Lease of Life

I was going through a really dry spell with my writing. It became non existent. 2017 was extremely rewarding year for me. I started my Ashtanga Practise, made new friends in class including the celebrated travel writer / journalist Bishwanath Ghosh. It is solely on his encouragement to revisit my writing, and to drop my fixation with rhyming verses, that I have genuinely had a poetic harvest in the last week - yes WEEK.

I hope this is not a Gemini thing, churning out a storm only to have a drought for the next few years....

The Has Been

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Ask the man who,

Was once a hearthrob

What hurts more?

Having been loved?

Not being loved at all

Out of work

Out of love

No faith in himself 

He shares the fate

Of the bankrupt man

He once called producer 

The (Fading) Star

He sees himself 

His many versions 

Multiple times a day

Romancing different women

So beautiful like gleaming jewels

Fighting frightful villains

Menacing, vengeful, intolerable

He lives many lives 

Many more roles

Has died many deaths

Soon will be a had been

The money has been made

The fans have been birthed

The star that shone brightly

It's soon to fall on earth

Story Teller

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The lists lie unticked

Breakfast remains uneaten

Chai gone cold

Me, you and the stories you spin

Are all that remain

The Writer

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The gentle breeze 

On the nape of my neck

The coolness of the sheets

On my resting belly

I gazed at my companion lovingly

Unable to peel my eyes away

Immersing my soul 

Into his very being 

Unable to turn away 

To rest, to eat, to leave 

His side, his story, his book 

This happens every time I read.... the world around me stops existing

Tick Tock

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The clockwork didn't impress

Neither did the Lego like buildings

Nor well oiled mechanised life

To be alive amidst the dead

Only filled my spirit with dread....

In Another World

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Where gardens are sprawling

Groves are abundant

Glistening streams gurgle 

The sun shines just enough

The breeze blows gently 

Time stands still

And this place is reality

There is no money to be made

No deals to be cut

Life is leisure

Poetry is survival

Envy

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She reared its ugly head out

Seeking the umpteen faults

So minute as the braces she wore

In that bright smile of hers

Staring at her face

Shining with youthful cheer

Her hands trembled with anger

Itching to shred the picture 

She held of her younger version

An emotion so strong sometimes we feel it towards ourselves 

Writers Block (again)

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Like the crumpled papers

Strewn around me 

Crumpled I lay on my desk

Hoping my words will unfold...

Family

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Mother, father, 

Brother, sister

Add to it marriage 

And it's baggage

Of a menagerie

Delicate it is

Complex it is

Thriving yes

In its own chaos

Mosquitoes

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They followed me 

Wherever I went

My feet moving

They moved faster

Nothing stopped them

Relentless souls 

These fearless fellows

Swarming in hundreds

Swelling my dancing feet

Compromise

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It's all for the best

You will see for yourself

A little adjustment

Goes a long way

In earnest love

You said to me once

Little did we realise

I will never be me again

Being

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Same, same 

Different different 

With each other 

With ourselves 

Common status

In love 

this came about a day before the supreme court did away with article 377.... poetic justice indeed!

Gratitude

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He sees in me 

What I can never see

I am someone else 

Unknown to me 

But much better

Dedicated to my dear friend BG, for helping me come out of my dry spell... 

Pick Up Time

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Wide eyed, dirty faces

Sweaty brows, toothy grins

Relief written all over 

Pleasures of pick up time

Something I look forward to every single day. 

The Times We Live In

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He frolicked in the bathtub

Tap spewing nice fresh water 

How cute, what fun, innocent

They couldn't stop admiring 

His chubby toddling form

When in the kitchen

As she washed vessels 

Unable to bear her own stink

She wondered if her own 

Would see such a day? 

Yoga Teacher

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Upturned, twisted, bound

Flat, contorted, face down

His gentle touch and words

Unleash my soul into being

Dedicated to my yoga teacher, who just has to be present for the toughest asana to achieve sthiram and sukham

Attraction (again)

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Between the jaalis and rails

Walls that separated us

Clearly it didn't take much

For attraction to follow....

Daughter

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Do you love me

She asks me

A hundred times

If only she knew

That's all I know....

Oh L, if only you knew baccha...

Social Media Life

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Photos, holidays, occasions

Practised smiles, matching clothes

Profile poses, thumbs ups, peace signs

Our soulful gazes 

Against stunning views

A hundred comments

Two hundred likes

Our life approved!

Life as we see it..... on social media

Strange Notions

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Is there beauty in sorrow

She wondered in disbelief

When she woke up alive

After her comatose sleep

Impressions

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The sparkle of the diamond,

Resting on the dusky nose

Seemed to pale, when

Our eyes met, and 

I went blind in love

Impressions .... What we notice first and what leaves us speechless.... 

Attraction

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 I spilt my thoughts out loud

As if by deliberate accident

It did the required damage

He turned and looked at me

A smile spread on his face

As if knowing my intention

Imagination

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It is in words like this 

A life is lived

That which is not destined 

But which is desired ....

The luxury of imagination