The flame

 

The flapping flame is barely visible

Upon alighting on twigs of a bright hour

There it dangles for long enough till twilight

And smoulders to slumber in the dark nest 

Then the dwindling gait on a staggering path

Seeks succour of silvery drops that echo twinkle

The blindfolded mind looks for a step to tread upon

Even as the waves stretch with their flickering tears

The sky somewhere has slipped into ocean 

While I gaze at this deep and blurred unison

The vessel at horizon has soared within the cloud

While the stars have poured into the agitated waters

Groping on the dried sands afar from shore

I return to find my foot marks disolved by dawn.

 Rishikesh

2337

14.2.26

12.25 hrs

Beyond the margins

 

Like a falling bird

Beyond the margins 

Of the cracks in a broken sky

The shards prick and stab 

When the day interrogates 

What the night cannot reply

The mind sips from the spout

Whereas the shore denies

Even a drop to the parched mind

The beat skipped by a heart

When the dusk slips her hands

Into the grey pockets of twilight

As the night frisks an  evening

With her chilled hands 

Amidst the freezing dusk

What freezes inside is sheer pain

Even if it oozes out sometimes

The transparent drops camouflage 

Within the layers of heedless smile

The words return from the caves

With a smothered echo 

Like a seed sown outside furrow

The weed of a learned mind

The world beyond the margins

Noida

2336

21.46 hrs

28.1.26

The spark

 

The crackle that falls beyond timid eyes

It flushes ruby on the exuberant  visage 

The breath bellows with a thudding beat

The cauldron of emotion simmers deep

What happens behind the tight-lipped sighs

Like a supernova in the cataclysmic cosmos

Which looks just a twinkle to the afar eager sight.

Rishikesh 

2335

21.11 hrs

22.1.26

The mediocre story

 

The climb is on a steep façade

But the height is rather mediocre 

There is a dense foliage here and there

The fauna is only common beasts

A non descript mound that draws no attention 

A leap from atop ends with a faint thud

After the view from the apex is sparkling

Only to find that the glitter is mere

The bristles and shards that reflect.

Lucknow to Dehradun

17.05 hrs

2334

22 1.26

The mono life

 

The ebbing echo is now silent

Entangled in the contracting waves

Gagged with the slicing strings

That afloat a myriad dreams 

In the eye of my sky that hangs within

The call to the other side of tunnel

Dies in the rumble of busy life

There is no echo to respond 

Even if a negation is the answer

The throngs continue to emit a silent din

In the bustle from one spot to nowhere

Only to reach the wonted origin at night

After being flogged throughout the day

The deafness amidst the commotion

Where all crowd resembles only me

Like the thirsty fish drowning in water

Choked by the slithering noose of mind

Not a whimper in the overflowing silence

Amidst the decanted caracas of a whisper

I stumble upon the grave of my inner sound 

The other part of life is left far behind

It peeps into the yard and bids a bye

The mono life mistakenly deboards at the terminus

Without a counter to return to the past.

Enroute Lucknow to dehradun 

2333

22.1.26

16.34 hrs

The overlaying vessels

 

Saddled on a galloping vessel

That rides the turbulent waves

The strokes of my brush held still

Draw constellation on blank sky 

It has been a spotless night so far 

Deep and black , afar from twinkle

That gets sprinkled now on the canvas

As the waves roar the sky glitters more

But there is no moon visible tonight

To conjure the drops to mutiny 

In search of the immediate horizon

Somehow I miss the afar mast 

There are overlaying vessels always

The unseen one has always traveled with us 

While bearing the brine of wild waves

We realize only on reaching the sand

Once we are no more on the voyage.

2332

17.55 hrs 

19.1.26

Dehraun to Lucknow

The flyover

 

The intended route gets altered

Much like an unexpected switch

Of the wonted childhood track 

Mounted atop the path of today

The flyover of my little town

A mark of  sprouting urban glory

Changes the platform to deboard 

As life chugs from my outside world

The cherished roads of yesteryear

Once appeared dangerous to cross 

Now they are constricted lanes

Encroached by mushroomed stalls

Now they are dug deep below 

The overspeeding flyover  of day

It bypasses the places of many stories

The famous hawker snack on the signal

That caused chaos in the evening 

The proud shops decked in festive

Those gossips in the local markets

Where the neighbours share delicacy 

It takes a massive u-turn to visit

The cherished bustle of the past

When you turn into the town

Even after you cross your place

Where the flyover ends eventually 

Drops you facing the obsolete yard.

Bareilly 

09.25 hrs

2331

7.1.26