Category: Poetry

I hear the rains

I can hear the raindrops pattering on the roof

Distant thunders clapping as lightning dances

Childhood dreams of splashing in mud rush through my mind

As the warm bed invites me to indulge my creaky old bones

Woke up in the morning in Iowa City to a thunderstorm, a rarity in California

Advertisements

Looking into Death

It’s not death that I fear,
Death will be embraced
When the time is near, 
Fear I most is being invalid,
Death, a friend, a true constant,
From the time took my first breath.

This post was in response to an email with an excerpt sent by a friend today morning as follows

I woke up fresh and wide awake and popped open to my bookmark in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche in Google Books on my phone and soon came upon the following passage that I felt compelled to highlight and annotate… And I feel further compelled to share this with you all.
The excerpt:

Looking into death needn’t be frightening or morbid. Why not reflect on death when you are really inspired, relaxed, and comfortable, lying in bed, or on holiday, or listening to music that particularly delights you? Why not reflect on it when you are happy, in good health, confident, and full of well-being? Don’t you notice that there are particular moments when you are naturally moved to introspection? Work with them gently, for these are the moments when you can go through a powerful experience, and your whole worldview can change quickly. These are the moments when former beliefs crumble on their own, and you can find yourself being transformed.

Today I have time aplenty

I wrote this poem in my mother tongue, Assamese (pronounced Axomiya – অসমীয়া) yesterday and then translated to Bengali and shared with my friends and family through Whatsapp.  I translated it to English today.  Below is the English version followed by the original Assamese and translated Bengali poem.

Phone is lying silently near me

Those would like to talk are gone now

Once lack of time was an excuse
Continue reading “Today I have time aplenty”

Mere human

As we drown in the sea of our complaints of things we do not have

Floats by gently all things we have that we are blind to see

We embrace the means to the ends we desire, ignoring consequences

As we bestow divine blessings to causes we aspire, right or wrong

A divinity invented by us to hide our own moral failings and shortcomings

We let usurpers lull us to false security in exchange for our freedom

We chain ourselves to values abhorrent, as long as our self professed goals are met

Indignant we are to ideas foreign to us, thumbing our nose to truth

We shout to high heavens to take our detractors to task

Dressing ourselves with the garb of morality while spewing venom

In search of of moral high ground we cheat, remaining  just mere human   

Race for square footage

We buy,

And then we flip,

And then we buy some more.

Mega mansions with space to

Share with none,

We surround ourselves with gizmos,

And reach out to connect to the world

With technology.

Touch, personal, discarded

In favor of virtual love,

Surrounded by trinkets,

Prisoners of four walls,

We compete in the race

For thousands of square feet.

And then we wait

For our final call,

To be confined in

A dark, windowless resting place

Six feet down under.

 

 

What is Love

Do you love me?
And I say yes,
What do I mean?
What is love?

Is love the longing I feel
When you are away from me
Or is it the anxiety I feel
When I do not hear from you

Is it the ache in my heart
To see you unhappy
And not speaking to me
Is it the racing heartbeat
Waiting for you to emerge
From  the arrival gate, or
The anxious anticipation of
Meeting you on my return home

Is it what I felt years back
When we first met
Unsure but willing to commit
Is it the fire that used to
Run through me at your sight
But then what about now
When all I want is
A few quiet moment
Just you and me
Alone
Side by side, at peace

I am not sure what it is
All of the above
And a lot more perhaps
I still have butterflies
Just thinking about you

And though I would like
Nothing better than
To hold you in my arms
And just relax
I love more to see you soar free
And reach for the sky, and
Achieve what you want

I will be waiting
With open arms
Always for you
Cause I know
One place
You will always be
In my heart
If that is love
So be it

Never shall I ask
Do you love me
Have my answer already

This completes my poem a day for the month of April 2019 written with the theme of “Love”.