As I put my mind to rest

Of symbols and forms

That put patience to test

 

Even as I vow I shall never fail

Yet on this unfortunate journey

'Tis seem I’m set to sail

 

As the ones around me speak

‘Tis but a matter of sweat and toil

Thus ‘twill not do to seem too weak

 

As despair assails my wits

Migraine, nausea

And gives me fits

 

This is why I’m writing this thus

To ignore the words

Heed not the fuss

 

Tis my hope indeed

That I’ll survive this task

To make this hour, this day,

That’s all I ask.

Long has it been,

Since my words thus flew

Long has time passed,

Ere my conscience knew

 

Long were the days

When I saw you not

For remembrance serves well,

As a memory caught

 

Long may the stream

Of our bonds thus grow

A river, the water

As an endless flow

 

Long may the sands

Of the deserts shift

As aught the wind

Will our spirits lift

 

Long may the earth

Be the soil for hope

As the seedlings of joy

In the mire shall cope

 

Long may the fire

Of such passions blaze

As flames ignite,

Amidst the murky haze

 

Long may the forge

Of our friendship stay

Armour of steel

Against decay

 

Long may these years,

Be my light in the dark

Should ever I fumble,

Through despair thus stark

 

Long may it be

Calm as the oceans’ blue

Our lives and beyond,

As is our due

 

Come what may, 

What life may do

But let us remain

Forever in peace, eternally true.

I fear, for this nation

What hope does future hold?

For I see not harmony,

But disaster unfold

You seek to control

With rules of your own;

Where is our freedom,

Whose lack we bemoan?

The values extolled

To hide your corrupted streak,

Where is the justice

Integrity, of which you speak?

You gorge yourselves

On the honey we earned,

Hard earned spoils

Of sweat and blood we burned

Fed with lies,

Oppressed by rules;

To receive deceit as payment

Are we thus fools?

The disgrace of your defeat

In a drama not long past

Promised us some changes

We shall see how long it lasts;

For to love this country

Is no difficulty,

But for the simple truth:

My country loves not me.

Fire, fire, burning bright

Whither are you,

Brand of light

Inferno, mighty and true

 

 

Blaze of fervour,

Tongues of flame

Blend and smoulder,

Wild, untamed

 

 

Fire, fire

Lead the way

Reveal yon passage

From which I stray

 

 

Fire, fire

Gift me the wonder

Of sensation they feel

The brilliance, radiance so real

 

 

Fire, fire

Light the world I cannot see

Unleash the passion, the ecstasy

Fire, fire, burn in me

I who am cold, fire, set me free.

A child of fire

Who’s tasted the flames

Inspires in me envy

For I know not such fires

Not in person, nor in name

 

You , I see

So different from me

Yet, in all honesty

I perceive, much similiarity

 

Child of fire

I envy you the flames

I who am cold

Unlit, chilly pyre;

I entreated in vain

 

A question from me

To the Power That Be

Why was it we met,

Such a person and me?

What secret do You hold, Almighty?

 

 

As much as the moon

eclipses the sun

as the river drowns out

the brook’s gentle run

so winds whirl, what’s left?

None.

 

As the shadow

Who trails behind

Lurking in corners

To whom you’re blind

Look you there

What do you find?

 

As the waves crash

Over the shore

So does it erode

confidence more and more

you who see so much

why didn’t you perceive before?

 

A thousand words

That should have been spoken,

Yet, which I never said

Is it too late?

Too late to mend the hurts

Way too late to change

The way this game’s played?

A thousand burdens

Irrational fears

To rest I never laid

They’re stifling me;

I don’t know how to lay them down

I’ve only ever taken them on

Always with me they’ve stayed

I’m sorry

The thousand words

I should have said

Again, is it too late?

I want to be forgiven

For the numerous wounds I’ve inflicted

The many hurts I’ve caused

Is it too late?

Eyes of a beautiful brown green

The colour of a summer dream

Your demeanor hides the you beneath

You’re not what you seem

Always on the go

Like the rolling ocean

Never ceasing motion

Yet hidden in its concealing depths

Lies tremulous calm, buried deep below

A paradox, you’re an enigma

Complex like a myriad of colours

The ever-changing riot of fragments

In a kaleidoscope

In your face, I read the sentiments

Yet you deny any feeling

In your eyes I can find nothing

But instinct tells me there’s something

You’re not telling.

Hiding those feelings

Covering it all by smiling

Behind this farce

Under this impassive mask

You’re trying to hide your vulnerability

The other can’t feel it;

But I sense it, I can see

How valiantly

You face society

And I salute you for it.

autumn dreams

of red and gold

stretched beyond a bird's eye

colours, standing out in bold

against the autumn sky.

 

through the burning landscape

like tongues of flame

licking through wiry frames

the fiery leaves slowly falling

limbs to be coated in a snowy drape

 

the goddess and the hare

lingering in the black sky

the glow of the ethereal moon

only this night of this month alone

yet vanishing much too soon

 

the mortals embrace

her unearthly grace

so radiantly, wonderfully bright

that man should have wished

to take flight and alight

on her mystic unknown.

 

none will suffice

other than the annual nights like this

for no other moonlit night i care

because i love the autumn,

and its paradoxical splendour,

whose inspiring name i bear.

i miss other people

when they’re not with me

but when i’m gone

would anyone still remember me?

am i forgettable,

replaceable in any way,

not to be fondly remembered

if i’m away?

so many of those

i’ve met and known

my existence has long

From their memories flown

what i was, if ever was,  to them

means nothing anymore

i must have been just a passing encounter

a nonentity so easily lost from their memory store

sometimes i wonder, when i stop to think ,                         

if someday i left this place

leaving behind every single dream

never to be seen again, my face

gone from this earth, for eternity

would any of you still remember me?

Barely out of the pot

I’m in hot soup again

Indulging in excesses

I swore to refrain

The wheels keep turning

Will this mad cycle end

To stop at a point in life

Immanent Will to bend

Examples of fiction

Screened through for me

Made me laugh, and cry

Gloomy and empty

Enough of sentiments

All sappy and mushy

Or silly revelations

Superficial and dressy

For all past decisions

Now to set a firm foot down

To build my boat

And hope I don’t drown

But when it comes in

To the core of things

How difficult it is

To resist such flings

But then it’s so much easier

To play it cool

So I’ll go right back to being

A sentimental old fool.

sometimes, i feel

like i don’t belong

anyhow, anywhere

out of the throng

one of you in name

but not one of the crowd

carrying that name

i do feel proud

but times do come

when i feel rather lost

by a certain mild extent

of exclusion caused

i note with chagrin

at times like these

only i,  and i alone

am aware anything’s amiss

perhaps there're times 

when anyone'd feel out of place

no more bemoaning

i rest my case.

Of a greenhouse beauty

And a wild windflower

Delicate or untamed

Which should one prefer

 

The glass panes shield

And cherish to protect

But how easy for it to yield

To weather imperfect

 

Wild, uncultivated

The other grows

The will to survive

In its very vein flows

 

Under the cruel sun

Which can remain

Endure the crisis

Forge through the pain?

 

Not the cosseted bloom

Secluded from the norm

Kept only in a confining room

Never to experience a storm

 

Like the wildflower

Untamed, I want to be

Strong, secure in the power

That I could live life entirely.

 

Beautiful eyes

Brilliant in their azure beauty

Gaze at me

Hooded in their intensity

Magnificent eyes

Hiding a thousand secrets

Of pain and misery

Shielding his regrets.

He is beautiful

Cold, mercenary

Belonging to the sky

Living only

In the world of imagination

Existing only

In the throes of fantasy

 

Who created you

To feel so much pain?

like a flame

flickering in

fading out

who’s to blame

for reasons unseen;

what’s this about?

such an elusive thing

is friendship, a fanciful fling

watch the ending unfold

as it turns around and goes,

leaving you bitter cold.

 

 

right now,

this may, or may not

be the alley’s end;

i’ve lost a friend,

one more lesson learnt

over the loss of another;

seeing this one

reminds me of the other

i’m still wondering

from whence it went bad?

 

 

or maybe I lost nothing;

you can’t lose what you've never had.

 

When willpower becomes

An elusive sensation

And weakness sinks

Its claws in retaliation

Tell me, how should

One react;

Is ignorance bliss

Or should one fight back?

When disturbances

Surround me and mine

Dilemmas galore

Is it best to pine,

Save the confrontation

Or stand nose to nose with

The unappealing situation?

Easy it is, to feel strong

When the problem’s not in sight

Yet when the source appears

I fall without a fight

Tell me why I’m so weak

That I’m unable to resist

Or what I should do

To kill this faltering streak

At the very least?

It’s a wonder how

Eyes’re only skin deep

Scanning the exterior

The surface weeds to reap

When skin is grafted

Over a scar

It hides the ugliness

Of the blemish by far

Like the shiny skin

Of the apple of Eve

Red, tempting as sin

But responsible for

The advent of death

All pain suffered

Till the last breath

Can you look

With eyes of wisdom

Not eyes of lust

To see beyond

More than anyone does

Into the realm inside

Where eyes don’t wander

Delve into the heart

Where truth and lies

Lie in concert

No frills, no disguise.