The Last Inquilab

Sakhi,
the time has come to bid adieu.
moments spent here
in this cozy watering hole
i shall never forget.
the wine that you served
and the company of other poets...
all wanderers who lost their way
and strayed in here
to sip your bittersweet wine 
at this oasis beneath whose date palms
we rested in peace, in camaraderie
escaping life’s agonies and hypocrisies
all misfits like me
who ran away from life, escaped
or so, they, you, I and all of us thought
little knowing that there’s no escape
from our trysts with destiny,
that each has to face his or hers alone
like now I hear the clamor
of them distant drums
getting louder and louder by the minute
the bursts of teargas shells
the alarms of water cannons
the battle cries of baton charges
and the shrieks of the oppressed
and the occasional crack of gunfire
followed by eerie silences…
and then again the defiant sloganeering
in Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkotta and elsewhere.
I know it’s time to take leave
give me some more wine
one last sip before i go
perhaps for the last battle of my life
against their lathis, guns and battle tanks
for equality and brotherhood
for fraternity and love
to resist the bigots and their bigotry
the lynch mobs and their patrons
their fanaticism and majoritarianism
that seeks to police and micro-control lives,
attire and food…
that seeks to divide into us and them
and set man against his brother
woman against her sister
neighbor against neighbor
to once again raise the flag of liberty and freedom
to clench my tired fist and shout a last inquilab
with a fistful of defiance
before I am felled
by their bullets of tyranny
and then to write poems in blood
on the streets of my motherland
on the bosom of my mother
even as she clasps me
to inspire others who’ll come for sure 
to take back the weapons
to take back the streets
to take back the seats of power
to take back the courts
to take back the dreams
to take back the values
that define us,
and crush and silence the bigots
and drive them out forever
reestablish peace and dharma
and unfurl the flag of azadi and peace.
Sakhi,
to them who might ask for me
if I’m not back
tell them I’ve no regrets
only that I won’t be around
to pen any more poems
but glad that the blood that I sprinkled
to write our names
in the citizenship registry
will sprout many poets
who’ll resist this tyranny
and sing paeans for my motherland
and her timeless values.
Sakhi,
i had a dream
of a golden womb called India
in which all of us would cuddle cozily.
Sakhi,
at least will they hear me
when i shout my last inquilab
with my dying lips?
-------------------------

Lone Sentinel Of A Thousand Dreams

Sakhi
he bows his head in silence
even as you chide him
for being so selfish
"not even an ounce of love" you shout!
Sakhi
you don't know how hard he tries
to suppress the simmering ocean of his love
to hold back its tidal waves
waiting to sweep you off
to that ocean's floor with him.
Sakhi
how he longs to unleash those waves!
Yet knows how hard it is for you
to let go of all that you hold dear
and elope with him
to that paradise of love.
Sakhi
there are mermaids and sea nymphs there
waiting to seduce and frolic with him.
Sakhi
you don't know hard and how long he searched
behind every barnacle
and every bit of floating seaweed
and on every shore that the waves swept
and how he wept when he finally found you
lonely and sad in that world of yours.
He did not knock Sakhi
you opened its doors
and bade him enter.
He nodded his head sadly
knowing it would make you
only sadder still.
Sakhi
you call him selfish
and in silence he bears
all your rebukes that hit him hard
like the thunder of a thousand storms.
Yes Sakhi, he is selfish!
He cares only for your well being.
That alone would make him happy.
Let him stay here and guard
the gates of your bleeding heart Sakhi
from these dreams that might hurt you bad.
He's selfish Sakhi
Not even an ounce of love
he has with him now.
All that he ever had
is poured out
into that ocean of love in his heart
where he is Neptune
and you Sakhi his one and only Salacia!

He is the lone sentinel of a thousand
dreams Sakhi.

None Can Silence This Poet

Sakhi
they thought he was finished
gone for good
they left him in the darkest corner
of the cemetery
in the deepest hole, they had ever dug
and returned back to celebrate life
but he Sakhi
would have none of it
Sakhi
even death could not bind him
hold him back
that irrepressible poet
he turned and turned
and twisted and twisted in his grave
and Sakhi
kicked and kicked till he
opened the coffin
shoved the lid aside
hollering he wasn't done
yelling to be heard again
Sakhi
he resurrected on the third day
with another billion poems
all brilliant masterpieces
scribbled beneath the surface of earth with his nails.

* A tribute to poet Ampat Koshy

Mary Magdalene

Scared, exhausted,
fell at his feet, sought refuge.
Stained tears purified by his soles,
turned pearls sparkling white,
then rolled off.

Rabbi, save me pleaded those eyes.

He looked with compassion,
asked gently, "from what?"
"This crowd or your sins?"
She replied, "from both!"

He looked at the crowd,
contemplated their sins.
Raised hands, stones, fell!
They melted into their shames.
She lay prostrate at his feet,
savoring peace of repentance.

Wiped holy feet with her tresses,
purified, made whole again
in body and mind,
Satan exorcised, found ultimate bliss.
--------------------------------------------------
Published in the anthology
'A Poet's View of Being'
by Brian Wrixon Books, Canada (2012)

The God Player

Pushing frontiers of science
beyond realms of fantasy
he felt adrenalin rush
while he tinkered
with the DNA of creation
and cloned at first, a sheep...
and then a monkey and a horse.

He'd come far, very far indeed
from his predecessor's tadpole
achievement in the 1950s
that tempted and fuelled
his ambition to play God.

A tingling of nerves,
and a sense of power overcame him
as he stood at the pinnacle
of his God dream; to clone himself
and then God himself!

In the end, the creator's creator
he aspired to be.
To create that perfect world,
a thing even God had failed to do.
He'll clone perfections, destroy imperfections.

Why he might even clone a new cosmos itself
in that mad laboratory where...
one day he secretly fuses his own cells
with an animal egg
to create a monster just like his self,
obsessed only with cloning
and then cries out to God
to save him from the precipice
of a man-made disaster.

Agni Pareeksha (Trial By Fire)

Walk over a thousand burning coals of fire
and mortgage your pride at the altar of love.

Endure the humiliation of each word, deed
being scrutinized a thousand times
for traces of infidelity.

Suffer in silence the hypocrisies
of a male-dominated world and carry
the yoke of Manusmriti from birth.

Just a single baseless aspersion
can ruin your marital bliss.
The law protects but culture shackles.

Indian woman! Still his property?
Weaker sex or wretched sex?

What God Whispered

You ask me what God whispered
to me when I first met you

He did not tell me that you are
the one for me

He never told me that you'd
be happy with me

But he whispered gently
into my willing ears...

That you are the rarest and the
purest gem he ever made

That he once threw you into
the hellfire of a dark agony

That he again dug you up
from its deep mines of despair

That he cut and chiseled you
many a time with cruel knives of fate

That he put you through the
hottest furnace of all of hell's fire

And then he gently bathed you with
the waters of his compassionate tears

And he lovingly polished you with
the blessings of his tender hands

And smoothed the lines of sadness
he'd etched on to your withered soul

And breathed a new life into you
and made you whole once again

And then he scooped up all of nature's
beauty to adorn you abundantly

He whispered he's a bit tired now
And needs to rest awhile

He wants me to bring the spring
and sunshine back into your lonely life

He wants me to bring the shine and
sparkle back to your lotus eyes

He wants me to paint the rainbow colors
once more on your lovely cheeks

He wants me to hold you close to my
heart and waltz you through the skies

He wants me to smell the Jasmine
fragrance of your intoxicating breath

He wants me to kiss your drowsy lips
and make them quiver with hope

He wants me to give you a bouquet
full of dew-drenched fresh pink roses...

And then kneel down and tell you
That I'll love you ETERNALLY!
-----------------------------------------
Published in the anthology
"A Bouquet Of Verse' Vol 3
by Ardus Publications, Canada (2017)

Will I Be Awake Tonight?

Wondering about you the whole day through

Wondering how you still manage your days

Wondering how you still manage to smile

Wondering how you are still cheerful.

Wondering about your life's ups and downs

Wondering about the melody of your laughter

Wondering about the tears behind the smile

Wondering if that smile is a mask.

Wondering about the real you behind that mask

Wondering if it would hurt if I unmask that face

Wondering about you the whole day through

Wondering how you still manage your days.

Wondering if you are feeling lonely and sad

Wondering if you are feeling alone and bad

Wondering if you ever feel frightened at times

Wondering if you ever feel the need for a man.

Wondering if I could wipe off those tears

Wondering if I could bring joy to that heart

Wondering if you are now fast asleep in bed

Wondering if you are now dreaming of me.

Wondering if you are the gift of my life

Wondering if I'm the right guy for you

Wondering if I am now falling in love

Wondering if I'll be awake tonight...

Between You And Me

Between you and me

there exists many barriers

both visible and invisible.

Between you and me

there exists heartaches

and memories of stolen kisses too.

Between you and me

there exists the agony

of a longing to hold and be held.

Between you and me

there exists many abandoned

dreams that refuse to fade away.

Between you and me

there exists the anguish

of scarlet passions seeking relief.

Still between you and me

there is a reluctance to transcend

artificial restrictions and social mores.

Yes! Between you and me dear

a wry smile across empty spaces

is all we can afford today.

So within you and I dear

let our yesterdays compete to cry out

the agonies of their silent desires!