'While I Trek With You!'

The swirling melodious terrains 

of white water,

The gushing cool breeze

flowing all along,

the scent of bright wild flowers

flaring up the senses,

The touch of the bees & flies

making their way,

The rubbing of our palms

as we walk together,

The glimpses of yours I steal

while you capture,

The constant murmur of my heart

ready to gallop on your single note...

...is all I paint,
is all I feel,

is all I breathe

while I spend my life with you!

चाय और तुम

एक के बाद 

एक और, उसके बाद 

कई और 

चाय की प्यालियों की चुस्कियाँ 

अक्सर मुझे नहीं उबारती 

तुम्हारी यादों की तलब से। 

कम्भख्त ये तो 

मीठी अदरक-वाली चाय 

में भी 

नशा भर देती है 

और दिन ढलने पर रह जाते है 

यादों में डूबे शब्द 

और 

कई खाली पड़े 

चाय के प्याले। 

Image Courtesy: Google Images

Memories!

Haphazard

Zigzagged

Crazy

Painful

Mad

Lovable

Unforgettable

Random

Soulful...

They come back

without him,

She, Sighs

Opens her eyes

A tear drop stops at her eyelid

The one big enough

to wet her soul,

Deep enough

to let her words leave

But 

May be, she learnt a lesson

She closes her eyes

and shuts them,

the Memories!

***

Image Source: Google

The Last Letter...

You left me alone
One more time
Like last time and the times before.

The mad lover in me
Every time broken
Picks her pieces
Still tries to find you
In the shattered pieces of my heart.

The shards of memories
Shine like diamond
But pain immeasurable
From every angle
Showing me glimpses of time
Spent madly thinking of you
Often Day dreaming
Every possible moment.

What it takes for u
To throw me away from your life
Your ease is my agony
Our separation my fate
But like a phoenix arising out of ashes
Should my hope never die?
I write one last time all my love
Yes, I kiss it with all my heart.

My audacity as you may call
I no longer wait for you to come back
To kindle once again what we had,
To start once again
A life full of true love!
But today I make a solemn promise
The fire which burnt my soul
The love which spirited my being
Left me bereft, naked in my own eyes
Never to trust anyone else
Again
Ever again....

***

PS: Wrote this piece for Magpie Tales #308

Guarded!

Photo by Caroline Knopf

Guarded she stands

Once an ardent lover

Her heart made of embellished gold

Body pure as peace of dove

Love breathed in the red of her body,

'In the soul of her being!

She dreamt, she acted

She touched, she kissed

She made love to love

But grief, a constant part of life

Just like waves to shore

'Lost all she had

Rather she thought she had

Gone was the one she believed

She understood a 'soulmate'

But above all

Lost was the capacity to love 

Today,

 Guarded she stands

By the very shore of life

No one can touch her

No one can break her

ANYMORE!

PS: Loved writing this poem for Magpie Tales #305

Love, I Ran After...

Charing Cross Road, 1937 by Wolfgang Suschitzky

Is it all we had?

Affection, love, joy

Where is it now we that shared?

Eyes as big as yours

Remember, I wanted to drown in

Dive in the love I called 'first',

Talks as sweet as yours

Intoxicated I was at every syllable

I wonder it was the love-nectar.

We held hands often

Clenched each other's emotions

Stole a touch, here & there

Hallucinating was the love

I, hypnotized to a world

Completely different, completely new.

Today, It's as if I woke up

The world once again, completely new,

A world devoid of you,

Unbearable, unfathomable

Excruciating desperateness 

A pain so dark, inside me .

Yet, I wonder

What goes inside you

Your eyes notice any of it!

Or, was I just a ripple in the rain

in a world grey and black

Was I the one running blindly

on a road slippery!

Whatever it was,

"It" stays in my heart

Imprinted on my soul

To go away with my ashes....

P.S.: Penned for the image prompt provided by Magpie tales, Mag 300. 

The Parting Kiss...

We couldn't face 

each other in the eye,

for thousands of emotions

galored!

The journey of what seemed life-long

nearing a goodbye

so difficult to accept, 

so difficult to move on.

Holding hands

Grabbing hugs

all we did with an eye on the clock!

Love when confined to the

tick-tock

kills the heart

swifter than a sword's edge.

Ah! the unfortunate moment

arrives,

but we still question 

"how do we arrive?"

how to let go ,

how to end all the helplessness

how to bid farewell

for we don't know the future!

Will the touch and the glimpses

be back?

Will the sharing and laughing

be our very own again?

...

answerless we stand

hugging the souls tight

till

the parting kiss separated us!

***

PS: Written for this speaking image provided by Magpie Tales- Mag 299

The rainfall...

Today,

let the rainfall begin,

let the scent fill your nostrils,

let the drops touch your bare soul,

let the ambience linger on you long,

let everything just be there & yet cease

let it go...

'cause it's the memories of you

incessantly falling on my heart

& I just let them,

drenching my being, my existence, my skin

wrapping me tight in the love we shared

in the passion we drank

till the breath refuses to live!

*Image Courtesy: Google Images

प्रेम मोहना

मनभावन लुभावना 

प्रेम मेरा मोहना 

सजा था झिलमिल 

मस्जिद की चादर-सा 

पढ़ा मैंने उसे 

अल्लाह की नमाज़-सा। 

सुकूं आया था बहुत 

चोट के मरहम-सा 

दर्द भी इक उठा था 

सागर के तूफान-सा। 

सजाया था अधरों पर 

उसे कान्हा की बाँसुरी-सा 

बिताया लम्हा दर लम्हा 

मीरा की भक्ति-सा। 

मनभावन लुभावना 

प्रेम मेरा मोहना ...

Image courtesy: Google Images

The "Essence" ...

Times I wake up,

all eyes wide-open

after I travelled to

the full-Moon

a big smile reigns over my lips!

'Was that the highlight?

No,

They don't know the essence

They know the Moon

Was full

But unaware every

Creature stands!

The rabbits we counted

The mountains we surpassed

The tunes we made to echo

The names we shouted

(yes, each other's)

The times our fingers entwined

The moments of the electrified touches

The passion of the quivering lips...

...yes, they know about the bodies!

What they don't know is the 'essence'

... the union of souls!

Image Courtesy: Google Images

यादों के फूल

आकाश से गिरता पानी

कैसे खेत की मेढ़ों

में भर,

देता जीवन आने वाली फसलों को…

यहाँ भी

गिरती बारिश की बूँदें

गीला कर रही मन की जमीं को

और मैं इस आस में

भीगती हर ओर

खिलेंगे जीवन बेली में

तुम्हारी "यादों के फूल" ....

हूक...

ये कैसी प्यास है 

जितनी बुझती उतनी उठती 

ये कैसे पल है 

जितने आते उतने बीतते 

ये कैसा बंधन है 

ना छूटे में ना बंधे में 

बस...

जीवन और तुम-में 

नदी के पाट-सा रिश्ता 

और मैं खड़ी इस पाट 

एक अनवरत हूक के साथ!

Image Courtesy: Google Images

"The Sun & the Moon"

April 14, 2014, we saw the Lunar Eclipse. The highlight was the 'Blood Moon'. I never thought Moon could look so romantic. My better half clicked this beautiful photo and yes, now we have the memory of watching it together on that breezy night. 

I wrote this poem "The Sun & the Moon" a few months ago, and found the combination of the click & the poem satisfying.

मन करता है…

"Togetherness"

साँसों में भरकर 

तुम्हारी खुशबू 

आज जीवन को मीठे शहद-सा 

जीने को मन करता है .... 

उँगलियों में फँसा कर 

तुम्हारी उंगलियाँ 

आज सफर लम्बा 
तय करने को मन करता है .... 

पैरों की आहटों में 

रुनझुन तुम्हारी सुन कर 

आज मोहब्बत की ख़ामोशी में 

मदहोश होने को मन करता है .... 

हर पोर में होते स्पंदन 

तुम्हारे स्पर्श से 

सात जन्मों तक बस तेरा ही 

रह जाने को मन करता है  .... 

(Image clicked at Huntington Beach, California)

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता ...

जिस्मों की सरगोशी में 

पिघले मन बहकाते रहे तन 

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता सरकती रही रात... 

छूअन के स्पंदन में 

साँस लेते रहे मदहोश ज़ज्बात 

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता मुस्काते रहे लब... 

सूरज के नारंगी विस्तार में 

यादें रात-की महकी हरश्रृंगार-सी 

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता गुलदस्ता बने हम... 

गिरफ्तार हाथों की लकीरों में 

सपनों की लड़ियों से लदा संसार 

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता जीवन बने हम...

Image Courtesy: Google Images

तेरे बाद....

विरह वेदना सी स्याही

उतरी आज इस लेखनी में,

जाने कैसे स्याह फूल खिलेंगे

आज इस जीवन की बेली में.

वीरानों सा यह अकेला मंजर

खाली पड़ी इन हथेलियों में,

जाने कैसी सीरत संवरेगी

तेरा नाम नहीं जिन लकीरों में.

पीड़ा सा मधुर शब्द

सदियों छुपा रहा अंतस में,

जाने कैसे प्रेम की शीतल बयार

खोल चुकी यह स्त्रोत, तूफानों में.

शब्दों सा स्थायी बंधन

जुड़ा रूहों के कोनों-कोनों में,

जाने कैसे सुनसान रहेगी

यह कवितायेँ तेरी जुदाई में.

Image Courtesy: Google Images

This poem was published in Hindi Chetna, January 2013 edition.

The Scene!

Out of the window

lies forlorn deserted hills

pale yellow & brown

with a few spots of green trees...

...why such a scene

reminds me of you?

Am I the hill

and your memories the greenery!!!

Image Courtesy: Shishir Gupta Photography (A Scene from North California)

एक नया सफ़र ...

एक नए सफ़र पे

मंजिल ले आयी है

तलाश जिसका मकसद

ख़याल जिसके आसरे

ऐसा सफ़र होगा

यह मेरा-तुम्हारा ...

कल्पना में जीवन

विचारों में वजूद

सुरों में सुन्दरता

जिसकी, ऐसा सफ़र होगा

ये नया सफ़र मेरा-तुम्हारा ...

पलकों में खूबसूरती

हाथों में अनुराग

कदमों में समय

जिसके, ऐसा सफ़र होगा

ये नया रिश्ता मेरा-तुम्हारा ...

झरनों की श्वेतता

पेड़ों की हरियाली

गुलाबों की रंगत

जिसमे, ऐसा सफ़र होगा

ये नया एहसास मेरा-तुम्हारा ...

स्याह न कभी हो

बरसे न कभी जो

मुरझाये न कभी वो

ऐसा ये सफ़र होगा

सिर्फ मेरा-तुम्हारा

    हां, सिर्फ मेरा-तुम्हारा ...

This poem written straight from my heart, a few days after my engagement. Today on my husband's birthday, a little & very loving present for him.
Image Courtesy- Google

The dampening hope!

Musician in the Rain by Robert Doisneau 

Today,

the rain drops make music,

I stand still

for I no longer play!

Itched in the memories

the night I played last,

the night she deserted me!

How cruel,

I do not forget the symphony

the music our hearts made together!

But today,

I stand alone with my music dormant

A desperate hope dampening

each passing day-

'll she return?

'll she be my music again?

till then

I listen the drops dancing on the umbrella!

This poem is written for the prompt "Musician in the rain" by Magpie Tales.

"nirvana"

In the cacophony of the world

In the thick piles of work

In the mundane chores of everyday

In the bustle of the crowd

In the bargain of the compromises

In the race of time, I just take a second!

...I peep inside and,

I find you as my "nirvana".