There was no one to catch me as I fell,

Only mocking eyes I could tell,

What I deserved I finally got

They said, as I lay broken distraught,

Fell a second time, and third

–“Wings do not make one a bird

Away you fool, away! It’s time

Don’t you know mistake’s a fatal crime?

With broken wings you are cursed to lie

Regretting your sins until you die.”

Afar I heard a heavy knell,

Time has come sang the distant bell,

And I say – I know I am incapable but let me try

Perhaps in another life I’ll learn to fly.

Sonnet

Let me take your hand and walk

beside you, following with closed eyes

it matters not if  light shines or in dark

With you I am in my paradise.

Whisper; let me hear your voice -

sweetest song I have learnt and known

Fills my heart with joy, in trance

I follow the melody, in search of you alone.

Let me see your face close to mine

All your emotions to decipher and read

Lost in thoughts, I stay lost in time,

Your eyes are the paradise I need.

Time’s winged chariot is racing they say

So let me live it with you till the end of my day.

A dream that remains unfulfilled shatters into countless pieces my heart,

Futilely I bend to gather the million shards, blowing away, apart.

I chase to catch the countless pieces before they are forever lost in sand,

But what I hold so tightly slips through the crevices of my ruddy hand.

Another day

A sad song on his lips as he rowed his boat

sailing away from the shore,

a struggle within not to look back

towards a dim shadow closing the door.

Braving the cold winds in his thin coat

He gazed the abyss that lay,

Sore vessel grappling to stay afloat,

from the stalwart ground he sailed away. 

He lost his way, I heard them say, 

wrecked where he did not belong,

but he sailed away to another day.

found a new shore, a new song.

Trapped

What follows is inspired by a work of a close friend. 

Shloke Lal, thanks for asking me to write on this subject.

Sadness weaves the threads of this tale

When she opens her eyes fragile and pale,

Mourning fills the air there’s no joy

Oh why, why is she not a boy?

He cursed the fate for its tragic plan

He is not yet a father, he is just a man,

A man whose name will fade away

What sadness befell on this day!

As dreams are dashed, frayed and torn

He prays to god she was never born,

Blind to the tears of her mother who cries

Afraid of his wrath, guilt in her eyes.

He looks in her eyes with lingering sorrow

Afraid of what lies ahead in tomorrow?

A ray of hope is the birth of a son

What bliss at last he is blessed with one.

In his father’s warmth the son is wrapped,

The girl is shackled, forever trapped.

Unfolds before my eyes

I see warmth that was

once in a heart turned cold,

I see through the glass

 that’s broken now and old,

I see joy that played

on lips wrinkled and old

I see beauty before my eyes unfold.

I hear songs echoing

in a hut that once was home,

i hear  laughter ring

through the walls that stand alone,

i hear stories whispered

near hearth against the cold

i hear rhythm of paeans unsung untold.

I live in my dreams

Above the mountains i fly

Look, I’m one with the sky

With birds I dream along

On my lips a gentle song.

I see what seems surreal

a healing warmth spreads I feel,

I am chasing the setting sun

no ground for me on rays I run.

I swim in sea, puckish waves

I ride in search of yawning caves

I paint my dreams in coral hue

My canvas lies in ocean blue.

My dream, surreal it seems;

Don’t wake me up, I live in my dreams.