The Buddha laughs

When the lights blow out

The children forced to study

Cheer as if darkness were godsend

Candles which do not want to die

Disappear but when found

Bring the walls alive -----

We are all children again 

Marvelling at the shadows

We can turn into deer or hound ----

The air hums with unheard sounds

The empty chairs glow with life

The streets flow with chatter and laughter

The Buddha in the showcase stretches

And laughs at how time can come to a halt.

Cooum

Near the cinema
Stripping women of their souls
The river quietly breathes
Stoic like a saint
Though dying of the city's sins
On the bridge
The harlot
Too weary to walk the streets
Stands staring at the waters
Mourning the river
She had lost
In her hamlet green
Where it skipped like a girl
Without a care
Frothing, foaming, giggling
Unlike the river here
Dying of the city' s sins
(Published in Kavya Bharati)