Once upon a time

And once we were discussing hobbies
I said, ‘You know, I am good at running’
She asked, 'running away or running towards?'
I did not like the question. So I ran away
Now I think I should have stayed

And once we were talking about Life
she said ,'God has a plan for all of us'
I disagreed and said ' It is random and has no meaning'
After all our Gods died young
Now I think,she should have listened to me

And once we were debating on philosophy
I said , 'happiness is reality divided by expectations'
She argued and said 'It is not that simple to define'
When all the expectations gone and still I don't feel infinite
Now I think she had proved her point

And once we were playing cards
she said , 'you know, love is like card game'
You have to play the right card at right time to win
I said , 'I don't like this game any more and I quit'
Now I think, I should have bluffed and kept playing.

Too loud a solitude

This night arrives like all other nights, in my vain

Your cards, my bluff; Let us bet each other till eternity’s end

Your hair, my eyes; Let us search ourselves in its temporary darkness

Your fingers, my heart; Let us sing a song resembling our broken appearances

The remnant darkness of the night climbs down from my tired eyes

Somewhere I must be present

In those fluttering of eyes, when someone is in deep sleep

And thinking of the things afraid of reality

I am Minotaur; you are Theseus in this labyrinth

Running over same old ground

Morning dreams reflecting on evening sky-light
Old city, new roads
Where will I reach , if I keep walking
In a new dawn or a new night

What did gravity ask to the man standing at the edge of cliff
What did the sparrow say to the north wind
And what did those eyes filled with night ask dawn
Is love real or just an illusion?

Whom shall we blame
If our shadows blacked out in every sight
We have been defeated
Defeated by the illusions we keep

In some corner of heart, memory burns
True negative or false positive
Did you find my madness in your lips?
I think I lost it in last night's kiss

Monachopsis

Eight corners, twelve lines, a space enclosed

My kingdom, my dreams, my beginning and my end

The slow passing of time through veins

And the never ending tic-tac-toe of fate

Why they call it freedom
If each bird is chained to its own sky
And what do raindrops tell to the earth
Before they plunge into their death

Sometimes one addresses to its future self
Explaining things that seems out of place
But it is difficult to make someone understand
When the only language you know is silence

But again who knows
What someone is capable of
Send me a note may be
If you ever get out of this maze

Happiness is a verb

Someone once told me that happiness is a verb

We have to keep looking

In mutual misunderstandings, roles we mastered to play

Old letters, half-finished sentences and the time passing by

And our midnight silences and sighs

May be life is what life is

Promises and disappointments; the search that never ends

May be after every hard fought battle, we will remember

Knowing that somewhere

We will be praying for each other

Before Sunrise

Coldest night of the year, the city shivers

Even the streetlights refuse to show their face

Seems they are on a strike demanding less working hour and more wage

I trace the hurried footsteps of dying light to reach her address

There she is, sitting by the window, reading this poem

As I approach she smiles

May be I smiled, cannot remember though

Who knows it really happened or I just imagined it too

Dilemma

What should I write about, whom should I write about

About the tomato vendor who is counting the day’s earning
Or the motorcycles standing in attention

Clothes hanging on the line, fighting with each other

And become silent as the rain approaches, waiting for their respective owners

Unperturbed to the world around him, the drunkard sleeping on the road

Or shall I write about the immersion procession for the elephant God

A madman joins the celebration and starts dancing his unsynchronized steps

Which may have been adorable if he were a child but now he is just butt of jokes

Perhaps time remains same, but how our perception changes over years

He continues to dance and beg for food from the kind-hearted souls

Who have come to bid farewell to their favorite God

Nothing comes to his hand except emptiness which silently hangs in air

The tomato vendor comes and puts some tomatoes in the madman’s hand

And in gratitude he bows his head as if Elephant God has taken incarnation

Or shall I write about the longingness that weighs upon my heart

If I were a poet, would have ordered the clouds to take my message to you

But when cheaper alternatives exist

Why start a conversation through moody clouds

But the dilemma still exists