The Train to Nowhere

 One word for her – Ethereal

One word for him – Melancholy

They meet on the train to Nowhere. Melancholy asks ‘Where are you from Ethereal? She says, ‘from out of this world’. ‘And what about you Melancholy?’ he replies, ‘from a place halfway between joy and sorrow.’

They cast silent gazes on each other and nod.

What do you do? Melancholy asks Ethereal, ‘I fill up white spaces. I write, she says.  ‘And I suppose you are a poet’ with a wry inquisitive smile, she prods him.

‘But, how do you know. We’ve never met before, I can’t remem...’ ‘We know our names, don’t we? And don’t trust memory, it’s full of deceit’ interjects Ethereal.

Melancholy shifts his gaze out of the window, framing the world passing him by with a rhythmic strut of the eyelashes; storing memories for another time. Ethereal follows suit.

As the light fades, their eyes start to light up like those of Jaguars in the wild, untamed.

It’s almost twilight; he resembles a Zen master, some sort of sorcerer from another world. And she a sea which comes to a still after centuries of yearning, consumed in this moment, like it was all that she ever wanted.

Their gaze is stoic now, unlike the train, which is slowly gathering speed, chugging, bellowing, and cutting the wind in the tunnels into jagged wails of longing.

Soon her eyes turn to his long slender fingers, streaming out of his palm which lay on top of the other, snug on his thighs. Her swan-like white fingers are drawn to his, aching to rest, dance the unfinished dance.

She swiftly makes her move, gliding over to his side - a veil of warm air separating them. He could feel her pulsing presence next to him. The wrinkles on his face vanish with the constant stream of cold air ringing through the window.

Her breath grows louder, bit by bit, drowning the whir of the wind, and her lips brim with auras like a mythical star. She draws closer to him, sliding her fingers into his, catching a glimpse of the lines on his palm. Her memory forgets.

Then suddenly his eyes twirl and he wantonly turns his face. And just when his eyes lock into hers; it’s static, and they burst into flames. 

Leaving behind only laughter; Melancholic and Ethereal

The train keeps chugging along to Nowhere...

Ritual of Love

You go on inventing myth
And I play along like a fool
You Orange crested like the Sun
Brimming at the horizon
Pull me deep with the waves
Into the belly of the ocean
There's a secret place
Continent of Indigo swirls
Celebration..!!
Of the Pastoral world

You ask me, ''Partake this ritual"
You ask me, ''Partake this ritual"

of Love.

Carry you with me ( A song...)

I carry you with me

Like I carry the river in my tears

Like a solemn song on my lips

You are always near

I carry you with me

I carry you with me

I carry you with me

You never left me

See the sky is still unclear

Our shadows grow tall as mountains

With each passing year

I carry you with me

I carry you with me

I carry you with me

Randomness

This world exists on randomness, sheer randomness. Most of the beautiful things that happen in life are  random, and when you think through, you wonder if there is a design at play behind this chaos and all  such  random things.

We are born out of randomness and we die the same. We can’t choose to whom and where we are born, it’s a matter of chance.

Most of the times we don’t do things consciously or things just happen by themselves. Like falling in love, we cannot predict how and when it will happen, or capturing a moment on camera by releasing the shutter, or say, a poem – it can hit you anytime.

If so much of our lives revolve around randomness, how are we in control of our lives; where it is heading, what we make of it?

Randomness is like disguised potential, it’s like germination of a seed.The seed get sowed but it needs sunlight, water and sustenance to flourish into a tree. It’s all about that, about what you do with this randomness; this fleeting moment, this possibility.

Why Continents Collide.

Our bodies are two continents severed by time

moving slowly towards each other;

the oceans between us sinking, the trenches

getting deeper. The landscape of our skin

shudders with this approaching.

Mountains forge and veins converge

like rivers charting a new course.

A current runs through the rough

churning out relics, insignias of distinction

blur – even a catastrophe is beautiful.

It will be long after dusk and dawn 

cast their uneven light , a new continent forms

a million years it maybe, to discern how

we fit like a jigsaw puzzle – this longing.

Quotidian

How this year is different from that

year was like the last year and the

last one was same as one gone by.

Days seem the same and the sun

the moon and the stars like the same

and our lives are filled with the same days.

And the months like all the seasons the same

like rivers and seas and the oceans

are the same the fish and the birds

and the trees are the same old

like you and me, the same

heart it beats the same way.

To Silence and everything in between.

When was the last time we travelled

to nowhere, to silence

without a word been spoken.

Forming an ellipse

of imaginary incantation

And we formed arches

like branches longing for

Sun under glum grey skies

the last time we conceived

a notion

deceived emotion

Measured silences shining through

empty wine glasses. Caught

refractions of words floating

in a mist of sea spray

by our tongues. Talked about

our feet, how mine are hollow

yours more flatter and how that

makes you more grounded

me afloat

Last time we didn’t

hoard passion

it felt electric blue

we gathered moon-dust from our

eyes mumbling, “there’s a bit of moon

in all of us, and if it stays too long

it takes the colour of rust”

We cried like a child and felt happy

about really being sad. And sad

about how fleeting happiness is

Last time

I became the river you the sea

stood at our edges

and formed an estuary

touched

our bodies like it’s

for the very first time. Climbed

mountains of clouds

stacked up in the sky

got so high. we tripped

in to a daze

Wondered

at the expanse of the ocean and

how easy it is to drown

then stay afloat

collided like two galaxies;

me Andromeda you

the milky way and left

a trail of stars

of light and matter

and heat and words

we didn't say

slipped back

into our silences

nodded our heads

and fell asleep.