A day to remember

Shocking white cranes 

Burst out of the river

Dark with time's refuse

Beauty shows its face

In unlikely places

Turning left the vehicle

Is swallowed by traffic

Over the horns is heard

The sharp cries of parrots

Restless on raintrees

The rooftop cafetaria 

Has a view of the sky

Where kites float

In the streams of music

Playing in my heart

The afternoon is hard

To cross without a nap

When I wake up it's dusk

Night is easier to pass

Dreams take me away

The lost find the lost.

Spring

I look at someone older than me

And tell myself I am not there yet

He shuffles along before me with

The air of a tortoise enjoying a walk

I imitate his slow gait and stumble

My feet are used to a different pace

And protest this momentum drop

Green shoots on the bare branches

Have appeared without fanfare

The torn old leaves have not all fallen 

It is like grandparents and grandchildren

Seen together, the leaving and the arriving

Spring comes to every tree and plant

Without any prompting, sans supplication

My winter is beautiful because it is spring.

Such a sea

The moonglade glitters across the sea

As if it is a golden path to eternity

The incessant waves sound like the mind

With its eternal chatter and entreaties

The harbour cranes loom in the distance

Huge fishing rods angling for prize fishes

This is the second flight heading out

Twinkling stars with a cargo of wishes

The sand under the feet slips away a little

But the cool waters take away so much

All the past that meant so much so long

Does not mean much when the sea is such.

Rain

The flickering silences of a

Cloudy sky are like melodies

Yet to reach the chosen ears

A river from nowhere rushes past

The other bank cannot be seen

A butterfly meanders in search

Of flowers that scream at its sight

The wind too blows the pollen about

Love brims over in the fragrant air 

Seeds are on their slow way to light

The lone bird is set to find its voice

The soulmate is all eager to hear

The rain cannot wait, bursts into song.

Wrong turn

You can't ask the trees not to litter

It's how they make over for summer

Along the streets the yellow leaves

Have been swept into little piles for

Being set on fire, smoke from which

Stokes stabs of nostalgia for a city

Receding into remote corners of a mind

Fast losing its words, places and faces

Children from a passing vehicle cheer

The weekend freeing them of classes

I remember my son waking up crying

On Saturdays thinking he had school

His smile of relief after was precious

I take a wrong turn and find myself lost

For a while in a neighbourhood no more

Recognisable with its fancy new shops

The frightening dreams of losing my way

Seem to have found their way into waking.

Sleepy morning

At six it is still dark for a dawn

The crescent moon still bright

In the east doesn't know it is

Time to go for the street lights

Are just going off to say it is now

Time for early risers to wake up 

And begin the morning routine

One jogger is already out coaxing

The sleep out of his night feet

What is this new bird singing?

It sounds like a migrant from

Colder climes celebrating this

New place just right for breeding.

Should I sleep or keep watching

The sky for the late riser's arrival?

No borders

The full moon is clear of the tree

After staying behind it for hours

The yellow glow has given way to

A milky luminescence, no less

Enticing, for all the memories it bears

All the facts we now know about the

Non-luminous body cannot lessen its

Lustre in a sky that is more an illusion

No more tangible than a mirage.

Do not remind me of nights when there

Were not as many lights to keep the dark

And fears and phantoms and gods away

History reminds me more of human folly --

This white orb that inches across the blue 

Helps keep the earth in orbit around the sun

When nations tighten their borders all over

The universe will throw its arms wide open

To the fearless migrant with new propulsion.