1)
Do you hear pulses
of memory in graveyard
she groans in her dream
I search my voice in
echoes that break silences
of the soul in space
2)
The mirror is so small
I can’t see the ocean
beyond my own look
3)
Is it her quietus
that she roars
in herself
like a sea
waves upon waves
leaps upon herself?
4)
He unpetals a rose
searching seeds through
tangled fingers
in thorny womb
it’s bleeding hopes
5)
As I culed ‘long her
we became a small rainbow
playing earth and sky
in half-dream weaving
legends of love in moments
unmemoried years
6)
I leave my memories
in prayerful trance
float above my body
till rapping her fingers
at my soul she breaks
the silence: “I’ve come
with my dreams promised
years ago. Won’t you
once kiss and melt in me?
7)
Blessed is
the bedroom
the bathroom
the kitchen
the drawing room
the terrace
the lawn
and every little
place and spot
where we prayed
or sexed together
we glorified our house
and declared His mysteries
8)
Love is efflux
from her body spreading
all around the parabolic hue
enlightens the self
my being I merge
in her glowing presence
9)
When I wanted
to change seats
my friend said
she can, only if
the door’s locked
the lights out
and her mommy in
another city
10)
While I sweat
in mosquito-net
waiting for a kiss
she goes to sleep
loosening her breasts and
removing her feet and eyes
and covers them under the sheet
for safe-keeping
11)
Layers of dust thicken
on the mirror water
makes the emits prominent:
I wipe and wipe and yet
the stains stay like sin
12)
My wife laughs when I say
man seldom loves beauty:
when he sees a woman
he only sees her busts and bottoms
and length of bone in mouth
intellectualising his itches
he yearns to sink in mud
by the fig-lief hues of hair
13)
The quietest moment
when one is ones own
is in toilet or bath
reflecting inside out
through daily deeds
listening to whispers that rip
cosmetic simplicity or
split the landscape in hands
when elusive strength
blasts in silent search
in hollowness leaving
a dazed mind in crypt
14)
They say Jupiter
reveals the inner man
the invisible hidden within
and my horoscope spotlights
the direction of my destiny
the sanskar of my soul
well-placed as benefactor
but what is the spiritual progress
with a strong drink in hand
the visible heaven in the present
the pitch that directs the runs
the battles I fight for existence
in Saturn world without
energy, life or joy?
15)
Their hands are sulphur
with butcher strength
above the pit they drift
like shadow against dying sun
longer than themselves
against the floodlight from dome
they create new ‘glyph
to feed night to sunken world
16)
These old rats
in nature’s breach
design new rooms
to negotiate disgrace
and belief beyond election
with plastic sense
enrich their substance
drinking, voting, smiling
17)
A horse-headed thief
bullied the bearded man
like the mythical demon
who disappeared with the vedas
but no fish appeared
to rescue him
18)
My bones have holes for eyes
I search my teeth in the muck
leeches have sucked my blood
where’s the lout who ate my flesh?
19)
Harmony in duality
is unity of tongues
to sculpt new dreams
made of living rock.
We aren’t different
in our same land:
Our poems are woven
from the same skin of language
weathered by time and nature
20)
The whispers of the forest
inside me
will be quiet tomorrow
and no tree will weep
no one knows
what was the weather like
in the heart
negotiating ideas and images.