Afterthoughts
(Composed, sitting on beach. Two small poems.)
Lingering in depths
Tides of memories will come
Ones which can’t be undone
Dent the rock that is this heart
Dissolve into the unconscious sea, become its part
Unity in adversity
Repeated splashes make them all round
All the same, just look around
Still each seeks to avoid the fate of the other
Tries in its own small way to differ
– Ishan ‘tarang’
I don’t aspire to be your whole world
But only to be a part of your story, be the first word
To be the song, every time which makes you dance
Not by chance, not just a single instance
I just want to be the eyes in which you first look
When you pour your heart out, like an open book
To be the first voice, you want to hear
When you are unsure and things are not what they appear
I just want to be that line of your poem, your favorite part
The one which just flowed, straight from your heart
Unmeasurable is the happiness, I derive from your one glance
Not by chance, not just a single instance
– Ishan ‘tarang’
(In response to a Facebook status!)
(Another poem written in less than 140 characters and posted on Twitter. It is probably the most ‘impulsive’ poem I have written in quite some time. Wrote it in under a minute. I know and at the same time I don’t know why I wrote this poem. Yes, it is that confusing!)
What do I do with wisdom
Which I cannot fathom
Keeps pushing the door
Away from something I adore
– Ishan ‘tarang’
(P.S Very likely that more will come on similar lines. Perhaps this will lead to a bigger poem. Or so I hope!)
Here are two poems I wrote in a cab, coming back from a meeting at 11.30 in night. It was raining outside and that got me working on some ideas! Been trying to write for many days but wasn’t able to get it out. Interesting trivia is that both are within 140 characters as I was posting them on Twitter.
Need more such impulses 🙂
Still Alive
Music I live for you
Rains I love you too
Drenched in your tunes
Dearer to me than fortunes
I can still hear you
Closer to me than I ever do
Falling dreams
City lights break into sparkles
Foggy eyes wait for miracles
Falling drops only make me dream
Of you, me and the world serene
– Ishan ‘tarang’
It’s always good to hear her voice, even over phone
Like the light from under the door that only momentarily shone
The flicker didn’t last as long
A reminder of what went wrong
The gap encloses my dream of seeing light
Of seeing the door open and ending my night
But resigned to fate, I now only search for shadows of my dear one
Hundreds have passed by but shadows appear none
(Built on a conversation I had with a friend of mine on Twitter. He wrote the first line. I responded with the second. And then I built it up with idea for conclusion coming from him. All this didn’t happen in sequence…pretty random :D)
His name is Leslie Xavier and you can check out his poetry blog at xavierleslie dot blogspot dot com. You can also follow him @poetbelly on Twitter where he indulges in micropoetry every now and then 🙂
The unknown around the corner beckons
You might get hurt, the mind reckons
But here I stand, on the verge of crossing the line
Restless to uncover the grand design
Like a powerless cloud, I am blown away
Winds of change have a habit of setting their own way
Try to gather every cloud in sight
Ready to rain when the time is right
The voices from behind, implore me to step back
The route is doomed, conveniently claims every Jack
But how do they know the road they haven’t walked on
The ideas they inherited but haven’t thought upon
I cross the line into the expecting uncharted territory
Making it a part of me, unperturbed by disapproving history
No wayside travelers to impart wisdom or guide
First stretches are lit by prayers in whom I confide
We built a wall around it which grows more opaque every year
Made all the efforts to banish the place, which we all should fear
But only when I took a step inside
I realized it’s boundless, limited only from the other side
Even as I go deeper and deeper
The gate remains as near to me as ever
Ready to take me back into the fold
Back to the reassuring safety of the old
But while the keepers were busy protecting the gate
The walls had grown legs of flesh, ready to challenge their own fate
They moved bare footed, left their maiden trail
Followed the harbinger, in search of holy grail
– Ishan ‘tarang’
(This is part 1 of the idea. Other part is kinda fuzzy at the moment!)
Peering into peculiar faces
Looking for divine traces
I wander on the periphery
Relying on signals sensory
But away from our eyes
Fate silently plays dice
While we were looking at the ends
The present between us, the spark transcends
Not the heaven, not the earth
The lightning marks the birth
Fleeting yet enigmatic
The Magician’s perfect stick
Don’t know who threw the invisible stone
But the ripples have set the tone
Magic, which sometimes eludes even the most ardent devotee
Happens in this little space between you and me
– Ishan ‘tarang’
May it be a goodnight
After a long and tiring day
When I stood for what was right
And still was left alone on the way
May it be a goodnight
After a day of crucifying labour
Again nothing to satisfy my appetite
And nobody to call my neighbour
May it be a goodnight
In a cruel and selfish world
Where each second is earned through a fight
In wake of flags unfurled
May it be a goodnight
For tomorrow, after many years
My loved ones, we reunite
Traversing lifeless borders and countless tears
May it be a goodnight
For I hope to see the overhead sun some day
My resolve to see the free light
Not broken by spending in prison‘s darkness, each day
May it be a goodnight
For I won’t be able to forget you
Fate, I know I can’t rewrite
But my love for you will still stay true
– Ishan ‘tarang‘
Remain unsaid, words I want to say
Remain unseen, smiles I can see all day
Remain unheard, songs for you inside my heart
Remain unchanged, memories from the very start
– Ishan ‘tarang’
A bright sunny day is coming to an end
I can almost foresee the sun setting over the bend
How I wish, I basked longer in the glory
How I wish, never ending was our love story
The day suddenly feels so small
Can someone hear my anguish call?
I crave for that quenching drop
An elixir to make the time stop
Dark and hazy as far as I can see
Intimidating song and the swaying tree
Then came the first assuring drop on my hesitant neck
Felt like the first sight of land from the far deck
I try to hold the transparent threads extending to the sky
They don’t lead anywhere, however hard I try
The threads split and the drops fritter away
Ah! The futility of thoughts, of running away
I realize, true joy lies in admiring the beauty of thread’s pearls
Frees myself from the past, from its myriad curls
I can see the seven colors streaking the washed sky
And I feel ready again, ready to fly
Whatever begins, also ends
Whatever be the change, it finally blends
Every ending is a prologue for a new story
Written only by you in all your glory
– Ishan ‘tarang’
(Special thanks to Naina! :P)
Waves and currents 