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Song on a string
Ties unto the hand
Of a fugitive
The vague echo of
A glorious world
Expired.
The feral, now tamed
Parts with itself
An old, forgotten self
Leased at last with
A desirable attire
Unassuming.
***************
Pure, unlearned
Willow-limbs drape
The crystal banks and mimic
A tune of early spring
Cluster of praise
Amid falling leaves.
Beneath the celestial symbols
Where earthly creatures
Honour nightly vigils
A random petal sealed
In the inner-sanctum
Of a momentary rapture.
***************
The remaining days fill
This imaginary cavity
With laughter, unmeasured
At arms length, the light
Of all things caress like
The breeze of an unknown season.
The single gathering
Of a waning contribution
Of a life grown beyond
It’s human skin, finds
Solace in the lucent victuals
Of an intimate moment.
***************
Oh! World of unattainable
Constants, where the foot
Treads it leaves no trace
And when the sun manifests
With an etch on the window-pane
A new beginning stirs, unborn.
Silence marks the distance
Between Earth and Heaven, and
The moon’s allure quiets our voice
When it speaks, it speaks to reveal
The splendour of a day’s uncharted
Journey, taken by an aged-youth.
***************
Flora, fruit-resplendent
At the mouth of an exposed
Estuary, where mythical creatures
Once drank from its tepid stream
Here, love stole our virginal sip where
Our lips still cling to nature’s goblet.
A flame casts an uneven shadow
The moss-carpet stows a fair maiden
Water drips to the sound of a novel shrill
And beckons forth two metaphors
That lovingly find refuge in
The light of a glaring flame.
***************
Words, face of an
Invisible impression
Combusts without purpose
Climbs the altitude of the mind
From cocoon to thread
Truth wrestles with faith.
Defiant and unworthy faith!
A vineyard of tangled emotions
Offer to sweeten the heart
Of a vagrant’s thirst, and
With a closing hand secures the
Avowal of another lost identity.
***************
Twilight’s filament
Cascades from ornate sky-patterns
Punctures the cosy haven that nurtures
The whims of a man’s dream
A feast took place, and merriment has
Yet to evaporate from a waking smile.
The splinter of morning
Slits and peels off the ripened skin
That encases an unready love
For love of life seems unnatural
To this young man; as he counts the days
Death out-numbers Life.
***************
Mislaid secrets huddle
At the point of a needle
It awaits the unaware hand
To weave a deadly-strain into the
Finely, coloured binding; the final
Feature to Earth’s infant dress.
Adolescence’s timeless majesty
Opulent with an unruffled motif
Imitates the unshakable trait of
Laboured hands; its work complete,
Slips back and rests upon
The cambered cushion.
***************
Wishes of a
Withered decadence
Suckles the honeyed-sap
Of a bygone descendant
It’s spiral, lame; spurns
The help of a close relation.
Warm amber juice
Coats the remaining bark
The final remnants of
A decaying coffin, once
The residence of a confident
Man, now but a handful of soil.
***************
Fern, nevermore; fingerless boughs
Recline in a poetic poise
Once steadfast in resolve
Vigilant guardians of
An ancient womb
A livelier wreath becomes you.
The scent of pine loiters
At the foot of the hills
And intrudes to stroke the hair
Of grand-mothers sleeping
A message finds consolation
Before a wrinkled face.
***************
How they triumph: the vines!
To capture a summer and
Its delayed ecstasy
Nocturnal pledges merge the soul
To eventual traitors, who already
Turn their heads to the confessional.
The contour of the soul’s
Constitution, defined by the
Abstracted version of ‘the other’
Collects a tarnished trophy
All but one hangs proudly
In wait of a restoration.
***************
Brimful of ego, unfledged
Trickles down the chalice
The concatenation of mishap
Leads the common soul to the
Gates of the Inferno; but
Paradise is not in Dante’s mind.
To break free beyond the
Holy placenta, away from the Light
Only to re-enter; the recycled communion
Has lost credibility
Paradise is not beyond reach
Follow thy inner-god, homeward.
***************
Garden gnomes sit
With a vacant stare
They wonder about
Life’s inaccuracies
And laugh at those
Who care.
They smile artificially
Just to imitate the
World’s hypocrisy
And as soon as we turn
Tucks their leer
Inside their hat.
***************
Buried oblivion
A silhouette of a kite
Cordless, yet groped
By a skeletal fin
Flusters relentlessly
Rotating the spheres.
The sole watchman
Towers over the
Self-devouring night
Devil-mistress lends a
Helping hand and draws
It to the wasteland.
***************
The parabola of
His scars sketched
On the dust plains
Tear-prints mark
His previous existence
As a nomad.
Into life and out
Of death as easily
He turns villages
Into empty cities
And ancestral homes
Into ready graves.
***************
In between her thoughts
My face is residue
I have been reckless
In my sharing of love
Any more promises and
I will disavow myself.
I have learnt to be
Careful of stray words
Past deeds unearthed
Sooner or later
I will have to pay
Like always.
***************
The profusion of
A girl’s purpose
Indefinable facets
Of the same truth
That truth resides
Beneath the skirt.
They say it is
The same for a boy
But is it only the boy
Who lacks emotion?
Unless of course
He chases himself.
***************
They come and go
As and when it pleases them
The sun’s command has
Little influence on
Their colour or abundance
Saviour or imitator?
They mime a reflective
Existence to sentimentalize
A florid concupiscence
Cheap imitation!
What flowers can bloom when
Nourished with pesticide?
***************
Sycamores line a stolen path
Blades of sepia blunt the horizon
Reduced to its core
Its seamless courage
Yields to another day of
An unwarrantable spell.
The vibrating crusts
Shake the hollow monuments
Tears confine to a bundle
Of leaves at it’s feet
A vanquished infinity
Wilts without a witness.
***************
I am not myself
As I was a moment ago
These hands seem smaller
My skin less the gift it was
And these eyes were once
Supernovas that shone.
But I am still myself
As I write these words
But who is this self that
Lyrical thoughts pursue?
Time is the essence
That is transparent.
***************
Our penultimate kiss
And nothing to savour it with
All has been a blur up to
This point; the circle swells
With corners, the triangle
Boasts four sides.
The shadow casts a form,
The light inwardly illuminates
All is a mess, here and beyond
The mind becomes
Unrecognisable like
A dried up lake.
***************
Burlesque beast-man
His smile is filth, his
Memorial flower stripped
Artifice satisfies his candour
As he sifts through the silt
Subconscious turns on him.
Subtle note of myrrh
From what is left of a skin
Ribs propel forth
Like a bursting cage
He condemns her grievance
But instead it is his.
***************
A thousand miles, my host
Tarmac and concrete
My proverbial companion
Soon we will harbour an
Urgent love, and just as soon
Become a distant memory.
My new love awaits
Beyond signs and turnings
After countless traffic lights
And washroom facilities
She will be there with the night
To welcome myself and morning.