Innocence

Kiss your children tonight

For tomorrow by this time

A little more of the innocence 

In this world would have been lost

It has been in the throes of death

For a good while now

But lately the cries of agony

Have been piercing through the night

Even as death set its claws

The first piece chipped away

It flailed and wailed for help

But too busy we were to listen

You were not the one who killed it

Certainly, neither was I 

But in good faith can we say

That we never cast a stone?

Through that kiss you may hope

Generations and generations forth 

They may not remember us 

As the ones who let darkness prevail

Through that kiss to your children

Transmit a little love, an apology 

Say, we couldn't stop its fall 

But in it and in you as well

We shall believe forever

The Circle of Love

I used to wail, "I am yours"
Hoping my entreaty
Would reach your ears
Across the deserts
Across the mountains
Across the seven seas

My bleeding heart
Would take succor
In the fact that you belonged
Albeit, to those more luminous,
To those surefooted
Yet, at least, it seemed possible
For you to belong

I tried hard to draw curtains
Over the fertile valleys of
My heart
Where hope and love were
Jostling to breathe
Not for me, I would chasten
Not for me, not yet
For mine was the path of yearning
And waiting from a distance

Then, one day you heard the cry
And as is your wont
You moved the mountains
Scaled the deserts
Crossed the seven seas
And just like that
One fine day
You came for me

"You are mine" you whispered
In my bewildered ears
And all I was worried at the time
As I shuddered and shook
Was how disheveled I looked
Not at all worthy
Of your radiant presence

You held me close
In a reassuring embrace
And repeated,
"You are mine
Yes, you were always mine"
As I drunk in your vision
At least as much as my senses
Could drink with the heart full

Then day by day I found my feet
And learned to walk with you
Side by side
I learned to live with you
In you, for you
Reading your heart
Knowing your signs
All that I ever had
Became yours

Even as I felt this was it
And my heart was now full to brim
And there was nothing more
I could ever wish for
You decided to play
Your infinite jest

"I am yours" you said
With pleading eyes
Innocent as a baby
Full of longing of
An unsatisfied lover

I looked at you, baffled
What more could I possibly give?
All that I had was already yours
And I was so content
Doing all your bidding

Then it dawned on me
The circle of love
Was yet to complete
It was now for me to
Accept you
Just as you had accepted me

But to accept you
I had to be you
Glorious and infinite
All encompassing and unalloyed
There could no longer
Be a me and a you
It had to be only you and you
From now on

I smiled knowingly
As I understood
It was now my turn
To move those mountains of ego
Scale those deserts of doubt
And cross the seven seas of self
It was now my turn
To come to you and embrace
And whisper in your ears
"You are mine"

Prisoners

The night creeps under the skin
Limbs stiff, eyes wide awake
As the day dawns and alarms blare
The prisoners arise to face another day

The scramble begins from house to house
The screaming, the jostling, the angry shouts
Half eaten plates,  half made beds
Empty homes waiting for the night

Hordes and hordes of hopes and dreams
Of plans and worries, of needs and wants
Neckbands chafing against the raw skin
Achy feet stuffed in high, high heels

Pretensions and schemes, defeats and triumphs
Each day continues in a battle after battle
Some lay dying, others are wounded
Bitter, bitter hearts live for another day

A day when there'd be freedom
A day when there'd be life
A day when fulfillment can be
Savored with delight

But the day will never come
For the nests will forever be empty
The little birds who seek to smile
Would have flown away forever

The prisoners will then
Have  count their own wrinkles
The joy of the triumph, the ache of defeats
Will fade away as do their eyes

Arundhati (July 29 2017)

Burn

I will stay and I will burn
Even as the heat
Chokes my lungs
Stings my eyes
Scorches my skin with its fiery whip
I will not struggle
I will not complain
I will just stay and accept the blaze
I will stay and I will burn

Let it come, let it come and have at it
For it will find no fight behind these doors
There will be no cries, no wailing for mercy
Neither a queer pleasure in pain
If come it must, it must see a stoic face
A clear mind and no regrets

Understand this before you balk
Life is burning and burning is living
Burning for pleasure, burning for pain
Burning for love, burning in lust
Burning in desire, burning in fulfillment
Burning in action and burning in regret

Each of us burns and burn we do
Even as we cringe and cry and complain
Even when we bask in glory and fame
For one day we fear it shall slip again
As we get flung in the abyss of pain

Up and down, up and down we go
Being dipped over and over in this scalding river
As the ferris wheel turns and turns again
And life becomes a game of pleasure and pain

What for the fear and why the complaint
When you can just own and accept your pain
Face it in full with your back straight
And let it just burn right in your face
It will just burn and burn itself out
With it, it will take your regrets and doubts
You will then shine and wear your scars
With a warrior's pride in a warrior's heart

Farewell

My eyes, now and then, turn towards the door
Hoping you will be standing there
My head knows you wont be
And my heart wishes otherwise

And what are we really?
Not lovers,  no we can't be!
Not friends, for time for friendship is past
Not of relation of the blood, for that never was

This unexplained bond of the souls
So much at ease when with each other
Seemingly indifferent when farther apart
Yet, invariably, bound across distances and time

One day, at a lark, I tugged at that thread
And you took time but pulled from the other end
Our eyes met, our souls connected
And a glimmer of joy lit up life's humdrum

Somewhere we knew it won't last
The cocoon of our lives was too hard to break
And we hung against different trees
Waiting for our respective liberation

Yet there is a modicum of regret
The end came too soon, abruptly and sharp
Perhaps we could've lingered just a little longer
Perhaps we could've peeked into that box

But may be its better that we did not
Some of life's gifts are best left unopened
Perhaps you were scared, just as I was
That we'll be forced to name the unnamed bond

Sorry

Seized by the dream
I reached out
And you took my hand
With hesitant fingers

Our eyes met briefly
And I admit
There was a sparkle
In the way I smiled

You smiled too
But with dignity
Still bewildered
Struggling to resist

But I bit my lip
And wound my hair
Around my finger
Just the way you liked

Then you melted
And burst into flames
Smothered for so long
In the depths of time

I snapped back
As the heat burned me
Took a sharp breath
And turned away

You were left behind
Yet again
Picking the pieces
Of what you couldn't have

I am just so, so sorry....

Alone

All around me
Alliances form
And I am alone.. alone

Atoms join atoms
Molecules fuse
But I am inert.. alone

Its always been
What this is like
For me just to be alone.. alone

All my life
I have been running
From being left alone.. alone

But now I am tired
Or maybe just stronger
For I turn around and face... alone