THE FINAL DRAFT
I've started living after my death!
I was killed
Some four years back—
Stabbed and drowned!
’Twas a shallow stream;
I quivered out,
(Ah! Blessed ghoul!)
Was yet again
Earth-bound
With the hope
Of new love
And assassins
For my carcass soul!
I've lived and died
Many times
In my secular half
And your non-religious (w)hole!
Faced umpteen deaths,
Say, in Mohenjodaro,
And in the Mayan...
The Final Draft
I've started living after my death!
I was killed
Some four years back—
Stabbed and drowned!
’Twas a shallow stream;
I quivered out,
(Ah! Blessed ghoul!)
Was yet again
Earth-bound
With the hope
Of new love
And assassins
For my carcass soul!
I've lived and died
Many times
In my secular half
And your non-religious (w)hole!
Faced umpteen deaths,
Say, in Mohenjodaro,
And in the Mayan...
wisdom
fire burning to coals
poet looking past embers
seeing distant world
before existence of light
coming of god
untitled
poet on edge
meds not refilled
lost in black silence
static white noise
echoing around skull
deafening suffering soul
seriously considering
ways to kill himself
answer me
telephone without voice
no caller id
broken-hearted poet
wondering if ex-lover
quietly bagging
shrink
routine family counseling
necessary before divorce
doctor’s dark office
framed degrees on the...
Sea-Smart
Lion has your tongue
A fool sold you pride
Buyer’s remorse
when eagles scratched three eyes
If you only have one bullet
better make sure that it’s pure silver
If you’re bound to draw your sword
just promise me that you won’t drop it
Tiger has your tell-tale
A spell cast your path
Sweetest reward
when whales do higher math
If...
Conation
Between perceived hurts and intended harm
I cottoned myself to a kingdom of one. Here
even the wind fails to tease me. Air-condition-
ing has its advantages in intramural settings.
Earthshine is nature’s compensatory face. How
does the human construct simulate this model to
hum its way to happiness? Game plan is within
us. Unwrap yourself:...
THE DECLINING ART OF HEART MENDING
Cannot deny that I have a brittle heart,
weak and fragile like thin ice!
As it happens with hearts
that are volleyed back and forth,
mine too drop and crack with a crunchy sound,
like a bag of wafers.
Now, you know that girls make the best cardiologists.
The Heart is...
THE LIGHT SINKS LOW
Here, the light sinks low
as a meandering river,
into the threshold of my windows
when I bake half-grown weeds.
My nails are black with smoke.
I clean the air around me
with my overgrown hair.
My kitchen sink is on the other side
of the green balcony.
It tells me the story of a...
Jalebi of Mani’s Shop
These semi-precious ornaments
Of liquid golden hue, they filled it with the sweet sap
Of sugar—the very outlook causes watering in mouth
That melts and crackles under the tongue and dissolves
A forgetful evening. Home-bound passengers from local trains,
As they return, all in a hurry like with a puff of...
Tarmac Labyrinth
Have you ever forgotten a road
only to travel through it
years later?
The old smell of it coming back,
the same branches leaning towards
same shadows designing it
weaving nets
The same emptiness and
potholes.
Doesn’t it make you reminisce
about the things you passed?
Left behind?
Glanced at and Ignored?
If you haven’t tried to recollect
the stops you made...
Haiku
1
The flowers have bloomed
and the locusts devour
any sign of life.
2
Oily dressing with
the pit-marked spinach leaves on
my baby-blue plate.
3
A doe has died on
the searing blacktop. It still
continues to smile.
4
My gaze, downward, with
all the plastic faces here;
coffee stains shirt brown.
5
Break up in tiny
distinct pieces. Now, your heart
is not the same.
6
Please and...
Pinakbet
A dish I watched my grandma cook with
zest. I was six or seven.
Bitter gourd because I’m diabetic, my
yearns for sweets squash-yellow.
Canola oil sizzles, the air adorned with garlic
expressions, wafts of red onion.
Drizzles of black pepper, and I
wonder if this spice will let me live longer.
Eggplant will tell me if...