Don't behold me
With contempt
Because I floated in
Just like a driftwood
I had a name
Born to someone
Isn't it enough
To qualify as a human?
Do not fear me
Do not hate my folks
Simply they couldn't afford
- love, pyre or a grave
They probably thought
Water should be my grave
Instead of fire or earth
River being the river
Did what it does best
Buoyed me back
Just like a driftwood
I had love to give
But there were no takers
In the land of hate
River could have set me free
But it returned me to you
As a nameless corpse
To be counted among
The countless
River will remember me
Even if you don't
This beloved river is
Our memorial!
#CovidDeaths
Tag: dark
If Dead Could Speak

If dead could speak
I wonder what would they say
To every
'Rest in Peace'
They gasped for breath
They waited for beds
They trusted
They hoped
They left behind
Mounting sorrows
And bills
And plans
And dreams
They simply got erased
Without farewells
They got dumped
They got duped
Don't ever think
They are
Resting in Peace
If dead could rise
From the ashes
And graves
And rivers
They would certainly
Rise in rage
Waiting in the Dark
When will it be dawn?
I ask in desperation
Peering at the night sky
Stars too seem grim tonight
After the endless wait
There is a dim light
But, someone whispers
Hey, you missed the day!
What arrives is another dusk
Followed by the dark
Moonless night
Stars without their shine
Another endless wait
For the dawn
That never arrives
A dawn
That never arrives
Time
Sometimes I wonder
whether I lose track of time
or time loses track of me
Forgotten, erased, demonised
I lurk like the dark shadow
Waiting for the spotlight
To reveal that I exist
Storm and Me
Did what it can
Shattered my existence
Where do I begin?
How do I pick these pieces?
There is no ground
Under the feet
It’s all water
The roof over my head
Has blown off
Whatever I held close
Simply floated away
Some with water
Other with the wind
How do I get my life back?
How do I prove I am me?
How do I show?
Where my mud house stood?
It’s all gone
Either with water
Or with the wind
Did you hear howling winds?
Did you see the waves rise?
Those uprooted trees?
My uprooted life?
No, you wouldn’t notice
You were all locked in
Blind and deaf
Till they cleared it all
There is no sign left
Of howling winds
Of broken homes
Of my lost past
I too ask
Am I me?
amphan #cycloneamphan
Lost Humanity
Scavenging under the rubbles
She looked for humanity
It was yet another day of
Strategic bombing
They tried to flee in vain
From guns and grenades
And bombs
And landmines
And beastly men
Death was everywhere
In every form
It caught up with all
Even those who escaped these
Troubled shores
She kept scavenging for humanity
Under the rubbles
Of the wasteland
Many died
For the sake of few
Who wanted to live
It was a lost battle
Under the rubbles
She scavenged
For dead humanity
The Blue Door
There is a blue door at end of the road. People say it’s the door to the happiness. One can hear laughter and songs, but no one is ever seen crossing the threshold. Neighborhood believes that all the peace and happiness has got locked behind the blue door. No one knows who has locked all the joy away but the sadness and anger that is left behind is quite palpable.
As one walks down the road, one can hear screams of the locked lunatic sibling coming from an attic of one house. They say he lost his mind over a girl who was forced to marry someone from her clan. From another house one can hear heart rending lament of a mother whose only child has gone missing. A misogynist cop rants and screams in the other one, ordering his wife and children who tremble with fear. A young girl screams hysterically in the next one whenever she hears a footstep, “They are coming for me. Save me.”
The town has a church, a temple, synagogue and a mosque where prayers are held daily. Everyone prays for peace and prosperity that they think is locked elsewhere behind the Blue door. They all hold each other’s faith in doubt. They all live in constant fear and pride of their gods. They fight and attack each other relentlessly. It feels as though they are compelling their gods to compete in a race to gain the highest glory and power of the land (just like they wanted the children to compete once upon a time). Sadly, they have managed to drive both gods and children away.
After prayers everyone returns to the little hell they have managed to create. The Blue door remains shut forever. In their fight, hatred and bigotry, the town has forgotten that the gods have left key to the door with them – the key that opens only when there is love and kinship.
Jump
Unable to find answers
Unable to bear the questions
Acutely aware
Of all closed doors
And humiliations
And all silences
She decided to jump
As she walked along the edge
Too many thoughts
Crowded her mind
She wanted to cut loose
From the past
From the present
The questions
The helplessness
The despair
Her luckless and
Loveless life
When no one pays heed
When life is cruel
What’s the point?
What’s the point?
On and on
The thoughts fogged her mind
Tears blinded her vision
Suddenly a stranger stopped her
“Please take one bunch please.
I haven’t eaten whole day”
A blur of bunch of yellow roses
Were staring at her face
Prodding her was
Another voice of despair
Carrying a bunch of bloom
What an irony!!
She paid the boy
And watched the train go by
She brought home
The yellow flowers.
She wondered…
There is a point maybe…
There are people maybe…
There are doors maybe…
There are paths maybe…
There is a future maybe…
That day she didn’t jump
But took a leap of faith instead!
Chains of Liberation

You ask “Why don’t you dance with joy?
There have been infinite invisible chains around my feet
I never knew that I was supposed to undo them one by one
I kept them all ‘as gifts’
I waited for some loving hands to undo them
I didn’t know I have to undo them myself
One day you came along
And laughed at me…
You reached down my feet
But ended up adding one more chain
Now I struggle to undo them one by one
Only one of them can’t be undone
It’s the ‘chain of liberation’
Which you gave me as a farewell gift!!!
Strange
Strange is the light that blinds
Strange is the light behind dark shadows
Strange is the joy that inflicts pain
Strange is the love that teaches to hate
Strange is the life that must end in death
Strange is the meaning that is absurd
Strange are the dreams that cannot be real
Strange is the reality that is a dream
Strange are the clouds that don’t bring rain
Strange is the regret that hides the pride
Strange are the journeys that never end
Strange are the words that defy the form
Strange are the doors that never open
Strange is the religion that robs the faith
Strange are the bridges that separate
Strange is the war that is fought for peace
Strange are the journeys that never end!