I Know

You did go, I know

I saw you wave goodbye

Then leap into the sky

My eyes were closed, yet

I know you left, you did go

They brought you home

Quiet, I saw I cried 

I saw you rise into the air

Burning on that sandalwood 

I am sure you left, you did go

I see you everyday

In the blue sky waving 

In the raindrops smiling

I hear you whisper our songs

And so I know you didn't go! 

The Clouds

Playing hide & seek with the sun

Across the evening sky they float

A grey and white medley in cotton

Damsels dancing on a blue road

I watch them move gently past

Wondering if they will come across

The ones I have loved and lost

In this life's wretched course

Have the clouds ever moved you

Swimming in the blue grey expanse

Wishing upon them to take my soul

To see them by happenstance

खुश हूँ मैं

 

रोज़ तो नही मगर कभी कोई

लम्हा सवाल सा छोड़ जाता है

ऐसे सवाल जिनके जवाब नहीं

वो चुभते नासूर हो जाते है

 

ज़ख्म जैसे भी हो, भर जाते हैं

मगर पुरानी भूली चोट में भी

टीस तो हर सर्दी में उठती है

क्या ऐसी सर्दी की दर्द उसे होती है

 

क्या उसे कभी महसूस हुआ

जो दर्द उसकी चुप्पी ने मुझे दिया

जब मेरी पनिली आंखों ने

उसके मन का सूखा देखा

 

क्या  उसे भी वो आह सुनती होगी

जो मेरे होठों  पे दबी रह गयी

उसकी अन्तरात्मा कचोटती होगी

जब उसे मेरा ख्याल आता होगा

 

खुश हूं मैं अपनी ज़िन्दगी से

बस किसी दिन एक

एक गुजरता सा लम्हा

एक सवाल सा छोड़ जाता है

 

Every Kiss Counts

Every kiss counts
Every moment a varied hue

The imagined first kiss
Which still exists in my heart

The shy unspoken one
Which still lingers on your lips

The hasty half kiss
Abandoned when someone came

The hazy drunk one
Details forgotten yet real

The filial caring kiss
Planted on the forehead softly

The daily hurried one
Brushing the cheek saying bye

Lastly the complete on the mouth kiss
Passionate, satiating and intense

And every time with every kiss
I possess a little more of you.

Roses

He didn't give me 

A rose today. 

Neither did I 

We never do

We never have

A rose means love

They say, we don't. 

Love to us means

Many different things 

Roses may or may not

Our love is ours

I give it to him

He to me. 

That is enough

For what is Us. 

The Moth Eaten Moon

A slow waning moon
Losing shape and light
Not attracting the sea now
Shushed by endless whispers

Worry lines etched all over
A moth eaten frayed arc
Among dark fearful clouds
Falling down the dark abyss

Voids #V, #AtoZChallenge

Some voids don’t fill up
They always gape wide

A wound left unsealed
Like a hole in the heart

An empty searing pain
A silent tearing cry

She wakes up lonely
Even her tears are dry

Unlearn #U, #AtoZChallenge

Ye Women!please heed
You are not property
Nor just a thing
You are a living being

Not mother not sister
Daughter or a wife
You are a woman too
And a right to live

Unlearn your roles
Unlearn your mores
Sacrifice, care and compromise
Come after your own self

Temerity #T, #AToZChallenge

Short clothes
Late nights
Booze and smoke
All alone
What temerity

You ask for it
Then say NO
How do I understand
Been the boss
Never heard no

Old or little
Woman or girl
Old or young
Women are chattel
Sold and bought

Milked dry
Happy or wry
It doesn’t matter
You have no voice
Rape is your destiny

Home or jungle
Stranger or known
A woman is to be had
Why such hue and cry
What temerity!

Single #S, #AtoZChallenge

Are you married

When are you going to

Are you unhappy

Oh!He ditched you

Don't want children

Are your parents Ok

Are you Divorced

Are you widowed

Sorry, Its a couple thing

Hey you will be all alone

How do I set you a place

Who will buy you drinks

A husband has a roving eye

A wife is dissatisfied

Lets pair you up c'mon

All will be well then

Stop! I don't want your advice

Nor sympathy, neither malice 

I have chosen this life

I am single by choice 

Quest #Q #AtoZChallenge

My quest has only just begun
Life has never been frolic and fun
Yet I am still to find myself

The grind has taken its toll
Tired ,I want to chuck it all
And look for the reason I exist

I know I want to do it alone
My journey is mine and mine alone
All fetters I want to now break

I may fail to find anything
The travails may prove nothing
Yet I hope to find the lost me

Patriarchal Bargain #P, #AtoZchallenge

Shush! He will hear you shout

Girls don't speak so loud

Don't even ask to go out

Girls don't roam without

Look pretty, look demure

Wear certain clothes to allure

Mom herself only whispered

Her voice they never heard

They were happy when she cooked

And her trip to home was booked

it was a happy bargain made

Saved her life and upped her grade 

My college sojourn had to be won

With a promise of indiscretion none

No men, no love , no outing , no joy

Get educated and we will find a boy

I was told to get home on time

Never think of being behind the chime

Then they all wait for Their turn

For another woman to boss on

To enjoy the fruits of their bargain

And over the house they reign

After years they are up a notch

In this hierarchy gone debauch 

Patriarchal bargain is a term coined by Turkish author and researcher Deniz Kandiyoti in 1988, which describes a tactic in which a woman chooses to accommodate and uphold patriarchal norms, accepting gender roles that disadvantage women overall but maximizing her own power and options. (Wikipedia). So they end up compromising collective good for individual gains.

Outrage #O #AToZChallenege

Outrage

Of Modesty

Of freedom

Of liberty

Of innocence

Of beliefs

Of life

And then we create

a useless 

outrage of words

Normal #N, #AtoZ Challenge

I work

Earn Money

Don’t keep house

And like all men

Demand my rest

I like a drink or two

And like dining out

No I don’t smoke

And like all else

That’s also a choice

I stay up late

Wake up late

Stay out late

That’s also a choice

Norms are not for me

Your normal is suffocating

Your normal is demeaning

I am happy with my normal

Your rebel is my normal

My me is my normal 

Mirage #M, #AtoZChallenge

She kept walking
In the desert of life
Looking for a stream
Searching love and life

An arduous journey
No life giving elixirs
No magical oases
No songbirds singing

She still walked on
Taking everything on
Looking for a sign
Running after a mirage

Let me be! #L, #AtoZChallenge

Would you let me be?

All my lovely well wishers

My presumed life keepers

Who disappear when needed!

Would you let me be?

Neighbors, relatives, friends

Who bitch and yet pretend

To be my loving guardian angels!

Would you let me be?

Those animal-men of prey

Who eye just flesh and bone

Crushing the broken heart I own!

I tell you; let me be!

I am happy on my own

My sorrows mine alone

A journey yet too arduous and long!

Happiness #H, #AToZChallenge

The little girl wanted a ball

But she was handed a doll

She wanted a book to read

But was told to cook instead

Stay at home cook and clean

Your role is just behind the scene

Don’t try to raise your voice

There’s no weightage to your choice 

Eat only after all the men have

Till then ask your stomach to behave

Rise and shine before everyone else

Put up your feet after everyone has 

Your happiness lies only with them

Rest for you is a not on their list

Don’t fool yourself that you are someone

Simply get your duties dusted and done

Don’t give your poor heart any hope

Your own desires have no scope

A machine expected to give birth 

You are born to die without any mirth

Freedom #F, #AtoZChallenge

A Haiku is a Japanese origin poetry form with three lines and 17 syllables in order 5-7-5.

It usually describes an emotion with nature as the background. It is a strict form mainly due to its inherent brevity.

She soars in the sky

Freedom is a constant hope

Alive in her dream

DayDreams #D, #AtoZChallenge

A warm wave in the cold dark sea

With undercurrents of bold heat

You have transformed my storm

Into a vibrant hued happy rainbow

A promise of sunshine and warmth 

Of blue skies,fair weather and love

You have unfurled my drooping sails

To steer me towards the horizon

A new course with promise of adventure

My vessel rises and falls with the waves

And you have roused in my barren heart

A daydream lasting for a whole lifetime 

The poem above is for my dear husband. He is the most important relationship in my life. He is someone who holds my ship steady and life in balance, someone who gave me so much love and care that I forgot all my troubles and who made me discover that life is not just struggle and strife. He is calm and a content man who has his head in the right place, a perfect foil for a volatile me.

Sometimes all the pain in your life is wiped off with a single loving kiss. I love you Navin for being my panacea.

Choice #C #AToZChallenge,

Nor the first choice even

before coming to the world

Choice is not a word for her

A mere tool that others use

She doesn't get to choose

Her clothes, her school

Her food, her husband

Her home, her vocation

She is chattel to be sold

Does that sound like cattle
Ask her, She even feels the
Same; beat, used and sold

Used like a farmhand
Cook, nurse, maid, whore
A son production unit, Again
Unable to choose a daughter