She relaxes listening

to the sound of the serene stream,

the light blue sky,

birds returning to their nests,

cats purring beside her

her feet in the grass

amid the humming of trees

in the evening breeze.

All of a sudden,

she was jostled awake

by a cool droplet

of rain

from the leaking roof above.

 

As a child growing up

With elders going on and on

About how everything in the present age is crap

From movies to books, technology to rap.

I could not fathom how music so pleasant,

To their ears was abominable and depressant.

Their sensibilities were limited and on freeze

And dated to things produced until the 80s

History repeats itself

Patterns as well

We see the Internet raving about the pride of 90s

Comparing it to the present and making it a tease

There is nothing wrong in romanticizing the past

But so much harm holding on to it stead fast

Let’s have fun rolling with the changing times

Let’s laugh and smile marking it with wrinkled lines.

Ethereal beings

from a distant land

Got stranded

On a trip unplanned

We look in all directions to unlock

The gates of this enclosed paddock

Seldom do we realise

That the door is open

And we can fly to the skies

To realms unspoken.

My mind is always swirling

with so many thoughts

a plethora of things

I want to say

to so many people

But while in the midst of them,

I get tied up in knots

With those thoughts filled to the brim

I curate the words to form a hymn.

Letting a sigh, into my easy chair I plop

Having the pleasure of

screaming it from the rooftops.

I feel understood.

I feel I’m heard.

To wake up and stay in the bed

For no reason, filled with dread

Guilt and fear, crawl your skin

With loathing, You burn within

Hating work and calling in sick

Feeling burdened with every blink

The advent of an enemy with no face

Seems like the start of your fall from grace

Anxiety and panic, makes you tremble

Life as you know it, with its duties, crumble

Embrace yourself with compassion

And look for ways that you can refashion

Forget not, there is always hope

To escape this downward slope

And remember to turn on love’s light

While the soul crosses its dark night.

The minute I kept the pen on my paper

Came and stood next to me, the teacher

I felt condescended, not sure,

And the next moment I cannot form words from the alphabets

I forget all I know

And what remains in the paper is a dot.

I look above me at the teacher standing tall

And ask her politely, explaining the situation.

She obliges and leaves the room.

The writers block, left the block.

My paper in no minute is filled

With my thoughts

In the right words in the right way.

I patted myself for taking courage

To make the judging self inside me

Step out

So that the novice inside me can grow.

 To know that the beings you loved so dear,

Are not with you anymore.

Your heart strings tug at the realization of this.

You curse yourself for having befriended the aged,

Your grannies and grandpas.

You stop yourself from becoming close to anyone,

Now that you know goodbyes are for sure.

You spend your days alone,

Making a friend in you.

Days go by, and

You float among the million noises around you

Like a leaf undisturbed.

One day, evoked by a forgotten fragrance, you are reminded of a loved one,

You dip in an ocean of melancholy for a moment,

And after you had consoled yourselves that this is how life works,

You look towards the future,

What will happen when I die,

Will I miss me too?

The voice inside your head says NO

And it isn’t your voice

But a medley of voices of all beings you have known for many lifetimes.