Transit Tale

Wading through

The passive tide, 

I brushed past

Humanity in a rush

Getting somewhere, steaming with ambition,

Needing to be where they needed to be

I felt the the rush.

I was in a moment, 

I stopped by to take it in.

A halo, a friendly demeanor

I said hello.

On the other side, a soul

Engrossed 

Oblivious. 

He managed a nod.

I carried it forward.

Small talk ..

large canvas.

Serenity in blue 

Spread across

I knew it as it seeped in

" pune se flight pakdi.. 

Pahunchna hai ranchi

Mere pitaji guzar gaye." 

Straight gaze. Calm. Deep. 

With a welling eye, a hand in a clenched fist,

I made contact on a drooped but sturdy shoulder. 

Humanity weaves and heaves

You will see it, smell it, sense it

On any given Sunday morning

If only you can stop and say hello.

Wrote this to capture a moment I had when transiting through Mumbai airport on my annual India trip. 

Translation:

" pune se flight pakdi..   (I caught a flight from Pune)

Pahunchna hai ranchi   ( am on my way to Ranchi)

Mere pitaji guzar gaye." (My dad just passed away)

Timeline

These days I watch Southern California surfers dressed in suits,

picking up an overcomplicated brew.

A beverage formerly known as coffee.

These days I see connoisseurs sampling brick red Merlot,

Deciphering cinnamon notes,

Outside, a man hit a plastic drum into a groovy frenzy,

reinventing funk music.

His craft dissipating into the sidewalk.

These days artists and peacemakers

are berated while the succinct phrase

and small talk replace conversations.

But then a stroll at 9 AM

with Norwegian bands rifling a jagged melody,

drowns out the noise and changes everything.

These days I feel great, finding that spark in connections.

These days….

Like Maugham wrote in that tome of his

You can’t write about happiness.

Lyrics to a love song

A Ridge, cold air in a soft stream

Rolling down

Kissing the contours

Fawning a pattern

It was said

What’s unsaid, glues us together

As I stop to look

A vision floats into view

Everything. Where it should be

Sweet

Curiosity. Cats straining to see
Skin. Wanting to know what you wear
Eloquent. Words, a construct
Inspire. Showing a path
A shade of purple,
Unearthing a potential.
Smile,Stay. Shape
Speaking,Euphoric. Connecting
I love all that and more.

Inglorius

surveying the disarray
in the dim amber glow
The cascade of an eastern melody
filling up this inglorious space
moonshadows sink into the evening snow
the sky a faded shade of crimson.
break out.the crescendo is out there.

Sunny Saturday afternoon

A shimmer
a connection afar
staying close
a hesitant smile
a glance, a splash
dim drone
and a laden froth
Explanation and Laughter.

Some tangents you don't recognise,
a tingle sliding down, a shared feel.
Trip away crazy night, shoot through,
send away, strong like rays of light.
Get involved, reach out, set it in motion
responses bounce off, angling, grand planning.