Thursday, September 03, 2009

Lost


Where is that river
that flew swift, unfettered
in a stream of crystal eternally
towards the ocean's infinity?

Where is that song
that rang clear, unabashed
clad in naked innocence
setting flight to notes of truth?

Where have I come
in my own countless journeys
that my bare feet
are stranger to their beloved land?

Friday, August 14, 2009

Worship


A thousand times I wet my head
with water from the holy rivers.

My silken robes ply softly
folds of purity tucked in my body.

With steady hands I draw
your sacred marks of graveyard ash.

The lamp glows calm
A golden drop, the conscious' shine

Your fragrance swells and overflows
as my breathing slows of its own will.

I chant the chants with utmost care
wincing at every word that comes imperfect.

The water flows unburdened
nectar it is, nectar flows.

And yet my Father...

Sans effort that yellow flower
has reached your feet already.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Orphaned Words


I pray to you my love;
Free these orphaned words of mine.
They come to your world,
innocent and blind
with no hand to hold.

Protect them, my Goddess;
From the viles of reason.
Let them not pursue ideals,
truths and praise,
for their weak feet will tire soon.

Bind them not, my Goddess;
In harsh fetters of grammar.
Let them not be stifled with craft,
genius and order,
for they have no discipline.

Free them, my Love;
Set them on a song, light and gentle.
Let them play in the sand,
dust and the streets,
for they can amount to nothing more.

Bless them, my Love;
So that they may sing
of your dark face like the mango leaf
your smile like the jasmine
for that will be their salvation.

Let them go no further My Love,
but just sing of you,
your home by the river under the mango tree
Of evenings, gilded sunsets,
of birds returning home
then...
fade gently into your night.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The peacock and the dragon


The mountains of the Madhmadh ranges stretched like a giant yawn across the sleepy plains beneath. Far in the distance, the peak of Soma rose like a sated sigh, capped with alabaster snow. That very same sigh echoed in the emerald green peak of Manas, shimmering with the dew on the leaves of its jungles.

Nestled secretly between the folds of these two peaks lay the ever drenched valley of Anga. The monsoon ravished this valley forever, leaving it cloaked in soft ruby red moss. Jasmine creepers entwined the sturdy unyielding trunks of trees, yielding forth virgin buds that eagerly professed their passion to the breeze with an effulgent fragrance.

Charmed by this enchantment of lust and desire, beasts and birds from far off lands gravitated to this valley and filled it with sounds.

The monkey drunk with the sweetness of the mango that he plundered jumped from branch to branch his crimson bottom flashing like wounds on the trees. The blue-throated koel sang with abandon entreating the waterfall with plaintive cries. Serpents entwined on the soft moss, setting the foliage aflame with their passion. The uncouth honeybee incessantly buzzed around in mad circles around the mango blossoms, infuriating the silent lizards who hissed menacingly. The eager rabbits chased each other in frenzied pursuit startling the grasshoppers.

One monsoon when the clouds hung low kissing the fluttering leaves of the tress, there came a peacock hatched out of its egg. It shivered at the first touch of the cold breeze shedding sapphire gems on the emerald moss. It blinked as a lightning tore the sky. A sudden unsaid desire welled in its heart as the thunder of the skies heralded the arrival of the debauched rains. It cried a hoarse utterance and spread its emerald-azure plumage. Its body shimmered with the youth of innocence. Every feather in its plumage bore a thirsty eye that was unsullied with any sight. It stood there for an instant pure in soul, young at heart and supple in form. Its curves slid of its body with the celerity of warm blood. This warmth and life made it dance around slowly.

As it turned round and round, its thousand feathered eyes drank more and more of the valley's frolic. And every sight, every sound sent a shiver down its spine, that gathered as tiny sliver in its crown. The crown soon curved sensuously as a question. Its head now bending and aching with the wait of the question, the peacock ran eager to find an answer.

It rushed to the coiled serpents with its crown drooping and its tail unfurled. The serpents however, were lost in the heat of their desire, merely replied in fumes of hisses and sighs. The peacock walked on confused.

The impassioned monkey screeched and shouted seeing the golden curve of the peacock's crown. It jumped from the higher branches to the lower ones and eagerly thrust its hands to pluck that jewel. The peacock afraid ran away.

In fright, the peacock ran into the mango grove. The buzzing bees all now gathered in raw hunger circling the luminous crown of the peacock muttering to each other in abrupt hisses. The lizards disgusted with this excessive show of passion slithered away muttering curses. The peacock stayed awhile basking in the admiration of the bees. But it soon grew wearied with their empty buzzing. Its head still aching with the question of its crown it trudged along.

Its weary walk brought it to the dark woods that swallowed whole the clandestine union of all beasts. It stood there, mesmerized by the koel's song. It's feet tapped gently to the rhythm of the waterfall. For a brief time it forgot the question and stayed enraptured. But suddenly, the eager male rabbit pounced on his female with such a fury that he startled the koel who flew far into the woods taking her song with her. The peacock now sad at the loss of the song, walked on aimlessly.

Soft, hesitant steps brought the peacock to a dark cave amidst the valley. The cave was inhabited by the great Dragon. The Dragon was a silent ascetic, who had taken a vow of silence. Forever tormented by the pull of desire and fear, he fought an enormous war with the peak of Soma for forty days and forty nights. With no victor in sight, Soma yielded a draw to him, giving him the gift of his Great Bow and his nectar tipped arrow. In return, the Dragon yielded to Soma his ever burning fire. After this fight, the Dragon withdrew to this secret hidden cave of the valley. There in the cave, he set the arrow upon the Great Bow and buried the arrow in the ground with the string till taut. Then he climbed on the bow string and began his penance. He woke from his reverie only once every monsoon and uttered one line of verse. He did not care if anybody listened, noted it down or it merely echoed of the walls. After uttering this verse, he would end his fast for a brief time before relapsing into meditation on the bow again.

Into this cave, the peacock walked, gazing along the damp walls of the cave, its heart beating slowly to the dripping of some underground river. It suddenly came upon the Dragon and gazed at it in awe. At that very moment, the Dragon opened his eyes and prepared to break his vow. The peacock's crown, burdened with the question so far, found a voice and sprang out of the peacock, like the light of dawn.

Why should it be?
What end does it see?
Whither goes this life?
Where ends this strife?

The Dragon smiled as these words spurted out of the peacock's crown like blood from a fresh wound. He removed the bow from the ground and held the strung arrow between his fingers. He paused for a second and uttered

The arrow flew and hurried
Till in the target it is buried

His fingers let go of the arrow. The string quivered shattering the silence of the cave. With the swiftness of its thirst, the arrow plunged deep into the peacock's full chest, drawing out the blood of life. The peacock slipped softly into the ground, went limp and died.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Portrait


Dusk's sun glows mellow
Your face yielding nascent smile
Who paints this eve gold?

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Passion

Bent
drooping with lust wanton

Soft
heaving with desire brazen

Sweat
running like the river in abandon

Sighs
heavy like thunder distant

Hands
gripped firmly on shoulders
the cloud made love to the mountain.

Tamil

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Solace

Life, a fickle companion
runs and strolls
one step ahead
one step behind.

I close my eyes
and breathe some in
breathe some out
life hides somewhere between the two.

T'wixt this perfumed garden
of bleeding roses and silent jasmines
of cold ivory and nectar fruits
of lilting flute and lotus eyes

T'wixt this raging fire
of burning passion and placid peace
of heartfelt love and wanton sin
of flaming heat and slain ashes

One thought runs soft
a refuge, a familiar nest
"All life's thralls shall fade soft
When death my love seals her kiss"



Sunday, May 03, 2009

Sultry summer




My tired arms sigh
as your summer sweat is drunk
by a jealous sun

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The summer bird


Summer bird I beseech thee
teach me a song as free as thee
lend my thoughts your wings, your sky
make my words light and spry

Colour my soul with your sight
mango blossoms and a sun so bright
Fill it brimming with a thousand blooms
of colours and light and sweet perfumes

Lead me through summer's lust
through heat and breeze and swirling dust
Tell me what secrets spake
the pigeon cooing to his mate

Hide my mind in a jasmine's breast
drown my heart in manna blest
Take me deep into her cove
take me into her sceret grove

Show me there her throbbing soul
Sloping valleys and sylvan knoll
Show me there in that single flower
A thousand blooms that live forever

Take me then on a butterfly's lips
humming through a hundred trips
to roses, violets and others untame
a thousand hearts for us to claim

Rest me awhile on a blade
of grass asleep in banyan shade
A dreamy sleep of sweat and heat
drinking noon sun's passion sweet

Carry me then on a sunbeam bent
to some sweet land with pastoral scent
of placid cows and cowherd's song
where evenings stretch languorously long

Fold your wings and sit by me
as dusk dies softly by a tree
Teach me silence that your heart holds
as the orange glow gently unfolds

Then take me home to a sylvan hutch
half asleep in the full moon's touch
Lay me there on simple earth
and let me sleep a sleep of death

Sunday, March 01, 2009

How subtle a net do we weave
How swift our mind leads us on
Threads of thought twist and cleave
in fingers of words deftly con

How we tread with dreamy feet
Seeking roads that our desires take
How does the mind ooze deceit
the spider's mouth that web make

How we toil in empty sweat
Hours that run in joyless drone
How the heart does worry and fret
piling with filth its own throne

How we speak sans respite
shedding words that wither and die
Empty branches that take delight 
in eternal autumn always nigh

Friday, February 13, 2009

Away

Dead she sleeps my lover true
A blossom of spring that summer slew
Dead she sleeps all so still
Sans breath sans will

Her eyes don't shine nor her face
It seems she has gone another place
Her heart lies tombed in folded hands
Her garb is greyed like time's sands

Her bosom stays no longer heaves
Her voice is mute no magic weaves
Her lips are parched split apart
like barren land, a broken heart

No tear nor smile decks her soul
No fountain flows nor passion dole
The river has dried; the clouds have left
The bird has flown; the nest bereft

Here I stand; stand and see
The dead half of a living we
I stand and gaze and stand and gaze
Finding no life not a trace

Then...

Dusk does fall; day fades away
cool summer breeze traces a way
I sigh and sing and walk away
My heart grows quiet...

I

walk

away...