Sleep

O soft embalmer of the still midnight
Shutting, with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleased eyes, embowered from the light
Shaded in forgetfulness divine
O soothest Sleep! if so it please you, close
In midst of your hymn my willing eyes
Sneaking past all weariness on airy toes
Halo my pillow where my head lies
Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul !!!

To Mother

When by my solitary hearth I sit
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom
When no fair dreams before my mind’s eye flit
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom
O mother, ethereal balm upon me shed
And wave your silver pinions over my head.

Whenever the fate of those I hold most dear
Tells to my fearful heart a tale of sorrow
O sweetest mother , my morbid fancy cheer
Let me awhile your sweetest comforts borrow
Your heaven-born radiance around me shed
And wave your silver pinions o’er my head.

Should ever with unhappiness my bosom pain
From cruel love, or a bitter affair
O let me think it is only quite in vain
To shed tears in the midnight air!
O mother, your sweet love upon me shed
And endow your sweet caresses over my head.

Missing You

My heart aches within from missing you
My lips long for the feel of kissing you
All I need is to gently touch your skin
To look into your eyes and see deep within
Just to look upon your face
Just one little touch
From the one I love so much

If I could gaze upon your smile
For just a little while
To know that you miss me too
As I am thinking of you
Every little kiss from you
Was like a dream come true
This love that I have in my heart
It all belongs to you

It’s funny, all those little things
I never thought I would miss
Like all those conversations we had
Or the first time we kissed
I guess that what I am trying to say
Is I miss and love you more each day!
It hurts me not to see you
Or not to know if you are ok.

We can never part
You know it from the very start
The tenderness I feel from your loving heart
We go together like a horse & a cart
Sweet memories to hold forever
Etched in my mind, never to sever
No matter how many miles do us apart
My love, you will always dwell deep in my heart!!!

HOPE

Emotional storm that buffeting of fortune brings
Leaves us in pain and so crestfallen
Despondence and fear shrouds our thoughts
And heart quails at every difficulty brought
With its ploys and vicissitudes
At times life seems so rude and unjust

But a thing we mortals are endowed with
In a narrow niche in our hearts reside
A divine, a golden bliss called HOPE
Hidden yet easy to find, but at times needs some grope
With hope we can scale obstacles high
Hope indeed is a precious thing!

In guttering flames of a lamp
In the unfathomable depths of the sea
At the core of a seed that grows
And in the little wings of the sparrows
In the doughty currents of a stream
Resides this mighty HOPE

Every heart has this innate HOPE
That gives us courage in difficulties to cope
So why not persevere and seamlessly try
For this beautiful thing called HOPE shall never die!

Love to Live

Life is so short
And things so many to do
Ever dwindling like sands of time
So much to achieve, so less to lose
A lot to explore & so far to travel
About self to know and lots to feel
Joys to garner and sorrows to heal

Life at times seem so bright
But most of the times full of blight
But it’s us to take the blame
Joys are killed with craving for more
When come difficult times
We linger it with worries and gripes
We can’t add a moment to our happiness
But to sorrows teach to stay

In solitude we find loneliness
And sorrows in our happiness
Why not love to live each day
Grumble less and smile more
Row our boats in life’s breeze
And drink the cup of life to its lees!!!

Jouney of a Drop

I trickle down from a soaked cloud
My birth heralded by thunders loud
Falling freely, riding the wind
Gathering my mass, round and rotund
Here begins my downward journey
Accompanied by drops so many

Shimmering in the golden sunlight
I scatter the colours bright
Sometimes I form a rainbow
Iridescent and with hues which glow
Cooling the wind and stealing sun’s heat
I make the climate cool and so sweet

Blown by the wind, I ramble in the sky
To many places and dark lands I fly
Barren deserts die for my touch
Rivers wail that they don’t get much
Forests wish for my soothing feel
Drooping fields want their wounds to heal

At times I seep in grounds deep
Sometimes I run down the slopes steep
I am lost in the thirsty sand
Or trapped in pools deep inland
I quench the thirst of men and beasts
Or run in the veins of the trees

Standing alone I am so vulnerable
My shape and form easily mutable
Strong winds blow me astray
Sun’s heat can wipe me away
But when with other drops I coalesce
My existence lingers with an ease

We form a stream with currents strong
Cutting through the land, meet rivers long
Threading my way through all obstacles
I finally empty into the ocean
Lifted into the ethereal clouds again
I complete my journey from where it began!!!

Childhood

When I look into retrospect
The memories, in darkness, rustle like numerous leaves
Growing on the trees of years lived
Memories of all colors come alive
Some honey-laced, some bitter
Leaving my heart yearning for more

It feels like yesterday
When I was toddling around
Like a mite in a dark pond
Waiting for someone to show me the way
The peace and solace of mother’s lap
Days of many a escapades and innocuous pranks
The scolding of elders and assurances of own
That feeling of being gagged and not understood
And the hurriedness to grow up fast
Those petty quarrels with my siblings
The longing for old toys
The feeling of not being loved
That feeling of security and in some faith deep
The days of sound and serene sleep
The comforting ignorance of life’s deceptive face
Unknown of galloping Time’s pace
Now those carefree days have vanished alike
Stolen away by the fleeting time

These reminisces play a tumult full blown
Like waves from the ocean of the timeless bygone.

The Moon

Oh stars thou glitter why?
Scattered promiscuously in the sky
Embellishing the beauty of the dark
Like entourage of the silver ark
Twinkling like myriads lamps little
Studded in the sky as crystals brittle

But, oh moon thou steal their glory
Standing nonpareil in your beauty
Stars in the sky so many shine
But your charm unique & divine
Like a monarch you rule the night
With million stars paint it bright

Blessed with a placid moonlight
You colour the darkness silvery white
The touch of your moonlight
Conquers all blight
A glimpse of your resplendence
Heals all decadence

Bringing solitude to the unquiet
Showering tranquillity upon distressed
You make ugly look beautiful
Making dwindled seem bountiful
Providing comfort in so many a way
May your magic forever hold its sway!

Growing every month from a crescent to full moon
You are perhaps, Nature’s sweetest Boon!!!

River

I start in a cavern
Gendered by mountains barren
Swirling, gushing, running around
Full of exuberance, know no bound
Flowing down the slope, young and callow
With a deep valley & waters shallow

Gnawing, breaking and grinding stones
I reach the plain with loads in tomes
Spreading my banks and growing from young
Serving the plains and taking turns
But now I am grown, with my duties known
Cradling people and fields full sown

Oozing ahead with a senile pace
Slow and meandering with envied grace
Threading my path through cities & places unknown
With distance of thousands flown
Weary and old I reach the bay
And here comes to an end my journey

Showering happiness and gifts so many I give
And like creatures others, rivers too live!!!

Bonsai

Perched in a glass case
I grow in a little vase
Cut to a height small
Yet in beauty stand tall
With gnarled trunk and branches
With leaves few and little fruits
I take a shape that best suits

I decorate galleries and halls
Glittering in my case when light falls
People look at me with pleasure
Some jealous, some amazed at my measure
Some talk of my beauty
Others love my stunted size

I relish the attention I get
But some pangs I can’t forget
Something with my life is amiss
Chirping little birds & greenery I miss
Quintessence of a tree
Yet not set to grow free!

Made to grow in a serried place
My limits confined to a small space
All my attempts of growth foiled
My branches cut and coiled
Yet have a relentless will to survive
Desire to grow in my heart will forever thrive

I will live hundreds of years before I die
Because many a man doesn’t know I am a Bonsai !!!

Be a Winner

The Whole world conspire against you
And none is there to walk with you
Nothing seems to be right
Left with a little zeal to fight
Life seems to be a bed of thorn
All your hopes ragged and torn

Don’t lose your hope
With all difficulties you can cope
Journey of life is long and tortuous
With joys and sorrows juxtaposed
Battles are won by skills and fortitude
Success lies all in attitude

Impossible is an opinion not a fact
To quail and worry is a craven act
Believe in yourself and what you do
With opportunities and skills you are among few
Let positive thoughts fill your heart
With happiness & success you will never part

Burn like a candle in a gale
Sail like a ship in a storm
Stand relentless like a hill
Nothing formidable to shake your will
You can make your life sublime
And leave your footprints on the sands of time!!!

An Ode to Smokers

The Entire ruckus about Smoking is so painful
The “Statutory Warning” leaves my heart spiteful
Increasing my frequency of inhalation
Only to exhale out my indignation
It’s time for smokers to unite
To rise up and against all injustice fight
It’s we, who choke our Lungs, help others move
Tobacco cultivators, Cigarette makers, Dentists & their ilk we behoove

It’s not sheer altruism, we meet our ends too
We inhale to fight pollution and stress few
Small amounts of tar, nicotine & CO in doses small
To adapt to increasing pollution and stand tall
Non-Smokers seem to be anti-feminist patently
We appreciate our Distaff half inherently
As the two genders Smoke in all unanimity
They burn all differences & and bring equality

The definition of a Cigar be damned
A roll of tobacco with a fool at its end
“A generous Fool”—thou be more welcome
Than a wise, Self-centred chum!!!