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.

Chance your arm

Break beats punctuate the lull,
Stop,edit your résumé,resume to debug.
As the Sun Rises in Angola,
I am worried about my 3 quid.
Egypt, O Egypt,
I hope you come through.
I have my ticket wrapped in cellophane,weather proof
But tied to a seventy lakh stone, it sure can sink.
Its that time of the day on that kind of day,
when Sunshine bouncing off a metal facade,
Can brighten your mind before blinding your eyes.
Isnt it lovely when you have rolled down your dices?
Waiting to see how they turn out.


P.S : Dedicated to Sara,Hemant, Arko,Robin and people working around me at SAP

Weather

condensed air sweeps along the neckline,
strange insects beep secret signs.
wailing , reaching out ,filling up the cracks,
the voids beckon, seeking a fit-in.

At a wedding of strangers

I've seen this space fill up,
with people i know not..
I've been here from the beginning,
watching them cloak a happy scene in a sad melody..
Flowers placed in order,
a geometry to the flow..
Rain falling on glittering lights,
walk the green carpet..

Unbeautiful

Refined oil soaks wafers of potatoes,
beer breath and bellied of lard.

Tar sticking on the pink of lung,
an orgy of vibe,clear glass stained by ash.

Blatant symbols of power,feeding greed,
neon halos for the gods of music.

The exilir sells in varied synthetic hues,
GANDHI exchanged for a moment's load.

Feel it ripping up sheets of silence,
a green sprayed with blobs of purple

Float

A stone ,in flight,set into motion,
shooting out through a dust cloud,
kicked up by a wheel of peace,
Slow motion, a liferaft safe in cohesive air,
greenery on the window pane.

Shells of holy smoke,intruders come and go,
spaced out,reaching an outcome,
somewhere in between a worry and a scene,
its filling up,cup to lip, song to soul,
a drench, a stone in place.


* dedicated to a trip to the tibetean settlement in Kushalnagar with Hemant

Black Parade

The Show is on,
the ceremony has begun,
Its time for a downer,
Bringing home the stoner..
The nomad's drowning pool,
The gathering ground of the uncool,
The color tonight is black,
the vibe is dark,
we follow the medicine man,
we trust his plan,
Under a spell he wove..
The zombie parade marched..
To the land of sin.
It was Rock N Roll..

wild fire

Days past, new..
They flash before me..
Souls drunk on the exilir, drunk on the liquer,
buzz around me..
the energy in a song,
a sadness that's gone..
smoke and a light,
crazy is the night

She got greeting cards on a plywood board,
and a sullen clay pot beside her phone..
she's got a hundred thoughts drawn on her face,
she's got a sweetness in everything she says...
she's got a soft touch and a hard resolve,
she can make a grey cloud dissolve...

Diner Probe

The four horsemen that never arrived,
on a day we never sighed.
The torture of silence,
an unseen fence,
cool hips that never hop,
flowing,forgetting to stop..
sinking into conversation,
shaking off isolation,
a peppy beat, a rhythm serious
controlled delirium.
A maze being built,
the unsettling silt,feeling the hilt.
curious exploration and the confirmation,
the taste left a lasting satisfaction

Swallowed

A sunset seen through a reflection on a glass pane,
in the jam, an ambulance siren wails in vain.
A bus full of cubicle dwellers,
behind bars are the illusion dealers.
They painted the walls white inside,
but peace has drowned in boredom's tide.
Faces on billboards flash happy smiles,
but drooping heads is what i see for miles.
Forty percent off on adidas trainers,
one more master ready to chain us.
I cant take it anymore,
they have swallowed the key to my door.....

City healing..

As a day dreams, silence screams..
Choking on smoke,tobacco to toke..
rushing to reach, trusting the breach..
planet paranoia,Do i know ya?


Its the product launch,support me staunch,
Cures to calm,The chaos balm..
Insanity-my cloak holy,God in Allen Solly..


The mail van on the way, on a lazy sunny day..
letters of woe,head to toe.
But do read the letter, sometimes worse is better..
Letting go of past tense, when it stopped making sense..



I am the prolific poet, what i see is what i go at..
Blindness is a cure,but my blindness is impure......

Peace:Poems decay,flowers wither,peace takes over.
Is this the prize i waited for?

Sunday morning reflections

The morning is slow, heady...
whiskey in a smoke filled, dimlit room.
sunken people,drowning in the afterglow..
its a passing scene.
passing back and forth..
laughter floating in the shadows,
glowing in a smooth flash.
music is a liquid,filling up space..
holding up the frame,forming the core.
There is a stagnation around here.
there is a fear to be happy..
and it goes with the song.
beautiful garbage!
but when euphoria shows itself..believe the ride.
its only real , when you feel.

Grand design?

Its a wreck and i have a suspect,
Its the design i doubt, i fear its clout,
Everything built crumbles,
Everything great fumbles,
And the reason to this misery?
I have a scapegoat, destiny..
A bug hypnotised by the light trap,
happiness is just a communication gap..
Got to live through it, like they say...
looking out for the peeping sun on a cloudy day