Poetry

  In the spaces between hope and yearning Somewhere far and beyond the scope of reality Is born the first tenuous sapling of fortitude. A dainty thing, tiny and delicate as a bud, It unfurls and invades the vacant realm Of dreams.   There it waits in patient somnolence, Gaining …

They say I can’t reach out anymore, that my brother is now a foreigner. They say I can’t call his land my own, for mine is this side of the border. This chain-link fence that separates us now, divides more than the land. It is a barrier cleaving a wedge …

When the veil of The somnolent night Is lit by the mellow glow, It rouses itself. Its dark maw ebb, They retreat to the nether. Hope awakens, Blushing like a new bride It gently tip toes in Setting into a quiet corner From whence it peeks In on moments Sprinkling …

Creak! Creak! Creak! Protest the rickety wooden steps Every time he makes his way to my door. I cower, enveloped in a raw fear. I bite into my clammy knuckles, And draw my knees up to my chest, As I hear his heavy tread on the steps. I scuttle to …

  Gathering their frosty fingers, the cold gales retreat Stepping back into the climes from whence they came. And, out dribbles benevolence from a salubrious sun; Tippling its warmth, it shines as if smiling joyously.   The pristine duvet of puffy white snow embraces The tepid love and dissolves into …

The whiff of roses in the air, the scent of jasmine that I hold dear, The laden boughs of the cherry & peach; signal that summer’s here. Branches straining to accommodate, groaning & heavy with fruit; Delicious mangoes, plums and chikoos; even leeches to boot! The Banyan & Neem in …

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!

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 …