PRAYER
TO NATURE
The
day evaporates
Followed
by night melting
Like
hope and despair
Thoughts
are limping
Furtive
pain is irritating!
Trees
are filched of fruits
Animals
are stolen of life
Humans
are robbed of zest!
But
the Sun rises daily
Like
hope immortal
Amidst
disease and death
Pray
nature
To
forgive human folly!
***
TEARS
FOR DREAMERS!
When
I think of them
I
cannot sleep
They
lost freedom
For a dream!
When
I think of them
No
tears!
Flowers
of freedom nipped
In the bud !
***
FAITH
FOR BETTER TOMORROW
Every morning
Or
evening
I
trotted to feed
The hungry dogs
Biscuits or slices of bread
In
a brown bag in hand!
And wished a better morrow
for
the starving!
POETRY AS FRESH WIND
Some
days
Poetry
does not stir
Or
rustles slowly
Like
leaves of trees!
Poem
lurks
In
our depths
To
thrill us
Like
fresh wind
Wafting suddenly !
***
LIKE A LEOPARD!
Fear
not invisible foes
Leaving
visible enemies
Hunger
Persecution pain
Are
claiming our beings!
Imagining
our end
Ignoring
our path
Caught in doubts
We
cannot cherish ideals!
Defying
death
disease
Smiling
all along
Move warily
Like a Leopard !
***
AWAITING
TRAIN !
Poets are commuters
On
railway platform!
Keen to listen to
Announcements
of
their train
Of
thoughts!
If
journey delayed
They
use time
To
observe and
Think
well!
REMEDY
The remedy must be
swift to
Improve your immunity
Prove your humanity
Never stigmatize
the victims
As it is no fault of
theirs!
Alone also
You can thrive
By being less greedy
And helping the needy!
***
CYNICAL AGE!
I wonder
It's all the same
Falling from a thunder
Or a thoughtless
blunder!
Believing in goodness
of human
The Anguish of calf
Awaiting the butcher's
knife
With teary eyes!
A human
Buried in mass graves of lies
In age of cynicism
When a microbe
Mars the entire globe!
It is war of humans against disease
Who are
accountable?
Is it the poor
Or the stinking rich
Who mined gold
excessively?
When nature turns
Mahakali
And shows its fiery
tongue
Who is accountable?
Is it you or me
Or the lone Super power
That refused to reduce
its carbon emissions?
When you see
Billions spent
In war against disease
Question
How did they ruin the earth
To gain wealth
Minus an iota
of guilt?
No masks
or ventilators,
Didn’t they allot
peanuts for public health ?
When forests burned
Rivers polluted
Air got poisoned
Now
When nature is wiping
out humans
As we kill small ants
while mopping our floors
Ask…
Who caused it ?
***
THE
JUDGE !
Darkness
is chasing
Clouds
hovering over humans grumbling
Men
torturing exploiting expelling the wretched
Nature
has opened its third eye
Civilization
fumbled crumbled and incinerated
Man
is neither a Phoenix nor a tree to relive
His
account self- tampered
He
seeks clemency in vain!
Nature
throws its bloody axe !
LONGWALKERS!
We walked a long way
From
feverish youth
Fighting
for justice and equality
Sleeping
or not sleeping
Eating
or not eating
Meeting
and walking on lonely roads
Night
and day
Then
came middle age
Full
of tensions and pretensions
The
destiny has eluded us
Suddenly
a devil before us
Opening
its mouth
We
brandished
Our
weapons of criticism
We
are long walkers indefatigable!
***
ANOTHER
DAWN!
Covid
fangs
War
drums
Dance
of death
Suicide
by the old
Unemployed
futures
Murder
for lust or money
In
the evening
Gathers
darkness
Sleep
lulls the frenzied and the tired !
Then
Another
day dawns!
***
MUSTER COMPASSION !
Terrific fear
It kicked humanity to
the margins
Erected barriers among all!
Against the unseen
enemy
For decades or
centuries
Silenced were all
By blind devotion!
Gone the beauty of
Human touch and
solidarity
In the face of
greed!
Remember only those
Who nurtured humanity
By will
and selflessness!
***
MEND
OR END !
Seen
life for more than five decades
Our
shadows are not long
Since
nothing is permanent
We
already damaged nature
Spurned
history
fattened
the fools
flattened
the sane!
Nothing
is new
Except
in name and age
The
earth has seen many disasters
Its
fiercest and latest disaster is us
Remaining
rigid
We
bargain over price of life
Dignified
life is rare!
Time
for mending our beings
Or
ending our ignominious innings!
THE
AXIS
Earlier
it was
a
joy
Excitement
Sharing
lively moments
To
call friends!
Now
Worries
Tedious
news
Egoistic
views
The
earth is rotating
On
the axis of vexation!
THE
FEMME FATALE !
People
are embracing her
From
fourth floor of a hospital
In
their own houses
Under
a tree
By
wayside
In
old autos
On
bikes
In
Garbage vans
In
ambulances
On
burial grounds
People
are embracing her
Everywhere
Not
out of love
Not
out of lust
Only
in desperation
Never
was life so asphyxiating!
Never
was death so macabre !
AWAKENING
Folks!
Never
trust the vested interests
Who
promise heaven and
Throw
you into a hell !
Once
in five years
They
need your nod for power
They
tantalize you
With
promises galore!
You
are real rulers
Do
not elect those
Who
trod on you
And
shed tears in vain!
Revive
Love
for life of liberty
And
avoid death sans dignity!
NOT ECONOMICS?
You
don't cry hoarse
When
the elite grab wealth
You
don't cry foul
When
the eye of justice is gouged
You
don't find fault
When
defaulters who take refuge abroad
You
don't point a finger
When
tongue of an innocent lass is chopped off and her life snuffed out
You
don't find it amiss
When
artisans and farmers starve or eat on roads
You
don't lift a finger
When
leaders refuse to name black money holders
You
don't find any objection
When
high cost robs quality of education or health
You
don't criticize
When
folks are killed for eating different
You
never find it absurd
When
a few get hundreds of crores as annual income
When
millions remain jobless
But
when common people are given freebies even in pandemic
You
say it's not economics!
UNDERSTANDING
LIFE
Pitch
dark
Light
Broad
day light
Hours
pass like a snail
Days
like earthworm
Months
move like a cockroach!
Disease
like history repeats itself
Nothing
changed except numbers of folks
And
names of diseases
Humanity
bows before fear
Never
seek the meaning of life
As
it doesn’t reveal
When
you demand it
Comprehend
its silence
Violence
and ambivalence
And
life is a bliss rare !
POSTPONEMENT
He postponed
a
word of gratitude
A
look of love!
He
postponed
Reading
a book
Fighting
a battle!
He
postponed
A
sight of beauty
An
act of duty!
He
postponed
A
word of truth
A
moment of wisdom!
Alas!
Death
has not postponed
Her
coldest touch!
***
ACT
NOW!
When
people are
Suffering
crying dying
When
hospitals
Mortuaries
are overflowing
When
leaders are
Babbling
bribing grabbing
When
hopes are
Fading
and dying
When
power is
devouring
values
How
can you weep or sleep?
Allow
no fears tears years
To
paralyze You!
It
is time
To
act now!
***
DREAMS
Every
morning
The
Sun of hope and happiness rises
Every
afternoon
The
cloud of uncertainty floats away !
Every
evening
The
fog veiled silver globe refills zeal!
Every
night
Brings
dreams of realms unseen !
THE
PRIVILEGED
That's
it
Some
haves
Many
have-nots
In
vaccine access too!
Inequity
inhuman
It's
big business!
Africa
groans
Latin
America moans
Asia
awaits
While
they
Grab
lion's share
Of
vaccine
Despite
life being precious
Some
have privilege
To
live and let others die!
****
AGE
OF REVENGE
Suddenly
Pen
seems weaker than dagger
Violence
stalks
slowly steadily and surely
Suddenly
pen seems puny
routine
life is lifeless
Festival
arrives and goes sans joy
We
close our eyes to things and truths
Language
gasps for life
Do
not disturb yourself
Finding
the world vindictive
Against
truth
Since
times immemorial !
[
On coming to know of attack on Rushdie]
THE
UNDAUNTED
Awaiting
call
From
nowhere
Roaming
on the terrace
I
remember paths parted
friends
departed
Hopes
disappeared
I
also think of
Animals
endangered
Trees
uprooted
Humans
perished
Values
denuded
I also
detest
Budged
promises
Fudged
statistics
Fears
fuelled
Tears
caused
Waves come
and go
Undaunted
travels
Ulysses
in Pandemic waters !
***
SHADOW
BOXING
The
imagination of every nation is possessed
Mortality
stares at us
Our
jokes are fears disguised
Our
hopes are despair coloured
One
girl demands to bring back her dead brother
Another
her husband or son
Or
mother or brother or sister
People
are anguished but not angry
Since
their foe is imperceptible
They
wrestle with shadows
Caught
inside a maze
They
go bankrupt or commit suicide
The
debates go on
The
mikes are muted
Minds convoluted
We
long for light sans fight
The posterity
Is
preparing for battles
While
we turn mere cheerleaders!
THE
SUNRISE!
Statistics are
Soulless
You feel infinite void
at the loss of your beloved or
Any other for that
matter! .
The teary- eyed child
The dejected look
of father
The long marcher
with the swollen feet
Fill me with pain
permanent!
After this crime of
Carona
Abetted by Modern
Neroes
We shall find Either
ruined nations or
Reformed Regimes!
Dignified and healthy
life
Our basic right!
Let us rejuvenate
Our fighting
spirit
Let us forge human bonds
And break the chain
Of invisible foe
In this eerie night
To wake up and find
Melodious songs of
birds
And the orange and
golden rays of the Sun!
***
NO DISGUISE ,PLEASE!
Mr.
Anonymous!
All
know you are a fanatic
But
pretend like an innocent victim
You
prostrate before power
And
hardly criticize it!
You
defend your faith
From
the forts of the middle ages!
You
are not ignorant
But
arrogant drunk with power!
You
don't pen your thoughts
But
act like thought police!
You
do not know rule of law
You
think you are beyond law
When
you ram your car through farmers
Call
protesters andolanjeevis!
You
can fool none
Neither
yourself nor mirror!
You
are a wolf
Wailing
like a lamb?
INDIFFERENCE
When
you reach
dotage
Your
fingers touch
Numbers
on phone
World
a void!
One
offers RIP
Rip
open
Injustice
hidden
Senses
sluggish
Conscience
covered
By
ashes of
Indifference!
MISSED
CALL!
You
stopped
Calls,
recalls
One
fine morning or
A
lucid night
You
called your friend
Reply
came from his son
That
father gone forever
A
fortnight back!
You
felt
Dis-ease
in your bones!
***
THE ROUTINE
Like
any other day
and 
Idli
as breakfast
Wallowing
on the bed
On
the lazy afternoon
Evening
walk
Timepass
talk
Reading
a few memories
The
earth is rotating
The
Sun is roasting
Life
passes by
As
we stumble and fumble!
***
THE
POET !
When all are sleeping
Poet
awakens
When
many are obeying
Poet
questions
When
every one believes
Poet
disbelieves
When
world is romantic
Poet
is realistic
When
all are practical
Poet
is idealistic
World
is present
Poet
is future!
World
is limiting
Poet
is boundless!!
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