Abhey Gupta

Author: Abhey Gupta

  • In Him

    A long-awaited day of life —
    not so special, yet quite unusual.
    It crossed the boundaries once laid down;
    the beauty of the day still undisclosed.

    Special was this dusky evening he had;
    lucky, he guessed, was the day he wore.
    Nature was perplexed by the nature of a day —
    but its core will be understood this time.

    He breathes a relief from his agony,
    feeling glad of his journey;
    distances undiscovered, and the rest now seen,
    will be crossed in this new journey of life.

    Struggling through all those days,
    he forgot to live his own way.
    But time has changed once again —
    it is time to live, the right way, again.

    He is not going to stop in life;
    he will explore the unseen passage,
    weaving a poem, and his message,
    reflecting the poet he holds within him.

  • Hate is Still

    A long, unsleeping night,
    a day that never sees its dawn,
    a light that never reaches its destination —
    just shades of a darker, all-too-real life.

    He is not so distant from you,
    yet a bridge still stands between you;
    he is not afraid of fate or fortune —
    but why is he so different now?

    His questions are a paranoid memory,
    needing a listener to be shared;
    control is not all that he needs.
    Is he searching for the unsaid question?

    Rise above all the bargaining and melancholy —
    darkness is all he loves now.
    You give him sorrow; he confronts it.
    At least it’s hate she is still giving him.

  • All Again Alone

    Ashes from a past of fire —
    some through my eyes, some upon old wounds.
    Unknown fragments of who I was,
    perhaps reborn somewhere,
    have begun to dominate my present.
    I justify myself — but am I really immune?

    Ciphers and deep secrets speak,
    and I am lost somewhere within them.
    It was never friendly to me —
    all this taking and throwing away,
    crossing the river, left undone at last,
    trying every effort to subdue my deeds,
    to dub over that lost ray of what came before.
    But I have shaken it off — all of it — again, alone.

  • Shall I

    You are not close to my mind —
    and my soul, perhaps, knows this is the truth.
    Nor should I hold the strength
    to chase it, or to face that truth.

    I may not be special to you,
    nor even worth a single tear.
    But this feeling of mine doesn’t care for that;
    maybe we’ll be the same again one day —
    or maybe you’ll never see my face again.

    Does any of it still matter to you?
    Inside my heart, the feeling stays,
    where you hold a forever place.
    But shall I keep living this feeling this way,
    or shall I finally break away?

    I cannot hold my tears like this.
    My life will never be the same —
    so shall I go on living even one more day?

  • न किया होता

    तन्हाई के पल से जब मिले हम,
    दिल में न जाने कहाँ एक टीस हुई।
    सोचा — प्यार की रचना किसने की?
    उस दिन तुम्हारे प्यार की याद आई।

    सोचा — किसने, कैसे, और क्यों बनाया?
    कभी ख़ुशी की बारिश होती है,
    कभी अपने ही लहू के आँसू की।
    लेकिन एक बात मेरी समझ ज़रूर आई:

    न किया होता प्यार हमने तुमसे,
    शायद ऐसे कथन तो न होते;
    यूँ रात को तन्हाई में जागे न होते,
    तुम्हारी याद में यूँ तो न रोते।

    न जाने कितने और ऐसे होंगे,
    कितने ही मेरे जैसे अकेले होंगे।
    मुझे नहीं पता, क्या होगा मेरा,
    जीवन के किस मोड़ पर जाऊँगा।

    पर यह नज़ाकत समझ तो आ गई —
    इश्क़ से बड़ी कोई सज़ा नहीं होती।
    काश हमने भी इश्क़ न किया होता,
    तन्हाई का दर्द हमें भी न होता,
    वक़्त की चोट से यूँ रूबरू न होते,
    न ही कोई हमें रुलाने वाला होता।

  • ज़िन्दगी को

    उस रात के अँधेरे से निकली एक आवाज़,
    न जाने कौन था वो — एक अजनबी इंसान।
    डरा-सहमा-सा मुझे था पुकार रहा,
    रो-रो के, सहमा-सा मुझे निहार रहा।

    वो डरी-डरी-सी आवाज़ गूँजती रही,
    कुछ न होते हुए भी, डराती रही।
    हर पल सोचने पर मजबूर करती —
    क्या मेरा ही था वो प्रतिबिंब?

    लेकिन क्यों थी उसकी ऐसी हालत,
    आख़िर क्या था उसका कसूर?
    सोचते-सोचते दिन महीनों में बदल गए,
    उससे गुज़रते रहे हर रोज़, और हम रोते रहे।

    आज समझ आया, कि वो था कौन —
    मेरा ही हृदय था, मुझे पुकार रहा।
    “जाग जा, अभी देर नहीं हुई” —
    बस यही वो कहे जा रहा।

    “अभी तो तूने कुछ किया ही नहीं,
    फिर क्यों रहता है इतना परेशान?
    सँभाल ख़ुद को, जी ले यह जीवन —
    अभी बहुत कुछ बाक़ी है इस जीवन में।

    हर पल मिलकर बनता है यह जीवन,
    जी ले इस प्यारे-से उपहार को।
    किस्मत अच्छी है तेरी, जो मिला है जीवन —
    ज़िन्दगी के हर पल को कर दे प्यार के नाम।”

  • My Life

    Life turns out to be an endless puzzle —
    an endlessness that cannot be simply solved.
    Simple — it sounds so simple to you;
    and to you I am grateful, in many a verse.

    The voice of life is so full in itself, and unbounded;
    cruel it is, yet always a way toward calm.
    Deaf in so many ways, yet such resounding music —
    rhythmic it beats, with the power of the pure.

    I hope to meet my absolute evil one day,
    and tell him: I am not the same toward life anymore.
    No more regrets to you, no pain of the past —
    living in the moment is all I have now.

    My life now turns to the less-travelled way:
    less hearing, less thinking, but more doing.
    The soul moves my body, once a slave to sorrow —
    for life is a life only by its journey to a destination.

  • Let Me Die

    Lord, my Lord — let me sleep forever.
    Restless is my soul; let it rest forever.
    This shallow heart is more complex than ever —
    let me die, in spirit, tonight.

    I died a long time ago, in every way but body;
    now, today, let me sleep endlessly.
    Say my prayers, and remember everyone;
    let my wandering soul rest in your garden.

    A martyr I am not,
    a flower of love I do not have —
    only a boulevard of longing dreams
    that shattered my mind with a knife of panic.

    Let me rest today, completely.

  • Don’t Have Now

    One day, hurt and confused,
    I looked around — where am I?
    I was trying to find myself again,
    but the mirror of my guilt stood before me.

    I looked at him; he stared back at me.
    Tired, at last, of trying to neglect him,
    he still followed me —
    am I his shadow, or is he me?

    Confusing… but at least it is my own.
    I thought as much, and moved on,
    yet paranoia was all I felt;
    there was nothing left to see.

    I have come to understand one thing:
    running away was never the solution.
    What shall I tell my soul now,
    lost in the depth of all I don’t have now?

  • मै पंछी विशाल नील गगन का

    मैं पंछी विशाल नील गगन का,
    मुझे आज इसमें समा जाने दो।
    आज मन-सागर के भावों को फूट-फूट कर,
    किरण की भाँति इस गगन में बह जाने दो।

    दूर कहीं है कोई मुझे पुकार रहा —
    ऐसा सोचते हुए मुझे उड़ जाने दो।
    आज खोल दो इस पिंजरे का ताला,
    विशाल नील गगन की सैर पर जाने दो।

    मैं पंछी विशाल नील गगन का,
    ज्ञान-अज्ञान की परिभाषा से परे।
    मालूम है तो सिर्फ़ एक प्रेम की भाषा —
    आज मुझे फिर हवाओं पर सवार हो जाने दो।

    नफ़रत की भाषा का यह कैसा स्वरूप?
    मुझे न तुम लोग इसमें घसीट डालो।
    सोचने को हैं और भी बहुत-सी बातें, लेकिन
    मुझे आज इस आसमान में खो जाने दो।

    मैं पंछी विशाल नील गगन का,
    मुझे आज सिर्फ़ उड़ जाने दो।
    असीमित है मेरे मन का बल —
    मरने से पहले एक बार जी जाने दो।