Kuchh Khayaal Aise

Khwahishein kiye the kitni

aur kab tha socha ki munasib

samjhi jayegi woh aarzoo

aur na bhi yeh

ke aahista se pal guzrenge

aur mukammal hogi woh justuju.

Untitled

Something in that tangle overhead reminds me

Of you

As blue smoke from my fingers rise

To cloud the white mist the clouds bring down.

Something in that sunset reminds me

Of you

The twilight from the photoframe hidden in the rains

Leaving no trace of orange, nor yellow.

Yet midnight lies in wait, with a warm darkness

For you

Not glittered with stars tonight, not I,

Yet secure, in the flames I see beyond the envelope.

Moss

With a pang of separation I begin
The journey to the ends of the world
Or just the corner over there…?

Down the slopes rolls the stone.
A stream the rocks have bred,
A flutter of leaves newly shed.
Pushed and nudged on its way
By the gusts that whistle amidst,
By the dewdrops and morning mist.

And the world is lovely.
I nestle among my fellows
And listen to what they say.
One’s been to the beyond and back,
The other wants to see them all
And I nestle and listen.
The stone likes his company.
Rugged and battered although they feign,
They’re straight and they’re welcoming,
They lie together through storm and rain
And together they rush downhill
Singing songs of this and that.

Stairway to Heaven

The roof lay strewn with
The remnants of forbidden pleasure,
Dark was the field out in front,
Dark with people, or phantoms were they?

The night, blurring the city for once
Humming a melody of whispers,
I look to the sky, and then to you
And wonder

A star, is that faraway?
Or a dot hanging in the in-between?