(1) GEMS

The moments we shared and spent together,
Will they ever return? Never…forever.
Lost somewhere are those precious gems,
Only my memories will gaze at them.
Yesterday a fact, today a dream,
That’s how it has always been.
Hope you treasure them as well as me,
Don’t fling them into time’s fathomless sea.
The places that you sat and slept,
Seeing them lonely my eyes get wet.
When you came I did not know,
You would leave my heart in such sorrow.

******************************

2) HAUNT

Lonely seagull,
How long it has been,
Since we heard that song,
That brings us here,
To this echoing haunt,
You and me and the silent sea.
A voice that's now a memory,
A sweet enchanting melody,
How its mystique pulls us here,
To this solitary spot,
You and me and the silent sea.
A secret place inside the heart,
Where the pain of parting doesn't part,
Longs for her to be here,
Seeks once more that harmony,
The ethereal hum that draws us here,
To this waiting place,
You and me and the silent sea.

***********

*******************

3) BY THE RIVULET

The rivulet flows and the stars shine,
The treetops wave with the breeze's flow,
The hush hush of your quiet whisper,
Speaks volumes of an unheard rhyme.
Are you an apparition or a dream,
Sometimes visible, sometimes unseen,
Sometimes as divine as the muse,
Sometimes like a radiant beam.
Beside me you sometimes come and sit,
Never allowing me to go adrift,
Are you my guardian angel, pray tell me,
Or a fairy, or Caucasian spirit?
Pray sit here and acquire a form,
Tell me where do you come from,
Are you from a world unknown,
Or a creation of my heart forelorn?

************

******************

(4) DAPHNE

She was standing in the doorway, smiling,
With raindrops on the windowpane singing,
The season's first rainfall brings with it memories,
Of that long-gone, fresh, beautiful morning.
What if the past is just a shadow,
Every moment is treasured in the mind's eye,
Where everything is as it was, there I see her,
As I flashback on that fresh, beautiful morning.
With the rain clouds vying to kiss her,
She was the embodiment of beauty,
Whenever I am sad she comes back,
And we relive that fresh, beautiful morning.
I have no similitude to compare her,
But her smile, her grace and her magic,
Shall always come and steal me from my self,
Every time I recall that beautiful morning.

******************************

5) DEFINING DAPHNE

Sunlight tinkling through her auburn hair,
Like a hundred prisms reflecting rainbows,
Her smile giving meaning to the day's start,
While a lustrous halo on red-cheeks glows.
Her passion trips like a smooth cascade,
As her eyes convey a quiet message,
She is unmatched and does not fade,
From my mind's eye, nor does she age.
What sonnet can match her grace?
She's a masterpiece of the greatest art,
Her Maker after her did efface,
Every deft stroke on His timeless chart.
A child, a girl, then a maiden,
She is distinctly higher than all her ilk,
Her manifold charms aren't hidden,
Her virtues are brocaded in heavenly silk.
She is Daphne, who else can she be?
No other form has been so lovely,
A flawless portrait by the God-Artist,
A spirit with life from none but He.

****************

**************

6) WINTER, MADHUBALA AND DAPHNE

Black and blue
The sky changes hue
And the glow of Venus dims
Milky Way
Is not what it was
When I was a little boy
Is it dawn?
A reminiscent
Of my incomplete vigil?
Madhu jee
Eternal beauty
And time is once again still
And Daphne
A lustrous flower
With an eternal aura
Day begins
Yes, another day
To remind me who I am
But for you
O dear father
Life would have been so different
Winter wind
Snaps something inside
Like the dry branch of a tree
Tears abound
But they will not fall
To wet the jaded collar
Love and hate
Are still in my fate
As long as this season lasts
Till Spring comes
I have to see stars
To imagine I am alive
Shadows form
As the sunlight comes
Brightness unveils horizons
Madhuban
And Madhubala
Will remind me of beauty
While Daphne
Will never vanish
From this heart and mind of mine.

******************************

(7) A RHAPSODY

Moonless sky,
And an aching heart,
A still lake whispers something.
You have gone,
It's impossible,
For me to forget you now.
A whirlpool,
My days have become,
Night's solace is beyond me.
Where to find -
If someone like you,
Does exist in this time's span.
Wretched wind,
How it raves and rants!
While I long to be with you.
Break the bonds,
That add agony,
To a heart that beats for you.
Yesterday,
Is whatever is,
No today or tomorrow.
When dawn's blue,
Smiles its welcome cheer,
The sun will try to find me.
********************

**********

8) A LONGING

Under a shady tree,
Without a care,
Fear or worry,
I want nothing more,
But a lost soulmate,
Who would know,
How to respond to my love -
For her -
And how to give me,
Total peace of mind,
Heart's quietude,
And soul's solace;
And who would also know,
How to share,
Sorrows and joys,
Without a question,
Without a frown;
And who would not hesitate,
To join me,
Wholeheartedly,
In traversing this life's boundary.
And who, with all her gentleness,
Her sweet understanding fondness,
Her modest gaze,
Her soft footsteps,
Her hushed voice,
And blissful embrace,
Usher me
Into the tranquil lap,
Of eternity.
**************************

****

9) AND THE HEART BLED

Hazel eyes,
Shining auburn hair,
Solve me the riddle I said.
The heart said,
These clues make it clear,
She still rules over your heart.
Fine pink lips,
And a perfect nose,
Tell me more of her I said.
The heart said,
Nobody else but one,
With whom you long to be.
Pray tell me,
For I like to hear,
More and more about the one.
And the heart replied:
She's Daphne,
Your laurel of yesteryears.
So I heard my heart,
Speak more and more about her,
Till it bled.

*****************

10) BROKEN VOW

It is evening time again,
A time when the depressed heart,
Seeks solace near silent seas.
How many of our dreams fade away:
It is all like old age,
When futility,
Looms over the gasping breath.
How I recall all those vows,
Promises that were meant to be,
The essence of trust and fidelity.
What that if only one had been kept,
Twilight would have been a different scene,
Altogether...
*********

*********************

(11) ALL YOURS

Lingering sorrows,
are swallows.
And Shakespeare,
is not on stage,
in his costumes.
Have no fear,
if the lights are gone,
Radiance will remain till morn.
I may be a pantomime,
meek and Columbine:
but,
whatever I am,
I remain,
all yours.
**********

********************

(12) ANGST

Let the sea roar: It cannot be as angry,
As my angry heart is,
How can the cauldron of fury,
That is seething inside be controlled?
How can the moon wade through the heaven,
Without feeling sorry?
You thought it would be easy,
To swallow up the grief and veil the worry,
Disdain and treachery, with great artistry,
Was practiced on me.
I am the laughing stock, I am the mocked one,
I am the wretched soul, the game for scorn.
It is a dark night but not so stormy,
My heart's torment will quell its might.
Let the waves roar, let them swell in size,
The grief I have inside - it will capsize,
The humiliation and helplessness,
Of the tumultuous sighs.
You stand on the mast and take a life boat,
I will jump aboard and I will float.
****************

**************

(13) ANOTHER NEW YEAR

Another new year, another cycle of hope,
The sky gets higher for every rope,
Climbers, like denizens lost in jungles,
Are caught in a maze, civilisation stumbles.
To what state have we reduced ourselves,
In our bid to be tallest, we have become elves,
Everything is circling around as pre-ordained,
Only mankind has become despised and disdained.
Let me not stare at the night stars anymore,
For years I have tried to patch up wounds, sore,
Let me not talk about values with anyone,
Let me also become a red spot on the sun.
Beasts have hidden themselves afraid and frightened,
Insects do not come out, every grass leaf is burdened,
Logs with toadstools amid thick black mud,
Refuse to give way to the light-seeking bud.
My friends laugh at me to see me out of tune,
With the music they play as a clown on the moon,
Looks down and makes the gorillas dance wildly,
And leeches and vampires get crazier and merry.
You go for your swim in the murky water,
Of an ocean that was once crystal blue matter,
While I watch you trying to avoid the swamps,
Or shout for help at your first yell of cramps.
My long distance friend in shores far beyond,
Dabbles in Haiku; compares life with a pond,
I can’t be consistent in our on line chat,
As I hear the shriek of the blood-sucking bat.
Deserts with dunes or the starry Milky Way:
I know it will be hard to show you your way,
Every sign of nature I can read on palms,
Yet I can’t be a healer with comforting balms.
Volcanoes erupt as hurricanes come and go,
Destroying everything in this tornado show,
Killing punches delivered below the belt,
Agonising eyes crunch a life-pot does melt.
Looking at the morons who are crazy for power,
Leaves me gazing helpless on a lighthouse tower,
Wolves seek refuge and hyenas have hidden,
As homo sapiens enjoy the forbidden.
What joy must I feel in this time of gloom?
Why don’t you leave me alone in my room?
Where hope lights its candles to search for the rope,
That may save humanity from sinking down the slope.
O beloved, sleeping soundly in a citadel of glass,
Spare a dream to listen to the verses of 'Ikhlaas',*
The pens have been broken and the scrolls have been rolled,
Why then toil to convert base stuff into gold?
In this brazen white-teethed world of men and women,
I save myself from the taint of cannibalistic semen,
For, I know full well that the language I speak,
Cannot be understood by any sex-craving freak.
That is why I prefer to sing in the dark,
When there is nobody lurking to sulk or to stalk,
That is why I love to talk with the goldfish,
And watch dawn glowing bright in its wondrous dish.
Then only, for a while, a silvery light flickers,
Somewhere in the curls of this era’s white whiskers,
A flicker that may make you all grasp what I mean,
And take you with me to the Eden I have been.

*Ikhlaas is the name of a chapter in The Holy Quran. It means sincerity.
******************************

(14) ANY WAY OUT?

Hot, humid haze, clouds spectacles,
A hollow blue canvas stretches above;
While on the busy thoroughfare,
Green trees lie asphyxiated,
By the smoke from droning vehicles.
There is so much stench and smog,
Imagination ruined by man-made fog,
Dust, dirt, grime, filth and stench,
Mixed with red spits everywhere,
Like an artwork on Hell's blog.
The rush hour is unending here,
The people are always busy;
Lost in a quest of making the most,
Of everything that means money,
Luxuries have become necessity!
I want to breathe unpolluted air,
And spend some time with sweet jasmine,
I want to adore chrysanthemums,
And walk among cherry blossoms,
But nobody here happens to care!
Not long ago, when I was much younger,
Under the mango tree would I sit,
That tree marked a big park here:
And when it was noon, a form fairest,
Would come and spread her rippling laughter.
Now that park is not to be seen,
Someone has chopped down the mango tree;
And man's craze for worldly allures,
Has deprived many of sanity:
My fairest no longer endears the scene.
How can I soar into the sky's caress,
Far and above this modern world?
I have no magic carpet to fly,
Nor Pegasus to rescue me...
Is there any way out of this strange duress?
******************************

(15) ANYTHING

What has got this sea to hide?
Or to give?
When I can't be with the one,
For whom I live?
Take the waves and dry it up,
This sound and fury makes me laugh,
I hate this sorry scheme of things,
At the tides I scoff…
****

**************************

(16) AS MY EYES SEE

Walking down the dark streets,
Cats dart with ferocity,
Where does my purpose hide?
Cars with couples and families come,
Time to relax with burgers, snacks,
Am I a stranger to this town?
My friend and I talked for a week,
About life, death and eternity,
Now it is so quiet, where is she?
The daily circle of the stars,
Orion leads the entire team,
On earth it is only me.
Everybody has a hidden sword,
Conspirators abound in this town,
I am used and then they flee?
O Kuku, if this is living,
Let me find peace near graves,
Even the mosques are no more free.
Yesterday a great man turned sixty,
Today -- another's death anniversary,
Scattered sand shines near the sea.
My wife talks about Fred Flintstones,
Says our life is also like theirs,
Tears are waves of a swelling sea.
Who will ever understand,
What needs to be understood,
Or will it be only me?
****************

(17) AUTUMN

The brown leaves fall,
The time of spring is over,
My heart waits,
When will its hope thus wither!
Come hither says the poet,
Go where, asks the soul,
Where is the greenwood tree?
Why is everything quiet?
Ambition? This heart had some,
Everything has died as the sun,
descends to cast long shadows,
All around me there is autumn.
********

**********************

(18) BAD OMEN

Light, life, dreams,
Desert scenes,
Darkening mind's patches of green.
Windy dawn,
lurking storm,
Steals away my peace and calm.
Troy's Helen,
Stood depressed,
Wasn't that a bad omen?
*****

*************************

(19) BE MY REALITY

O that you could be not just a dream!
Not just a vision!
Of what may be my imagination…
Do not encircle me with lights and rays,
Appear before me in real.
And whatever one says,
Give reason to my action...
O my beloved of the other world!
Come here and be mine, or,
Make me yours in your world.
******

************************

(20) BEAR WITH ME

You want me to respond to your kisses,
And smother you in my arms,
I want to be the way you want me,
But I am on guard for the storms.
The storms that threaten to destroy us,
They lurk unseen I know,
So please bear with me my dearest,
I will not spoil your show.
****

**************************

(21) BLEEDING HEART

Wild winds blow,
Ocean swells,
My heart bleeds.

******************************

(22) CANNOT FORGET

When you do not leave me alone even for a second,
How then does the world ask if I remember you;
Awake or asleep, thinking or in a stupor,
Your thought does not allow me to bid you adieu.

******************************

(23) CARRYING ON

Fading night
Takes with it all hope
Of meeting those whom I miss.
Dry brown leaves
Come falling slowly
I hate to trample any.
In schooldays
There was Daphne John
Who still tugs at my heartbeats.
Some people
Are irreplaceable
Like Daphne and my father.
I don't know
How to forget them
Or how to carry on more.
Let dull time
Waltz to its own tune
I don't care how it goes by.
Busy friends
Have little to spare
All - struggling for survival.
Graveyard shift
Is my share of work
And I too have to toil hard.
So it is
Be quiet O heart
Don't seek what cannot be found.
***********************

*******

(24) COLERIDGE AND ME

"Flowers are lovely, love is flower-like,
And friendship is a sheltering tree;
Where no hope is, life is but thought,
That only serves to make us grieve
When we are old..."
- S.T. Coleridge

O wise Coleridge, may I, with due reverence,
Urge you to come from your state of disappearance.
If not, pray listen, up there in the heavens:
I came not into this world of my own desire,
To go away from here I cannot conspire.
Flowers are lovely, I completely agree,
Love is not flower-like, at times it's ugly.
Friendship is a shelter only when it's spring,
In seasons of deception, no hope does it bring.
Where there's no hope, there's no life at all,
When the soul's free, what's left, to grieve?
**************

****************

(25) CONFLICT

The sky is overcast,
Smog and smoke in air,
The phone keeps ringing,
You never bothered,
To patch up or talk,
The call for prayer blares,
Where are you?
Where must I go?
****

**************************

(26) COPING, COPING, COPING!

It is yet another half-hearted moonlit night,
Another bout of agonising thoughts of yore,
Who would have wanted all this to happen,
Ah, who will understand why I am awake all night?
The breeze is gentle and laden with the fragrance,
Of Jasmine, just like it used to be once,
But now I don't see the sweet smelling flowers,
Nor do I see her, who was my being's essence.
So what else should I be found doing,
Apart from puffing cigars and inhaling,
A dreaded poison wondering why I am immune,
Why doesn't the stuff set fire to my being?
Let the talk about prayers remain with the faithful,
Let me not be wracked with the discourse on beliefs,
Let me be in the state of the forgetful,
And let the night be kind not cruel or vengeful.
Soon, just like the ones I loved and have lost,
I too will join the list of the doleful,
A spot and a stone will indicate where I may be,
Some tears will be shed without a why or a what.
And high up on the hill where I once used to go,
A friend will gather the others and show,
How I used to laugh and sing in the hope,
That the one I loved would be waiting below.
And he would also tell all about how I spent nights,
Talking about her who ruled my heart,
For hours and hours till the sun rose and shone,
How my beloved eclipsed my thoughts on the heights.
How I never came close to the cigar or the pipe,
How I shunned liquor and all avarice,
How her happiness only meant to me most,
He will explain why I smoke and laugh at the wise.
He will also tell why I liked Marilyn Monroe,
And why I adored Madhubala so much,
Why I started believing that fate can't be changed,
Why I live for today and not for tomorrow.
After having listened to whatever he will say,
Some people may reflect and pause on the way,
Some may even think I was but a fool,
But I don't care because this is my way.

******************************

(27) CUCKOO AND THE PILGRIM: A RENGA ON LOVE

Deborah Russell the Cuckoo (C) - begins stanzas,
Emmenay the Pilgrim (P) - responds.

Cuckoo
Along garden path
Many blossoms fade and bloom
Pressed in mind’s pages

Pilgrim
Sudden gust shakes flowers
A quirk of fate
Where do we go now?

C
Visions of beauty
Hibiscus and star lilies
The Eden of friends
P
Thorns blind eyes
World turns dark
Only your voice I hear

C
Leaves cast shadow
Light dims the long garden path
Soft wind soothes my ears

P
Petals caress
Soft hush of love
What do I have to fear?

C
Temptation of man
Tree of life, forbidden fruits
Is wisdom knowledge?

P
Purity shines
Serpent may hiss
Aren't you my saviour?

C
Grapes await sun
And the vineyard harvest
Who will sip the wine?

P
Gentle season holds
Tender touch
Wine and beloved divine

C
Weeds strangle garden
The flowers wither and die
Is this divine?

P
The cuckoo sings
Life's rebirth
Love's miraculous sign

C
Smooth mossy stones
Perfume of dewy flowers
Is the path hidden?

P
Silky steps dance
Stream chortles
For me your incense shines

C
Trees shadow the path
Nightfall is long deep and dark
Still distant star glows

P
Darkness blooms
New stars are born
Let us be sublime

C
Even in darkest night
Tiny white blossoms are seen
How is this sublime?

P
Long, black tresses
Symphony ecstatic
Isn't this the end of time?

C
There’s no end in sight
And time has no beginning,
...To time eternal

P
Moon rises late
Moments don't stay
Blend your song with mine

C
Living water sings
Warm winds and birds harmonise
The psalms beloved.

(Deborah Russell is a well known American poetess).

******************************

(28) DECEIT: RENGA WITH DEBORAH RUSSELL

Deborah Russell (D) begins and Emmenay (E) responds

D
Nothing can hide
Beneath deceit
Not even a mouse

E
Smiles are a mirage
Water shines in plenty
Heart a parched desert

D
Many tears flow
From dry alibis
Deception’s well-spring

E
Dry twigs snap
Sandstorms are sudden
Rain clouds melt away

D
All men are guilty
Under each new sun
Each face is a shade

E
Deceived soul seeks
Tree-shade invisible
Companion cuts limbs

D
Branches are scattered
New buds upshoot
Spring waits for blossoms

E
Sun climbs up
Feet soles burn
Lovingly she stabbed me


D
Broken wings
Cannot fly or soar
Neither can the sun

E
Heat scorches deep
Unable to find trust
What caused treachery?

D
Desert is parched
Yet it does not thirst
Without truth - lies

E
Sand dunes mock
Dried bones want comfort
Truth holds no meaning

D
Bedouin's journey
Reveals long shadows
In tiny tent of trust

E
Bedouin looks
Camel has been stolen
Darkness creeps stealthily

D
A feather of light
Reveals white dunes
Truth knows the way

E
The light ray dies
How to reach white dunes?
Serpent lurks with sharp fangs

D
Light is eternal
Serpent recoils
Dunes vision clear


E
Serpent changes not
Nor does nature
Traveller prays to God

D
Is God not the Light?
The creator of nature
Then yes, traveller prays…
******************************

(29) DÉJÀ VU (WITH THANKS TO AL STEWART)

AL STEWART:

"It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before
And juggled away the night for the same old crowd
These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor
As here once again they strut and they fret their hour
I see those half-familiar faces in the second row
Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes
But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know
It's like a chord that rings and never dies
For infinity..."

Emmenay:

It seems as though you and I have been here,
Upon this stage before,
Laughing and whiling away our hours,
Caring the least about our unseen fears
And having doffed our masks and shoes,
We chose to disappear
Embarked on a flight through stars...
And yet, while we were on our cosmic way,
We landed here again...
With everything locked inside our heads,
The secrets of pain and gain...
The past, the present and the future threads:
How I seek each of all those moments gone,
Trying to figure out how
And when I happened to lose almost all,
When I and my loved one were not alone -
Not for once did life stall...
Why this space confounds me now,
How did I drift here again,
Is a question that keeps raking inside,
I see that I have nowhere to go,
Sans her - not even a mile...
At nights I find that all my fears,
Enshroud me, not letting go...
Where's the hoor* who smiled and said,
"Fear naught, for I with my sway,
Will share all that this life offers,
Will be with you wherever you go..."
Ah, how I miss her at each step I take,
Her laughter and her grace...
And even though time has connived with fate
And has distanced her somewhere,
I shan't give up...not for a day,
My quest, to relocate her,
A promise I have made with myself,
And I care not come what may...
Well, why doesn't someone, with harp and song,
Refill the gaping void,
Recreating that which seems no more -
- The colours in all their shades?
Tell me, why can't I, like Khidr*,
Turn the tables on Hades;
And do what no one, they say, can do,
Has been able to do before...
Why not free all that's trapped beyond,
For a thousand years and more...
Why not revel with death again,
And mock this sad encore?
Ah! That I had not fallen here,
To float between life and death,
To suffer all of Karma's pangs:
In body, mind and soul;
And keep searching for an escape route,
From this vast, unending whole...
Where's heaven, will the Green Guide* tell me please,
Or at least give me a clue...
To the Eden that I once shared with her,
Asking for nothing more...
A song she sang upon this stage before,
May it resound yet again,
And bring back all that I have lost,
My soul's few desires,
The raptures of a blissful realm,
For ever, for all the while -
In infinity...

*Hoor: Arabic and Urdu meaning Houri. 2) Khidr or Khizr: The only man who is believed to have sipped the Water Of Life. * Green Guide -- the Arabic description of Khidr. Composed on September 17, after listening for the umpteenth time, "Upon this stage before", a song by one of my favourite English singers, Al Stewart.

******************************

(30) DELINKI NG?

The past is a long-gone affair,
Why do memories cloud me now?
There seems to be no end to the pain,
That clutches the heart:
For what cause should I suffer,
The stabs of swift darts,
Tearing me apart,
Being made to drink the hemlock of grief,
Day in and day out,
Dying and living,
To die again and again!
*******

***********************

(31) DESTINY

Summertime,
hot winds blow,
no respite.
Water smiles,
from the sea,
have to earn.
Stuffy rooms,
daily grind,
of this life.
Tea, coffee,
soft-drinks, chips,
served and shared with hollow smiles.
Sunny front,
lights computers,
work, work, work...
Dim-lit halls,
power fails,
Who to blame?
Soon it is,
time to go,
where is home?
I sit still,
Heavy heartbeats thud inside,
where should I unwind, relax?
So many suns,
set for me,
why am I tired?
Dusk creeps in,
invites me,
to join friends.
Tragedy!
Chains bind me,
to a place called house.
Unfulfilled,
is my wish,
for a loving home.
Wife she says,
only mine,
words and deeds hurt me.
No comfort,
no coffee,
just questions...
"Why so late?
You are dodging me?"
Sons and daughter look afraid.
Dark evenings,
And rebukes,
Await me...
This is called a house,
I longed for a home,
where hearts beat with warmth.
This is called a flat,
Luxurious yet,
Can I call it a home?
This is fate,
Destiny,
Let's pretend!
******************************

(32) DISGUISED DAYBREAK

Wake up and see this desolate world of mine,
How the disguised daybreak exposes my decline!
With closed eyes I am whiling away this night,
Hoping you come in my dream and see how I pine.
Why are you bent upon destroying your abode?
Does not your love live in this broken heart of mine?
Wake up and see this desolate world of mine,
How the disguised daybreak exposes my decline!
****

**************************

(33) DIVINE STATE

More than often, in my imagination,
My beloved comes with moonbeams in her hair,
With dancing eyes and jocund lips,
And I forget my state of damnation.
Her gait is sprightly and her ways smooth,
It is as if God's mercy has descended,
She sings me songs in melodious silence,
And I forget whatever pains I have, insooth!
She is most beauteous in her entrancing form,
Delightful and sublime her ethereal stance,
Her presence is angelic and all my mind's demons,
Vanish and I fear not any dreadful storm.
My childhood schoolmate, my very first love,
She comes from God's vast and unseen realm,
To cheer me up and fill me with music,
So that I sink not into Hellish disdain.
I thank my Lord Almighty for sending her,
To ease a state of nerve-shattering living,
My paradise is made real in this temporal world,
And I drink deep from the divine cup she offers.
****************

**************

(34) WHERE TO FROM HERE
AND IN SKY’S CARESS

The last remnants of the "Bang" keep floating,
And memories still cling on like ghouls;
In the twilight of these fleeting days
My life keeps yearning for its goals.
Glassy skyscrapers gaze at me,
Like eyes, staring from lifeless forms,
Devoid of feeling all reflections,
Hover like moths on misty morns.
Time stretches like an endless trap,
Confined to a glass-like dome I glow,
My very existence mocks me,
There is no scope for the soul to grow.
Deserted roads or traversed streets,
I hear echoes of a bygone beat.
From many worlds have I wandered here,
Not knowing when this circle will complete.
Is there peace in nothingness?
Is that point the end of all tests,
The ultimate edge of the frontier,
The point of tranquility and rest?

IN SKY’S CARESS

From here my friend and fellow poet, free to be
Let us escape echoes of the "bang" and soar.
The done is done, we can not dwell on the past.
The sweet Hope, Divine in the balance, we implore.

Desire is a floating dream, let's catch its star
And sprinkle its remaining light with tenderness.
We will strip away the ghostly robes and bare
Sorrowful souls, across the sea, in sky's caress.

Below the twilight, harsh city lights will gleam,
Close your eyes but to the heaven's paradise.
Listen to a song of wind, join the dance of clouds.
Keep goodly goals and dreams within your eyes.

Time is not an essence, it has no relativity,
Forget penciled schedules, unmark all the dates.
You and I erase all clocks and calendars of man.
Let's travel on my friend, no fear of being late

We 'll stand the test beyond all thought of time.
We will write upon the earth with cosmic ink and quill.
We will gently force the hand of peace to write
And call upon the voice of angels of free.
********************

**********

In Sky's Caress is a response by Deborah Russell

(35) DURESS

With each passing day,
I see some more fools,
Crossing my path of life,
Pretending to be wise.
Chaos is increasing,
Global warming, pollution,
Beautiful nature,
Being destroyed steadily.
I see young men and women,
Seeking a reason to live on,
I see the downtrodden,
Struggling to carry on.
I also see the rich ones,
Busy in adding more,
To their swelled-up bank accounts,
Without compunction.
I witness right and wrong,
Truth and falsehood,
Gearing up, as always,
For an epic battle.
And then I ponder,
On what Emily* said,
That mankind is,
Servile, insincere.
I look at myself,
In the mirror,
Trying to make out if,
I am just like others.
My heart and soul,
Revolt at this age,
It is not easy,
To compromise and be.
Where is the woman,
Who promised happiness,
Who said, "Let's fly high,
In sky's caress"?
Deborah*, the poetess,
Artist, sculptor,
Why is she unaware,
Of my soul's duress?
******************************

(36) ELEGY WRITTEN ON AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON

How sadly sighs the autumn wind,
Who will come now that spring has gone,
The dull sunlight's heart isn't in,
The way it was on an April morn'.
Untold gloom hovers over all,
Nature's creations big and small,
A lonely barren feeling hums,
The moments as they heavily crawl.
Tall trees, how they weep their grief,
The falling leaves show how they heave,
Like maidens robbed of their ornaments,
By the cruel hands of an unseen thief.
Desolate looks wear all the paths,
The pond is there but none to bath';
The shadow pines for the soul to come,
And spread the joy of its mock wrath.
How a tear gives birth to a thousand smiles:
Who cares to dote on the autumn's brown?
All are moved by those tragic sighs,
Few trace the traumas of her disguised styles!
The world consoles the weeping face,
Looks not through the laughing one,
The caress of the blooming rose is felt,
Not the pain of its shielding thorns!
Most have their desire blown off to bits,
Some get what they do not dream for;
While some, like the twirling moths,
Consume themselves in their passion's flame.
Why is all this, why are things so;
How the sad part of me longs to know,
When joy is born but out of grief,
Why doesn't autumn like spring glow!
****************************

**

(37) EMBER OF MEMORY-1

Deborah Russell (D) begins stanzas, Emmenay (E) replies:

D
I am caught in the waves of a rushing tide
Where does one run with no where to hide?

E
Like you once said, in this world of lust and greed,
Who wants love without selfish need?

D
Im still chasing rainbows and dreams
And love is never of the heart it seems.

E
So rightly put, I know how you feel
The repeated stabs of bloodthirsty steel
The lusty denizens of this lousy land
Wait like vultures above desert sand.

D
The waves rush and gnawl at my heel
Grasp for my heart and cause me to reel
Is it love that makes my soul tremble and shake
Or is it what mends and binds the heart that breaks?

E
Even my feet are cold in knee deep water
But I don't care, it does not matter,
A soul like Ophelia where can I find
Selfless love, sincere, caring and kind,
Always willing to give without expectation,
Without a frown, without hesitation,
Having the best she was ready to be,
Just for me and only me.
The crab without a claw clutches my toe
I feel the gnawing pain but don't show,
How I am rent apart by Adam's last seeds
How I am entangled between unseen weeds.

D
The song in my throat still waiting to sing
And the love in my heart a fluttering wing
A rapture thats quivering within my soul
That mysterious love that captures and holds.

E
The song in your throat is Orpheus' lute,
You strive to sing a forgotten note,
The rapture that quivers within your soul
Will it ever lead you to your destined goal?
Why do you battle and question your conscience?
Love needs no proof, it is ever radiant...

D
In the deep of this pit a smoldering burns
An ember memory of the pure love that I yearn.

E
Why do you shake and shiver when love has been found,
Does anything else matter? Waves, light our sound
The ember memory of that love which you yearn,
How can you find it in this superficial world,
Or are you striving to capture a stone you hurled?

D
Thousands of waves have tumbled the seas
It's but love does shake when I try to break free

E
I stand and challenge the tidal wave
Be like me, why can't you be brave,
How can love shake your feet, tell me how,
When it strengthens everything, from below and above?

D
I have found love a yoke, reins and a tether
And am yet searching for love like a feather..

E
Or is it a parched fragment that you clutch,
Love stands on its own, does not need a crutch,
The open sea is a contest for you and me,
Let us be like Prometheus, let us be free

D
I know love's something that touches ever so light
That will never hold me or grab me too tight...

E
Oh, ask the moth that crashes and dies
In its quest for the flame queen loses his lives
In the morning both the moth and the flame are gone
One achieves eternity, the other forlorn.
Let me tell you a secret of all hearts that love,
They want nothing but a hope and a vow,
Beyond selfishness is their treasure-filled realm,
Beyond ifs and buts and how and when.

D
It was those ties that bound me quite tight and confound
Gave to my need for love, no limits or bounds…
******************************

(38) EMBER OF MEMORY-II

Emmenay (E) begins stanzas, Deborah Russell (D) replies:

E
What you need, I know and know where it exists
But are you ready to swim beyond the boats and ships
Are you ready to stay submerged in cold water
Caring not what happens if only love matters?

D
I am starting to grow with feathers anew
And wings of the heart yet known by so few
These tears that I weep are not for my sins
But all the false hope and love I've been in.

E
I have lost true love after finding it
But to this day I long for that wee bit
Of the grand treasure that was only mine
And believe me I haven't seen sunshine.
The road's long with sharp turns and bends
Not even a stranger a hand he would lend.
Everybody offers me a shaking palm
But nobody I found with a soothing balm,
My messiah has left me and I am weary,
Pulling a cart overloaded and heavy.
Why search for strangers, aren't there so many?
In this world of deceivers, can't you see them lady,
Let me return to the place where she comes...

D
So many times I have been led to believe
That love is something that never deceives
But love's notion betrayed me, as I did myself
And the heart did not matter on this dusty shelf
I've seen blue eyes that shined in the night,
True, I felt that this was love pure and right.

E
Before we say farewell, tell me, please tell me
How will you recognise the swallow of glee,
How will you know that you are set free?
These secrets of the heart that you share with me?

D
In wake of this I am left with a soul still quaking
And wait still for the love light un-forsaking

E
Give me a clue to rewrite destiny
But a fearfilled dove cannot fly high,
To overcome dragons...
One must be mighty -

D
The strength that is needed I've never known
This love that I've sought was a meatless bone
So how will i know when true love arrives?
Or perhaps just another long lost love alibi?

E
The heart that is pure sifts truth from lies
And true love does not need alibis,
Like the song sung by the nightingale for the rose,
It is a truth in itself which a loving heart knows.

D
My vision is yet on the distant horizon
And think it the sword and the light of Orion -

E
Why confine your vision to the Hunter or the hunted,
Why not broaden your scope like a rapier unblunted,
Like fresh sprouting spring gushing from hard rocks,
Providing you with happiness which you now seek in clocks.

D
Love's a fate and left to the grand sea of stars
And moon's the deterent from Jupiter and Mars.
It's love's infinity for which i still seek
To me, universal beauty the cosmos do speak

E
The heart is the best creation of all
It glows when love's light on it falls
It is God's home, trust Him as your Guide
And true love will one day be by your side.
In my heart are many universes found,
I reveal them one by one in pen and in rhyme,
It is true love that makes me go on,
Otherwise I too am dead, I am gone.

D
If God is the ruler of my lowly kingdom of heart
Why do comets burn out, the stars break a part?
Where is this planet from which I evolved?
Where is that sun and the moon that revolves?

E
What you see must never make you believe,
Sometimes falsehood with its guile does deceive,
God made everything and filled all hearts with love,
It is by going astray that we have been thrown from above.
Everything exists in your heart and in you...
You are the evolver and you are the evolved,
The best of creations, look deep inside,
In you does He live, in you He resides.

D
The tides that have moved me were but lunacy
The waves that washed me, a treacherous sea
Shall I stand gazing a the vast darkness above
Or seek within me this universe of love?

E
When you reach out to help a soul that is down,
It is love that makes you look beyond your own,
It is love that makes you smile tenderly
Even though you know most are false and greedy.
You have the sight to discern all within and without,
When you yourself are kind and caring, why doubt?
Can't there be somebody made the way that you are,
Try to find who that soul is, whether nearby or far.
And a word more from one who is talking,
It is those who seek that sometimes fall,
It is only the true souls who undergo the pain,
To find the truth of an eternal flame.
The lame and the strong cannot compare,
Only those who fall and rise can ever dare...

D
If all that I seek ever within me presides
I shall have strength to calm seas and the tide
To hit back with courage at those who defy,
And with true love, vanquish every lie.
******************************

(39) LOVE’S EMBRACE

Black shadows listen,
To golden songs of sunset,
As earth and water embrace.

******************************

(40) EMPTY (Collaboration with four poets).

Emmenay:

Empty night,
Like my lonely heart,
And the dark, empty bedroom.

'Poeticpiers:

Vacant space,
Is filled by sadness,
She is gone.

Emmenay responds:

Eerie forms,
Fill the void,
Increasing my gloom.

Beki Lynn adds:

Despite intentions,
To forget and move on -
Memory lingers

'RedStormy' joins in:

Soul aches,
The sun refuses to shine,
Life is a blur.

'Soulsease' also joins in:

Yet...each moment brings,
Aworld of new beginnings...
Time to face the dawn...

Emmenay asks:

Dawn has come?
Where, O friend,
Where is light?


Beki Lynn, Poeticpiers, RedStormy and Soulsease are fellow poets whose work can be read at http://www.haikuhut.net managed by another well known American poet Michael Rehling.

******************************

(41) EVENING THOUGHTS

When the music of the day joins the setting sun,
A forlorn soul goes back in time,
When the breeze of eve greets the buds,
A forlorn soul goes back in time.
How many more Springs will I have to wait,
How many more nights at Summer's gate,
How many more noons of the Fall,
How many promises by my snow-white mate?
How many more prostrations do You require,
For how long should You and I conspire,
How many dawns will I have to see,
Before You decide on what should transpire.
All creation worships You all the time,
This is what You say in Quranic rhyme,
What for are Your Commandments here,
When all has been created as a pastime!
I know not O God the end of all this,
Caring a hoot could, in fact, be my bliss.
**************

****************

(42) EVERYTHING BLUE

Blue morning,
Blue heart,
Blue living.
Blue gazes,
Blue sea,
Blue mazes.
Blue stillness,
Blue thoughts,
Blue fondness.
Blue feelings,
Blue bulbs,
Blue cravings.
Blue neon signs,
Blue dance halls,
Blue decorations.
Blue people,
Blue rooms,
Blue marble.
Blue redness,
Blue blood,
Blue madness.
Everything blue,
Inside out,
Only blue.
********************

**********

(43) FEELINGS

Storms never last, but they ruin everything,
Life seldom gives, but it takes everything.
How more should I strive to make the ends meet,
How more are the travails for worn-out feet.
All ties are frail, weaker than thread,
All are self-absorbed, such is this dread.
The mornings begin with burning, hot tea,
The nights find me tired, tense and weary.
And ‘she’ wants to have me for herself only,
Making me feel so terribly lonely.
So pass the days, the months and the years,
How long will this go on is a soul-gripping fear.
I am among folks who, I know, need me,
I long to be loved but how they deceive me!
**********

********************

(44) FIE ON IT

Bright lights,
Smiling faces,
Confused folks.
I find myself,
Waiting for love,
In sky's caress.
I wrote emails,
Tried phone-calls,
But all in vain.
A photograph,
Of a long-lost love,
Keeps smiling.
"Casablanca":
How many times?
Play it again?
If life goes on,
Just like this,
Then fie on it!
**************

****************

(45) FIGHTING A STORM

Hidden sun,
Clouds beckon
Me to stop the storm.
High bird flies,
Braving gusts,
In my quest I go.
Sunbeams light,
A dark path,
I cannot stop now.
Bird flaps wings,
Raindrops fall,
The ordeal has just begun.
Lightning whips,
Thunder's back,
Yet I do not yield.
Beyond the shadows,
Huddled and frightened,
She who loves me waits.
Let nature threaten,
With all might,
I have faced its wraths before.
Sky will clear,
God will prove,
Lovers don't accept defeat.
The storm lulls,
Bird needs rest,
But sings as I embrace her.
***********************

*******

(46) FIGHTING THE STORMS

Would you O my beloved,
Watch the tides and what they say,
Will you take care of the sea,
While I control the stormy cloud?
This journey of a thousand years,
Is like a second when you are with me,
Bravely smiling at the tides,
And helping me vanquish our fears.
What about the thunderous roar,
What about the lightning flash,
With a true heart by my side,
This boat will one day reach the shore.
Should I tell you what you mean,
To me O my friend beyond time?
Don't our songs quieten the storms,
Isn't the power within us sublime?
************

******************

(47) MYSTIQUE

Garden, river, boat and song,
Love's eternal symphony,
Or Madhubala's mystique!

******************************

(48) FOR PARIS, HELEN, TROY AND MY BELOVED

Enraged snarls echo as if I would run:
Through ages has my mark with my footsteps been made firm;
Dardanelles and Priam, Paris and Hector,
Horatius and Troilus, Cressida and Trojan:
Ten years and more could not shake a resolve,
Who was right, who was wrong, to this day the sands solve.
For Helen, for the acclaimed beauty of Troy?
Or for the passion that made Paris destroy;
The foundations and forts of a great city,
With the fury of love rewriting its history?
On one side, for ten years, no one was a victor,
How a wooden horse took Helen from her tower.*
Was it skin-deep beauty that launched a thousand ships?
Or was it love's truth that cherishes all anguish?
The pain and the misery when the beloved is stolen?
Even though it is said bonds are made in heaven?
For Helen does my heart sigh, for Paris does my mind reel,
Yet this hideous sea of liars remember Achilles' heel.
I mock windswept sand-scrolls, I laugh at the sea's ink,
Somewhere it is Helen, somewhere it is Mary*;
One still sails with Paris, the other scoffs at power:
What was Dardanelles and the horse called Trojan,
If not sailor's proverbs of guile and deception?
That is when my heart's waves make fun of reason.
So, I too lost my love to this dark and deep ocean,
When on a smooth day, the sky rained its venom,
The waves of jealousy broke the hands that held us,
Like Troy weeping its grief at the loss of Helen.
How beautiful and quiet it appears to the eyes,
How many skins does this sea have changing every season?
For centuries I will mourn for Troy and its Helen,
But who will be there for me, or for my loved one?
Mary in this poem is Mary Queen of Scots who was deceived by her cousin Elizabeth for the crown of England. The TOWER is metaphorical for the valour and love of Paris, the lover of Helen of Troy.

****************************

**

(49) FOR YOU I AM STILL SOMETHING

Let the darkness of the night and the heart,
Meddle not with what the Saqi* has brought,
O ye in the tavern of the outlawed - the bold,
Drink, lest you stop asking why, when and what.
This soul of mine was not like this when I was young,
Filled with the ideals of youth were many songs sung,
Till I encountered hate, jealousy, deception and death,
My cherished goals lie decaying like fodder and dung.
With a book of verses, a bread loaf and wine,
I and thou underneath a bough did recline,
Hoping it would all be our paradise enow,
Yet how we changed as our youth did decline!
Now often do I go where I used to, with you,
Hoping to discover all those old joys anew,
When my thoughts did not wander away and afar,
When you for me mattered most, and I too for you...
The dawn rustles still and the birds, still they hum,
And like yesteryears I too do come,
But you, O my soulmate, where have you gone?
Look, without you, what I have become!
Now the morning lark does not give me hope,
I find myself tethered at the end of a rope,
Without you, my soulmate, I exist - do not live,
Can't you take me too beyond the edge of the slope...
Come O my soulmate, come back from the stars,
I have searched for you even on Venus and Mars,
My nights I have spent looking far and wide,
For you, for so long, with my wounds and scars.
Let not the red rose mock my heart's blood,
Let the futility revive and like a fresh bud,
Let me be with you wherever you are,
For you am I still something, otherwise dead mud.
The history of love is not yet replete,
With my tale of sorrow -- It is incomplete,
When your face on the horizon outshines Orion,
I know that my love too won't be obsolete.
I drink the red wine to refresh my hope,
For, the barbs of the heartless, act like a dope,
I know that I can't ever efface the past,
So, to be there again, with wine I elope.
How to tell you what your going has done,
How this existence has become cumbersome,
No matter what hour, minute or second it is,
An age without you has left me undone.
Come O my love, ere it's too late,
I am prepared to defy the decree of fate,
A love as the one between you and me,
May destroy many worlds, even heaven's gate.
And ere to my Lord I start complaining,
As to why autumn came at the time of spring,
And ere I question his Will and His plans,
Like you, make me too a bird on the wing.
Let our love renew the signs on the sky,
Let Troilus smile and Cressida not sigh,
Let Perseus not be enchained in the swirl,
Let the myths become truths with you and I.

*SAQI: A beautiful veiled lady who serves wine in a maekhana (tavern).

******************************

(50) TO A CANDLE

O candle, tell me how you burn,
What is it that makes you glow,
A labour of the wax and flame,
Or a Grace of God’s great love?

******************************

THE END

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Texte: All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced or copied in any form whatsoever without the prior written and duly signed permission of the author.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 19.09.2008

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