Child's play

It is enough,
A flight of stairs
To run up and down,
A wall to bounce
A ball off,
And a neighbour
Who, even when he has
No child of his own,
Knows children have to play.

A known heaven

The river stops
Short of the sea
Not knowing
If the deep would be
Its death or deliverance;
Can heaven not be entered
In our own image,
Under our own name,
With our house, soul mate, garden,
Books, bosom friends, songs, music,
Favourite foods, drinks, fragrances,
The past glowing like a full moon,
With all bad memories erased,
And no new desires,
To make waking undesirable?

Curfew

It was a night
That seemed like
An afternoon,
The sun seemed
Not to have set
Only turned invisible,
Trees stood still
Leaves barely breathing
As if there was
A curfew on the wind,
Sweat flowed
Like blood
That wouldn't clot,
Thirst raged
Like a fire
That couldn't be doused,
The mind fled
Like a migratory bird.

On the delete list

It is a number
I cannot bring myself
To delete like any other,
Though I have paid
My last respects
In my own way
From a distance,
It is like
The yellowing book
With my father's signature
I cannot throw away
Though the print is fading
And the teachings passe,
It is like
A secret love
I know
Cannot go anywhere
Though its glow
Is life-giving,
Just looking at it
Brings alive the voice
That went unheard
Like Cassandra's.

Graveyard

Night falls asleep
When we walk
Through our past
Picking up the toys
We have discarded
Laughing at how
We could not sleep
Without them
How we did not sleep
Because of them
The stinging words
Don't sting anymore
The mocking faces
Now stand mocked
The risen have fallen
The fallen have risen
Still strut as if
They have never fallen
Dreams we had to bury
Rise from the grave
With a sad smile
Stand unhappily awhile
Before we wave them inside.

Waiting

The blank page
Waits for words
To fill its emptiness,
The bare blue sky
Will not mind
Even barren clouds,
The white wall
Wails for
A child's scrawl,
The lonely aadi wind
Knocks on doors, windows
Crying to be let in,
Dreams stand orphaned
In every street
Of the sleepless city.

Lust

In the dark
Colours lie awake
For the day to break,
Roosters sleep light
Cannot wait
Serenade false dawns,
The dream brings those
Who have vowed
Never to step
Into the house,
White chases tan
While brown blanches
Ochre darkens
With lust
Turns ogre
Finds the door shut.