Vivienne

Living Sin, letting go
Wished a while upon the closet
Washing pain like a wicked dream
Getting high on a whirlwind
Sipping truth, sipping truth, sipping truth
Very sane, insecure
Lying stoned by the washbowl
Telling time, "you're the best thing!"
A weary smile on the go
Running slow, running slow, running slow

What do they want to say?
They're lost in syncopation
In a chorus gone astray
Why do they bomb and slay?
They're following the syntax
For the power and the pay
Why do they seize and prey? 
They're building a crescendo
For these bars will end some day
Why do they bow and pray?
They're preparing for the cadence
As the flesh turns weak & pale,
Vivienne turns grey...

Smell of stew, caring arms
Misty Churchyard in the past
Blaming fate, naming relations
Deep inside lies love asleep
Passing by, passing by, passing by
Soothing sighs like a carol
Warming touch and those tears
Trying hard, so unsure
Oh will I stay, oh will she go oh
Am I alone, am I alone, am I alone

Why does it fade away?
We're seeking it in patches
Made of plastic, paint and clay
What do these words convey?
We're not tuned in to the music
We don't listen; we just play
How do we find our way?
Pace your footsteps to the rhythm
There are signs along the way
How do we seize the day?
By seizing every quaver
Space is reverb out of scale
Time's just delay

Da da dum dum dum da dum da da dum dum
Da da dum dum dum da dum da da dum dum
Da da dum dum dum da dum da da dum dum
Da da dum dum dum da dum da da dum dum

Two thieves hanged, despair, we can't go on;
Two thieves hanged, presume, resume, we will go on;
Two thieves hanged, we're damned, we can't go on;
Two thieves hanged, she waved, we're saved, we will go on!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!

A Perspective on Life

We breathe in, allowing armies of air
To incessantly penetrate our being, to
Invigilate, inspect our decaying state;
To remove the rust, the residue & the rest;
To restore chaos to order by each retreat.
Sip by sip, our lips invite tanks of water
To invade these boats drifting dangerously,
To follow protocol, confiscate waste,
To maintain the measure of minerals, with
Every morsel, Earth's camouflaged corps
March their way in; mementos of murder,
Turning consciousnesses to corpses caught
In the crossfire 'tween indifference & greed;
Each morsel bearing a thousand testimonies
To the pain and crime of existence...

We need these factories for sure, but have we
Ever wondered where this itinerary takes us?

We open our eyes and a piece of sky
Transcends Instagram likes; a messenger,
A sole reflection, bearing witness to
Ages along the universe's Autobahn.
We listen but all we hear is the noisy roar
Of drills and trucks and video-games drowning
Ancient vibrations of an anaesthetized cosmos
On their journey from Om? home? Do we
Dare to care about alarming signs, silence
These background tracks, smells and tastes?
Misleading signposts leading us astray, adrift,
Across nameless floodplains and deltas;
With shallow representations of the waves
That clothe a lonely, immortal soul
With this fabulous fabric of Spacetime,..

There  surely must be a way to where
All these channels and broadbands won't take us...

In These Forests of JNU

These times of trial call for great strength;
It takes courage to cross these gates.
There are voices rising east and west,
But as the noises get louder, they fade,
Against forces too khaki to comprehend,
Against an apathetic, bullying State.
Arise with us as we break across this dam,
So our ships can sail towards the seas.
These ships that sail for reason, for love;
Let's keep those lathis aside and speak.
Lend us your thoughts & we shall lend you ours,
Across this darkness of violent abuse; as we
Keep shouting the truth till it's louder than the lies,
With passion - in these forests of JNU.

We shout for a world where voices are heard,
Where the mind learns with the heart & the soul,
Where tongues have learnt to question and doubt
What the tyrannous times now show,
Where division and suppression find no space,
Where justice ain't hung in the dark on a pole.
We shout for freedom and peaceful times,
Where violence and war have no role.
Where people are heard, not trampled upon,
Where the masses are thinkers, not trolls;
Lend us your ears, your passion, your peace.
Let's brave the hooligans of hate and their crew;
Let's hold up our torches on these stormy nights
In peace - in these forests of JNU.

The Well

They started digging the ground
With twigs, mere children blessed
With big bundles of time
Shoveling away on the pretense
Of one game or another
They dug till the trench got deeper,
As they grew up, buried each other in it,
As they kept digging till there was water,
A stream of self-realization, as it reflected
A speck of their true selves, as they looked
At the water and not their reflection.

They dug away, sucking at the water
Like newborns suckling away, oblivious
Of the rules of the game, not worrying
About what happens once the eyes
Are open, and the senses awakened,
Sucking, drawing, emptying
Without care, without conscience, without love
There is just pure desire at first, no love,
No hope, no meaning, then there is a search,
When the belly is full, when the mammaries
Of the earth have been sucked free
Of everything there was in it
A search for everything that was
Right there in the first place.

But the water has receded, and the light
Isn't bright enough. If you throw a stone,
You can still hear the distant echoes
As the stone strikes the water deep down
Bringing us faith and meaning.
Should we let it rest or keep drawing?
Should we stop digging, and descend?
Hopping, on to the other side of the pulley,
Deeper into the recesses of the unknown
Embracing the fears that hold us,
The uncertainties that delay us.
Pack our bags, or even throw them away
And just descend into the well of the mind
Where the peaceful waters might have settled,
Or may rise to meet you half-way; just stop
Before you hit the surface, and observe, probe,
Question; the answers are always in the well.

Balloon Man

I used to sell balloons
Filled with a sense of calm;
Blown with lungs full
Of confidence, and a hope
Of your return; willing
To wait a million lifetimes,
With the mere thought of meeting
You again, lit by a solitary match,
Flickering away in a vacuum
That looked a lot like you, born
From your receding silhouette.

Now I'm selling the scrap - those
Busted balloons - discarded
At the price of toxic waste;
Collecting shreds from memories
Hidden in ailing dump-yards;
Deep inside the woods, where love
Could have sprouted instead;
Where a recessive hiraeth now
Walks alone, amidst memories
Of when we stared at the stars
And sighed, hand in hopeful hand.

I've always been a balloon man,
And always will be; just that
The balloons in my hand
Go through the various stages
In their journey across existence;
Mere atoms of rubber glued together,
Forming an identity, swelling up
And receding, or popping for
Trying too hard; letting go yet
Clinging on to a punctured identity,
Begging to emerge from the darkness.

A Walk Outside

How long will you wait
Before you burst out, out of line?
Would you like go for a walk
With you tied to a chain of words?
What do you palpitate for;
Why do you pace up and down,
Panting like a period melting
Into a semi swollen comma.
What or who do you see outside,
That you want to mark your scent,
Lifting a leg, sprinkling the air around
With verbs that disregards the subject?
Would you wish to dare and dissolve
This identity we hold together
Each time we realise ourselves?
Or do you look for a mate
To find you by the scent
Of the traces you leave behind
With every carelessly uttered word?
Come, let me take you out -
Tied to my words; you may tug
And take me wherever you want -
Down the deepest trenches of structure
Or up rockiest surfaces of speech
I shall hold on till I can, and then
We shall either return, or you shall
Break free and chase a prey, enjoy
Your freedom for a while, as I
Run around trying to grab your tail
With parentheses and quotes;
Then we shall stroll back again, into
The comfort of our heads, you
Panting with excitement, lapping up
The fluidity of thoughts turning
Into action, as we build our lives,
With these structures of identity -
These sentences we've constructed
For ourselves - living, walking,
Phallic symbols - breathing,
Talking to our 'selves'...

When I am With You

When I am with you, 

Weeks fly by like the wind

And the days they melt

Like chocolate on the tips 

of our passionate tongues.

When I hold your hand, 

I feel at peace, connected

To the universe through you,

And through the universe, to me,

As I focus my energies

On that little spot on your neck

Where I want to plant my lips, 

As I curl up by your side, to be at

The safest place on earth for me -

Our arms and legs entwined.

And when you are gone, 

The picture perplexes itself

Into a million scattered pieces

I cannot connect in a lifetime, and

Meaning sheds itself like that dress

When it slips off your shoulders.

But when you are with me, 

We are one with the universe -

United like our curious fingers  

And our synchronised breaths;

As we climb over walls of passion,

And dissolve Into a unitary world

Where you are me and I am you - 

Rising together, awakening as one.

Solitude

Sometimes there is a loneliness

Worse than that of the solitary man

Cleaning and shining the floors

Of a McDonalds outlet at night;

Long after everyone's home,

All the smiles tucked away -

Lazy heads on cozy pillows,

Warm hands wrapped around

The ones they love and hold dear;

There are cars whizzing by, but

Even they're headed somewhere;

When even the watchman outside

Has a smiling mannequin for company.

Maybe, you hope, as you gather

Your karma, that someday the floor

Will be wet enough for you to see

A true reflection of yourself, and

You can then call this solitude instead...

Intrigue

We use these words as pieces

To join the giant jigsaw puzzle

Yet we limit them with classes,

Inventing 180s to justify 360s

Drawing a full circle right back 

To where we started - Shoonya

Dreaming up a million worlds

As we live through these cycles

Of birth and rebirth, drifting

Into sleep, then awakening to

A world of forgotten meaning.

Yet we use these words, axes

To dig in and to hack our way 

Up the stony walls of truth;

Hanging on by fingertips,

Trying to free ourselves

From this celestial intrigue

Woven out of the threads

Of you and me, when there is,

Truly, no self - only an illusion;

You and I, mere reflections

Of who we really are - of us.

Springtime

It is nearly springtime, the colours are back

And it won't be gloomy too long, but now

Your hands are careful, like your words, 

As you head homeward; your backpack

Filled with responsibilities packed

For a lifetime; I know you must go,

I can see the basket with fresh bread

From the bakery, and flowers journeying

From the meadows to your centre table;

But you could stay for a while, you could 

Ease your back and I could calm my mind.

I know your itinerary is already populated

With motels and dinners for two; that

Your plans are made, your will is firm,

And that this fire may not last the night;

But I've given all my blankets away, and

These rains have brought back the chill, 

So if you really can't give me your love,

Then at least get me through this winter...

This Moment

No, I don't want to kiss you,

But let us kiss this moment

That contains us tonight;

For it surely is as beautiful

As you appear to my eyes;

This moment, created

By our collective pasts

That led us here together,

Joining our worlds through 

Our words and our eyes

As we look into our souls -

Those depths where we find

True reflections of ourselves...

Horizon

You were the quiet one, calm and serene,
Like a sky that remembered a million pasts;
And I was the rippling ocean,
Ruffled by the slightest zephyr;

Incapable of true reflection;
And the world kept turning, bringing
Right-wing currents - uncouth and strong;
And we, like the ocean and the sky,
Couldn't meet, except at the horizon.
I see you there now, playing those notes
With the multicoloured choral hue of sunset;
As incumbent clouds hide erstwhile scars.
Raindrops blur my vision, change my form,
As I see the colours strung around your neck -
A faint assurance that all is well with you.
My chest swells up with the tides, then
Recedes, the air escapes in the mask of a sigh
Is there regret, none except how we parted;
How could we have quelled the stormy skies,
We couldn't walk on water, we know;
And your head rests now, on another chest,
And his heart beats in sync with your soul;
And my surface now reflects your distant smile,
With a middle-class dream to own mine someday...

Asteroid II

There is no question that I'm here

Plummeting away into nothingness,

Seemingly going nowhere, yet taking you

Away from everything you've known.

There is no question that I'm drawn,

For your magnetic field is strong

And our poles are all aligned;

And I don't know what to do about it.

How much, is the question though,

Can an asteroid love a planet;
More than the sun? probably not,

For you're the only life in that orbit,

And I am but a crazy, careless asteroid

With no fixed path, home or plan, with

Nowhere to return to, nowhere to reach;

Not much I really know for sure,

Spinning too close to the edge,

Dancing dangerously, destroying

Things I meet, unless I let go

But I seem to be unable to break away

From this pull of your gravity.

I don't know why you hold on
With that passive embrace.

Is it a curiosity for the unknown?

Towards mystery - temporary, destructive,

Like a moth's attraction to the flame?
Or is it something else I don't realize?

That made you step out of your coach,

Setting your veil aside,
Night after chilly night, away

From your central heating?
Day after thoughtful day,

Setting aside the aircon, the wine,
The blankets, thewarm breezy summers
Followed by brief cuddly winters,

Off the smooth obstacle-free roads, 

You and your bright shining knight,
Your monarch; and I a rogue, a bandit,
A petty thief; a selfish Robin Hood.

My path is rocky, the next step unknown;

And the crater caused by this impact,

Will fill up with water soon;

And be long forgotten, covered maybe

By a lake, with trees and life growing around.

You've always been gentle on me; yank harder;

It might hurt, but then it hasn't gone too deep,

For all I have are some words and some hope,

And these won't really carry us far;

And the pupils of our eyes will soon adjust,

And this mind will learn to wander again.

So let's try this again; another shot -

And maybe together we can break away;

Let poor little conscience prevail.

There's no need to worry, time's still on our side,

And the seasons will warm up your days.

We could burn our own incandescent way, 

The burner on low flame, preserving the fuel

Through the darkness, the mysteries, the cold;

We could light our way across time and space,

And I could hold on to your hand till the end.

We might stumble across a beautiful sky,
But the future is frailer than a philosopher's faith 

And if this cannot be, then this is the time to act -

One giant tug, one drastic push, one bittersweet farewell;

For the longer we stay the tougher this gets,

And I don't wish to cause an apocalypse.

I have braced myself already, just 

And you can keep the part of me that remains;

For I'm already enriched by the time 
That we spent; and I'll be closer to myself

Through the rest of my asteroidal days...

A Poet

A manufacturer of processed passion
A mechanic of broken dreams
A doctor of ailing souls
An engineer that bridges worlds
A seeker of love and meaning
A pilot of hope and dreams
He's a concubine of words never told

A plumber of broken common sense
A soldier of justice, a guardian of truth
A sultan of rhymes, a sailor of words
A slave of destiny, a master of will
A prisoner of life, a keeper of time
A servant of age, a messenger of peace
He's a broker of stocks never sold

He's a lover of life and a liver of love
He's a beacon for the young and the old...

Solitary Eagle

There is one eagle in the sepia sky,
And he's not the same old one.
His form is the same, but
His spirit has changed;
He's not clueless any more,
He's not troubled by the wind,
He's stopped circling around,
He's out from the endless spin;
There's no one by his side,
Except his wisdom and strength
And a pride of the world within him -
No, he's not proud like a rooster
Delusional and oblivious of the truth,
With bulging muscles and tight t-shirts,
And the loud cellphones and the cocksureness,
But more like the owl, waiting and watching
Sure of himself, not bothered by the rest;
And definitely like the eagle he's meant to be,
Soaring above everything else.

Boatman

You can't stop me from loving you;
You can close all the doors,
And lock all the gates,
Seal all the windows,
Place fences around your island,
Barricade the roads as well,
And I will still love you;
For even if I cannot have you,
I still have an idea of you,
And I have a pretty good idea too.
And my love is not a static one -
Not one that will get me stuck;
No, it's an infinite kind
That will take me away,
From one manifestation of you;
And seek out instead, all the
Other forms you may have -
And while the current is strong
And my boat might be frail,
I will fix a broken part each day;
And while the ocean is vast
And my will has no sail,
I won't put my paddles away...

Aquafina

We're inside a womb, all cozy and sound
With a corkscrew to hold us inside
Getting fed all the while, dreaming without a care
And then we pop out bubbling with tears
Coz the comfort is replaced by the chill of the world
With anxious faces and excited eyes
Passing on the ways of this world
You try and make sense till you find your own way
Through the nonsense that's accepted best
You're rushed through your school
Grinding wisdom away
And building skills from the powdered flour
You race on ahead with a hat on your head
With no time to stop and ask
To find out where you're headed
To figure if you'd like to go there
Or even if you're headed the right way
And if you're lucky and not murdered or raped
Or sent to the prisons or bombed or shot
Or become a victim of circumstance
Or just are in general a jinxed piece of flesh
Then you carry on as you normally do
Making babies, passing on the lies
Pushing them right into the mess, into
A world where wifi is cheaper than Aquafina
And we're fighting and polluting our souls
Over invisible lines and absconding gods
We're always catching up and never at rest
And we're so sure that we're on the right track
But I wonder if anyone read the fine-print that says
Best before 9 months from manufacture?

Play

I sleep a lot more these days
And I dream on when I'm awake;
For you're still with me inside my head,
Where I play all those moments again;
And when they're done, I create new ones
In places I'd like us to visit together;
And when I wake up, I seal my lips
With the kisses you plant in these dreams,
So they don't mind not uttering a word,
And don't distract you from your lines,
So you can play those careful parts,
Without mixing up names on-stage;
I chain my hands with your warm embrace,
So my fingers don't write a word;
But what do I do with every ounce of me
That reverberates with your memories,
And resonates with your thoughts,
Even as I try to walk away gracefully,
To be remembered or maybe forgotten
As a bad actor who forgot his lines,
And walked away without a second glance, for
I can't read these lines from the fringes
And I can't play the lead in your play.

Asteroid

There was a collision, quite a spectacular one;
I, a rebel asteroid, and you a tamed planet
Doing your rounds patiently, until we crashed.
I guess you spun a bit out of your orbit,
And yeah, you stunned my reckless motion.
We're still dazed and bruised I guess,
A tad disoriented as we try to find a way;
And the way I see it, only two paths remain -
We can either totter back to our old paths,
And we can let time do what it does best,
And we can live with just these memories,
As I limp along mine and you roll back to yours.
I know there's nothing wrong there
Things have been carefully placed,
All you need is to get back in line,
And continue your way on that eternal fall;
But then I wonder why you didn't hurry along
When you saw me, and stopped to crash instead;
I wonder if there's a reason in this we don't see,
A possibility towards something greater,
And if we could script our own path together.
Down with the system, down with the anarchy,
As we hold on to each other, and take the plunge,
And just go where this life will take us -
You, a rebel planet, and I, a tamed asteroid. 

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

Tell me something I don't know
Like the chicken that hatched this world
And what our job role is in this office
And the fine print that we should read
Like what's the bonus for killing people
The incentives for being cruel
For climbing over people's heads
So we can achieve our goals

Show me something I don't see
What's not on TV shows
Like the sense in fighting over pieces of land
Or over imaginary gods and lines
Or Putting jewellery on pieces of stone
While millions starve to death
Hoarding happiness in the basement
Instead of passing it on

Sing me a song I haven't heard
A song about peace and calm
Of not drawing lines across the earth
Or raising fences on them
Or raising armies to defend our land
From walls we've ourselves built
Of what the premium on kindness is
That makes it rarer than gold

Show me a path I haven't tread
Where people don't judge but live
Where the world is not a convenience store
And cries aren't drowned with guns
Where we've made our peace with age and death
And money is just a tool
Where love and hope lead to brink of the sea
Where the ferryman waits for all...