Charcoal

Cooked by delicate burning

In a bowl, lay, lifeless chunks

Unaware of its life’s purpose

Cling to its family pieces

A brave one then ventures out

To be fed to a thirsty candle

Between a heartless pair of tongs

Tip of which, ironically,

Cold to the wrathful warmth

Its black body imbibe the red

From the fire devouring it

Orange, red, orange-red

Randomly, smiling ruby

Randomly, frowning red

Newborn fire in tummy

Perishes if not fueled

Tongs feed the flame again

A million dust of diamonds

Keep the charcoal burning

Powdered incense now rain on hot coal

Evoking a fragrance none knew

Deeper the red, mightier the dance

Of white smoke that arose

At times sandalwood, sometimes of rose

Skin of the musky fragrance explores

Curves of an empty room

Spicy, sweet, scented molecules

Fondling every object it owns

The black flesh with peeling gray skin

Glows sunnier with a puff of wind

Fulfill existence as intended

And heaves a sigh of red

Blue

Blue, the back of my eyelids

A tinge of stark

I step into a space

My room is never dark

For I dread it

My space is never dark

Not darkness of truth

But the color black

Blue, the color of my eyelids

Escort me to space

Intangible, indefinite bits

I stare, closed eyes in daze

The skies and blue oceans

Gush with enticing expanse

Unite at a mysterious horizon

An everlasting trance

Blue, the color of skin

He’s an embodiment of truth

His dainty fingers enjoy

Caress of the exquisite flute

The warmth of sapphire

And a stroke of azure on canvas

I touch both with delicate care

Blue; my growing madness

Blue, the color of my eyelids

Escort me to space

Intangible, indefinite bits

I stare, closed eyes in daze

Gravity

Don’t slumber, neither do you cringe

On the burden we bequeath, you willingly binge

Dwell within them and reside in me

Live in and out of the earth and in all that we see

I don’t see you; yet I am experiencing

A rigid embrace in your very being

You fathom the passion in a dancer’s feet

You drink the love of someone’s conceit

You are the greatest of all fetchers

You are the grandest of all catchers

Stars and planets float with power unmatched

In the gargantuan indigo space, no strings attached

The beginning of the cosmos, He set alight

Power vested upon, to ants and planets, alike

From where do you come? To where do you go?

That we needed you, how did you know?

You existed before me and long after I am gone

I don’t see how you are different from any God

One soul of you, treat all the same

Neither you see color nor do you declaim

This tender planet sans gratifying serenity

Divided by opinions; United by gravity

Dying tears’ serendipity

Murky skin of hers wander

Past breeze that clench tales

Her dress rags her hide

Remaining shards to veil her shame

Drunken eyes lament

Vanity she once possessed

Swollen eyes among other parts

Now a hue of red

Exposed burns and cuts

Creased fingers and palm

Thirsty hands grieving

Etched on skin, a psalm

Of minarets and domes

Romances learnt and forgotten

Yet stare down at her

With blunt devotion

Walk through a boulevard

Into a desert so rave

Sun bounces off the sand

Sand endures the pain

Recasting pain in her eyes

Wind rages in its entirety

Transitory tear-trails on cheek

Dying tears’ serendipity

At the chin, salty beads

A mortal ocean gathers depth

Plunges onto her torso

Diffuse and rejoices death.

Discerning reality

 

There is something about worn-out places that fascinate me. The exhausted paint coatings releasing itself from the grasp of the wall, exposing the underlying bricks from which they were once built, long ago. They are no longer able to contain each other. I wonder who wins here. The paint, avowed to protect the wall, now unearthing freedom? The wall, who can now be its true self? Or both, for breaking free from the vile dominance of attachment?

Who are you?

Nodding head in exasperation

Fire in belly

And fumes in ears

 

Walking on the forlorn street

A touch of zephyr

You compose the heat

 

Who are you?

 

The intelligence that wanders?

A form that breathes?

Thoughts in your head?

Or the eye that sees?

 

The lone light died abrupt

Abandoned you. Blinded.

Yet, the world you hear

Existence depended on the ear

 

Unaware of where

Bounded swiftly by strange silence

Severed from the world

Existence depended on limbs

 

Blinded, deafened and defeated

Fatigue, arduous to gauge

Worn-out limbs give away

Existence depended on something strange

 

In the cosmic expanse of universe

You and I are a speckle of dust

Yet, the Universe we are

Alas! Crafted of love and lust

 

Love for the material

Lust for the same

None fathom that their body don’t have a place

Let alone their name

 

A million times our name said

A hundred times God summons to say his’

‘Speak of me under your breath’

We, a thousand times forget this

 

Being human.

On clothes, it only lingers

Clichéd.

 ‘Being Humble’ differs only by three letters

 

Born as little bodies, the same;

Churning out thoughts and memories

Energies beyond elucidation

Experiences beyond dreams

 

You and I wrangle by mere thoughts

That sashay and glide

Countless encounters adding them up

And them making up the mind

 

Who you are is who I am

 Galaxies in your eyes, just as mine

 

Body, you see in front of you

Adorned.

Soul, nothing but a crumb of the universe

Of the same soul. Of God.

Mora

Mora means rhythm. Mora means poetry.

(Inspired by Anoushka Shankar’s rendering of classical Indian raga named Jog)

Sitar strings surrender to fingers

Fellow instruments orchestrate

Melding tradition and now

Stillness overpowers the mind

As the descant resound

Pounding to reconcile with the Mridangam

The lone commotion is that of the heart

Drifting miles to meet mora

Eyelids do not part

Chuckles dance on lips

Corner of the eye a loitering tear

White stone flicker when her nose scrunches

As he plays it by the ear

Mora, before now exists

Mora, is not bound

Mora, can only be discovered

When one touches the walls that bleed sound

Video link: https://youtu.be/-wra4p4zARw