The Art of Displacement
A Sapling
Is plucked
To rest
In a new garden
Flower pot
Or an old pitcher.
It breathes, blooms, wafts,
Sometimes withers
In the new air.
A Pebble
Silently watches the struggle
Proud of its armour—
Sound
Even when ruthlessly
Flung in the pool.
*******
The Play
Your body betrays you
On every lie
Not that you stammer, no.
So well rehearsed is this play
That words prance and dance.
But soon those dodging eyes
Trapped in a slow sly smile
Speak otherwise.
At the end
All lies lie broken
When Silence becomes
A language of confession.
***********
Force-wrapped
Her outburst
Was like an infant’s
Wailing, when
Severed from it’s womb
Before being force-wrapped
Into a silk coil of secrets.
*******
Education
Class— the size of an elephant!
Stale breadth intermingled
With sweat flavours the lazy afternoon.
Someone told me
“Yawning is contagious.”
Mouths ape
Eyes droop, falling into an abyss.
Somewhere at a distance
The teacher spoke—
A haze over our dazed senses.
*********
In Labour
It is long overdue
Pain crawls
Like ants devouring flesh
On my legs, my belly.
Head hurts hard
In the bloody Summer noon
Every fibre stiffens
Every muscle rebels
Aches, pricks, pierces
The source of my misery
I can’t go on,
I can’t, I just can’t!
I’d die if I don’t pee, this moment.
************
Sealed
I have shut my heart
To lock you out,
So that you can
Not
Walk in at will
Wreck it
And walk out.
**********
Be Intimate with Pain
Be intimate with pain
It won’t break trust
Unlike fickle bliss
Trespassing at will
Before slipping away
As quietly as it came.
**************
In Labour
It is long overdue
Pain crawls
Like ants devouring flesh
On my legs, my belly.
Head hurts hard
In the bloody Summer noon
Every fibre stiffens
Every muscle rebels
Aches, pricks, pierces
The source of my misery
I can’t go on,
I can’t, I just can’t!
I’d die if I don’t pee, this moment.
*********
A Call from Overseas
Two voices touch
one, basking in the soft sun
the other, bathed in starlight.
