Friday, September 4, 2009

Lost


Where is that river
that flew swift, unfettered
in a stream of crystal eternally
towards the ocean's infinity?

Where is that song
that rang clear, unabashed
clad in naked innocence
setting flight to notes of truth?

Where have I come
in my own countless journeys
that my bare feet
are stranger to their beloved land?

Friday, August 14, 2009

Worship


A thousand times I wet my head
with water from the holy rivers.

My silken robes ply softly
folds of purity tucked in my body.

With steady hands I draw
your sacred marks of graveyard ash.

The lamp glows calm
A golden drop, the conscious' shine

Your fragrance swells and overflows
as my breathing slows of its own will.

I chant the chants with utmost care
wincing at every word that comes imperfect.

The water flows unburdened
nectar it is, nectar flows.

And yet my Father...

Sans effort that yellow flower
has reached your feet already.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Orphaned Words


I pray to you my love;
Free these orphaned words of mine.
They come to your world,
innocent and blind
with no hand to hold.

Protect them, my Goddess;
From the viles of reason.
Let them not pursue ideals,
truths and praise,
for their weak feet will tire soon.

Bind them not, my Goddess;
In harsh fetters of grammar.
Let them not be stifled with craft,
genius and order,
for they have no discipline.

Free them, my Love;
Set them on a song, light and gentle.
Let them play in the sand,
dust and the streets,
for they can amount to nothing more.

Bless them, my Love;
So that they may sing
of your dark face like the mango leaf
your smile like the jasmine
for that will be their salvation.

Let them go no further My Love,
but just sing of you,
your home by the river under the mango tree
Of evenings, gilded sunsets,
of birds returning home
then...
fade gently into your night.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Portrait


Dusk's sun glows mellow
Your face yielding nascent smile
Who paints this eve gold?

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Passion

Bent
drooping with lust wanton

Soft
heaving with desire brazen

Sweat
running like the river in abandon

Sighs
heavy like thunder distant

Hands
gripped firmly on shoulders
the cloud made love to the mountain.

Tamil

Friday, June 19, 2009

Solace

Life, a fickle companion
runs and strolls
one step ahead
one step behind.

I close my eyes
and breathe some in
breathe some out
life hides somewhere between the two.

T'wixt this perfumed garden
of bleeding roses and silent jasmines
of cold ivory and nectar fruits
of lilting flute and lotus eyes

T'wixt this raging fire
of burning passion and placid peace
of heartfelt love and wanton sin
of flaming heat and slain ashes

One thought runs soft
a refuge, a familiar nest
"All life's thralls shall fade soft
When death my love seals her kiss"



Monday, May 4, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The summer bird


Summer bird I beseech thee
teach me a song as free as thee
lend my thoughts your wings, your sky
make my words light and spry

Colour my soul with your sight
mango blossoms and a sun so bright
Fill it brimming with a thousand blooms
of colours and light and sweet perfumes

Lead me through summer's lust
through heat and breeze and swirling dust
Tell me what secrets spake
the pigeon cooing to his mate

Hide my mind in a jasmine's breast
drown my heart in manna blest
Take me deep into her cove
take me into her sceret grove

Show me there her throbbing soul
Sloping valleys and sylvan knoll
Show me there in that single flower
A thousand blooms that live forever

Take me then on a butterfly's lips
humming through a hundred trips
to roses, violets and others untame
a thousand hearts for us to claim

Rest me awhile on a blade
of grass asleep in banyan shade
A dreamy sleep of sweat and heat
drinking noon sun's passion sweet

Carry me then on a sunbeam bent
to some sweet land with pastoral scent
of placid cows and cowherd's song
where evenings stretch languorously long

Fold your wings and sit by me
as dusk dies softly by a tree
Teach me silence that your heart holds
as the orange glow gently unfolds

Then take me home to a sylvan hutch
half asleep in the full moon's touch
Lay me there on simple earth
and let me sleep a sleep of death

Monday, March 2, 2009

How subtle a net do we weave
How swift our mind leads us on
Threads of thought twist and cleave
in fingers of words deftly con

How we tread with dreamy feet
Seeking roads that our desires take
How does the mind ooze deceit
the spider's mouth that web make

How we toil in empty sweat
Hours that run in joyless drone
How the heart does worry and fret
piling with filth its own throne

How we speak sans respite
shedding words that wither and die
Empty branches that take delight 
in eternal autumn always nigh

Friday, February 13, 2009

Away

Dead she sleeps my lover true
A blossom of spring that summer slew
Dead she sleeps all so still
Sans breath sans will

Her eyes don't shine nor her face
It seems she has gone another place
Her heart lies tombed in folded hands
Her garb is greyed like time's sands

Her bosom stays no longer heaves
Her voice is mute no magic weaves
Her lips are parched split apart
like barren land, a broken heart

No tear nor smile decks her soul
No fountain flows nor passion dole
The river has dried; the clouds have left
The bird has flown; the nest bereft

Here I stand; stand and see
The dead half of a living we
I stand and gaze and stand and gaze
Finding no life not a trace

Then...

Dusk does fall; day fades away
cool summer breeze traces a way
I sigh and sing and walk away
My heart grows quiet...

I

walk

away...