ounce sentimental
Truly in most matters I am incorrigibly pragmatic
But get down to the heart and I'm a hopeless romantic
Rejection is always followed by tears and depression
Suicidal tendencies ten to gain momentum
But this worn-out-yet-brave heart still dares to live
Coaxing Lady Luck to bestow another chance itself to give
Expensive perfume is not as good
As a good reputation
And your birthday is not as good
As the day of your expiration
A mourning home must never be missed;
Rather miss a party
Cause death is waiting for us all
No matter you're hale n' hearty
Spend long hours in grief my friend
And fewer in mirth and laughter
For though sorrow may sadden your heart,
Your understanding it makes sharper.
If you always think about happiness,
A fool is whom you'll be;
You would be thinking about death
If wise you want to be.
And being corrected by the wise
Ought to make you happy
More than having your praises sung
By some stupid chappie
Have you heard the thorns
In a fire crackling?
It doesn't mean a thing
Just like when a fool's laughing
A wise man behaves like a fool
When he becomes a cheater
If you take a bribe now
You ruin your character
The end of anything
Than its beginning, is better
A patient spirit (trust me)
Than a proud one, is better
Always under control
Keep your temper
It is really foolish
A grudge to harbor
"Oh, why were things so much
Better in the old days?"
Don't ask such a question;
It reveals your dull ways
Everyone who lives
Ought to be wise
For wisdom is an inheritance
And in wisdom, safety lies
Be glad when life is good
And when its not remember:
God sends both joys and sorrows.
Don't try guessing what's next ever
Life is pretty useless:
Good men dies and evil lives on.
Being too good or wise kills you.
Why kill yourself and be gone?
No need to be too wicked or foolish either
Why dies before your time?
Stay clear of extremes and revere God
Persevere for success will be thine.
There is no one on earth
Who always does what's right
Any thought of mortal infallibility
Is much of a blind sight
Pay only some attention to what people say
They may be insulting you
And you know in your heart
How many people you've insulted too
All this I discovered, trying to be wise
But it was beyond me; I was so naive
So while with complications
We tend to grapple
Lets remember that God made us
Plain and simple.
-
Munchkin Punchkin Sunchkin Pooh
Munchkin Punchkin Sunchkin Pooh
Had a cat that was called Choo
Spunky,bright and frisky fawn
She killed mice from dusk to dawn
Her master was a happy man
With all his grain under cat-scan.
Now Munchkin Punchkin Sunchkin Pooh
Had a young daughter too
Flawless, fair, slim and sappy
Sue kept papa very happy
She grew up to love a lad,
Perks R. Free , not all too bad.
One day young Perks and young Sue
Were walking in the local zoo
And who should spot the lovely duo
None but Munchkin Sunchkin Pooh
And how he fumed and how he bellowed
The lions in their cages, swallowed!
Poor Perks R. Free ran to the woods
Perceiving the hazard as he should
But young Sue spent her days in woe
Longing for love and nothing more
Stroking and babbling away to Choo
A heartbroken maiden in love was Sue
Three moons passed and terror unleashed
Choo ran away and the mice hoorayed
Now Munchkin Punchkin Sunchkin Pooh
Was in a fix for what to do
His grain suffered massive infestation
For the old gray cat was no good at predation
In the woods, Perks R. Free
Was cutting down a forest tree
When he detected some movement
By his right eye but only for a moment
He looked again and then he knew
That he was looking at the cat called Choo
So under his arm he tucked Choo
And went to see Punchkin Pooh
Delighted to have his rat-killer back
He rewarded Perks with a grain-sack
But amorous Perks no reward would take
Other than Sue, his bride make.
And so next Spring they were married
As Choo purred and the mice harried
The priest proclaimed them man and wife
And bid them lead a holy good life
And wishing them the best wishes he knew
Stood Munchkin Punchkin Sunchkin Pooh
Sometimes I wish I were born a piranha
So I could eat anything I'd wanna
And would never feel those dying urges
To binge on chicken and ice-cream in splurges
I also wouldn't have to spend too much
On cuisines of the French or Dutch
For I'd eat alive the first person I'd see
And nibble a bimble of humanity
And while a piranha, I'd wish for dual ability
At times to walk out on land with alacrity
I wouldn't also mind air travel altogether
Only airport security would be such a bother
And cable TV suspended in water would be fine
With 105 channels to watch, all mine
And how about the occasional pizza n' coke
And the Sunday Times with the internet joke
But then there's that nagging thought
That these pleasures to me would be naught
Cause a piranha hath no pleasure in life
Besides feeding on someone or his wife
Guess I'll put aside ideas of being what I'm not
And finish my dinner while its still hot!
He had only just turned twelve
When his eyes began to see
That his momma and his papa
Were often angry
With each other or him
He couldn't really tell
But somehow he sensed
That what to come was hell
First his house opened up
To excessive socializing
After which papa gave
Mom and him a good thrashing
Then one day, momma
Flung at him, the frying pan
For some silly reason -
He just didn't understand
It soon seemed like ages
That his home was filled with laughter
He took succor in a retard:
His kindly elder sister
Though she could hardly fathom
His pangs of confusion
As he drowned in blame
And self-immolation
Through the anniversary roses
He perceived hypocrisy
For now they rarely looked
At each other ever cursorily
Soon they brought in the lawyers
And a blindfolded justice
While see-sawing the emotions
Of a child they failed to notice
Soon he forgot the ego
And the macho of his sex
And cried in his pillow
Waiting for the morning, next
Hoping that this one would bring
Less sorrow than the last
He stopped praying for joys -
They were a thing of the past
The final predicament
Was for him to choose
His momma or papa;
Both ways he would lose
He painfully decided
That the blame was his own
And he ended his life
By gulping some poison
Thus he ended his life
With suicide and he dies
And his parents mourned
For him and they cried
And few days later
They went back to war
And she got the house
And he got the car
Now years have passed
And papa has another woman
And momma still drowns
In self-pity by her oven
His sister feeds birds
In an imaginary nest
And for him -
His soul will never find rest.
If you should be a restless and dissatisfied soul
With troubles looming larger than a knoll
And if you seek relief from this earthy hell
You certainly ought to visit, my friend, the wishing well.
This well being quite an inconspicuous one
Is not placed in the midst of some beautiful garden
Rather, it lies at the boundary of a playground
A gray, stony things that lots of trees surround.
Now if you should a wish desire to make
The quickest route to Nagar College you should take
For this well in that ground in this college lie
And if you still need directions, ask Priya, she'll get you by.
Don't forget to get a coin for wishes don't come cheap
And make sure its currency that you use and in your purse keep
Close your eyes, concentrate and wish in your mind
Then toss in the coin and leave your worries behind.
They weren't kidding when they said, "Patience is a virtue";
Its all you need while you await your wish come true
Remember not to tell anyone what you wished for at the well
Until your wish is granted, telling will break the spell.
I have confided in you, my friend, this magical secret
Because of our friendship from which I think you should benefit
But don't go spreading the word to every soul around
Too many well-wishers may dilute the magic;
To secrecy, you are bound.
A desire to pen down some beautiful words has taken possesion of me
Yet it is just a whim without a clue as to what those words shall be
Maybe I should describe nature and indulge in her splendor and grandeur
Recalling each season that touched my heart in the years I used to be younger
On an afterthought, perhaps talking about city life would be more suitable
Thought meagre the charm in urbane drone, it sure is quite communicable
But my thoughts like quills on the wings of wind have drifted to a new
arena
Where personalities lie, low and high, each basking in his own aura
There spots I, the old school teacher nagging us away from the window
ledge
We didn't know then but I know now that her son jumped off a cliff edge.
And oh, look, there's my grandfather, brewing his nasty concoction
I suffered from flu and malaria but he always gave me something for digestion.
Is that Bosco, jumping up and jumping down, dying to get noticed?
He already died of cancer before, before by a girl he had ever been kissed.
There waves Zubin, the brightest and most charming person I've met
With an air of being on cloud nine all the time myself he made me forget.
Why, believe it or not, I see me too, just smiling and much much happier
Telling me to be glad and to smile a lot. What thought could be any prettier!
Her name was Lily, which may have been short for Lillian
But no one knew really,
Or even how she got up there -
On that big, yellow, flying Frisbee,
Which often sported a yellow sunshade umbrella,
Wearing nothing but a yellow sarong
Over a yellow bikini.
She never left the skies for once
To see Italy, France or even Norway,
She'd say
But I'd often see her
Catch her breath and her Frisbee its rest,
Parking themselves on a red-tiled rooftop.
Lily ate only candy floss and drank only champagne;
Maybe that's why she was so sweet and so French.
And she called the Sun, her father!
Would you believe that!
But I did 'cause I loved her
And everything about her
And I could not imagine her fib.
Alas! One day Lily was gone!
For what or where to missed me.
Oh age! Cuss' my imagination
That died with me - the kid.
-
I Try To Be The Boss But I Fail
Everything I say has been said before
And to add to the indignity of it all
The man who said it was the sweeper
When I bang my fist on my table
They charge in with the first-aid
Is my look of fury not translatable?
I try to be the boss but I fail
My secretary glues her ear to the phone
Seemingly deaf to my ascending pitch
Calling her name in unending drone
My cashier is a white-collared thief
Not only ruining records but through
My bank statements he dares to leaf
I try to be the boss but I fail
They show up an hour or so late
Then make excuses to leave early
I’m the only one who has to wait
Their chatter is voluminous
They pull wool over my eyes
Establish me ridiculous
I try to be the boss but I fail
My P.A., an inexorable flirt
Acts Ms. Modesty in my cabin
But once out she’s more overt
I am blighted with my life
While I think at home of
My manager fondling my wife
I try to be the boss but I fail
It’s a bizarre position I agree
All my life I strived for this
And earned degree after degree
But now stuck in this cynical ploy
I’m like the nonchalant boy
Playing with his dangerous toy
I try to be the boss but I fail
Still I keep trying, will not abandon ship, shall yet sail.
The ravishing done, I retreat to my cocoon
Exhausted, weary, lugging an ephemeral consciousness
The outside is devoid of my gastronomic pleasures
And fattened now I sit yearning for bliss
In my cocoon the world is right
Emotions, feelings in black and white
No dreams, fantasies or experimental philosophies
We wait, me and myself, till ennui leaves
My being moulds into shape unfathomable
Fingers, knees, ears, legs – an intangible glob
Though while that beating inside me still signals life
I keep rolling in my own juices, a warbling slob
In my cocoon, wisdom runs low
Clammy, claustrophobic, inane galore
Thoughts slosh around: the sea in a sponge
We wait, me and myself, till ennui’s gone
Moribund in silent metamorphosis
A radical future shrouded in slime
Tomorrow emerge a new-fangled look
And bygone this caricature of time
In my cocoon, time stands still
We possess not want, not vanity, not will
The sky be eternally overcast
Yet eternal end when ennui is past
In my cocoon, spaces are lean
Shielded, barricaded in quarantine
My burgeoning wings quiver apart
We wait, me and myself, ennui doth depart
How many times must I tell you that the Earth is flat?
It has to be for we
Were not given eyes of a hawk
To see yonder a focal length
Of a mile or till the next fork
So it’s just the trouble with our sight
And as human we are
We must not trouble too much with this blight
Of those who say that the earth is round
No?
How many times must I tell you that the Earth is flat?
Ah yes I know all about
These telescopes you praise so loud
But hear ye, their lenses are
As deceived as the eyes of the crowd
All science is just as erroneous
As its master, man
One must regard its conclusions dubious
Which hypothesize that the earth is round
Incredulous?
How many times must I tell you that the Earth is flat?
All right, I’ll now resort
To explain by elimination. For example,
Take natural resources
Which we use like they are copious and ample.
Shouldn’t oil and lumber be employed parsimoniously
To prevent the diminution
From surface to core curatively, retributively
Of an ergonomic earth that is round?
Not convinced?
How many times must I tell you that the Earth is flat?
A Chinaman is from China
Because his eyes are Chinese as is his Kung fu.
Presenting the Earthman
His paranoia is “Earthese”: that everyone who
Is not His comrade must be his adversary
And so he plots deviously
And creates weapons of mass destructivity
What conduct so flat from a planet so round!
Exit skepticism?
Are you now telling me that the Earth is flat?
But dear I disagree
For just recently I have chanced to receive
Hush-hush news
Via the ether. This makes me critically grieve
My earlier impetuous blasphemies. “They”
Perforated the terra
Americana, excavated a man from China. Say,
Doesn’t that prove that the earth is round!
-
Poor Squirrel in the tree
Poor squirrel in the tree
Just lost his family
His father, crushed
In the thick underbrush
His mother, rolled over
By a green land rover
His sister, stoned
While strolling, all alone
His big uncle, eaten
By 4 notorious kittens
His little aunt, drowned
As she swam downtown
And his brother, Dale
Stole and went to jail
So squirrel in the tree
Who lost his family
Has only got me
To keep him company
-
The Hunting
Atop a hill of sunburnt clandestine ruins bore
A brown, stony temple to creatures of gore
The chisel had much strived to keep them alive
One of them green, scaled and sublime
Hither, thither as one would gaze I did
A stalker just two-step behind detected
I scanned the floor but perceived no one near
Nor the walls, nor the ceilings nearby
One cautious tread and another, eyes shut
Fear clutching the echelons of my gut
A swish and a swipe, a long shadowy stripe
No mortal to partake the crime
Colossal figurine adorning centre-square
Crown of vultures circling the upper air
Then the wind stopped still as a cry so shrill
Pierced the body of calmness
One must run when chased by nothing
A wrestle with emptiness is sheer losing
Down derelict stairway, sprint of frenzied sashay
Symmetrical beads of sweat of a deer, hunted
White sparkle from the dying setting sun
My exhaustion begging visual diversion
My eyes traced the light only to meet fright
Dark silhouette cutting the ambers
Twilight mystifies the nascent weary mind
Wheedling idiocy into its realms and rind
Training the energies to the max of its faculties
If only to satisfy vulgar curiosity
My seeker had wings, the leap of a frog
Odourless, cold-blooded in every cog
Her penetrating stare stood the ends of my hair
Her message caked in challenge
My heart charged like an overheated kiln
Limbs bolstered with fresh shots of adrenalin
Wild instinct surging each cell, torchbearer from Hell
My corpse purged of every limitation
The walls I scaled, and beams, pivoted
Each stone I picked, crushed or compacted
Thus night flowed by, moon’s tragic lullaby
The hunter became the hunted
Daybreak came scouring the dwindling lights
Stealing of darkness, her invisible delights
My guise hardly kosher, footprints stepped over and over
Then my target held out a smiling paw
Bewilderment, like poison crept on steadily
The corners of my mouth contorted uneasily
She took my hand as if she had all this planned
Vanishing in the wake of my reverie
-
A Tiny Ballad
Mr. bacillus and Miss coccus
Decided to stroll down Millie’s gut.
First they ramble through duodenum
Wishing him well for the millennium.
Jejunum sported a bumpy ride -
What with microvilli on his side!
Now microvilli roaring with dare,
Drew Miss coccus into their snare.
And Mr. bacillus raged within
For she was quite his next-of-kin.
So against the odds he put up a fight
And got miss coccus out of her plight.
The microvilli were badly beaten
By 2 bacteria that could be eaten.
In Ileum they celebrated their exodus
Dancing and prancing amidst mucus.
Then fell in love under a rectal spell
And as man & wife were wed pell-mell.
Into the W.C. and out to the drains -
Now Millie smiles, gone her tummy-pains.
-
Are You Asleep My Love?
Are you asleep my love?
Your little head embedded in your fluffy pillow
The one grandma embroidered last to last year
And your favourite Tweety-printed coverlet
Drawn over your scrawny being till your ear
Soft thin hair barely covering your crown
Simmering with zephyrs flavoured of neem
Streetlight slanting in through the windows
Painting your wide brow with white sheen
Your steady heaving - that sign of your life
Even as the dreams in your eyelids flutter
Bearing out more deeply your desire to live
Absolving my thoughts of doubting clutter
I start to withdraw with a mind reassured
But your chubby hand slips out exposed
Calling to me reproachfully, yet earnestly
And to momentum of my step, I’m opposed
I entreat your one-eared teddy bear to my aid
Though paralysed he is in his happy grimace
And the glowing stars hanging from the ceiling
Luring the night in with a fresh luminous grace
But the void brushes against my skin echoing
With contempt of my love as I try to defy
When out of the blue, the darkness pities me
And midnight sun serenades you with lullaby
I cringe to cease my presence near you
Your each trivial purr incites my nerves
But the peaceful halo that shields you
I have not the audacity to traverse
Are you asleep my love?
Sleep deep for angels watch over you.
-
I Can Drown In You (....HA HA HA)
Two solar eclipses concurrently
Embellishing the heavenly skies
Dark, deep, still pools surrounded
By the snows of Antartica
My mind’s beacon in your eyes
Which speak of a million stories
Your eyes as warm as buried sea-turtle eggs
Your eyes, your eyes
I can drown in them
Mount Fiji and Mount Kilimanjaro
Together and side by side
Sharp contours from their foothills
Like the bottom of the Nile
Depict with accuracy so precise
The shape your lips define
Your lips as juicy as garden-fresh red tomatoes
Your lips, your lips
I can drown in them
Like India protruding from Asia
A bud of land divine
But softer yet as a waterbed
On which making love is sublime
That bulge of your earlobe
That you can’t perceive
Your earlobes as tender as sour pickled olives
Your ears, your ears
I can drown in them
The Grand Canyon, twisting, fidgeting
With each gusty, windy caress
Lathered with milk and honey
Sloping down from the crest
Your neck bewitching my mind
And flowing to shoulders perfect
Your neck as smooth as a long white pumpkin
Your neck, your nape
I can drown in them
The numerous craters of the moon
Only turned inside out
And few large ones of earth
That wiped out the dinosaurs
Like your curves do to me
Making me alive to my senses
Your curves as sizzling as grilled jumbo prawns
Your curves, your curves
I can drown in them
This world a myriad of collusions
Your universe conspiring mine
Exploding with multiple nebulae
Lurking the cess of black holes
Our auras beating synchronously
Yours engulfing me full up
Your body as inebriating as sweet clear Chardonnay
Your spirit, your soul
I can drown in them
-
If I Could ...
If I could count the stars
I would be able to describe the measure of my emotions for you
And then you would know exactly where
In the folds of my being, my thoughts of you lie
And if I could I would
Enmesh my mind into your mind
That together they might sit in the plethora of the universe
Dreaming of dimensions, never before imagined
And if I could know how hot the sun is
I would tell you how much my spirit burns with your desire
How each time your skin falls on my skin
Thrilling streaks run through me
They make my knees weak
And I swear on the entity that transcends all
That if I opened my heart completely to you
And you chose not to live there
I would shed a tear so immaculate
None but my last breath would make it fall...
|
