Category: Poems

Free verse and quiet poems — in English and Hindi — on love, longing, loss, and the slow work of healing.

  • Have Been, You

    I have not seen the world, but I have been into its depths — with you;
    I have not been to the heights, but I have driven into a sea of joy — with you;
    I have not stayed awake from night to day, but with the giggles of you;
    I have been through, far and far — but the places hold smile and joy, with you.

  • Love?

    Afar, at the heights of love,
    I am scared of its hurt;
    wide open, I welcomed the thorns —
    how seldom do I hear it wrong?

  • Beautiful Life

    Before a day, after a night,
    when sleep is gripping the pillow tight,
    I woke to a day I lost, and gained,
    and wasted away the sadness inside;
    I crawled back to reality,
    and wondered at this beautiful life.

  • Way Back

    Shall I be lost in the triumph of the one I gain,
    or shall I behold the fight of the one I lost?
    They are ways to reach the old, and the new —
    but why does the shortest so often lead to you?

  • Endless Dream

    Behold my dreams, and wing them afar,
    to a place farther than the far of your smile,
    to a heart as close as yours and mine —
    I shall be told to love thee, and always.

  • Corner of Life

    I pass by morning again,
    to see myself walking down the same roads;
    some are with me, others lost in the past;
    you come and go — but I wait, in one corner of my life…

    There you come, as my beloved,
    hold my hand, and wish for nothing else;
    love yourself, and I love the world, and my desire — you;
    and holding myself in one corner of life, I wonder nothing else.

    And then comes the battle, and the loss;
    I run from you, and from your love;
    I watch you go, and come, and ruin my life;
    in one corner of my life, I regret, day after day…

    And with the morning now past,
    I hold one more desire, longing for one more;
    lost and lost, to wherever everyone has been —
    from one corner, I watch life go on, like this.

  • The Dawn of a Day

    The shadow of mist will disappear,
    birds will fly on a chirping sound;
    life will nurture in every corner,
    some will rise — now, or later,
    with a roosting sound, or one of me.

    Wryly drawing a million shades in the sky,
    with so many phases of life,
    it reaches every new direction it finds —
    little things to hold, and to say.

    And from a far distance,
    I stare at your potency,
    far beyond any reach to conquer:
    the dawn of a day.

  • Heart of Time

    Heart of time…

    Day upon day, and turning nights;
    every day goes by, one sight;
    here and there, belonging of mine —
    once, there was a heart of time…

    Keys of a piano, and melody of sounds;
    thunder of the sky, and broken apart;
    every time, every day, the mirror does not shine,
    left with the broken heart of time…

    Flying with the speed of the past,
    nothing lasts ever, where the race ends;
    this is not the end, nor the beginning —
    it lies in the anger of time…

    I bid my love to memories,
    immersed in the eyes of time;
    lost, but having conquered the world,
    living myself, in the heart of time.

  • Happy Valentine

    Days come and go,
    but what shall I give you today?
    I thought of flowers, for beauty,
    but I see nothing more beautiful than you.
    I thought of chocolate, for sweetness,
    but how could anything be sweeter than your voice?
    I thought of a gift, for surprise,
    but it seems to fade before your eyes.
    I thought of a heart, to show love,
    but it appears less than your care.
    I thought of a smile, and happiness,
    but nothing is like your smile…

    And then I thought of words —
    and I just wrote a poem, on you.

  • Life and You

    Raving of mine,
    to and for thine;
    mighty chimes shine,
    beneath the night and time…

    One more goodbye,
    and the still-standing sky;
    falling, but raising a voice,
    in the heat of failing love and cries…

    In the name of love,
    I found another me —
    lost, and conquered, as one;
    the carnival of life, and thine…

    I want more, and more,
    to wait, and to lose,
    to love, and to hate —
    to live the beauty of life, and you…