Random Creatures

समय के टैंक

2011-11-16T13:54:00.001+05:30

रिश्ते
वाकये
साम्राज्य
इंक़लाब
फ़लसफ़े
बलिदान
नाइंसाफियां
कुचले जाते हैं सब
समय के टैंक के पहियों तले
नहीं रुकता वो, बढता जाता है
बाद में धूल छानो तो
मिलती हैं
टूटी-फूटी
कहानियां

**********************************

सुना वो आज़ भी लिख लेता है
उस में कुछ भूख बची होगी अभी

भूख ज़िंदा तो लफ्ज़ भी ज़िंदा

**********************************

आजकल सोच भटकती है कम
पकड़ के लीक सीधा सा चले मन

लगे है बूढ़ा हो चला शायद

मन, आसमान, सूरज , रात

2011-08-06T23:06:00.005+05:30

रात अंगारों सा सुलगता है राख के भीतर

सारे दिन फिर इसे सूरज ने जलाया कल भी

जैसे कागज़ था कोई रखा लेंस के नीचे

पड़ गया काला, हाशियों पे बस

बची चिंगारियों सी शाम सुलगती है अब

मेरा मन आसमान जैसा है

*************************************************

दो उजले सफेद पन्नों के बीच में रखी
एक कार्बन पेपर जैसी काली रात

*****************************************

लाल चटख सा एक सूरज हुआ बरामद आज सुबह
उस गुदड़ी से रात जिसे ओड़ के सोया आसमान था

2011-07-27T13:41:00.001+05:30

गो समझदार ये होता तो समझ ही लेता

हमने तो ख़ूब इशारे किये अपने दिल को

2011-07-27T12:38:00.003+05:30

दुहरा कर के पुर्ज़ा-पुर्ज़ा कर देती
याद तुम्हारी चिठ्ठी होती जो किसना

कुछ ख्याल

2011-06-26T18:48:00.000+05:30

आ, बादल से बादल टकरायें,
थोड़ी बारिश छलकायें,
और गरज के बोलें-
चीअर्स!

सुनो, तुम जब जाते हो,
पीछे ज़िंदगी के आकार का एक खालीपन छोड़ जाते हो.

कच्चे करोंदे के चख जैसा- तेरा बोसा

बच्चे की अंजली में गंगाजल सी- तेरी आँखें

2011-05-27T10:02:00.000+05:30

देखो तो आसमान में बिखरी हुई रुई
तारों ने रात जम के पिल्लो-फाइट की होगी

निरंतर

2011-04-26T10:37:00.005+05:30

गाली दे कर बात करते थे

गंदे लतीफे सुना सुना हँसते थे

सस्ती शराब बिना सोडे पी जाते थे

फिर फटे बांस सी आवाज में ग़ज़ल सुनाते थे

अब वक़्त के दरिया ने उन्हें घिस कर पोलिश्ड बना दिया है

वो रूखे पहाड़ी पत्थरों से मेरे पुराने दोस्त

अतीत की एल्बम

2011-04-26T10:25:00.003+05:30

अतीत के आले में, मरफी के रेडियो के पीछे
एक पुराना ब्लैक एंड वाईट एल्बम रखा है
थोड़ी फ़ुर्सत मिले तो उसे निकालूं और मोड़े पे
पीठ टिका माँ-पापा को नए सिरे से जानूं

धुंध की मीनार

2011-01-08T13:53:00.002+05:30

यहाँ पत्थर की लकीरों से वादे न करो
रिश्ते तो धुंध की मीनार हुआ करते हैं

यूँ तो हर दर किसी दीवार से निकलता है
और कभी रस्ते भी दीवार हुआ करते हैं

जिन्हें दुनिया की कोई गर्ज़ नहीं होती है
बड़े दिलचस्प वो किरदार हुआ करते हैं

तनहा तनहा

2011-01-08T13:40:00.004+05:30

कहने को जंगल कहते हैं
हर पेड़ मगर तनहा तनहा

यूँ चले सदा काफ़िलों में
पर कटा सफ़र तनहा तनहा

कभी वीराने जशनों से लगें
कभी जलसाघर तनहा तनहा

दो बात हमें भी करनी हैं
कभी मिलो अगर तनहा तनहा

अपनी संगत रब की संगत
मैं और सागर तनहा तनहा

जो यारों का था यार बड़ा
उसकी भी कबर तनहा तनहा

हम भीगे थे तनहा तनहा
बरसा बादर तनहा तनहा

armageddon

2010-10-21T11:27:00.004+05:30

The gods that are now, and
The Gods that once were
They flee from their high places
As the heavens turn to ashes

The wail of the frightened
Is the curse of the Kali
The spell to bring death knell
On your heads,on your heads

All the soirees and the silver
Them parades in war ensemble
All your portraits golden gleaming
Go to dust, turn to rust

All your feasts and fornication
All your bad deeds with the good ones
Are decreed to be forgotten
Like things that never happened

Songs of ghosts, voice of dead men
Cursive curls of smoke and vapor
Like black stains on blackened paper
Nothing more, nothing more

All the bards that you fattened
Are but birds for our arrows
Even language must be murdered
On the day that's surely coming

So don't count on your tales spun
Of blue blood and rights divine
Heaven sent, destiny's child
For the tongues are thrown to crows

We are mourning now but morning
come, we'll forge an Armageddon
Wheels always turn full circle
Rest assured, rest assured

Metro

2010-04-30T09:39:00.003+05:30

मेरे शहर में एक अज़ीब फ़सल उगी है
सीमेंट के खम्भों पर
पटरियों की बेल चड़ी है
और उस पे लोहे की रेल खड़ी है

जिसमें ढेरों लोग पके हैं

Toxi City

2010-04-30T09:36:00.002+05:30

खड़े रहते हैं स्काईस्क्रेपर
मगर रिश्ते यहाँ भुरभुरा कर

बिखर जाते हैं
ये भूखा शहर
उनकी नींव में लगे समय को
घुन की तरह खा जाता है

2010-02-16T10:37:00.001+05:30

सूरज एक टप्पा ले के फिर घूमता सा आया
लप्पे में ज़िन्दगी ने एक और दिन गँवाया

दिन को सुबह के सिरे से पकड़ कर फिर सुलट दिया है
देखें शाम तक फिर से कितना उलझता है

हम तो सीखा-सिखाया भूल चुके
अब कोई बात नयी हमको सिखाओ बच्चों

2010-02-05T13:47:00.000+05:30

हर चोट ने इक पहलू खोला,
हर दर्द ने रस्ता दिखलाया,
क्या कोई सख्त मिजाज स्कूल की
मास्टरनी है ये माया

2010-02-04T14:30:00.000+05:30

दुनिया तमाशे सी थी जब हम फ़कीर थे
अब दुनियादार हो गए तो जंग बन गयी

2010-02-03T16:45:00.002+05:30

उम्र ने सारी तमन्नाएं खरच कर दी मगर बस इक,
वो बचपन के मकां की छत पे निकले धूप, फुरसत हो

2010-01-25T16:13:00.001+05:30

ये धूप भी खुदाया क्या टूट के निकली है
शादी में कोई लड़की ज्यों तैयार हो आई हो

है चंद रात की बस चंदा की मोनोपोली
रोशन करो अमावस, तुम नूर की जाई हो

2010-01-23T12:51:00.004+05:30

किसी आसमानी शह का फेंका हुआ लंगर
कोहरे के समंदर में डूबा है यूँ शहर
सड़कों पे टिमटिमाती तैरती हैं गाड़ियाँ
ज्यों गहरे समंदर में चमकती हों मछलियाँ

कुछ लोग

2009-12-13T19:59:00.000+05:30

बोलना बंद कीजे लोगों से

लोग तो कुछ भी बोल देते हैं

जो गिरहें बांधने में सालों लगें

उन को मिनटों में खोल देते हैं

बात सीधी करो भले कितनी

जवाब गोल मोल देते हैं

रिश्ते यूं जोडते हैं कुछ हजरत

जैसे सीरियल में रोल देते हैं

तू, चाँद, बादल, मौसम

2009-11-30T18:13:00.001+05:30

तेरा पहलू बैठना बस
सिहरनों का सिलसिला है

तेरा मिलना ज़िन्दगी भर
की दुआओं का सिला है

हमने उस दिन ईद कर दी
चाँद जिस दिन तू मिला है

तू हमारा हो, ये सपना
बादलों का इक किला है

तेरी देखा-देखी देखो
पूरा एक मौसम खिला है

2009-11-06T17:50:00.000+05:30

चाँद का कंचा, रात की गुच्चक
दोनों आंखें टीम हमारी

आद्या के लिए

2009-10-22T11:36:00.002+05:30

सुबह एक दोस्त मिला,
बोला,
"बड़े खुश दीखते हो ड्यूड,
तारे तोड़ लाये हो क्या ?"

"तारे नहीं, पूरा चाँद,"
मैंने कहा,
"तोड़ के घर में सजा लिया है,
अब यहीं रहेगा,
शाम घर आना
देखने"

संगत का असर

2009-08-24T20:58:00.001+05:30

बहुत दिन से
चुप है ज़िन्दगी
न खास शिकवे-शिकायत
न ज्यादा हील-ओ-हुज्जत

सुधर गयी है शायद
तेरी संगत पा कर

River Oblivion

2009-08-17T11:31:00.004+05:30

Yesterday, I scraped my knee
9 years ago, my heart
Almost died
Almost lived
Confined 35 monsoons
3 cities
And as many Kumbh Melas
To the dusty attic
of my memory

All this while
Constellations traversed the night
And Ganga lashed relentlessly
against the ghats of Haridwar

Oblivious
of me

मैंने सोचा

2009-06-04T23:12:00.005+05:30

रिश्ते नाते दोस्ती प्यार
कोरे शब्द, निरर्थक, बेकार
केवल दुनियादारी-व्यवहार
मैंने सोचा

जाते हैं तो जाएँ मेरी बला से
जी लेंगे अकेला
या ढूँढ लेंगे कोई दूजा
मैंने सोचा

स्वयं ही सत्य है, बस
एकाकी है हर कोई, भीतर
बाकी सब दिल का बहलाना, बहाना
मैंने सोचा

फ़िर मिले तुम, अनायास
ज़िन्दगी ने लगाया व्यंग्य भरा ठहाका
बोली- सब समझते हो, है ना?

कान पकड़े, खिसियाया
गलत थी शायद अब तक मेरी सोच
मैंने सोचा

अपना चाँद

2009-05-15T00:34:00.008+05:30

सूना पहलू सूनी सेज, दूर देस क्यूँ बैठा चाँद
आ जा कितने बरस गए, तू भी होगा तन्हा चाँद

सूनी आँखें बैरी नींद, कैसे देखूँ सपना चाँद
कोई रास नहीं आता, जब से हुआ तू अपना चाँद

झिलमिल मेरी तलैया थी, उस में तेरी छैया थी
अब किस से खेलूँगा मैं, ले गया अपनी छैया चाँद

सो जा तू साजन सो जा, मेरे सपनों में खो जा
रात डूबने वाली है, तड़के घर लौटेगा चाँद

अजनबी

2009-05-01T15:39:00.009+05:30

सात साल हुए
हो तुम अजनबी
आज भी

शुक्र है

अच्छा लगता है
साल दर साल
पहचान बढ़ाना

आम

2009-04-28T14:06:00.001+05:30

ऊंची डाली पे लटका
धूप में तपता है
पकता है
और हो जाता है मीठा
आम

लम्बी कतार में लगा
धूप में तपता है
थकता है
और कड़वाहट से भर जाता है
आम इंसान

भेड़िया / कुत्ता

2009-04-27T14:18:00.003+05:30

मेरे पुरखे थे
जंगल के जाये
उसकी जायदाद के उत्तराधिकारी
रात ओड़ कर
चाँद से बतियाने वाले
शिकारी

मैं
जाने क्या सोच कर
शहर में बस गया

अब शिकार पे नहीं
टुकडों पे जीता हूँ
कभी पुचकारा जाता हूँ
कभी दुत्कारा जाता हूँ
कभी पागल हो दौड़ता हूँ
अमीरों की गाड़ियों के पीछे
कभी कुचला जाता हूँ
उन्ही के नीचे
सड़कों पे सोता हूँ
नस्ल बढाता हूँ
और अक्सर
वहीँ मर जाता हूँ

हाँ, और एक फर्क है
अब मैं भेड़िया नहीं
कुत्ता कहलाता हूँ

Image: Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times

Why?

2008-12-09T23:39:00.014+05:30

I do not understand religion
Or politics, and other such words
But tell me, are words reason enough
for you to want to kill me?

I make my pilgrimage on the daily local
All I ever worship is bread
My only crusade, to feed a family of seven
Brother, why do you need to kill me?

Perhaps, I have done you wrong
By my ignorance of your existence, your pain
Perhaps, I do not know your God
Although, I hardly know mine
Perhaps I didn't try enough to understand
But wouldn't you care to explain?

I'd tell you this though, brother
I never meant you any harm
I am, was, merely
A bundle of hopes, fears and desires
Like you, just like you, then
Why did you have to kill me?

Dark Dawn

2008-11-08T18:23:00.006+05:30

How slowly does the dawn ascend
How rapid falls the dusk
How quickly silent fears are found
How angels swallow dust

How prickly is the seat of righteous
How plush the thrones of damned
How rapid falls the dusk, behold
How slowly dawn ascends

A Poem

2008-09-02T09:20:00.003+05:30

Visit me
in a moment of extraordinary lucidity
like a poem

The image is a quick sketch of my wife, my muse, done by me.

3 little poems

2008-08-18T22:45:00.011+05:30

Why do I have to be
your mother, sister or daughter
to qualify as a person?

The moon looked at
through trees
is not the same as
the moon looked at
through wires

Version 1:
It's been three days
I still sleep
where we made love

Version 2:
Been three days
since
you've been gone
I lie upon the
sheets
we made love on

Version 3:
Three days
you are gone
I lie here
all alone
in the bed we
made love on

Image 1: The Pregnant Woman, Alice Neel, 1971

Old Man Rum

2008-08-12T11:40:00.007+05:30

Listen,
do you know Old Man Rum?
Is he not the patron saint
of poets and perverts,
homos and hobos,
coyotes and castaways,
who burn their quiet quaint lives
at the skid row, huddled
along the margins of a city?

Old Man Rum, he is
a dark kindly man
with old world charm,
dirty rotten teeth,
a wry smile
and ancient manners
He wears a
ragged tweed coat
with countless years
in its pockets,
and the funky smell
of a century
washed yesterday

Old Man Rum visits me
in quiet humid nights,
murmuring faraway tales;
His raspy gravelly voice
never fails to provoke
a desperate longing for
the lap of my father

His voice wafts up
from the depths of my
third, perhaps fourth drink;
And the fishnet of worries
stretched across my brow
lets go, of
this school of memories,
I should have forsaken
long ago

Image courtesy Sue Clinker

Joke of the Century

2008-08-03T18:04:00.002+05:30

Here, take this-
A moment of my
ordinary, meaningless,
inconsequential life

Analyse it
Criticise it
Praise it
Plagiarise it

But what use can
a moment of my life be
When my life is as
Ordinary, meaningless
and inconsequential,
As yours

You amuse me.

An Afternoon in Staccato

2008-08-03T17:37:00.003+05:30

Fan turns
So the pages
TV flickers
So the thoughts
Sweat oozes
Mingles with air
Car
Dog
Child
Outside

Inside
Silence

Days

2008-05-01T20:00:00.010+05:30

Remember,
When days were
allies?

Tall summer afternoons spent
hours in the tall grass, chasing
butterflies
And lazing sand dunes waved,
Come, play upon our soft
bellies
Colours, like strangers, were waiting to be
befriended
Tales, their yarns entangled, that never
ended

But now,
Days have turned
rivals.

Mornings bent down by
ambitions, that they fail to
please
Life in the death grip of
time, that won't let it
wheeze
Evenings covertly conspiring, with dark
exhaustion
Colours all faded, tales caught in wisdom's
contraption

O, how do I lend yesterday's flavour to my
today
Shrug off the numbness of perching, and fly
away

कल और आज

2008-02-16T15:46:00.005+05:30

कभी

दिन हुआ करते थे दोस्त
गरमी की छुट्टियों की भरी दुपहरियाँ
छानती थी सरकंडों के झुरमुटों में
तितलियाँ

अलसाते रेत के टिब्बे बुलाते थे हमको
अपने मखमली मुलायम पेट पर
कूदने को

पहचानने को थे कितने नए रंग
और सुलझाने को अनगिनत कहानियों के
तिलस्म

और आज

हर दिन है प्रतिद्वंदी
जिसकी टांगों की कैंची में थक कर
जकड़ी है ज़िन्दगी यूँ कि साँस लेना भी
दुशवार

हर सुबह की पीठ पर वादों इरादों का भार
और शाम की साडी का छोर थामे खड़ी है
थकान, हार

सारे रंग हैं उड़े उड़े, खुशबुयें उकताई
और कहानियों के शीशों पर चडी समझ की
काई

क्या किसी को मालूम है ऐसा कोई नुस्खा
जो आज में घोल दे गुजरे कल का स्वाद
और एक बार फ़िर कर दे हमें जिम्मेदारियों से
आज़ाद

Vinci Summers

2007-05-17T18:48:00.000+05:30

Naked I lie
'neath the perfect circle
of my fan
She says, I
remind her of another,
The Vitruvian Man

Ephemeral

2007-01-24T18:35:00.001+05:30

रुई के रेशों को
धुएं की सियाही में डुबो कर
उनसे रेत पे उकेरी इबारत
...
...
...
जिंदगी

(Translation)

With gossamer strands of cotton
Dipped in the ink of smoke
scrolled a story over sand
...
...
...
Life.

Anew

2006-12-18T18:42:00.001+05:30

Scrub, scrub
Scrub the dead skin

Scrape, scrape
Scrape the rust

Chip, chip
Chip the hard wood

Blow, blow
Blow the dust

Who am I?

2006-12-16T15:59:00.000+05:30

Rot

In your own filth

Unkempt, inebriated

Wallow

In pathetic, pitiful

Self-loathing

Self-destruct

In slow valium-induced sleep

Or die quick, slash your wrists

Surrender

To my venom

As old as your dark heart

I am

more lethal than plague

Deadlier than the bloodiest war

I am

A monster

A wrathful god

I am love

4 Hindi Poems (images)

2006-08-24T20:51:00.000+05:30

Click on the images to enlarge.

4 Hindi Poems

2006-08-24T19:35:00.000+05:30

Do turn on unicode to view these poems in devanagri/hindi script.
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1. रोज़

दिन के साथ आसान है बसर
दिन है अजनबी हमसफ़र
और अजनबी के साथ
बात करना जरूरी नहीं

और काली कलूटी रात भी
ज्यादा नहीं सताती है
अपने काले कंबल में
बेहोशी सौगात ले आती है

कमीनी है तो बस ये शाम
साथ लाती है यादें बेलगाम
जैसे कालेज़ के छिछोरे यार
ना टाले बनें, न संभाले

2. मुसलमान

अच्छे लगते हैं मुझे मुसलमान
या फिर यूँ कहूं कि इन्सान

अच्छे लगते हैं उनके बुर्ज़, मीनारें
उनकी मस्ज़िद, गुम्बज़, अज़ान
अच्छे लगते हैं उनके शायर
औ’ उनकी खूबसूरत ज़ुबान
मेरी ज़मीन के भागी हैं उनके कुनबे
मेरी रोटी में सिले हैं उनके भी निवाले

चाहे कुछ कहे तुम्हारी दुनिया
देख्नना एक दिन जीतेगा मेरा नज़रिया
औ’ हारेंगे अलगाववादी जब
उनका एक हाथ दूसरे से कर लेगा रंज़िश

चाहे कुछ कहे तुम्हारा बुश

अच्छे लगते हैं मुझे मुसलमान
या फिर यूँ कहूं कि इन्सान

3. कुत्ता

पहले भटकता फिरता था गली-गली
आँखें फ़ाड़े, जीभ उघाड़े
हाँफता, काँपता, भूखा, बेसबरा

अब ये साला तेरा पालतू हो गया है
मेरा दिल

4. साला सूरज

ठंडक पड़ जाये दिल को जो
मुँह करवा ले काला सूरज
तड़के मेरी खिड़की पे फिर
आ बैठा है साला सूरज

बादल से मरहमपटटी कर
दो तो शायद चैन पड़े कुछ
आसमान की पीठ पे जैसे
पीप भरा इक छाला सूरज

सुनते हैं गोरी नस्लों को
धूप बड़ी अच्छी लगती है
हमको बारिश दे दो, बदले
में ले जाओ साला सूरज

Not A Happy Poem

2006-08-09T03:58:00.000+05:30

Last night
I sat me down to write
A happy poem
About love, or rain, or children
But it’s not easy to write one
When you’re thinking of Lebanon
Of smiles crushed beneath the wails
And faces buried beneath their veils
I couldn't help but imagine
What if it were you, my love,
Stranded beneath an angry sky
A sky raining fire and missiles
Death pouring down in torrents
Could I bear to see the face
Of my own child, my beautiful boy
Lying there among the fallen flowers
So tonight
A poem I must write
About love, or rain, or children
Perhaps not a happy one, yet
Maybe the world would do better
With a sad poem, than
A war

An Absyrd Ode to The Rainbow Weavers

2006-06-21T21:20:00.000+05:30

Yanked the fyngers
Of my fancy
Held me sway
With dogged dancy
Byrdsmiths
And worldsmiths
They brought me here

Wyrd by wyrd
And rhyme by rhyme
Through the ether
Past the tyme
Absurdmyths
And weirdsmiths
They brought me here

Now I live here
In this land
Of phantom forms
And shifty sand
This wondrous reverie
Of my mynd
They brought me here

And every day
Is frabjous day
I gyre and gimble
Callooh! Callay!
I chortle in joy
Like a beamish boy
They brought me here

Homecoming

2006-05-29T20:44:00.000+05:30

I’m home again, my love
Now I’ll pull you closer,
Wrap my arms around you
twice over,
And suck on your lower lip,
My favourite of the twain

In a little while,
We’ll make love,
Unrestrained, frenzied
I’ll swim in your velvet heart
Nay, sink
Drink you in long noisy gulps
You, filled to the brink
I’ll feed on your warmth
In big chunky mouthful scoops
And let you feed on mine

Then, sapped,
I’ll lie on my back
A sweaty son of God,
resurrected, recuperating
And watch your moon-face
Rise slowly
Over my horizon

Matargashti

2006-04-20T11:53:00.000+05:30

मटरगश्ती

आ चाल कोई चल के, फिर जिंदगी जगायें
चोरी से धर दबोचें, धप्पा उसे लगायें

सूरज को ढप से ढक दें, लंगड़ से फिर उतारें
बादल किनारे कर के, चंदा को कंचा मारें
चल आसमां को छानें, कुछ तारे बीन लायें

बाहों को हम उठा कर, भर लें हवा बगल में
दौडें ढलान पर आ, इस घास पर उछल लें
बगिया के हाथ से चल, कुछ फूल छीन लायें

नदिया की खींच चुन्नी, मफ़लर उसे बना लें
तकिये में भर के बादल, एक दूसरे को मारें
कपड़े उतार फेंके, बारिश में चल नहायें

बन कर के हम मवाली, खेंचे कनक की बाली
अमरूद सारे झाड़ें, जबरन झुका के डाली
कोयल से छुप-छुपाकर कुछ अम्बियाँ चुरायें

कंकर को मार के चल, कोई गिलहरी डरा दें
खिड़की को खट से खोलें, कोई कबूतर उड़ा दें
पाड़े के पीछे दौड़ें, पिठठू उसे बनायें

कैक्टस से सूत कर के माँझा जरा चढ़ा लें
चीलों को लूट के हम कन्ने उन्हें लगा दें
अंधड़ से आज चल के पेंचे ज़रा लड़ायें

कानों में कुर्र से सीटी, तिनका कोई घुसायें
आ चाल कोई चल के, फिर जिंदगी जगायें

If your system doesn't support unicode, click on the image below to enlarge.

Sorry, there's no English translation this time. The darn poem has way too many ethnic layers to be translated effectively, and yet manage to convey the original feel. At least, I couldn't do it.

Sookha (Famine): Dohe

2006-04-18T12:41:00.000+05:30

सूखा

सूखी धरती, सूखा बीहड़, सूखे नदिया-ताल ।
अब के बरस भी होगा, लागे, पिछले बरस सा हाल ॥

बिनती कर-कर बरसे नैना, भीजे सगरे गाल ।
बरस ना तरसे सूखा, अब तो बरसो गगन बिसाल ॥

मौसम धरती के चौपड़ पे चलिहै ऐसी चाल ।
गरमी थै-थै ताण्डव करिहै, सूरज देवे ताल ।

बनी मछरिया जात आदम की, नियति फेंके जाल ।
प्राण भी भीते हिरन सा ह्ड़के, हुआ आखेटी काल ॥

सूखा गोकुल, सूखी जमना, सूखी कदम की डाल ।
प्यासी गइया माता घूमे, प्यासा किसना ग्वाल ॥

भाल भाल पे फ़ैला, देखो, चिन्ताओं का जाल ।
बगलें झाँके बच्चे, जब-जब पूछे भूख सवाल ॥

थाल भरे मुर्दा डंगर के, जीमें गिद्ध-सियाल ।
महाकाल साक्षात बिराजे, बन के महा अकाल ॥

If your system doesn't support unicode, click on the image below to enlarge.

Famine (Translation)

The land is parched, the jungles arid, the rivers and ponds have all dried up.
Apparently, this year will not be too different from the last one.

See, these eyes pour as they pray ceaselessly, and my cheeks are all drenched.
O great big skies, pour down now, donot let the year go by dry again.

The season plays crooked moves on the earth’s chessboard.
The heat dances ‘Tandava’ (Lord Shiva’s dance of destruction that he performs to bring about apocalypse) to the beat of sun.

The sons and daughters of Adam are akin to fish, and destiny- a merciless fisherman.
Life scampers about like a frightened deer; death follows on its heels like a determined hunter.

Gokul is dry, the river Yamuna is dry, dry is the tree of ‘Kadam’. (Gokul is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Yamuna and Kadam-tree are also symbols of Lord Krishna’s childhood).
The mother-like cow roams thirsty, and so does Kisna- the cow-keeper. (Lord Krishna was a cow-keeper himself.)

The entangled net of worries is cast on everyone’s forehead.
The children don’t know which way to look when hunger raises a question.

The table is set with the corpses of cattle, as the vultures and jackals feast.
The Grim Reaper himself comes visiting, in the guise of famine.

The Choice: Redux

2006-04-17T12:14:00.000+05:30

Re-edit of an old poem:

Splat anti
My bloodshot eyes,
Hangs my nightmare

Spindly, hairy,
Upturned, eight-legged,
Thrashing about

I thrink to lose it
In zigzag abstractions
And pregnant metaphors

The question
however
remains

When ‘tis cold
and dark
and utterly lonely
Who/What
would you
Be

Would you
dream of light
and warmth
and love
and stay
A Poet

Or would you
turn cold
and bitter
and impregnable
and safe,
But Alone

Why Do I Write?

2006-04-07T14:10:00.000+05:30

Sometimes
It is
To unleash my rabid words
And set them loose
Upon an unsuspecting world
One sniff of tattered truth
Off they go
To fetch their echo
Or die
Hunting

Sometimes
It is
To dust my dark closet
Throw away worn memories
And take out
My damp rotting soul
Spread it out in the sun
To keep it safe
From moths and
Demons

At other times
It is
Just to see my words
Joining hands
Dancing in circles
Playing with abandon
Like little children
I just clap with them
And sing
Along

But mostly
It is
Because it is not
Something I just do
But because I really am
Someone who would do
Just such a thing
Mostly it is
To change the
World

Black Birth

2006-04-03T14:18:00.000+05:30

Last sundown,
roundabout midway,
between yesterday
and the night,
She entered my room,
subtle, cat-like,
as usual;
And handed me,
as abruptly
as a sneeze ,
A saucerful of metaphors,
with a question.

Who would you rather be?
said She,
A mirror, that bounces
the light you throw,
Or
A blackhole,
that eats it up
and doesn't let go.

I’d rather be,
said I,
A Black Whole.

Birha Ke Dohe

2006-03-28T13:13:00.000+05:30

Tujh bin har din kaise niglun, bina namak ka saag

Kab aavoge, thakya chhat pe bol bol ke kaag
Kab ghar par sovoge sajan, kab jagenge bhaag

Sukha patta joban mera, yaad tumhari aag
Raat huyi hai karwat karwat, bistar kala naag

Kaisa jetha, kaisa kattik, kaise pus or maagh
Bin baati ke bale diwali, sookha ghoome faag

Kab tak bairan neend banegi, kab tak hogi jaag
Kab tak jogan aankh japegi vahi purana raag

Gaon ko bhooli, des bhi bisra, aisi laagi laag
Bas ve chunri od ke raakhun, jismein laaga daag

Tujh bin har din kaise niglun, bina namak ka saag

(A Translation)

These are the words of a woman who waits in quiet desperation for her lover to return. Her life is caught in a hiatus of constant craving. The structure is in the form of ‘doha’, i.e. couplets in Hindi. It also has shades of sufi poetry where the lover could very well be The Divine.

The Couplets of Severance

O, how do I swallow each day without you, for ‘tis bland like a meal without spice?

The crow has grown tired of cawing on my roof (Cawing of a crow on one’s roof is considered an omen for someone coming back home), when will you return?
O, when will you sleep at home, and when will my luck awaken?

My youth is akin to dried leaves, and your memories, like fire.
The night is tattered to tosses and turns, and my bed feels like a venomous snake.

The seasons, they go by listlessly, ever since you've left.
‘Diwali’ (a festival where one lights lamps) burns without wick, and ‘Holi’ (a festival where people play with water) roams all dry.

O, for how long shall this sleep stay an enemy, for how long shall I keep awake?
O, for how long shall my eyes chant the same old song, how long?

I have forgotten my native village, even my native country, such is my obsession.
All I do is roam about in these sullied clothes. (In sufi poetry, the body has often been compared to a sullied robe that one must get rid of in order to be one with one’s beloved, The Divine.)

O tell me, how do I swallow each day without you, for ‘tis bland like a meal without spice?

Silence

2006-03-20T12:24:00.000+05:30

Must
You
Speak
When

To define
Reality
Through words
Is
To confine it

To tame
Time
In words
Is
To maim it

To chisel
Vision
With words
Is
To cheat

To label
Truth
By Words
Is
To lie

Must
You
Speak
Then

She Was So Beautiful

2006-03-07T17:20:00.000+05:30

Crowfeet gushed forth
From converging corners
Of her clouded eyes
In cascades
Like a silken net
They shrouded her face
In a kindness seasoned by
Nine decades

Crumpled butter paper
With a faded scent
Of milk and earth
Her withered skin
Like crushed cotton
It wrapped her tiny frame
In a size but too big
A robe too thin

Knotted and twisted
By a toil-filled life
Her root-like fingers
Felt unexpectedly slight
Now drained and shriveled
Her sacred bosom
Had suckled four nestlings
And given them flight

That sea of tenderness
So warm and still
Back to the white glacier
She must have flown
The mother of my mother
My fair old lady
The beautiful one
Alas, she is gone

In My Eyes: An English Ghazal

2006-03-04T14:06:00.000+05:30

Already parched, by the thirst in my eyes
How could you still fling more dust in my eyes?

Alas, I missed when it blew off your veil
Blinded by that very gust in my eyes

My Gauri, my Mary, my Jezebel, you bring
A prayer on my lips, primal lust in my eyes

I forge it in the cast of my saber-like words
Lest this iron should catch rust in my eyes

Do not be led astray by my fancy song
Look instead for truth, you must in my eyes

I am, I am, I am, I am- I am
The sovereign of all I see, just in my eyes

Clandestine

2006-03-03T19:51:00.000+05:30

One March afternoon
Past a long hiatus
The writer returns

His lithe fingers
So earnestly intent on
Not stirring silence

Quietly, they perch
Upon the dusty keyboard
With muted hush

No-one, yes, no-one
In the whole workplace
Must ever know

He writes poems
As work-flow trickles, and
Deadlines die slow

My Words (An English Ghazal)

2006-02-20T14:26:00.000+05:30

Strived to capture your splendour, my words
From the first, bound for failure, my words

Just nodding your head in agreement won’t do
Compel you to change your behaviour, my words

Perhaps they do sting like absinthe, but
In a while, you’d begin to savour my words

I may not appear too clever, true, yet
I do not use lies to flavour my words

Faithful, they stoned me for blasphemy, yes
At least they do not lack valour, my words

I do not ask you to be lavish with praise
Just call them a sincere endeavour, my words

I sing them to you, but don’t get me wrong
They don’t quite seek your favour, my words

Jawmetry Bawx

2006-02-10T17:23:00.000+05:30

To circumvent the circus
The circle circles turkey
While the square at the esquire
Squanders away its time
The quadrilateral all quirky
Its vertices quite perky
Tricks the tipsy triangle
Why just to make it rhyme

The Rectangle is reckless
A rebellious rock n’ roller
The paralleogram’s parading
With a Persian palindrome
The Polygon’s bipolar
Pope pulled out its molar
And the rhombus rides the roam-bus
All the way to Rome

I am

2006-01-30T17:47:00.000+05:30

I am
The ancient voice, calling
From across the cobwebs of time
I am
Adam’s middle finger, poking
Veiled eyes of the sighted blind

I am
The cosmic rooster, croaking
To shake-a-wake the sleeping ones
I am
The fire-starter, breathing
Sparks into your sagging lungs

I am
The ghost of shamans, whispering
Sacred chants into your ears
I am
The heart of lions, tearing
Cadavers of mortal fears

I am
The timeless bard, who sings
Of courage in the darkest of times
I am
The quintessential poet
Living-in with your conscience

Brink

2006-01-23T14:23:00.000+05:30

The Automaton
Shackled
In the manacles of habit
Suspended
In the residue of predicament
Hypnotized
By the roadside scenery
Along the way to this moment

One-two
One-two
One-two

Three

The Homunculus
Lashing
Its flagellum angrily
Trapped
Beneath the translucent grime
Scheming
Its imminent escape
To a better place, a happier time

Heave-ho
Heave-ho
Heave-ho

Free

Revolution

2006-01-12T10:04:00.000+05:30

Arise
O sleepy Davids
Awake
O slumbering giants
The world is crushed to splinters
Goliaths are running blind
The Gaia’s sobbing softly
Her sons have ears of wood
Time has come, when the rising sun
Must rouse the neighbourhood
So raise yourselves an army
And march against them all
Flesh and bones and five smooth stones
To make the enemy fall
Flesh and bones and five smooth stones
To make the enemy fall

We

2006-01-04T14:05:00.000+05:30

We, the mediocre poets
Always hanging by the hem of a poem
Not quite finding the magical words
That’d prick your soul, trick your soul
We twist our meaning to your rhyme

We, the average philosophers
Forever lurking at the edge of truth
Not quite summoning the courage
To truly embrace what we know
To truly know what we have embraced

We, the half-way rebels
Standing for long with angst in our songs
Not quite unleashed, unsheathed
Squatted upon our ivory towers
With clenched fists and rectum, and eunuch rage

We, the settled down nomads
With ancient wanderlust on our breath
That reeks of moss upon rolling stones
Sitting aside our bundled belongings
Disintegrating within our make-shift abodes

We, yes, we- you, and you, and me
Fence sitters forevermore
Siding with war, but longing for peace
Waiting for madmen and messiahs
To set us free, and let us be

a song of hope

2005-12-14T17:30:00.000+05:30

Arms spread
Open wide
Come on over
Step inside

Long forgotten
Smog of pain
In diamond sunshine
And crystal rain

Open roads
Speedy steed
Playful lovers
Godspeed

Lashes to ashes
Longing to lust
Darkness to sonrise
Hurdles to dust

the road to sillyville

2005-06-15T18:32:00.000+05:30

One moment, I’m a fly
Flailing and thrashing
Against a web of deadlines

The next, I let go of me
I fall and sink
Into a dream, a dream

Here I am, this is I
Perched over the snout
Of a hideous gargoyle

A sign glows in the sky
From the corner of my eye
I see a shadow swing by

Don't I know this place from somewhere
Are those Arkham spires in the distance
And isn't that the Wayne manor

And so, lost, I stalk the night
I walk where shadow subjugates light
In the city of the dark Gotham knight

I guess, you can say

I walk the fine line between
So called reality
And what’s clearly a dream

My First Day At Work

2005-05-13T12:17:00.000+05:30

Paint your face
Join the race
Tread on toes
For standing space
Shed your tees
Get those stripes
Buy a set of
Sweetened knives
Learn your manners
Lose your roar
Never mind
The dirty gore
Now you’ve learnt
Your money’s bred
Are you shocked
Your soul is dead

Somewhere We Belong

2005-05-13T12:16:00.000+05:30

Somewhere…

In a cold town
We would roam the narrow streets together
Sit by the road, upon the cobblestones
And gauge the faces of perfect strangers
Who would respond with half a smile
Reminiscing of some obscure memories
In their own forgetful brains
We would watch the dense fog
Rising from the surface of some ancient lake
We would huddle ourselves closer
In a futile bid to conjure warmth in our dew wet clothes
So the warmth of our bodies
Could compete with the warmth of our hearts
We would sit there for long silent hours
I, mesmerized by the dew drop on the tip of your nose
Your brazen cheeks rubbed by the sandpaper wind

Not in a hurry to reach anywhere
For we would have already arrived.

The Choice

2005-05-13T12:15:00.000+05:30

The dream hangs in all its glory
Like a vulgar spider
Ugly, eight-legged, eyes on tentacles and all

And chaos serves as usual
To take my mind off the unfathomable

So tell me when it’s cold and dark
and lonelier than ever
Would you still be dreaming of light and warmth and companions
And stay a poet

Would you be hanging on to beauty
Even when you know it’s just a white faced lie
Would you still have faith in love
Even when it cuts like a rusty saber every time you touch it

Or would you rather turn cold and bitter
And impregnable
Safe but alone

When I Painted My Masterpiece

2005-05-13T12:14:00.000+05:30

I close my eyes and knit a river
To keep afloat the visions of my mind
Beneath the turbulence lies secure
the seed of my reality

Snuggled next to her skin
Hear a silent voice, a cryptic signature
Veiled away from the mortal eye
The hum of a secret garden in bloom

Her body becomes a canvas
Her skin the colours
All in wait of bold strokes and gentle scrawls
Colourful violence and timid tenderness

All to summon the masterpiece in ‘her’
As yesterday’s stereotypes reshuffle like cards

Once Upon A Lifetime

2005-05-13T12:03:00.000+05:30

He gazed at her with doleful eyes,
carelessly tossing a fragment of a smile.
Made-believe he was holding a Fender Stratocaster he didn’t know how to play and.

He held what he imagined to be the precise chord to mirror what he felt.
Turned to watch the ocean shift restlessly in its bed and.

In his mind, he raised his left brow,
let his close-cropped hair fall over his shoulder.
Then he sang in his sandpaper voice.

He sang.

"Are you out, or are you in?
Shall we stop, or begin?
Do you know how I feel?
Can we ride now, with the wheel?

Shall I stay, is it changing?
Or have we lost on rearranging?
Shall I strive, or shall I wait?
Shall I change what looks like fate?"

Then he extended his hand,
and he let it just lie there outstretched in the enormous emptiness.
Waiting.

She sat there, pondering
for a little over two minutes past eternity,
her mind caught in a downward spiral,
her thoughts circling in eddies
that led her to a dark tunnel infested with ghosts.

She shook the drops of sorrow out of her hair.
Her hair.
Her hair.
And then she placed her hand in his outstretched handwith a finality that didn't need an adjective.

Heart alias Wolverine

2005-05-13T12:00:00.001+05:30

My Wolverine heart,
It cusses, and swears
Smokes like a chimney,
And downs several beers

Its ways are quite rustic, yet hard to resist,
It’s adamantium claws do come out with a snikt
And unlike an ogre, it don’t have no layers,
It stalks like a hunter, to catch you unawares

My Wolverine heart,
Is ancient, un-aged
It feeds on amnesia,
And berserker rage

Struts like a bull, but it’s really quite tame,
Will go for a ride for the hint of a dame
Exposes its belly, for what, belly rub,
But if you mess with it, then you’ve had it, bub

My Wolverine heart,
Is stunted, but tough
The best that there is at
Whatever it does

Slice it, and dice it, and shred it to threads,
Burn it to cinders, beat it to pulp
When you're done with it bub, when you are through
It heals right back over, and gets good as new

Yes it’ll heal in a minute, and pounce back on you

The Rider (in the sky)

2005-05-13T11:57:00.000+05:30

(Phase-I: Renunciation)

Go away now,
I don’t heed you
I don’t want you world,
No, I don’t need you

I start my journey,
There’s no one with me
My path is calling me,
Oh, will I make it?

(Chorus)

I choose to trade my sorrow
For the questions in my mind
Keep on chasing answers
My answers I shall find

All my demons lurk in shadows
All my angels up in sky
Through the valley, cross the river
Got to make it to the other side

(Phase-II: Bodhisattva returns to address the world)

I bring you freedom,
But can you take it
With the truth inside
You just can’t fake it

Come walk this journey
It’s never ending
And if you want to know
Yeah, you can make it

(Chorus)
I choose to trade my sorrow
For the questions in my mind
Keep on chasing answers
My answers I shall find

All my demons lurk in shadows
All my angels up in sky
Through the valley, cross the river
Got to make it to the other side

(Phase III: The Proclamation)

Like an ever,
burning fire
Like an eagle,
rising higher
I’m immortal,
I’m forever
I’m the rider
blazing ‘cross the sky

Alright Now

2005-05-13T11:54:00.000+05:30

Now I’ve stood at the gates of heaven
I’ve been invited to a ball in hell
I’ve been doomed to dance with lovers
Who’d kiss but never tell

I’ve wondered which way to fall,
every other night
But it gets alright

I have walked in the darkest alleys
Infested by rabid wolves
Wounded and frightened and bleeding
Not knowing which way to go

Sooner or later, the healing begins,
when you’re caught in the shadow of light
And it gets alright

I have dabbled in salvation
Only to be let down
I have stoned the bleeding Jesus
I’ve laughed at his thorny crown

Too many times I’ve altered my stance,
shifting from left to right
Still it gets alright

Snapshot

2005-05-13T11:53:00.000+05:30

A drop of shiny mercury gliding over purple velvet
Would describe me aptly these days
Unscathed, disentangled, nimblefooted, free
Laughing easy, without much reason or rhyme
And poetry flows like wine in Xanadu
As I lightly hover over the humdrum of daily life

The incredible lightness of being
Ah, so that’s what it means

Utter Gibberish ‘ippie Rhym'

2005-05-13T11:51:00.000+05:30

‘Appy soppy droppy
Popped any poppy?

Toke ring, smoke ring
‘Ave you been smokin’?

Floating on a slippery stream
Engrassed in yer smoky dream?

‘Avin’ ex tea sea
Inna shack by the see?

‘Alt enter space(d) hash
Ah u must be shorta stash

Lucy in the diamond sky
Might jus’ make you fly

Sail on white dove
Fuck war, make love.

Stereotypes

2005-05-13T11:48:00.000+05:30

Yesterday

We met, you and I
Soft, putty-like, malleable
spheres

I could have been you
You could have been me
I swear

And then

The ancient union
‘I’, yours and mine
Lost
in momentary oblivion
Resurrected
in a collective ‘We’

Today

Gently, let us settle
Into primordial stereotypes
For a while

I
Hermes
You
Aphrodite

I
A freshwater spring
You
A sacred earthen urn

I
Hunter, gatherer, provider
You
Nurturer, creator, caretaker

Tomorrow

We can switch
If you so wish
I can be you
And you can be me

So we can meet again,
I and you
Soft, putty-like, malleable
spheres

Of Wolf And Man

2005-05-13T11:34:00.000+05:30

O lord of beast and men
I pray to thee
Just for one night
Let me run wild and free
With a pack of hungry wolves

Let me be bound by nothing
But an all consuming hunger

Let me sprint like an arrow of passion
With furious gnashing teeth
(Them harbingers of doom)

Let me race with the brazen wind
That tickles the wild mane on my neck

Let my heart beat with unabashed glutton
And pump my sinews with hues of naked rage

Let me howl at the moon
And foam at my mouth

Let me be driven insane
By the maddening smell of succulent flesh

Let me drink from the violence of the night
With wild glinting eyes
(Eyes that strike terror in the hearts of the meek)

Let me be spurred on heavy padded paws
With shiny bony claws
(Paws that fall on dried papery leaves with a muted hush)

Let me for once plunge into the throes
Of thoughtless terror and mindless wrath

Let my sandpaper tongue heal
The deep and simple wounds on my body

Let me savor a soul-less existence
That knows not the pain of the heart

Let me be a beast that knows not reason
Just hunger and passion and lust

O Lord grant me this
Just for one wild windy moonlit night.