The Robin and the Fall

The soft white clouds of the autumn sun
Carry the murmur of the fallen leaves
When gentle south breeze caresses them to hum
The song of a yearning heart


The trees now breathe the autumn chill
And the days begin with a shying sun
The red of his heart now fills the eyes
Is it already time to bid goodbye?
To the summer and fun
And the blue-eyed one


He flew to this coast
And fell in love
With the trees, and the birds
And everything above


The song of the autum can now be heard 
When the broken leaves sing the magic words


Night falls earlier day after day
The blue eyed one wants him to stay
But the east is calling, it is time to go
Fall is here, and soon it will start to snow


Cold is scary
The sea turns shallow
And the walls of ice rise and fall
Into the abyss
Like a silent wall


The Trees let go of all their friends
The leaves have begun their decent
With the winds they dance
Into the unknown skies
Away with the birds
They learn to fly


"One more day," prays the blue eyed one
Days are still bright
(Is it hope?)
Is the chill of the fall
Or just a fright

The winds are stronger as they rejoice the cold
But there is still time for the snow to fall

Isn't this home as he thought it was
As he held the broken leaves
like the dream that this now was
His heart is fonder, but it belongs some place else

He has to leave, before the moning bells chime
His wings will follow the cold wind from the south
Soon he will be on a the beach where sun still shines
His friends and the birds will meet him there
But he can still feel the fear
Of losing all this which he knows as his
Leaving has come so soon

As he flapped his (dreary) wings
The gods embraced him to take him far and high
To listen to the hum of the cold south winds
To greet the morning sky
It was time for the church bells to sing
The song of the autum, the song of the cold


He flew and flew above the sky and stopped to look back
He had no fear as he let go of a sigh
Was it already time to go?

The Debutante

The suckling piece of my soul
Is the aberration to the reality.
Filled with the ephemeral music
Of sorrow and love.
In the abyss of an erratic life
The ersatz moment comes to life.
Eulogies don't care for the exacerbated pain
Of the hollow soul.

The antagonized soul finds an analogy
An anachronism is what becomes of it
Life itself is amortized
Dreams blight the bruised eyes
As they grovel themselves in the shadow
Of their own light
Their pulchritude goes unnoticed
Like the subtle persuasion of a raconteur

Arbitrary heart beats yoke my soul to this body
Thoughts just profligate the burdened heart
The unscrupulous exponent of the exculpated silence
Ossifies my mortal inchoate self
The chaotic universe around me
Is verdant with cloying emotions
Of love, hate and abstinence
The débutante is born
But her soul is dead

The Dream I Wake Up To

(Been feeling like a teenager lately, it is fun to discover emotions all over again)

There is a candle in my room

Flicker is all I see

My shadow holds me tight

Had to put up a fight

Against the love in me

Coz that was never meant to be

A butterfly outside my window

Looks at me and flutters in the twilight

My shadow looks at me

I am in my sleep

Heart is beating and the eyes weep

It is the feeling I could not fight

Music of his laugh plays- all around me

His whispers rush by me

Every conversation turns to symphony

I am in a fun-filled melody

Twisting and turning, there is nothing but harmony

The moon glitters high above and my shadow holds me tight

It is still twilight or is it time for dawn?

The sun just seems like a teardrop

Eyes still closed, the breeze picks me in its arms

I see the rainbow and hold it close to me

The colors are colorful no more till I see you

You are the dream I want to wake up to.

Reflections of a timeless place

The timeless sands of the fathomless caverns

Covers the holy dust of Jerusalem.

Treaded by saints and devotees

The hills stand witness to every passing moment.

Ornate by pines, palms, ferns and Acorns

The city is stirred by the songs of wind.

Blowing across the borders

The winds bring to life the beauty of Tel Aviv.

Escorting the Falcons, pigeons and Sea gulls

The waves break on the wooden deck.

The gush of cold breeze

Bears the whiff of the coastal jewel.

Afloat the gentle sea breeze

Is the eclectic laughter of the women chatting over wine.

The mirth settles as the morning dew

On the memorabilia of the broken past.

As the candles lit up the darkness

From the struggles to remain free.

The dusk salutes the ones

Who live in the hearts of many.

The crackling stream froths with the paper boats

As kids run past the peaceful peak of Har’Adar.

Romanticizing the stone walls of the old city

The Tower of David stands testament to the eras gone by.

The windmill in the horizon bejewels the spirit of the holy land

Kings and slaves, Monoliths and pagans

Belong alike to this enigmatic civilization.

The caverns of the West wall

Mystifies the shroud of the moonlit night.

Black and White fills the limestone rocks of the waterways

As the light takes the passerby in an era thousands of years before.

Dancing to the tunes of the new age

Are the ballets rhythms of the troupes of the cultural capital.

Under the midnight moon

The city of Tel Aviv transforms itself into a poignant story.

The cafes are still abuzz

When the Old market awakens to the smell of freshly baked cookies.

As the streets are filled with exuberant crowds

The kids await over their grandmas for the warm Baklava.

The smoke on the espresso settles down

As the city prepares for a brand new day.

Alone yet along

The smiling incense
Of the biting lie
Engraved the innocent heart.
Inflicting pain in a silent cry.
Tearing apart the conundrum
of love, hope & life
Was but the scorching denunciation.
A putrid smell filled her soul.

Stars & dark on the green meadow
The breeze stayed afloat.
Far away in a different land
The depraved emotion of longing
rose to amorous heights
concealed in a friendly demeanor.
Alas! She moaned in a hushed sob
as the cryptic messages tormented her soul.

The soundless lament of a broken heart
shrilled though the pervasive sky.
No shudders from the vociferous hoar.
Abandoning reason & purpose of love & life
she sank in the numbness of deceit.
DID NOT WANT TO PUT UP A FIGHT.
She had lost without an enemy in sight.
All that in the name of eremite capacity (space).

Jaded & crippled like a weary soldier
she saw the sun set on her love.
The love demised in her.
It succumbed to the deceitful charlatan.
Faithless & hurt she wailed aloud inside.
No words, just pain filled the air.
Broken though strong, she shattered.
Lonesome, she drifted away from death.

As the mist covered the sea
a new morning settled over the city.
She knew that the scars will never heal.
Chasing all the fears
she followed he Sun to warm her heart.
Wiping away her tears she knew
‘Though she will be with him
She will be alone forever though along (with him)’.

Reality but Dreams !

[This shares the emotions of a woman waiting for her beloved knowing somewhere in her heart that her love was not honest to her. Her thoughts automatically animate into visions which could be real but when her wait is sure to extend she decided to culminate it herself. It is a poignant situation because of its ending but her visions may or may not be true. In the last line the warmth can be understood to be from the blood or the fact that atleast she is sure that the pain she feels is real.]

The cushion of the wind
Surmounted to char the plagued heart
As the dusk turned deep Red
The colored lips chapped
Eyes gazing out through the window
Caressing the mountain road
No one to be seen
But the creeper & the green.

She heard the chatter (in her head)
Of the far-off crowd
The laughter on the wine & cake
The clink of crystal glasses
The jingle of the silver on juicy steaks
As the light breeze moved the drapes
She woke up from a dream she thought
Or was it true?

An hour passed like a snowman’s year
She sat on the couch
Still she could hear
The rhythm of the brass
And the deafening cheer
As a couple vanished
Into a silent dark
Jazz played quietly as the scene grew stark.

The sheets folded under the skins
Wood felt the shiver
As the hands clinched tightly
Her bosom grew fuller
In the spirit so knightly
The smitten peaks grew louder
She could now hear nothing but their breaths
As she closed her ears with a shudder.

This is not true she shouted
And heard the phone ring
“Honey! I will be a little late”
She was silent
“Don’t wait over for dinner” she heard before the voice went blank
She stood numb & cold as the iron that slit through her wrist
Now she knew atleast the warmth settled around her was real.

The Secret Chasm

Bewildering amongst the chatter
Of the old Kolkata street
Promised for a better tomorrow
On the asphalt turf
The little heads creep up & down
In the din of the Howrah bridge

Floating in the music of classical heart throbs
Enchanted by the concrete caverns
Pitter-patter with the falling rain drops
They hide under the shady plane
Chowringee Lane just means a path
A deafening crowd is but a political propaganda

What stands for fun is a free meal
Or chasing kites & dogs with friends
Hide & seek is what life means to them
As they remain hidden from all eyes
Except when they pass a windscreen with a duster
Or steal a laughter in the sidelines.

Surmising through the childhood years
Every day they live amongst moving shadows
Which never notice them
Lightning their footpath homes
Are none but their twinkling eyes
Conjuring a dream every now & then
Though it is a struggle to keep alive

They cook, they sweep, run & sheep
Work every day to survive
Years fade like billboard ads
Cleaning, washing & doing all what’s there
To find, if there exists
A way to the Secret Chasm.

Pepper & Green

Surfing through the narrow lanes
The dusty streets & crowded window panes
Honking motors fill Chowringee Lane
Cotton sarees & Rabindra music
Still form the backdrop of Kolkata strain
From somewhere I smell Pepper & Green.

Blazing loudspeakers & shinning posters
Conjure the neighbourhood streets
To a political battlefield
Cars & buses & horses & trams
Are what bubble on Park Street jams
On a noisy evening filled with fish curry smell
The ‘phuchkaas’ invite the crowds on the side streets.

The bustling traffic quiets down
To the concert music of Ray festival
”Nandan” waiting to be decked up
For the maestro’s (Tagore’s) birthday
Dressed up in anxiety & glee
Part of the city peeps out to Hugli

Early morning is fresh with the new catch
Fishes, crabs, squids & prawns
All decorated near the sidemarket of Howrah
Decadence & panache is what fills the painter
Who stands freezing this all on his canvas
The moment melts to office hours
And rushes to a quiet afternoon.

Sun sets peacefully near the Victoria Memorial
When the Queen’s Road fills with tourists
Flip-flopping on horse carts racing through the Red Road
Is the reminiscence from the past galore
All settles to a quiet night
But Howrah never sleeps

As the city drapes a new blanket
Of an intermittent laughter
Tickling from the street side dwellings
The beetle breaks in the (beetle) cutter
Of an old Bengali home
While a classical song
Pulls the city hum to a quiet slumber
The city still feels like Pepper & Green.