Tagore: PREM O PROKRITI, 71

Nothing shall remain as you take your leave
But the pain you gifted me in parting

In your whim you come to my arbour
All shall I cover that you trample on your way
Only sweet pain will keep me company
As the darkness descends at the end of the day

The plaintive strains of the farewell flute
Now fills the evening sky
O beautiful sorrow shall live evergreen
Nurtured by the tears of goodbye

THE WHY AND WHY OF THINGS

No one knows how the story began
Nor why it ended so abruptly
Separation of light-years within seconds
A tangible, palpable separation
Aliens from amigos
Strangers lost in time, space
And fondness

But I know why
It was love

It was love which grew out of nowhere
For no apparent reason
And with no possibilities

Great expectations mushrooming unnoticed
Unintended
Uncalled-for

Unrequited love
(They have made it a cliche)

But now, attachments none
Habituation of the heart brings only pain

CAFE

Loneliness engulfs in noxious vapours
Drops of longing trickle by my heart
I order another coffee

It is innocuous actually
There has been more harm for far lesser cause
Been more crazy for far less love

INSOMNIA 2

My ears still remember the whisper of your breath
My skin still bears the warmth of your limbs
The fragrance of your curls still linger in my dreams
But you are not here anymore

As I lay tossing on my bed
Waiting for the truant sleep
An electric dream burns my vision
Oh! What shall be my penance?

INSOMNIA

I see you sleeping by my side
The fullness of your lips quivering
Your breath I long to feel them
Your hands I want to kiss them
But sleep on my love
And let me die a million sighs

STEEL CITY DIARIES

Dear R,
...I realised that I shall miss you more badly than I ever imagined I could; even more than I was ready to allow myself to.
A.

Try to keep in touch, what else?...
R

NOCTURNE

The rain cried with me all night
The wind, she held me close
I lay there silent on the grass
Kind darkness kissed my brow

It was a night of dreams
A shreiking night of dreams
A shattered moon lay floating on the pools

HERE AND NOW

Who has seen beyond the frontier?
Not you my friend nor I
I do not know if we shall meet
After the last goodbye

I do not know what lies ahead
Of wake from restful sleep
So just lets live and just lets laugh
For nothing is to keep

THE GIFT

Do ask of me anything
Anything that i might give you
And i asked for these twenty four hours
Just Twenty four hours for you and me
Dangling between chores of existence

But the ephemeral moment was pregnant with a promise still born

What a fool I was
in my heart I surely knew
What i seek is the earth and sky

SUBMISSION

Is love a competition?
Then surely am defeated
No power nor will to wrest my claim

So let me turn my being
Just turn it right inside out
And paint it with stoic indifference

RETROSPECTION

It has been long since I longed for you
And life seemed full of lonely sighs
Quite a while has it been since I wept for you
(Like I did for all subsequent goodbyes)

Without you, I had thought, I would not live
Thereafter I knew I would survive
Though with each evanescent love
Somewhere a part of me died