Barter

Tides roll by, washing away sins of lore

A new beginning of love and peace

Across nations, people and race

Currency foretold, not within bounds

I see the value of none abound

To share and give, to receive as much

To know no value but that which is touched

No paper or colour of envy gone blind

Pockets of coins lay heavy neither here

As I stand looking at the dawn coming close

A trade of kindness shown miles around

As I sleep alight none to whisper the truth

Of shackles we wear thoughout the night

Wearily I walk into the sunset blind

As old as wine I turn within

Wisdom across ages come to noth

The simple I made to a harsh truth told

Chains I wear made of stolen gold

Wimpy old sailor, a man of tongue

Paid every Tuesday, a false pronounce

Yet I live better than he, and happiness rushes to me

The Sea Song

I wrote this on one of those escapes I loved so much to make. And when those escapes are to the ocean, then the power is that much more. Sometimes, I believe I will know life only when I die for then I will know what I have missed.... the oceans beckon.

Calm & peace, never known before
A silent sigh, deep within, to be heard by none
A silver sheen, as the shore washes my feet

Awake, alive, a whole new life
Love, happiness & feelings high,
Golden rays light my face
Shimmering thru the blue
Mix & match to colour the sky.

The salty air, cold & sweet
Welcomeing me, an old old friend
Too long have we, not having met
A heavenly welcome made for thee

As the oceans adorn their jewels
& wash the shore, a slow hum & smile
A song for only who want to hear
In rhythm for you, me & those silent tears..

The wind gently runs her hand
Fingers brushes aside my hair
Like a loving mother greeting her long lost son

A beautiful picture, for me the sky
Love & friendship not denied
Here I stand, in front an old new door
Peace at last, I enter my home

Desert

As in everything, there is a rhythm that you can only feel, your senses feel it, you know it exists and your hair bristles when you know the moment is upon you. And while you are at it, the very notion that to balance the same you will receive a time which takes a toll and tests you against time, that that too shall also reign on you. Sitting here on this chair with a blue cushion, my thoughts wander, I feel its traces walking across my being; like when you drag a heavy laden bag across those fine desert sands. I wrote this poem when in such a state and that’s where it arises from:

Over the sands & nomadic dunes, I dredge along,
A moving speck leaving a trail behind
All vastness, a pale brown & high above, A calm surround

Not knowing where or why I move
Feeling no sensation below my toes
I see I have walked a mile
The winds play their games, in swirls and mists
Till all the dunes are lost in time

My throat parched, long gone dry
Swollen and fiery, beyond it all
The sweltering heat, never a denial
Beating on my back, a sorrowless creature
As it burns my neck & leaving me weaker

A slow pace is all I muster,
A daze, a shadow, a trance that follows
My mind a dulled numb mass of weight
Just a burden, totally awaste

Slung across, pouch gurgling beside
That is my life, my present divine
Taunting, calling… slushing inside
Each step I take, reminding me
Of the elixir inside

I wait, a little at a time
Knowing it has to last me only a moons time
Back to life & the sweet liquid of desire
But the strength is only because of her

The day is kind for the westerly blows
The scorching sun losing to the time
The worst of times I lay aside
Remembering the oasis & greenery abound

Life! you’ve been an ode to me
As I walk along the sands of time
Free like the wind as it carries away
The granules wiping along my face

The time traveler

Over the winds of the artic mist
Beyond the horizons where it meets the shimmering blue,
Rises a streaky sun, all aglow
A life of nature
A life of old

Built along the narrow trails
A green cover not man can take
Wilderness abound & the trees alive
The cries of life all around.

Colours abound, red green & blue
Paradise wild & glorious life,
A cacophony, music only to those
As nature blooms & covers for miles
Gay abandon for life goes on,
To live in the present & the sweet bird songs

As the shades grow darker; fading light
A backdrop in shades of grey
The howl of a lone wolf rings out loud
To thank the gods & life around
As the snow starts slowly to fall over all,

Under the glimmering moon
Floating ice, the rumble of the ancients
A story foretold, with a tongue used ages ago
Long forgotten, in the passage of time.

Shadows in the dark, prowl the night
The wild never sleeps but the eyes betray
The shore washes the floor & covers the night,
A wave to greet, a wave to shatter
A life of nature
A life of old

The light goes bright & fades over glory
The days count out the meaning of life
A lone traveler, for time stands quiet
To watch the fallacy called life
Envious for the vivacity thus is born
A smirk is all he gives away
For in it was born an eternity to grace.

Illusions

Wave on wave a gentle song,
In rhythm & motion a soothing beyond,
Calm & peace, not known before
Gulls overhead & a five year old
Harmony surrounding the islet divine.

A glint of the eye, a flash before
An understanding beyond the ages in time
As the gentle ocean waves
Wash the granite protecting the sand

A childs delight
built is a castle that the water cant reach
I can come tomorrow & it’ll be here
Where I’ve made it, where we were….

Cacophony erupts, the birds have seen

what mortals fathom not
A shift, a wave, a fraction of a call
For them, its time to head for their home.

A beautiful sunset, but then the day is still warm
A magnificent creation, gleaming to horizon
Diamonds on the ocean, a sight to watch
A days ending slow & with grace
Painting the sky is shades of orange & grey.

Dark boulders, stretched fine…
I can see their outline as I sand in the dark
Peace & quiet for a thousand miles across
But I can feel it coming hastily ashore

Slowly the tide rises, swelling across
Riding its way slowly ashore
Time after time, a splash on the rocks
An angry rhythm, a forbidden path

Nature’s come to claim what is hers
It is we who take without her nod
The stones are solid, resilient with age
It doesn’t matter but the cracks will show

Time & again, as the land below shakes
The sand we walk on, the beach we hold
Something so precious, we both hold forte
The night is young, it’s a long way to go..

The sun, refreshed awakening sounds
The land glistens, dawning a new dress
To please the gods above,
nature knows no past, its only the now
In peace & calm, arise & shine

A shriek of delight, a whiff of a scarf
It’s the laughter that only a child can derive
Sand spraying all over the place
As her tiny feet carry her closer to yesterday

Slower & slower, till there no movement in them
Those tiny eyes, confused & afraid
Tears run down as it dawns across
There never was a castle, only sand

Sand was all there was…….

Through the Window

I sat in a glass building recently where I had gone for an interview. While waiting at the reception area, I was walking around and took a peak outside the window. All I could see was the white paint and tinted glasses of the building next to the one I was in. I froze for a moment, staring out into nothing and felt this urge to just escape from this concrete and glass jungle, to cut away the threads that held me to this type of existence and I imagined the wolf calling out to me. This poem I think started building from there within.

So strange a stride, weathered yet strong
A slow steadied beat, each move assured and just
As if calculated well before time

The swiftness of a thought abound
As wolves hunt in pack a prey
Conditioned to counter the vast reserve
Steadfast in the arctic sun

A fog envelopes, blind as night
With no moon to guide, yet the stride
Never misses a beat, nor the cane a divide

A world of fantasy, love and hope
Flowers square with walking trees,
Yet the sane huddle in a corner stone
While pride moves up the sheet

Into the blue, with a skip and a dance
For hasn’t it been all along
Accustomed to rays of light in the blackest of the nights.

A scalpel art of love divine
Light to light and dark to black
A new meaning, a new world
Monotony within the economies of the large

No more sure, is the left step the first
Why have the flowers lost their charm
A world seen through one single sightA long to close these for peace

Shuttle Bus

I was travelling in the bus recently and couldnt focus on anyone conversation or interaction that was going on inside. There was so much communication happeneing right there. Here I was listening to the person next to me complaining about the lack of number of buses in the route, about how bad the civic amenties were and what he thought about the top brass. I heard a lady talking about her husbands job and how late he gets home. Another man was talking to his employer on the phone and telling him about his fathers sickness and details of it. The thought slowly came as to the among of sharing we do in a public space, with strangers and with people just becasue they happen to get the seat next to us or by chance are standing beside us. The bus itself would have been a ear to millions of conversations, just think of the weight of travellers minds those boards hammered in to make the footboard stronger who have had to bear...

The nine o one to the clock
Keeps astep the milling crowd
To hopes of love, happiness and the divine
Never noticing the shuttle so loved
Always a place for me inside

Five planks of wood, a forest itself
Witness to a million lives
A shelter for worn out feet
And gum that always had to hide

Long stories together I have heard
Of children and pranks aside,
With solace, heart break and tears for the lost
A few hundred counts of anger belied

New faces, those I daily visit
All strangers by name left aside
A practice on purpose, none ever asked
For the hour was pleasant within itself
Comfort only a friend can provide

Grandchildren visits, an ailing mother, a win here and there
It was here that one felt free
Burdens left within the sliding doors
Never wanting to be found.

In patience, the time caring for one
A gentle word, a kind hand
A smile shared all around
Blessed is the nine o one, always sharp on the clock

A Star at a Time...

This was written soon after I read 'Sea Wolf' by jack London... thats where the old English rubbed off from I'm guessing. I found it written on a Napkin which had been used like a book mark...

A flash of silver, searching for you
The roads shown for neither to see,
Flashes above break the mist of black
clutching the light, yearning for more.

Thousands traverse along the path,
Eons have been there, the future will too.
A simmer, a hope, a guide… the light…
Small each one within themselves,
Come join the search for you have gone,
To build the world, trust is cherished for.

Our lives so short, the span of a beat,
All that’s warm, beautiful & sweet;
Ah! How we love to yearn for you,
Come, deliver for I am high born too.

The morning cloudy, the day will weep,
Tears shed of sorrow & pain
For the memories that I want all back.

Time; the most wicked, it plays with me
Stops for none, except the tears;
How it would be if it played with us,
Filled our love & shared our joy.

Fall & rise, the heart beats strong,
Clear the ashes & learn from the tears,
For the winds can come & move the clouds;
Warmth filled am I for the truth,
A morrow is there for us to brew.

Ride fast for the time is short,
Not for us but you & me;
A speck is what I will always be,
Add a few and the storms can brew.
My hand holds the strongest sword,
A simple long blade, written in hope.

untouched

Pedalling around through natural paths
Screaming & shouting, the bunch still raw
Untouched & free, a spirit in each
That which the innocent possess & do not understand

Springs & streams, green grass & trees
Whats a scratch, neither a bruise
There is always a smile to cover all those
My world is lovely, bright & in hues

Summers around, an adventure.. a sport
Friendships & bonds exchanged about
A hurtful look, soon a gathering around
Confused at the bird down on the ground

A shriek of joy, heads turn around
While I watch, spontaneity untold as mouths drop down
A tortoise creeping out the lake
While history is lost, untold but forgotten without.

Tamarind tinge’s & gooseberry red
Patch’s of green & brown, clothes made use of
A surrounding of joy, laughter behold
It’s a wonderful world, I choose it to be so…

My Silver Coin

A slight tap as they patter on my glass,
The sleet breezy monsoon awash at my doorstep
Giving life to the well parched earth
As I wake up to the heavenly earth scent

Rays break through, as the clouds pass through
I watch in earnest as she dutifully passes by
No smile or time to smell the flowers
Just two coconut swabs, no hands for joy

As it trickles, a lovely shiver down my back
One drop is enough to excite
Yet below that basket, selling his ware
Ignores the thousands that greet him the same.

Small I recall, those sinking paper boats
Following the snake as it swiveled lane through
Where eyes of age just as mine
Built sand castles to save his small dwelling house

Dark stains flow on both sides of the road
Honks & frenzied lights steal dangerously through
As we hurry under maple leaves & shelters abeat
Watching the children of the night as they splash through

Glittering eyes, a set of white, an oasis present to be
A moment of rest, burdens forgotten and washed away
The pure nectar drenching on them, a admire by side
Of a blessing only they understand………

Whisperings

Walking along the thresh of time
A deep understanding of wisdom within
Tales learnt & dwelled upon a mind
Haunted with the ghosts of the past

A shy step, a skip & hop
A better future, don’t we call out all
Whims unfold as the gods play wild
Unseen, unheard through the eons of time

Morn cometh, a time of hope
The first rays, bringing a sign of hope
Forth night time sky to blanket the smoke
Dejavu to you, a normal day, just of despair

Shackled & chained, a constant shift
To break away from the conscious enforced
Scarred with time & hesitant to go
As emotions unknown well within

Structured with scrapers, a mile to the sky
Tuscan steel & mazes abound
Built with fear & the constant remind
Of a fragile soul, lost deep inside

Secrets, passwords & silence filled nights
A test of every foot rest & hinge distressed
As the days pass by, u get used to the fog
Settling around to live in piece

A sudden jerk, gasping for air
Mad frantic rush to surface
To breathe so sweet, I want the most exquisite of air
Is that gas, I don’t care

Along came one with a gentle touch
One innocence, offering much
Bonds of understanding, the eyes speak out
In a language than none can live without

Learn for you are not alone,We all carry life abound without.

Divine Interventions

A rhythmic beat, slow burning heat
A glow afar of hard work &toil
Rippling along thru smooth contour lines
Intelligence in the eyes, a glint of awe
To create a masterpiece never foretold

Sparks and frazzles, as steel moulds steel
A form as desired carved in delicate twines
Twisted & reined, a wild horse buckle
Patience & love through time eternal

A spice of life & a dash of colour
Smile beholden a touch of the divine
Twinkling stars to guide far as seen
Into sun touched skies and earthy sighs.

As dusk sets in with the hues of design
Fiery reds & sleepy blues
Come together to form a broach for the eye
As the beauty created glows from inside.

(unfinished)

Rustling green buds always point to the Sun

Back bend over the grindstone,
Slowly one on one, in circles they went,
Following the hands as the grains became dust,
In silence serene, as the household slept
A warm aroma of fresh baked roots
And yeast made brown with a pinch of love

Wiry and nimble as she quietly hopped about to ready
Long had she learnt to fight, twas required measure beyond
As her strapping young lads stirred awake
To the chirping sounds that only nature can make

Low behind the broken birch strewn around,
Mud smeared and heaving, stifling a cry
As they rustled the bushes, bayonets swinging about
Watching the feathered caps, the uniformed guards
as they sniggered aloud of bounty untold.

A legend whispered of flying squirrels
Men of honour who travelled the highways
Yet none had seen of the hundreds felled
Capable of what those tiny shoulders held.

Quietly she stirred the pot, round and round,
While the smile walked around the worlds unknown
Where the leaves rusted just before a leap
That faithful day when a glance sheared a leg
The world was changing and with the time,
She had learnt to be of a different kind.

Four for one, a trade not bad
While the legend grew to feed of lores
The eyes shone bright, it was a freedom
Tasted and never to be given light.

Autumn Break

Scarred on the years home through,
Haunted tops and barren fields,
Friends left and strangers stoned,
Shattered and beyond, with nothing but hope.

Scrubbed and cleaned,
Even my ears shown
Remember the life
That was too much foretold

Bright eyed, innocent, cousins beside,
Numerous others not far behind
One silent rustle,
Squirrels stamping about,
With winter yonder,
It’s a hurry to fill the last of the stock

Rusted sea, brilliant against the sun,
Gently one by one,
Softly floating to their resting place
Forgotten among the million bonds

A silent snap of those immortal hear
As on gently drifts on my fore
Large and weathered
You have lived life well,
Such a resemblance,
A smile long forgotten
Breaks the spell

I cry of joy, as the winds blow through
The tree on my back wakes up too
I can feel it change,
As it brushes my face

A life weathered well,
See those new buds
It is time for the season of change

So close to native,
A sense of calm,
The simple joy
The rain swept face

Tired a little,
I am here for thee,
My eyes for you,Close in peace.

A route to heaven

Criss crossing across busy channels
Each stream pointed towards a cause
A meaning to one on that path
Driving home from school with me.

Looking out the window, a blur of grey
Through city buildings and glittering glass
Small patches of green at every park
As the world fastens by.

A courtesy call, slowing down
The white stripes calling a slow
Hurried steps, hurdling each to the important task at hand
Milling over to the other side,
Brisk over the fresh white snow

Staring at the changing frame,
Fogging up the pane
As a little girl in the car beside,
Watches too while aimlessely kicking her legs about

Will my mother be looking out,
Would the oven have been used for my favourite,
My lessons talk of these fantastic worlds
Smiles and laughter everywhere.

My street I see, there we played
Those posts I knew well beyond blind
Desolated a look I find familiar
As the cold catches me unaware.

The chime gongs away, a good long wait
I see the curtain move on the top window and the door slid quietly open
I wonder whether they will notice the time
And ask if my term was over.

April Showers

A constant drumming, never letting u forget
Of sunny days & life behold
Within the confines of the little shelter
Braving life as it weathers by

A music only built on the drops
By those with unfathomable strength
A deep wisdom that twinkles in the wise
Of a silent understanding of the deprived.

As I patiently wait, the storm withering by
I learn the little secrets of my cocooned life
In all its charm, a world unlike
Very easy to move in but a difficult flight

A life not for me, chains cannot en-spirit
As my soul cries out for freedom & the blue
Holding back from maniacal bounds
Is only from dark histories within.

Boundaries defined, a mind weakened astray
Games of life, of death he plays
The warmth of hope is all one has
A smile on your face & the spark alight

Fly over mountains & deep blue seas
Inside crevices & beyond depths of the clouds
To play on the treetops & swing my hands free
As I run along the shoreline, away from constant reprieve.

The green cover after a wet spell,
As the parched earth gives out its intoxicating smell
A world opened new, beautiful it always was
Waiting a while for these eyes to open wide…

The Shuttle

The nine O' one to the clock
Keeps astep the milling crowd
To hopes of love, happiness and the divine
Never noticing the shuttle so loved
Always a place for me inside

Five planks of wood, a forest itself
Witness to a million lives
A shelter for worn out feet
And gum that always had to hide

Long stories together I have heard
Of children and pranks aside,
With solace, heart break and tears for the lost
A few hundred counts of anger belied

New faces, those I daily visit
All strangers by name left aside
A practice on purpose, none ever asked
For the hour was pleasant within itself
Comfort only a friend can provide

Grandchildren visits, an ailing mother, a win here and there
It was here that one felt free
Burdens left outside the sliding doors
Never wanting to be found.

In patience, the time caring for one
A gentle word, a kind hand
A smile shared all around
Blessed is the nine o one, always sharp on the clock

Through the windows

So strange a stride, weathered yet strong
A slow steadied beat, each move assured and just
As if calculated well before time

The swiftness of a thought abound
As wolves hunt a pack a prey
Conditioned to counter the vast reserve
Steadfast in the arctic sun

A fog envelopes, blind as night
With no moon to guide, yet the stride
Never misses a beat, nor the cane a divide

A world of fantasy, love and hope
Flowers square with walking trees,
Yet the sane huddle in a corner stone
While pride moves up the sheet

Into the blue, with a skip and a dance
For hasn’t it been all along
Accustomed to rays of light in the blackest of the nights.

A scalpel art of love divine
Light to light and dark to black
A new meaning, a new world
Monotony within the economies of the large

No more sure, is the left step the first
Why have the flowers lost their charm
A world seen through one single sight
Longing to return to those beautiful sights

Bonds

Deep within, the howl of freedom
beckons like a flare in the dark
a moth flutters by for he is old
& wise in the way of the wolf

a thud somewhere, screech from the nocturnal
blinded by the light, flickering alive
the warmth bestowing a halo
a glisten of the eye & then the tear ran dry
now brothers in arms together

a wizened face, slowly up the creek
to where the innocent had fallen
deep within the crevice of night
to mourn the love that was forgotten

along the young path they had thread
life was so beautiful
accompanying now was the love of the beast
where both of them had fallen

in a flash of a moment, a flame of a gun
two brothers had united
now brothers in the wild, bonded by love
bonded by sorrow eternal...