The twinkle of pebbles

The twinkle of pebbles

The  tap of ore on river bed

Wakes up the dried ripples

For blindfolded in the night

I let myself astray in slumber

The stars kept on winking

At their countenance in drops

But the shade of this dawn

Has devoured their twinkle

What is clear in the dark

Has vanished in obvious light

As if the sky at a wayward night

Reflected the twinkling stones

Now the sun will glow bright

And thaw the petrified drops.

Delhi

20.30 hrs

1876

20.9.20

The still born agnostic

 

The still born agnostic

One cage opens into another

Though an infinite cloudy one 

The sea that pours at horizon

Touches the cloud and doubts

The salt he carried amidst waves

For the rivers that plunged were bland

Some strands of hay and a pile of life.

The rain drops that fall into waves 

They giggle at the flakes on peaks

The pain of thaw and silt along banks

Like prayers to a misplaced God.

The patter of gushing rains on pane

The longing to lose salt to rain

Amidst the splash of carefree jump

When those without a cage huddle

And look for strands of hay for shelter

The porous umbrella of invisible fabric

And the breeze that pulls us back

As we tightly clutch on to a faith

That neither is dry nor drenched

The wonted  spots of dampness .

What looked like a nest from skies

Turned out to be an open cage

It saved from the downpour

Even as clouds vanished after rain

Delhi

1873

10.10 hrs

15.8.20

Thd hollow rocks

The hollow rocks

The  cave where nomads dwelt

Was indeed a vacated volcano

Bled till the last lava drop in vein

Now the algae veil the wounds 

Like a smile that masks acute pain

The abrasion of time adorns 

 My hollow walls that shelter 

The vagabond dreams of nowhere 

Delhi

1872

2.8.20

00.40 hrs

The sea fails to suffice

The sea fails to suffice

The sea fails to suffice 

For the  lost one drop

If it were a seed of cloud

I would await the rain

But here the drops fill eyes

In vain to recover the lost one

The sea indeed fails to suffice

Even though it overflows often

These fickle shores of vexed eyes

The  horizon changes his visage

With alarming monotony of time

The gory  returns after his dazzle

And cracks into the shell of grey

Often the high tide of helpless pain

Sprinkles a pinch of sea on my brow

But the lost one fails to return to shore.

Delhi

1871

00.12 hrs

2.8.20

The horizon barrier

The Horizon barrier

The siren tugs deep
Even as the tether
Slips from failing grip
The dragging feet slip
For the ferocious force
Is too much for mortal
Do we still lug on ropes
That have hung necks
The thud into brine
And our  burning eyes
Dripping soul in sea
Enchanted by the flutter
Of a motley mast..
The Master at the horizon
Severs from the floating nets
The caught fish from bait
Beyond a distance
We fail to connect..
Then the thud of time
We find ourselves on shore
Where footsteps get awashed
Every time someone treads
On the fickle glistening sand
The skies that resonate
The blue shade of wayward sea
Touch the sea ..at the horizon.
Delhi
01.36 hrs
12.7.20
1868

French to Bengali, “ my friend”
Reply by Bengali ,”my mind“
Both in their mother tongue” mon Amie”

The Pun-jab ones :
Chaa'munda – pick the guy
Vada pao- the foot fits into
Car eye – come home sometime
To see kiss tariff – where are you off to ?
Arrow dega – he will start crying
Gas di kadhi – a Guess watch
Bua mar jayin – shut the door when you leave
Balle balle wahu wahu – bats bats I am there I am there