Unmasked

Faces.

Everywhere you go,
Faces, and their expressions.
Blank.

Do you see the
Eyes, though.
Their expressions say so much.

Masks. All masks.

Raucous laughter,
Inspiring confidence,
Pride,
Achievement.

Choose your mask,
Which one would you like to wear today?

Oh but for that one person,
Who could unmask me!

See the fear
Behind the confidence.

The tear
Behind the laughter.

The lone Soul
Lost amidst the crowd of admirers.

Leaving the crowd behind
Being alone at the shore
Watching the waves crash

Alone.
In the ebb and flow of life
Passing by.

Observing the minor slips
In others' masks.

Does someone observe me too?
Would someone care enough?
Would someone
Look at my eyes?

Maybe they should not.
Once I remove my mask
People leave.

It is so much comfortable
To just be alone.
Yes, lonely too
But safe.

Oh! To have that happiness
Within grasp,
And then snatched away
Like a straw in a gust of wind.

Holding on to straws
That is how it is.

And they too
Fall away.

Some hopes do stay with me.
Just the one which
Eludes capture.

That one diminishing flame

Oh but for that one person,
Who could unmask me!

Too Late

Some days are very paradoxical.

Summer cheer, bright sunny afternoons, smiling faces, but deep within is despondence.

There is no particular reason to be unhappy. Goals are being met, friends abound, merry days around.

Still, something is missing. One part of me is still a vacuum. And it pains.

Starry nights, moonlit skies, serenity.

And yet, it isn't enough.

Mind is at peace. Heart is numb.

When it was only a search for the evading joy, it was a thrill. Finding the dream was meant to be special.

It isn't anymore. Yes I found what I was looking for, but found too late.

Life is peaceful. My loved ones are happy. I am proud of where I have reached, after all that I have been through.

Am I happy? Not sure.

Idyllic

It no longer exists.

But I really and truly want to go there.

That land of long ago, where my heart belongs. No it no longer exists, but let me please go there.

The age of handwritten letters. Time of house visits, long chats, tea cups and cool sherbet.

Summers and shades, verandahs and swings.

Rainy walks in umbrellas, raincoats, hot pakoras and, a cloudy rush to reach home.

Mornings when we woke and nights when we slept. Starry skies and breezy, windy days.

Books and coffee cups, long conversations on shared swings, watching the time just pass by, trying to take in the sights and the smells and the bird song.

Tending to flowers, watering the plants, walking barefoot on grass.

Climbing guava trees, gnawing on the half ripe fruit, feeling on top of the world.

Give me those days. Take me back to my innocence.

This reality is too much. It is all consuming, it drags me into its depths, it hurts me so much.

Let me escape. Send me away. I want those times back again. When there was a skip in my step and a song I would hum.

This existence squeezes the heart, twists the brain, removes faith, makes foes out of friends. It lures with happiness and gives deep depths of despair in return.

This was not my sunshine. This was not my Hope.

Give me back those beliefs. They were true. They were just. They had a substance which would stand all storms.

The storms were truly storms and never disguised themselves as peaceful moments. They are so deceitful now!

No, that world is gone. Let my Soul be there then. In the bygone. If I can't be there in this Life.

Let me rest there. Let me be at Peace.

Dance of Life

Dance my dear.

Pitter-patter rain drops
Dance.

Sunshiny afternoons
Dance.

Morose, dark
Wintry clouds
Dance.

Snow and cheer
Dance.

Dance dear heart
Dance to all.

Earth spins
Days become nights
Dance.

Weeks turn
Into months
Months into years.
Dance.

Dance all Life
Dear heart, just dance.

Loss and gain
Gain turns to loss
Just dance.

Joy and sorrow
Today, tomorrow
Dance.

Happy and sad.
Mourn and dance
Just dance.

Sea and sand
River and boats
Land and water
Cloud and wind
Just dance.

Laugh and cry
Jump or crouch
Hide or run
Just dance.

Life is a grand gala
Just dance.

It is all fun and frolic
Just dance.

What remains
Is joy, and pain, and happiness, and sorrow
All mere human emotions
Just dance.

'Coz you are
A divine being
Above it all
Just dance.

Dance this cosmic dance

That is all which
Will be left
In the end

Just your cosmic dance

Just your Soul's joy

Just dance.

Dance dear heart
Today is yours
Grab it
And dance.

Universe plays its Soulful Flute
My heart
Dance.

To that ethereal tune
You dance.

The lord dances in His Heaven
You dance.

Don't get entangled in this web
Please dance.

We all are forced
But you on your own will
Dance. Enjoy and dance.

My sweet heart
Dance.

My Soul in an Amusement Park

Riding high
Amongst the clouds

Whole world
Like a verdant carpet

Blinking lights
On and off, in my emotions

Swinging emotions.

Tide comes in and goes out
Lost in its own high and low

Moon cast full and dark
In its own phases

Life rolls up and down
On its own roller-coaster

I'm a mere spectator
At this game

Aks. The reflection
Of Maya

Getting entangled in the branches.
Losing sight of roots.

Suddenly realising my true Self.
Suddenly going through amnesia.

My confused Soul
Traversing this confusing Planet.

Sometimes on a pedestal
Watching Life go by.

Sometimes entangled in its web
Drawn deep into its depression.

Sometimes uplifted
By Divine intervention.

Sometimes lost and wandering
In eternal confusion.

My Soul, my mind
My being.

Waiting for
The ultimate supplication.

To merge with
The Ethereal
The Transcendental
The all comprising
The omnipresent
The omnipotent

Just waiting
In the wings

Like multitudes.

Latched on to Hope.

Shackled to Faith.

Waiting for Love
Which doesn't even exist...

Free Loaders

There is too much pain
Too much suffering

There is so much sacrifice
So much of go-get-it hard work

In this world.

I don't understand the people
Who would ignore all this

And feel entitled to a good life,

WITHOUT TRYING ANYTHING ON THEIR OWN

Where do they come from!

Who gave them the right
To expect that they are special?

What have they done,
To earn their place in this world?

NOTHING!

Existence

Endless thoughts chasing each other
As I lay awake till morning.

There's this lump in my throat
Threatening unseasonal rains.

The mind is tired
The heart is numb.

Waves from a sea of memories
Crashing against a beaten coast of life.

I bask in the sun
Looking happy and content.

Within old lanes of the mind's village
It's a calm, with the threat of a storm.

I stand tall
Proud and tough.

Within the delicate world of the heart
Desolation and sorrow run amok.

How natural it is to laugh it all off
How difficult it is to hide it all.

The shell survived
The substance within vaporised.

Yes, it looks like there is no looking back now
Looking back, I realise I can't see ahead anymore.

Worldly goods are fixed and planned
Spirit is dying a slow death

Existence.
This is how it eventually shaped up.

Existence.
Outward face to smile
And inner darkness to hide the misery.