No more words

When a sudden silence falls
between us, when you look at me

that way, an inquisitive butterfly
starts flittering around

a sense we are drifting apart
and the need of a good reason to cling

glued to the dance of a petite
bright spot under quiet clouds

We were also in the hunt for nectar,
but we are not butterflies

'for Paris' (tanka)

war broke out
at Bataclan theatre -
shall we keep acting
like  dead bodies
under the trigger?

White lotus (Haiku)

white lotus--
the sky losing
its darkness

September Tanka

such small-boned
my solitude
amidst the mountains
even winds cannot gnaw
those massive chunks of sorrow


you write
my name beside
your lover's
then strike it through—
fungi growing in monsoons


images
of a riotous spring
keep stinging--
i seek comfort
amidst the rhododendrons


village huts
obscured in cloud-light
the stillness
of graying hills
broken by cattle bells


mother
in her youth, and mother
in old age--
how fast does time travel
between horizons


basking
in the glow of a dream-
am i not
beyond the grasp
of mortal waves


let my poems be
like star florets
rekindling
the dreams that are lost,
lost in a sea of despair

5 tanka

a snowdrop
wavering in the mist
our love
coerced by the wind
droops further

*

my new specs
broken,
i use the old one--
who says you'll no longer need
your ancient visions

*

when I came home
I saw Death waiting
I called my sons:
leaving you to the whims 
of sunshine 

*

moonflower
may you climb your way
towards the moon--
we planted our dreams
in a vale of dead colours

*

if caterpillars
could feed on yesterdays...
(my) old dreams
disintegrating
for want of fresh wings 

3 haiku

your nearness
cherry blossoms brushing me
in the breeze

*

your eyes inviting
i didn't know how i reached
Dunning Kruger Peak

*

a marlin
her last kill-
the look on his face 

2 tanka

1.

my life
moth-eaten
by loneliness
a pauper keeps playing
butterfly melodies



2.

thunderflash-
i wait for the sound
to explode
her lips trembling
eyes angry with tears

The tapestry

She calls her life a tapestry,
a humble stitch-work of a home
with a tidy garden; the garden where
juvenile follies have ripened into
fruits of ardour; fruits that have treasured
seeds for a butter-flavoured mid-life, daily
talk of cups and saucers, the warmth of
genteel love, smiles, friends, sun and rain...
She has imbibed them all in her patterns.

Nowadays hours go by talking to
a yellow butterfly; how pristine will be
the twilight! What brilliant hues will
spill out of the clouds! ...She struggles hard,
hard to thread her needle again.

2 Tanka

the flute
has stopped its play-
i'm a feather
drifting in the hollow
of stillness

*****

nothing fades
in the mist forever
the world
with a faint pulse
resurfaces with the sun

2 haiku

still no reply...
fullstops in early drops
of rain


cherry blossoms
in the air
your nearness

7 tanka

1.
a rush of lava
rising up through my veins ...
God says
'try going down the stairs,
slowly stepping backwards '


2.
trying to flee
from noxious fumes:
should the almighty
be sending his blessings
in the guise of bullets


3.
the mountains,
mighty as they may be,
cannot drape themselves
with gold, as i can : boasts
the emperor, unclothed


4.
your absence
beckons me to your warmth...
my fingers
dig deep into pockets
of cold silence


5.
how bright
the sunshine
of yesterdays...
blinking fireflies
pierce the twilight gloom


6.
immerse your self
in the symphony
of ocean waves--
watch the sun unfurl a day
at Vavathurai


7.
he feeds pigeons
with tales from the past
gathered
from candid confessions
of autumn leaves

Crumbs of bread

On many a morning
crumbs of bread
litter his tablecloth

This is February
there is mist everywhere
above the river, on the shoulders
of old mountains

There is mist in his eyes too

How much warmth does it take
for the thawing
his heart melted and hardened
to a rock with iron-smoothness

He doesn't wish for moss to grow on it either

only his frail eyes fail to locate
the crumbs of bread on his table
too trifle to notice
yet too filthy for a clear soul
to neglect

3 haiku

our letters...
the bodies of
flightless birds


rainless storm--
not a word dropped
between us


hungry
for the flesh of houbara*
late autumn


[Note: *These desert birds are considered to be aphrodisiacs]

Nirvana - tanka

there is a path
leading
to the cemetery
the poet finds
a new road, everyday


counting
rosary beads
without end
light fails to pierce
the pea-souper

moon god

moon god
floating in balmy silence
a pleasant breeze
cradles the cry of a child...
somewhere, a star dies

[ Inspired by the song "Chittirai Nela" from Tamil film "Kadhal".]

Madrid

i see death
in your eyes
an afternoon
of long shadows
in  Madrid


we never shied
from having bull-fights
in love
your pink fragrance
the lure of madness


Madrid sun
filtering in between
our words
your smile the colour
of chestnut candies

Insane

It all started with the hush hush opening
of a bloom while i was doing a flip-flop-flip
on whether to alight the next flight of stairs
that could reach you

Yet all you did was pour acid on the buds
and hearing your grumble that 'love can not kill
twice' was like being swept off my feet

by an invisible Tsunami, riding on the fizz
of fantasia; it was like being bombarded with
fifteen thousand watts of pulsating sound

and all the while watching you blandly, your
face bloated with summer green, your shoulders
draped with blues, and your hair
brushed with a tinge of blood

You sipped your Martini with the calm
of a mellowed autumn, and said, "I wish
we could drop the tittle-tattle on love and sex,
they just kill me!"

Hypoxia

Amidst the fog
rising above the knoll of memory
the call of a warbler often
brings back the summer when

all that started: my fumble with words,
gasps of breath, burning beneath the shirt collar
and your cruel laughs; i believe it was clearly
a case of scarce supply of oxygen to my soul,

When you snapped the lifeline
of further approach, the roller coaster ride
slipped off its rails, and i was flung into the air,
i was detained somewhere between a virtual tunnel

and real vacuum, till i became conscious
of your vanishing into the mundane; all that remained
was a plunge into existence without the diatomic gas,
the essential pomposity of love.

New Year Tanka

#1

turning prayer wheels
on the last day
of the year

a child's song
echoes from the mountains



#2

the scientist sighs
at the sight of lifeless
lab animals--
which race can embrace
the gift of the Fuhrer?



#3

within the folds
of a paper rose
i keep tracing
the bends and alleys
of our talk



#4

can death
add one star
to the night -
mom's wooden owl
stares blankly



#5

throwing pebbles
into the pond--
ripples grow
within waning ripples
of memory



#6

i may hold
one full moon
between my fingers
but not the dreams
that slip beyond my view



#7

a mild rain
as night ends
your words
plopping into the muteness
of leaves



#8

you may burn
a hundred memories
i remain embalmed
in your self-seeking love
a helpless duck in an oil slick



#9

the more
we drift apart
i feel the sea wind
gathering
the rustiness of memories



#10

'sorry
for coming late'
echoes
a mockingbird
exploring the broken nest



#11

your nearness
as with a spring blaze
makes me dizzy--
even with a heat-suit
i fear the lava



#12

sea
without a wave
floats the moon--
towed to my dream
I've been sailing for ages