Names

I could always forget the pain,
For then what would be my love be worth.
For though pain be not what I seek,
Where else would I learn to love?
Many be joys of life,
But when two hearts feel the same,
Like the rhythm of two hearts,
The song be different than the din.
Hearts though be cleaved by names,
And there be none to tell all,
But a name is not what it yearns,
Love grows fine in shadows.
That what is it's may not seem,
But in stolen dreams it lie,
Though it may never touch a kiss,
Silence some times is good enough.

Spark

I have a small spark within,
Let me burn out.
For it is in the flame to burn,
And in my heart to be consumed.

Go thither from me,
Lest I burn you too.
And my eternity with me,
My life mine to rue.

My paths are set in stone,
And quiet I will go,
I will leave no mark,
And nary a tune slow.

It is a slow march,
And little do I care,
For there is a madness to me,
This I will never share.

कभी कभी

कभी कभी ये दिल हमसे पूछता है,
चल लेगा कितनी राह तू युहीं अकेले,
कभी डरता हूँ, कभी सहमता हूँ,
पर फिर चल लेता हूँ मैं युहीं अकेले।
कभी कभी ये दिल हमसे पूछता है,
अभी कितनी बची है पैमाने मैं,
जब तलक छलके नहीं मैखाने में,
युहीं दो घूँट पी लेता हूँ अकेले में।
कभी कभी ये दिल हमसे पूछता है,
कितनी तसल्ली है यूँ जीने में।
हमारे पास युहीं कुछ नग्मे हैं,
युहीं गुनगुना लेते हम अकेले में।
कभी कभी ये दिल हमसे पूछता है,
कितनी जान बाकी है इस अकेले मैं,
जान तो हमारी कहीं और बसी है,
युहीं याद कर लेते साँसों को,
हम अपने अकेलेपन में।

A flower

The beauty of a flower be not in a colour,
For colours do fade by the night.
Nor is beauty in the heady fragrance,
For by day it is despoiled.
The beauty of a flower not be in thorns,
For where hath beauty lain without poison.
Beauty changes not,
Though flower be in a wreath,
Or at the feet of gods.
A flower may mean a lot
To myriad people of myriad hues.
Where there is love,
There always is a memory,
Of the flower when it buds.
To a life in memoriam,
My flower is in my heart.

The songless bard

This is a path you have walked upon,
I can follow your footprints,
Though I cannot see you afar,
I will follow you through the mist.
I hope not of meeting you,
But I know you are somewhere near,
For all that beggars may choose,
They may never choose their fear.

The wisps tell me of your passing,
They mock me, for I follow,
But another story, to me, is unknown.
I trace my steps to where you are gone.

I am not a poet or a bard,
I may only be a mirror shard,
For when, which looks unto me is gone,
What am I but a songless bard.

Where was i

Where was I,
When life took another turn,
Looking far into the road,
Or just to the few steps behind.
Where was I,
When life was calling out,
Staccato lies and tantrums,
Anger, blame and doldrums.
Where was I,
When life took all away,
Not fighting till the end was near,
Of the pain too hard to bear,
Where was I,
When my love was taken,
Not by my steps, nor by my hands,
Nor on my waters, nor on my sands.

Wish

Wish I were a snowflake,
To melt slow at your feet.
To be water with you,
And flow quietly into the street.