Thursday, November 24, 2011

Jobs and Itunes

in your love, my salvation lies
in your love, my salvation lies
in your love, my salvation lies

in your love, in your love, in your..love

humming a tune
not known before
in your
life as you'd known it

stood beneath an
orange sky

these days
and nights
bought in exchange
for many a dreams
lost and shattered

i just feel
as if it's time
to pack and
leave

again

in transit

for the love of
brown eyes
and butter
and sanity

i will be found
again
when the locks
on my suitcase
are worn enough
and the souvenirs
from travels
stuck securely
to the fridge

when i have
home to come back to
and when friends
and the past
do not do this
on nights alone
in an empty house

the title now
makes sense
unintended
like the dent marks
we often put
on cars
and each other

in your love, my salvation lies

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

moonlit are the nights

gushing
and a lot of it

like the first
awkward moment
between you
and the one
you couldn't stop
thinking about
the night after
your first dance
you really did throw
your heels off
and dance like
a mad person

she tells you
how he still
gushes over
that one night
and inside
that eighteen-something-ness
takes over

you don't know
whether you wanna
turn old and grey
or stay right here
longing
and being longed for

summer songs
winter nights
monsoon rains
autumn leaves
and the colours
they bring

how many adventures
are you to bring
the smiles
and the tears
to continue
just don't
run out on me

Monday, October 17, 2011

dark highways and slanted faces

you are
my heart's
fulfillment
and there is
nothing left to
disagree with

one sole song
lasting me the
last hundred kilometres
it was you
just you
against the dark
unlit highway
it was you
against yellow beams
of travel

your face
and the meaning
of this existence

heavy eyelids
heavy from
exhaustion and
the hours between
now and when
you leave

there's been this night
and one last year
forever etched upon
me
my memory

Sunday, October 16, 2011

not my playlist

a sunlit morning

i'm alone
but i'm not lonely

bring the sunshine
back to my eyes
wait for me
i'm not ready
to string words together
without music
to face cities
without you

as i turn page
over page
the thought
and smell
of my city
return
there's a different design
and purpose
behind that skyline

your fingers streak
sunsets there
as your breath
clouds my thoughts

i can only ink -
you can paint

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Obituary of a friendship

With several hundred miles between us
Different landscapes
Different skies
Different sunsets and sunrises
This is the place
Where my road parts, my friend.

I have lost.
Yes, I have lost.
But my life has
A tune and a rhythm
A love to keep me
Warm through
Lonely winter nights.
And dreams
Filling my starry eyes.

I angle myself as to
Be able to see
The rearview mirror
Of my car
Driving on to the mountains
Bumpy roads
And thus this scrawl
On a sunny October morning.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

when my soul embarks

My pieces of prose and poetry get a title later. Much after writing the whole way through. And the title is usually a line from the playlist at that moment. Life is much like that.

A half done tattoo.
Two weeks of separation.
Curiosity.
Turning your face away.
Crying within four walls.
Restlessness.
Vagabond feelings.
An unrecognizable face in the mirror.
Holding on.
Moving ahead.
Plans of drunkenness.
Lumps in my throat.

It is a half-written story. Changing course, finding meanders at every bend of the road. But there's only one life we get. And constant detours are going to take us only this far.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

गुल्ज़ार

पूरे का पूरा आकाश घुमा कर बाज़ी देखी मैंने

काले घर में सूरज रख के

तुम ने शायद सोचा था

मेरे सब मोहरे पिट जायेंगे

मैंने एक चिराग जला कर अपना रास्ता खोल लिया

तुम ने एक समंदर हाथ में ले कर मुझ पर ढेल दिया

मैंने नूह की कश्ती उस के ऊपर रख दी

काल चला तुम ने और मेरी जानिब देखा

मैंने काल को तोड़ कर लम्हा लम्हा जीना सीख लिया

मेरी खुदी को तुम ने चंद चमत्कारों से मारना चाहा

मेरे एक प्यादे ने तेरा चाँद का मोहरा मार लिया

मौत की शह दे कर तुम ने समझा था अब तो मात हुई

मैंने जिस्म का खोल उतार कर सौंप दिया

और रूह बचा ली

पूरे का पूरा आकाश घुमा कर अब तुम देखो बाज़ी