A READING RELATION

 A part of daily life of mine,

time spent with you is priceless,
A treasure house,
available for pittance.

Everyone can reach you,
Discrimination out of your reach
old or new, each time you surprise me.

I can never have enough
Try sneaking you in my bag always!
You are greatest travel comfort.
Tired, or upset, I pick you up,
and forget my troubles.

I temptingly drown in world of yours
Thirty to forty minutes soaking you,
calms me down.
Just you in my hands and
the conversation we have
is incalculable.

The amazing wealth you offer me,
expecting nothing in return
each time I hold you,
the comfortable feeling comes back,
your touch beckons me again and again.

You unravel mysteries, you lay bare relations,
you hook me to go on and on,
your ending appetite speaks volumes,
with you in my hand, I do not feel alone.

I owe you my stability, my serenity, my enthusiasm.
You arrive each time with a new name and in a different size.
You do not judge me, nor spite me,
Wish, I had made you a part of me earlier.

KNOTS

Enjoying the partnered skipping on rope with friends
the swings in break time, the sharing of lunchboxes at school
not a care of where the world was heading,
which country had a coup, or which country had a war.
No over thinking of what was eaten, or what allergies it would gift.

No religious knots, no racial knots, the only known knots,
of white shoelaces on P.E. day in school.
No panic of shootouts, no scare of terrorist attacks
never heard of deforestations or wildfires.

Never hesitant to talk or help strangers,
muddled mind now sceptic of facial breaks.
Fingers savouring the touch of pen and pencil,
never envisaged their unwanted upgradation to
swipes, likes and dislikes.

Innocent eyes familiar to the sky, chirping birds and starry nights,
squint to locate a star in a skyline of smog.
No malls or food courts to spill overfilled bellies and cupboards,
simple homemade recipes shared over warm company.

No YouTube or google screaming recipes and playlists,
scribbled song and cuisine books languish tattered.
Not carrying phones for clicking and no poses
just simple group photos and visits to the studio to process reels.

Stability, frowned down upon today,
human values wobble still unclear,
when to rest and where to rest.
an unending Ferris wheel,
collapsed mind and body refusing to pause.

Death the final pause, knots broken free at last,
the last change of mortal greed.

BLANKET

The hesitant moon still not out of bed 

a warm cappuccino might awaken it up

snuggled in clouded blanket

tossing and moping over the long night ahead.

Blanket slowly exchanging hands

human beings sneaking into theirs

few tossing and turning 

restlessness, the moon and twin birds for company.

Day's exhaustion drugs the privileged

a handful, see their last moonlit night.

The barren tree, crossed it's prime,

sticking neck out for the pair to doze.

The insular moon cloaked in calm azure  

fidgety blankets adoring the candyfloss look

the rest tucking its serene peace.

Twin birds disregard the cotton candy above

buffet of breath-taking appetites down below

buildings, towers, offices, malls, villas

each man made outwitting the other,

fast food, homemade food, 

oriental or occidental, 

litter sending aromatic signals,

tree-top the precise angle,

lunar light highlighting the senses.

 

A SWEEP

 

I sum of the current fifty-four years
nineteen thousand and seven hundred days
the near split
cuddled, fed and protected
grew to hundred and sixty-five centimetres.

Days and centimetres of life twisted as a herringbone
fogged truant brain relishing hide and seek
negativity varnishing inches of malice
mirror shrinking reflection a few centimetres
guilt strapping the stress.

Some days, scrubbed squeaky clean
monsters of misdeeds on a soporific break
lathery foam toting up in air
obsequiously touching some with kindness.
Image stretching the shrunk centimetres
beaming smile of towering happiness
as the bloom of the jacarandas.

The impish youth, the helmetless rides
the banned triples on scooter
foolish grins at traffic police
puncturing teacher's bikes
blind to repercussions


peeping grey streaks, henna at the roots
Camera fooled, poses galore, striving side angles
camouflaged bulges, coated wrinkles
the indiscreet youth smirking
Reel swipes fast forward

The supportive mother, the thoughtful daughter
the friendly sister, the reliable wife
the irritating mother, the sulking daughter
the mischievous sibling, the nagging wife
the uncensored acts of my script

Abseiling towards twenty thousand days
incapacitated to decipher number of
centimetres partitioned for light and darkness
Mathematics, the textbook donated after tenth grade

Juggling after half a century on the planet
still decoding, remonstrating, rising, sulking, smiling
some encounters with self surprise me
and some nag as buzz of cicadas.

Muscling to move on, competent to realise
subtraction or division incompletes me.
Addition and multiplication of goodness
forms a perfect whole of holes.

CIRCLE

Painted nails, henna filled palms,

masculine palm, the shiny golden ring

radiant grins holding garlands,

friends and cousins, their present cheer leaders.

Respective groups lifting the bride and groom,

none bowing, the giggly peals accompanying the music,

the hall in all its splendour, guests clapping and cheering,

at long last, both garland the other, both sides claiming the win.

Hands clasped, some chrysanthemum petals,

stuck on their attires, they seek blessings,

fat garlands stopping their necks,

weight of marriage too early to decipher.

Stitched white and yellow chrysanthemums, 

bloomed apart yet bound,

suiting the newly wedded couple.

Sneaking red and pink roses 

their streaks heightening the wedding glow.

The adorned hall of jasmines and marigolds

the bedecked stage of lilies and tuberoses

the wedded pair's circle of life begins, 

aroma of mixed reactions, the perfect backdrop.

The flowers wither, the garlands tossed aside.

Duty carried out, shrivelled flowers, 

bid adieu to the bride and groom,

hoping the pair rehearse the

tender symphony of trust and warmth.

Shrunken they may be one day like the garlands,

yet should guard each seam and stitch of the

beauty of togetherness.

MOODS

Lips rounding to squeeze the juicy mango,
licking pulp streaming down fingers,
humming flies on the bin outside
looking for their share of peels.
Water cooler's thirst for buckets of water
pickled mango pieces filling ceramic pots
school books lazing on shelves,
hot afternoons
cajoling snoring siestas.


Wet mud on shoes, bicycle itching for a daily shower,
frogs polishing their singing on little puddles.
Slithery earthworms sneaking through front door,
dripping umbrellas fluttering in wet winds
screeching cars spraying puddle water,
pedestrians gifting expletives to the driver.
Mum's vexation at damp clothes and the hiding sun
Showers assembling the family,
for crispy fritters and hot cardamom tea
Rains, a moist break
for caked earth and denizens.


Teeth grinding refusing to be brushed,
the tap spouting cold water.
Fingers hugging hot cups of milk,
refusing to let go, woollens filling the cupboard.
Scribbling letters on foamy glass windows
other rooms envious of the kitchen
bouncing hot soupy slurps and aromas,

familial warmth tucked in various layers. 

COASTLINE

Beaches of crevice in every relationship

pricking granular thoughts tombing castles.

The saline sting rupturing the human core,

pebbled cobwebs tossing the mossy ache.

Every individual a marooned island

entangled in their own web,

cargo of bonds too heavy to slither,

drifting brains scouting for a balmy anchor.

The barnacles of attachments 

the inborn lull easily contaminated.

The sun glistening the mirage of waves, 

the pacifying cove luring the agitated buoy.

Some voyages end, piled at sea bottom,

the other's still sailing, their sandy footprints,

rehearsing residual lives.