MY OYSTER

How long ago was it
When, only a boy, I zoomed about
Chasing dreams and loving life
With more time on hand than I needed?
 
How long ago when my gait
And small shoulders mirrored
Those of Samurai Jack—
Lone conqueror of kingdoms;
 
When I towed about my mini-truck
Beaten out of heated milk tins
Studying the intricate design
For future tech inventions;
 
When I tinkered out of my junk box
Of wires and electronics gear
Carrying out repairs and experiments
Perilous to life and property;
 
When, nature-enthralled, I kept a garden
Of every crop that grew,
When the manners of nature’s flora
Unveiled in many garden-hours?
 
The world was my oyster!
With high hopes and youth’s vigour
I had put in much labour and time
And received for my effort but naught!
 
I loved life. I still do
But in the region of my habitation
The pearls of life have been looted;
Only my fantasies remain.

                   WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME

When you look at me, what do you see?
A human pretending to be alive
A day that is yet to dawn
A tomorrow that is not possible
A hope that cannot come to pass?

What do you see?
A damaged shrub flailing with exposed roots
A smoking stubble pulled out of the fireplace
A broken body clinging to a dashed dream
A wave tossed about and crashing aimlessly?

Mother gave herself for me
Father toiled hard but never left
Neighbours and friends gave food and care,
And their time, their tears, even prayers
To see that I, a communal child, do well

All this investment made in human capital
In an economy that eats seeds it should plant
Now, broken and left without any chance
And used to the sameness of failed things
I have forgotten how to fight, or even cry

So, I ask again
What do you see when you look at me?
A broken, pieceful me?

     CHASED!

Bared fangs on haunches!
Bristling, snarling, drooling …
I’d sighted them a block away
And pushed farther to safety
On the street’s other side
Amid friends with whom I walked.
But a sworn scamp provoked
The already bad-tempered dogs!

We took off in several directions
As the savages sprang upon us;
Three scary canines
Tore after me with an oath!
The chase was relentless;
They gained on me, I grew hopeless.
Blinded by fear I took no notice
Of a clothesline in plain view.

Fate took pity on me and
Flung me back with the taut line;
All three dogs screeched to a halt.
I staggered up to continue my flight
But the hounds reared up
And swiftly sprinted off in fright.

Dazed, I looked on lamely
Then sidled back to the street
Curious that my belligerent attackers
Had turned into drivelling cowards.

                TITTLE-TATTLE

Animated, my voice hushed
            Eyes darting this way, that way
            I leaned forward to decant
            My thoughts, careful to retain
            Dregs of ugly sediments
            Then felt lighter, happier.

In the market of gossip
            In the stalls of small talk
            I quickly became a ware
            Poorly displayed, tagged cheaply
            To be bartered so buyers
            May lend grace to their pleasure.
            Soon, curious stares impaled me
            Broad grins drowned my psyche
            Pitilessly exposed and violated
            I sought barriers that could hide me,
            That could shield me from the plague.

Crammed by people thrust upon me
            I’m crowded out of my life...
            There is no isolated living
            Only a community opposed to privacy.

     RAIN IN THE DRY SEASON

Wild wind in gusty rage

Peels off the soil’s surface

Until mighty sandstorms arise

Whirlwinds spiral into cones

Blurring the atmosphere.

It’s a phase in the earth’s journey

When the sun is at its meanest

Lapping up every drib of water

Emptying steam into the vastness

O, how the caked earth seeks respite!

As the belly of heaven swells

Pockets of clouds start to company

To rescue the sphere below

Already at ignition point

From bursting into a fireball.

“To battle! To battle!” they cry

Arsenals pooled by the brave warriors

Have to be launched at once;

Our orb must not go the way

Of other planets: arid and derelict.

But the fierce sun, chafed and grave

Routs the cheeky nebular soldiers

Who in valour let off their life’s fluid

In a staccato of raindrops which

The scorched earth licks up eagerly.

With strength for yet another cycle

The earth looks up with revived hope

Help is not far away

For the clouds, with mounting force

Muster a vengeful mutiny.

Basking in the euphoria of victory

The sun lets down every guard

So, darkness on daylight lays a siege

And the heavens, taking the hint

Pour out their content earthward.

Alarmed and jolted from slumber

The sun’s hurry comes too late

And now, its striped alter-ego

Bedecked in a heptad of colours

Parades the sky in splendour.

The deities are in frenzy

A deluge is feared, and

Their shelters may be swept off

For the Giver of rain is absolute

He holds command of all things.

Disconcerted, the sun

Alters its schemes and ways

And makes to work in concert

With plants, now in new spirits

That earth’s children may have food.

IN MY MILIEU

Petitions and pious counsel
Jangle from every direction;
Social gatherings offer pleasure
From deafening jarring music;
Vehicles honk irritably at one another
Amidst a missilery of retorts;
Children in the area actively display
Youth’s gaiety with bursting vigour.

Marketplaces
Bus terminuses
Marriage parties
Teem with chaos, noise.

Holed up in my room, misery mounting
My noise-scarred mind bubbles
With frustration and impotent fury
While hesitant patience drowns me.

In my milieu
Stench, Filth and Noise
Are high-ranking kinsmen
But the head of the tribe is Noise.

MAN IS PAWNED

Hold the hand of one who dies
To offer strength as death pries
As the chasm of sorrow deepens
And the divide in timeline widens
When the spirit slips away
Freed up from this mass of clay
Away, and ranges through the regions
Known only to death’s many legions
When dusk finds night and they merge
And this life is on death’s verge;
 
Then, pursuits distil to mere lightness
Cloaks of castes, shed, show man as classless
Both sceptre and scythe indeed
Pare down the last call to heed
Our grip on life loosens with the grief
At passing, reminding us how brief
Man’s stay on earth; how so frail
His glory from lifelong grail
Death, life’s avowed betrothal of dread
Takes man as pawned victim in its stead.

                 IS LOVE ENOUGH?

You spit in my face
Defame my person
Drench me in disgrace
Then throw me a kiss

Your words cut my heart
Expose my blemish
Yet you cross your heart
And claim love on oath
 
I’m no more entranced
By your heartless love
My feelings have chanced
Upon a new course
 
In my hurt I look;
Behold greener grass
Traversed by a brook
On the other side
 
I’m at an impasse
But hope that my find
Is not just mere grass
Just another green
 
Wish Venus will care
To send me a friend
A lass fair and rare
One with a true heart!