The Present

The Night

Like sugar on my dark kitchen counter,
The night has spilled countless stars
And undressed fair jasmines in the bushes.

Life lessons

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A fairy tale

Your thoughts fill me with a strange emotion;
I wonder how the crossroads would have been
Had we been together from a lost point in life,
That with a sleight of your hand you destroyed.

For me, the world looks the same like before,
Except the angst of your absence is never gone,
The fear of losing you that had happened once,
That grips me and finds solace in many words.

But this heart still yearns the story to be true,
This love of years that you never openly show,
While my pages of separation and absence grow
Into thick books that need no real explanations.

Had you said a few words right, my dear friend,
This would have been a life of true devotion.

Forever Emerald: Tonight

His thoughts on coming home was just to see her,
He ran to the temple looking around the stairs,
He was startled by a mellow voice from close by,
But was surprised to see her on stage singing.

Only you, only you, her smiling eyes whispered,
As she sang a love song, unaware of the huge crowd,
For he couldn’t believe it, standing where he was,
How could she look before her, and see only him?

Her eyes illumine the words as a leaf under light
Her solemn face, singing of trysts at moonlight,
Like by magic took on a look so soft and tender,
By what spell or charm it still made him wonder.

Tonight, he planned that he will ask her mind,
Whether she will be his soulmate and future wife.

Forever Emerald: First words

When the daily meetings and the cherished smiles grew, 

He began to see her as the anchorage of his future dreams,
It's with her thoughts that he went to sleep or woke up with,
The pivot of his world, his reason to live with much energy.

The day on which he chose to speak with her was special;
There she stood outside the temple waiting for him to come,
For resplendent in a royal blue dress, she looked so restless,
From impatience at not being able to catch sight of him.

When she saw him, a look of relief passed her honest face,
Then she looked up at him as if to say something to him,
She stretched her hand and gave him some chocolates first,
Then softly muttered that it was her twentieth birthday.

He took the chocolates and wished her happy birthday,
Then caught sight of her smiling face and bright earrings.

Forever Emerald: Soulmate

In the early morning light, he felt so much happy,
Just to see her climb the stairs to the holy temple;
In his mind, he turned with a pleasant delight,
The many dreams he had woven only last night.

The feeling of having found a dream anchorage,
A future where his delights as a lover began,
Where she'd become wife and mother of his kids,
The home to return to and his soul-mate forever.

His eyes read her in a zillion searching ways,
Just to see what was so special about her today,
To remember the tiny details of her lovely face
Or the beauty of her gaze that she had returned.

As she climbed up the stairs , she saw him waiting
Gave a knowing smile as if she knew him well now.

Forever Emerald: The Journey

May be the long hour took me back to you,

Your eyes enough to bring life back to me;

The memory of your smile that has power

To lift my heart like the flight of a dragonfly.

The tiny little things that made memories,

Dreams of togetherness for you and me,

The blue satchel full of heavy bound books

And my eyes that search for you everywhere.

May be the days were not enough for us

To enjoy the sweet togetherness of ours,

As the train rides across the many stations,

Your smile stays all the time in my thoughts.

But this long journey was spent with you,

Your eyes on me, your smile in my heart.

Forever Emerald: Dreams Forever

In the strange hours of this bright Diwali night,
He lay awake dreaming of the girl he had met.
His heart whispered to him a strange song
That spoke to him through her demure eyes.

He dreamt of the years that stretched ahead
When holding her in his embrace was a chance,
One that he would delightfully embark upon,
One for which his dreams took anchorage.

He dreamt of her in the bright years to come,
When dressed in red she was his lovely bride,
The one for whom his heart longs for everyday
The home to which he could return after work.

On that starlight night full of bright lamp-lights
His dreams made her into his soulmate forever.

Forever Emerald: Falling in love

May be it was the silhouette of her heart-shaped face,

Bent down in prayer before the silence of the temple,

Or may be the jingle-jangle of her heavy ornaments

That caught his attention and made him look at her.

What was it that made him feel so happy he didn’t know

But he wanted to see more of her and know her name.

He ran out into the courtyard just to have a close look,

To his surprise she looked startled and stared at him.

There was curiosity in the eyes that looked back at him,

Innocence, sorrow and timidity before his bold gaze,

Then she walked down the stairs conscious of herself

And there he stood too dazed to move or say a word.

He was so happy with this chance meeting with her,
That he thought of coming there daily just to see her.

Forever Emerald: Lovesickness

She stood before the holy place hands folded in prayer, 
Her face all aglow with simple beauty of her pure heart
Her eyes closed as she prayed for His sacred blessings
For enough wisdom, health and wealth to live well always.

When she stepped out into the courtyard of the temple, 
She saw herself staring at a radiant handsome youth,
Eyes aglow with innocent love and gentle playfulness
It was as if she was looking into a true opposite mirror.

She climbed down the steps, careful of her long dress,
Without meeting his eyes which searched her for a glance,
Her heart, a merry butterfly flew out of its long-lost shell
Flashed her the joys of holding his gaze long and steady.

She prayed for wisdom to guard her heart from his eyes,
And with sighs walked away from this love at first sight.

Forever Emerald: Sleepless Nights

When she saw him waiting for her she smiled,
Her heart skipped a beat and she felt happy,
For this was what she wanted to do all day
The reason she was high just the other day.

She thought how she longed to see him again
The desire to be with him as his life-companion
To hold his gaze, to drink desire from his eyes,
And mulled over the last meeting in her mind.

The whole day, she spent lying on her bed,
With a book in her hand though she read not,
With the same page left unturned till night,
When she welcomed night with dreams of him.

The more she dreamt,the more restless became,
To toss and turn sleepless on bed till early morning.

Forever Emerald: Love at First Sight

She stood before the holy place hands folded in prayer, 
Her face all aglow with simple beauty of her pure heart
Her eyes closed as she prayed for His sacred blessings
For enough wisdom, health and wealth to live well always.

When she stepped out into the courtyard of the temple, 
She saw herself staring at a radiant handsome youth,
Eyes aglow with innocent love and gentle playfulness
It was as if she was looking into a true opposite mirror.

She climbed down the steps, careful of her long dress,
Without meeting his eyes which searched her for a glance,
Her heart, a merry butterfly flew out of its long-lost shell
Flashed her the joys of holding his gaze long and steady.

She prayed for wisdom to guard her heart from his eyes,
And with sighs walked away from this love at first sight.

Reading Philippa Gregory

All the butter in your words melt,
Their aroma sizzle in these books;

The lovely knights and queens rule;
In the realm of heart's full content.

In the tedium of summer I take them
And gobble them up voraciously.

Pic: thebodydietetics.com.au

Celtic prayer

Caim prayer

Sunshine

Writing

A blank page listens in silence at this midnight hour,
To capture whatever is left behind from humdrum days;
A few words in black ink are scattered on these pages,
When I think of the fire in your brazen quick eyes.

The words that are scattered on scores of white paper,
Tell a tale of what would have if, had we given a try,
To the loads of fairytales that were possible in life-
Just a shot to what might have been probable earlier.

Yet you need no words from me; your life has closure,
While mine remains centred around the memory of a gaze,
One that unsettled some promises from another millenium,
Some unwritten ellipses of memory and my fond melodies.

Two spheres in their orbits, we are two true fools in life,
Too bad to be on a big colourshow in identical colours. 

Humdrum

The days have been so humdrum,

With blue sleepless hazy midnights

Words in blank ink scattered across

Scores of white scraps of paper.

You needed a few words from me,

Just to chase away the wild blues;

May be I was at a loss for words

With boundaries drawn around;

Now the colours are out on show,

In purple, indigo, green and white;
The shades of blue and black
Ink scattered on these blank pages.

Two spheres in  their orbits are

Two fools who can’t be fooled.

Fantasy

It is out of years of despair and longing to escape that this heart learnt how to give up a game even before it has really started. When the dance begins, the accumulated scars and lacks hurt and choke; they loom over what this heart really wants.

Yet the dream still remains to break free, to be one’s self and not a definition, to fly out of the mazes created by the self and by others; to run deep into the heavy snow wearing the warmth of your smile around me.

This heart has always been a rogue, vagabond and cheat; it has evaded its responsibilities and flown away every single time to dwell in imaginary worlds where the too bright sun can no longer burn its wings.

But this time, it needs to have enough cunning to throw pixie dust in every wandering eye, just to hold your hand and ride out on a moonlight with you.