Niksen

In December the dawn stays longer

The day keeps arriving forever 

Like a leaf coming down floating

From a tall tree it is unwilling to leave

The fog cannot let go of the trees

Or the earth or the minds of those

Who are waking, sleeping, waking

Reluctant to give up the bed's warmth

Somewhere a milk cooker whistles

Showing others have risen early 

And going on with their daily routine

I prefer to practise niksen, doing nothing

Waiting but not looking forward to

The sun breaking through the clouds

Not minding what will or not happen.

Freeze time

We wish we could freeze time

When we are so happy we want

To stay there forever and not go

Past it or age or flower or wither

When the mirror mocks us with

What time has made of our face

We go back to the photo album

Where we have frozen time and

Look at our childhood and parents

Whom time has taken away forever

Speak to them as if they are alive

Asking if we would be meeting again

Or how would death feel like when it

Comes uninvited and ends all we know.

No cause

The invisible wind moves visibly

Through the tree like a shy bird

That wants to hide but cannot

The pair of mynahs fly away in

A flash of brown, white and yellow

Partly seen and partly remembered

The eyes follow them till they vanish

It is still misty and cloudy and the sun

Can hardly be seen though its light

Filters through and offers warmth 

The body cannot work up enough of

It is now December with just the dew

It is music taking me through green fields

Tomorrow welcoming me on the horizon

The pastoral flute following like a butterfly

A calendar year may be coming to a close

Yet time flows without a pause or cause.

No return

We left because we thought

Leaving was best when staying

Would mean dying in despair

And waiting looked like endless

With no one coming today or 

Tomorrow though it was said

It would happen when it was right

We could not wait to find out for we

Didn't know who was coming, whether

To free us or tell us to wait some more

For the true one who follows the other;

Leaving was best for in moving, the mind

Lost its imaginary mooring and the feet

Learnt the virtue of moving, not waiting

Indefinitely for time to move and change;

In movement there was freedom for there

Was no destination and no threat of return.

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.