In its cradle, the crescent moon slept Occasionally peaking from behind the eiderdown Of soft cottony clouds that blew wantonly, Almost willfully in the skies.   Ah! It was a starry, starry night; Made of twinkling brilliance amid the granite skies. The stars sparkled, magical dust of diamonds Strewn on …

The pink castles that I built In the liberated air of childhood Crumbled with my maturity.   Their facades cracked, And the once magnificent edifices Fell as loose rubble.   They could not bear the onslaught, The terrible travesty of time And succumbed.   Much like me!

Cooper jerked in fright. His body stiffened, wary at the prospect of impending danger. There...the sounds came again, sounding closer than before. Only now his keen hearing could also detect the shrill cries of animals. The cries sounded like animals squealing in the last throes of life.

‘The lass pined for her kin. The winds that blew, whispered messages from her ilk. By and by, she grew melancholy. Till one day...,’ Malcum paused and looked at the waters of the bay, ‘she found the skin Sean had hidden. That day, she transformed, dove into the bay and disappeared, never to be seen again.’

Author’s note –The world is a scary, unsafe place. We hear stories of brutal rapes happening everyday and yet we believe it will never happen to us...until it does. This story is dedicated to women who have lost their lives to brutal rape or who are survivors.

Girl, should you venture out, alone in the dark Beware of the devils, the shadows that lurk. For they lie in wait to pounce, nab and ravish. Alas! Fair maidens like you, in the night, vanish.   So, beware of the hand that extends to help you. It may accost …

This poem was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s painting – the blue room   They say that life has many tones and hues But in my life what dominate are the blues I am caught in a swirling vortex of strife And that my dear is the defining fact of my …

Under the gnarled boughs of the aging banyan In the courtyard, Beneath the canopy of the jade leaves fluttering To gentle breezes, Grandma would sit, with her books strewn around. Welcoming with a smile, arm outstretched in greeting She would beckon. Eagerly we would cluster around, on our haunches On …

An unassuming, easy going lad, Sunny soon made friends, the dearest being Monty (or Mohinder) who lived a few Kothi’s down, in the lane. As different as chalk and cheese, the boys soon became bosom pals. While Sunny was shy and timid by nature, prim and proper in his British manner; Monty was mischievous, inquisitive and always keen to explore. A die hard Hardy Boys fan, Monty introduced Sunny to the world of mystery books and both boys spent many happy afternoons butting heads over mystery stories.

In between the spaces of dream and reality, I found you Like an alluring enigma, you shimmered in the Half light. I knew then, I was in love with only an illusion But it was enough.   Image – Yohann Lc via unsplash