Black Eye

Try to breathe quietly, and you'll remember
that it was all
only what they thought they should say.

Blink again and see
few have seen you
without reference to
experiences and logic and observations

Breathe again and forgive.
With time
They'll become a little bit wiser for it.

Glitterati

                And then I remembered

Back straight

Chin up

rising hand, soaring feet.

dainty waist flies up

The feathery skirt sobered down.

Translucent silhouette.

Ever eye, mind lights

The masses rise loudly,

they sparkle and cheer. Now

twirl the air, land on your feet.

Note: The line "Ever eye, mind lights" is from 'Ghazal' by Marylin Hacker. 

The Beak of a Vulture

There's a strange place where my mind lives;

where in all my strings have You tied this knot?

I refuse to understand the point --

the point of adrenaline,

the fight or flight response.

The eagle has wings, not I.

The bear has claws, not I.

It's a strange place where my mind lives.

Where in all my strings have You tied this knot?

My spine unyielding, it is

Clockwork worthy of ticking, yet resistant to time

but he sees me.

his ghost touches my spine.

You said I could be happy tomorrow,

If I can suffer today.

You realize I could brave tomorrow,

If I could be happy today?

    There's a strange place where my mind lives,

    Where in all my strings have You tied this knot?

On Calamity's Orders

And so the dam burst open.

The river punched through,

Like the shooting flames

That scatter the feathers of a phoenix

As if the calmness in fluidity

Had eaten itself.

No longer playfully impatient,

Water had agreed to dance up a disaster.

Ready to crumble everything it needed to.

In spite of hope,

In spite of love,

In spite of justice.

With sheer might perched on its shoulder,

Water set out to do

Everything it was told to.

Obedience was all it knew.

If better words for an apology existed,

Grievance never would.

We need shadows to see

As much as we need light to live.

Clock Wands

Suppose you are traveling by a series of houses,
would you ever peek into them?
would you wonder how different that household might be from yours?
Is the silhouette behind the curtains of a young woman or of an old lady?
What did she do today? Is she happy? tired? reading?
Maybe she's expecting, maybe she doesn't know yet.
Well, she also doesn't know that a passing stranger just saw her.
She'll just go back to her life. Even if she wishes dearly for it to change.

Venus

from one end of the spoke on a wheel
like a dried and curled leaf caught in a wind
the ends rotate in pairs


the stars you see in the sky
the sky that holds us today
today when we know
know all about the stars


that some of them aren't stars at all
in one of them, the wind bellows
no trees to stop it
it throws clouds of light, swarms of sand
smudges the edges like
charcoal on a hastily drawn sketch.


and finally, there are people on earth
on earth where everyone is happy
happy and sporting smiles for all to see
see them be happy
and they'd rather be watching a storm instead.

Of Fractals and Butterflies

the monsoon hides clouds with rain
the flower hides pollen in smell
       a snowball rolls down a hill
       and grows and grows


years later he will still blame himself
       not quite sure how
he managed to
become responsible for the woes of
       a broken camel's back


and years later, it will still remain
       a secret
how a drop of water
once fell on a flower
and sent it flying
towards the mountain and the snow
       where it rolled for much too long.

for the shy kid

big dip big bounce
it hits the ground and
it comes right back


big dip big bounce
it's coming for your palms now


the floor won't break
the ball won't pop.


it never really does,
you'll never really drown.

And Then It Ends

like the humility of a bird's 
existence, that is left perched on a branch 
stunned, as the bird itself disappears with two feathery beats.

you know, if you stop breathing properly

if often enough, your heart paces irregularly

your insides will feel like they're about to fall

your backbone will feel flaccid like your lungs

and a few times every hour

they will all just slide for a second,

then they will be caught by

whatever it is in the mind

that holds our bodies together

while we are alive.

its not fear or dread that does this

it is the way a human body works.

feedback mechanism

and a soul trying so hard to forgive.

the beauty however, of being alive,

is that life just goes on

our bodies are willing, prepared to be under duress

just never for too long.

so if you can just,

not die from it all

you will swim.

watch my bird fly now.

and then it ends

like the humility of a bird's existence

that is left perched on a branch, stunned

as the bird itself disappears with two feathery beats.

you know, if you stop breathing properly

if often enough, your heart paces irregularly

your insides will feel like they're about to fall

your backbone will feel flaccid like your lungs

and a few times every hour

they will all just slide for a second,

then they will be caught by

whatever it is in the mind

that holds our bodies together

while we are alive.

its not fear or dread that does this

it is the way a human body works.

feedback mechanism

and a soul trying so hard to forgive.

the beauty however, of being alive,

is that life just goes on

our bodies are willing, prepared to be under duress

just never for too long.

so if you can just,

not die from it all

you will swim.

watch my bird fly now.