Empty nest

Every janmashtami she invites

The eternal child home with

Flour footprints on the floor

Then has to keep telling

The transient child at home

To keep its feet off them,

The mother thinks the child

Has grown up too soon 

Forgetting all the nights

The baby kept them all awake,

Sees too footprints leaving her

Leaving behind an empty nest

Fragrances

Some fragrances are never forgotten

The smell of coffee in the morning

Even after you have stopped taking it

That of cigarettes you no more smoke

The odour of matchsticks you still like

When you light them for igniting the stove

The lungs don't find the incense agreeable 

The flowers for the framed favourite gods

Dare not evoke memories of the sensual

Though the metaphysical and saint-poets

Thought they were brides of the worshipped

If only you could have a whiff of the divine.

Alone

The moon is moving away 

From the earth but not too far

We cannot see it or forget it

The hills are meant to stay put

Not come tumbling after the rain

Burying alive those still far from

Their young dreams of growing old

To watch their young grow up as their

World slowly disappears into the mist.

Who can we pray to if who we pray to

Is eaten by the earth like the rest of us?

To feel alone is to find out there is no one

Out there looking out for us as we were told.