He was so old his bones seemed to swim in his skin.
And when I took his hand to feel his pulse
I felt myself drawn in. It was as faint
as the steps of a child
padding across the floor in slippers,
and yet he was smiling.
I could almost hear a river
running beneath his breath.
The water clear and cold and deep.
He was ready and willing to wade on in.

INNOCENCE
Innocence ! Innocence ! Innocence !!
I shrieked at the top of my voice
No stir in the air, no noise.
Silence was the answer.
Where is my innocence?
Have I lost her at last?
I asked the stooping Sun of my grey age.
“ Have you seen my Innocence?”
He said “ Innocence? I heard that name long ago.
Experience is all that I have now
Which made me bitter from inside.
Go! Look thee in the castle of youth!
Let me wait for His call”
I dragged my steps to the threshold of Youth.
“ Have you seen my Innocence?”
My voice was made feeble by the stereo sounds.
“ Who has time for your Innocence now?
It’s a trash!” jeered the youth.
“I am exploring the depths of experience
Go away, let me dive deeper.”
Where can she be, my little darling?
There rang a school bell.
My heart jumped, my feet ran….
I sneaked through the school gate
Hundreds of tiny hands pat my face
Hundreds of simple smiles pour over me.
I cried, “Have you seen my child Innocence?”
“Have you locked her in?”
“Hush, Hush” said a tiny voice
“ We have locked her out.”
I lifted my tearful eyes to the heavenly dome.
Oh! My Father, so you called the divine bliss back Home !!!

Play not with dice
But cultivate thy cornfield,
Rejoice in thy goods present
As gambling is but a vice

Oh dice, give play that profit brings
Like cows that yield abundant milk,
Attach me to a streak of grain
As with a string the bow is bound

Fortune takes as fortune gives
Do thou treat her as a master,
And she’ll be thy willing slave
We make our fortunes and call them fate

There is a tide in the affiars of humans
Which taken at the flood leads onto fortune,
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
is bound in shallows and miseries
Play not with dice
But cultivate corn through hard-work

Unfathoming - the depth of the ocean
where adrift soullessly on a rocking boat,
the soul at unrest on the voyage ahead
seeking a glimpse of land remote

Pushed by the currents and divine hope deep-rooted
the parched throat seeking for thirst to quench,
a vision of ‘water-water everywhere, but nothing to drink’
the mind quelled with the aroma of salty stench

The sun beating mercilessly on the soul adrift
the vagaries of nature not showing slight,
the trade-winds swelling with unbound vigor
pushing the sail further till the altar of darkness

The moon in full glow- a King in his courtroom
flocked around by stars in millions – as courtiers,
I envision the roof of Mother-Earth lying down
on the swaying boat (of life) dreaming of new frontiers

The morning glow – hurting my eyes to open
as my mind races back to the reality at hand,
where adrift the voyage of life stranded
I suddenly feel in my mouth the taste of sand

In gleeful anticipation I rise up
the passing sea-gulls – a bonanza to my soaring hope,
with bated breath, my eyes are blessed
-the first sight of land – a few knots to cope!

Slavery thou deepest felt when
We see our actions ruled by time;
A lifeless clock on the wall
Moving people to it’s chime

Life so fast changing
Displacing old social styles;
Pushing ourselves to keep pace
With life’s new daily travails

Morning chores ruled by time
With an urgency to meet deadlines;
We are but slaves to the clock
Each ticking- opening our eyes to changing times

Humans – bondage of slavery to time
Running an unending race against the clock;
Each action each movement inevitably bound
chained to the Power of Time !

Searching for the truth
As I ascend into meditative mode,
The world stands still
as my mind races into heavenly abode.

Leaving behind the past, the present
I race into an enthralling depth,
a place devoid of gloom
and where I can feel my breath

The mind bereft of daily travails
Speeding through pastures of of new hope,
Making way for bliss in the soul
Sorrows- things of the past – to cope

The soothing touch felt in Transcendence
As I savour the hands of the Lord on me,
- blessed with the truth – the knowledge
that sets the disturbed soul free

Wedding Poems