April

It's April and the bodhi tree

Is in leaf, the old quietly leaving

For the new to arrive, with many

Branches still looking bare and even

The regular crows roosting there 

Keeping away in the mid-day sun;

You keep checking every day to see

The green leaves peeping out 

And growing larger and greener 

With the sheen more brilliant by the hour

The boys flying kites sometimes find 

Their first few flights of the season

Crashing here irretrievably as lost time ---

The drama of death and resurrection 

Enacted every year before your eyes

Is strangely reassuring as your steps falter

And you foresee your own time stopping.

Star

The star is just a blink away

So is the bud from the flower

Between the flower and star

The distance is not too far

The rainbow stays longer

For the sake of the child

Who takes it to her heart

And keeps it there when it is not

The leaf turns sunlight green

Leaves the other colours 

To reach for the flower

Between the flower and star

The distance is not too far

Between me and my goddess

The distance is not any less.

Moonlight

The moonlight stops short

Of the balcony window,

At a particular time in the night

The tiled floor catches the moon's

Reflection and robs the eyes of sleep,

Other nights in another city come back

To remind you of when you lay awake

Listening to the sleepless dogs wagging

Their tongues and dreaming of tomorrow

You imagine walking the moon across

Familiar roads back to the river bridge

From where you see the temple towers

Raise folded hands towards the sky with clouds

Ready to bear any tidings to any place

If you are awake and looking at this moon

Pray that this serenity return to skies

Everywhere and children sleep peacefully

And go to school and come home safe.

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.

Colours of desire

When we meet
We swap lists
Of what we have bought,
She looks admiringly
At my designer wear
Praises my taste
Envies my luck
At getting a rare shade
Extracts a promise
To get one for her;
Pleased, I seek her tips
For repainting my house
I tell her I liked her decor
The last time I visited her;
After making a fresh list
Of what was new in the market
And what we needed to buy
We take leave, heads bursting
With the colours of desire

The deep

The hands are tired
From clappping
For those
Who leave little for others,
The throat is hoarse
From singing praises
To someone whose miracles
Include taking away
The little there is left,
The feet are weary
Of the mountain path
Leading to an empty shrine,
The eyes keep looking at the skies
Hoping for signs of cracks
The ears want to hear
The rumble of volcanoes in the deep
Which wants to give up the dead.