Journey

They stood there, hand in hand

It was to happen, she knew that

But reality slaps you when you

Do not suppose it shall.

She tried to laugh, but out

Came only a frog’s croak:

She tried to smile, but out

It burst, those horrid rain-drops

She tried to calm herself down

And turned to face him.

He tried to cheer her,

“Mary, I love you”

But, she cried more,

More and more,

Until she stopped to ask,

“Do you love me enough to come back?”

“Of course”, came the reply,

Along with the last whistle

Of the ‘Mariner’, sailing eastward

Crossing all the seven seas in a shot.

He climbed onto it and waved

And waved, till sight could allow.

 

Springs rushed past her,

Snow fell around her and vanished

The sun continued its revolution

For a fourth time more

She ached to disbelief

Those tales building up

Their graves within her supple heart

A journey to the east,

She made her mind,

Bundled herself, and at last,

Stood on that very dock,

With the breeze bestowing her

Newer and finer thoughts,

Did he even deserve the joy

her suffering would offer?

The Captain signaled the last whistle

Stretched out his hands to her

She too, stretched hers, with poise

And turned to whisper,

“Good-bye Captain!”

The Ironic Laugh

I stood as the center of focus

Happy Host to entertain all

my lips tinted flawlessly

plastered into the same essence

to be held at all times

Pleased, everyone could be

but not I, sensing

the rumble of a heart

sobbing at full volume

What else to do?

at this hour of catastrophe?

where fortune fails to empower me?

where haze cloud forever?

where bliss is enclosed in a shield, unscathed?

True living never barely depicted

It is always captured, concealed and tormented

Can I stride up to the dais

just to publicize my heart ache, or

Can I be the one

to usher the guest with grace?

One chooses the latter path

to be cheated by the laugh

Laugh is a hoax

assumed to be safe

yet always a deceit

never explains the brutal fact

that it buries in its roots

Roots swell, rupture and die

yet, laugh remains eternal.

Can love be explained?

Every now and then,

we include new people in our lives

Some strange, some incredible,

some cute and sweet,

others’ sour and rude.

Why is it amongst these

millions who cross us and walk off

there is only one who stops

to listen, makes us feel special,

gives his time and smile

and our share of distress too, in abundance!

and it is at that instant,

We close our eyes

and they quietly walk in

to give a Midas touch to our life

and settle into a huge space

in our altogether tiny heart!

My Soulmate

My sole companion she was

from birth till now

barely deserting me ever.

I ran from her

but she outran me.

Forced, I accompanied her

in spring, in frost

from hope to dark

from something to nothing.

I feared her, closed my eyes

Still she sat next to me.

I gave up in the end,

realizing the dire fact

She will never leave me.

I sighed and groaned

accepting her feebly

with open arms and huge smiles

My sole friend - my solitude.

But, my pan of fortitude 

empty soon, I prayed

to the Almighty for one visit

to Him in the eventual hope.

I prayed and longed:

At last, granted, He sent

for me, a raven

black as coal with heavenly glow

I glided onto it

but she was already there

Wont she leave me even now?

I spat at her with my ugly words.

He did not even flutter his eyes

I waited days and months together

She was still there -  my soulmate.

At last, I bowed before Him,

He opened his eyes, once

and gifted into my closed hands:

I didn't open open it, I knew 

It was a drop of love.

Discovery...........

Recently, I came to know about this very unfortunate incident which has occurred in the life of a young couple who resides in the same building as of mine. The couple had tied the knot only six months back. The husband breathed his last on-the-spot of the motor-bike accident. It was told that it was the unwanted hurry of a truck driver who tried to speed away before the traffic-signal would change, however, the deceased, as soon as the signal changed sped along and met with this head-on collision. Now this incident, as fateful as it is, actually rings many bells in my mind. I churned my memories and in every point of gloominess, I found someone responsible for it, apart from me. We are in too much love with ourselves so as to actually inflict pain onto us. It really makes me wonder that don’t we always suffer from the deeds of others? Isn’t there someone else always in our lives who causes the ‘unwanted’ knowingly or unknowingly? It can be a stranger or someone who is very close to us, but the point is, We, by ourselves don’t find trouble. Troubles find us through a mediator!

A Love Story

As I sat on the wooden bench,

overlooking the fringes of dusk

falling on the corners of

this wonderful sweet square;

A couple with the passion of

the sensation of first love,

embraced each other, and

repeated those three magical words

almost at the same time.

Something tingled at the

door of my heart and

drew me back to those young years

of love, fun and energy

the great time when only he

mattered to me at all.

How many times had he

whispered the same three words

when we were locked as one,

when we had had

those silly little tiffs,

and he would wrap his

arms around my waist

and say them, when he

would be away from me

and in those busiest of moments

call me and remind me of his love.

Long years of marriage,

struggle and kids, had long

forgotten in me that life exists

beyond all this as well.

Scratching those visible gray hairs,

I realized with shock and pain that

life with all its bounties had left me

cramped and cold, and I had never

articulated myself to my poor man.

Oh God! My mistake.

 

I stood up on my wobbly feet,

dusk had already invited the

dark night for its lovely stay.

My house was in unusual darkness

With little difficulty, I found him.

As usual in his comfort chair,

sleeping fitfully, with his book

across his chest like an armour.

 I knelt before him and said

         I love you, hubby

I felt he would be smiling at me,

showing his toothless happy grin,

looking into my shrunken eyes,

waiting to hear these lovely words,

But then I realized that,

I had been already too late!

It is believed by us....

                                                     It is believed by us,

                                              that luck happens more than once, 

                                                    but to be lucky in love,

                                             is to be lucky only once in a lifetime!

                                                    Yet, if you find that love

                                                     not so fortunate enough,

                                                        do remember that

                                                        once it walks out

                                                the doors remain so closed

                                                   that what later walks in

                                                are only through key-holes!

BLINDED VISION

She pulled up her pointe shoes,

nervous as always she was,

she was expecting a miracle 

to overcome the worst.

Decked with white paint

And red glimmer,

A glistening attire, with a

Rose on the bosom.

and those gifted shoes

Her blind granny had managed to scrape.

 

She peeped through those magnificent drapes

her eyes scanned that familiar face,

with a dark sigh, she saw her reflection

which seemed a perfection in itself

She knew the truth and the others too.

The trainer seemed busy preparing

the finest of the lot to perform the best!

She just gave a minor pat on her back,

and whispered,” All the best, Jackie”

Well, that was the bitter truth,

however, you try to shell it!

 

Her grouping was announced on the dais

at exactly the same time, someone stole a moment

to whisper something in her ears.

The music rolled open,

Eyes were stuck to the one on the center-stage,

But the scanning vision soon found a

tall, beautiful one at the end row

performing with such poise and polish

that the others were soon forgotten.

Her teacher blinked her eyes, more than twice,

Was she really Jackie performing out there?

She wondered again and again.

Jackie’s performance shook her and the crowd,

and when the act drew to its close,

it was honored with the most deserving applause.

 

The teacher hugged her pupil

with tears pouring out,

“I am so proud of you, Jackie,

Immensely stunned with your performance today”

Jackie’s eyes were watery too,

the kind of water which could wash your face.

“My Granny left me today,

And I know for sure that

She can see me now.

I simply couldn’t have let her down.”

The Initial days.....

It has only been 8 months that I have got into this BIG partnership legally and just two months officially, into the biggest gamble of my life, I thought of recording this newest time in my history of memory. I have followed every one’s footstep and have felt extremely happy plunging into this lifelong game. I do not intend to say that it could have been avoided, after all, love cannot be stopped, it just flows out when it finds the right heart.

I guess, it is part of the package; you don’t get everything perfect, not even close to perfect, because, if you do, you will definitely forget to worship the Lord. The blind or blurred vision you had kept up till the time you tied the knot turns crystal-clear, swaying images, which pulls the earth from under your feet.

Now, the question arises is Why do we get married? If God has already given us a complete ‘US’ then what is the need to seek companionship in a complete stranger? I have heard this explanation somewhere : ‘We get married for the sole reason that we want somebody to witness our lives, the moments of joy and sorrow which could have gone unnoticed among the billions of lives in this world!’

The reasoning seems genuine enough. Well, a BIG witness to our life!

Well, I have only a short journey of this wonderful venture to speak of, with lesser experiences and tangy memories, but I leave a note of continuance as I try to explore deeper caves and murky waters with sometimes bright fireworks to  mark that there always remains a spark of love in this partnership!