Try

You dipped your blue toes hesitantly,
one foot at a time,
testing the unsure waters
of Evermore.
The waves beat incessantly
the sea was alive with nerve, breath and sinew
Waiting for your departure.

A new land.
Red and white.
Five stars.
Hope, Courage, Promise,
Opportunity and Freedom.

But first you have to conquer-
A pulmonary being- the sea
of self-doubt
where you must drown old flames and regrets.
And unsheathe your unused dagger
clawing away painstakingly at those rocks
Bit by bit, coin by coin-
till you reach the embedded diamond.

First, 2011.
Then, 2015.
Fail. Fail.
Finally, 2017.

Will persistence be finally rewarded?

Invisible Paralysis

Once there was a boy who woke up one cold, rainy morning and decided to go for a jog. Now it was bad weather and his girlfriend mildly chided him for not wanting to stay in bed with her but he smiled lazily as he pulled on his boots. He'd make breakfast for her when he was back and she was fully awake.
He plugs in his earphones and starts his warm up. Shuffle. Play. Shuffle.Play. Skip.Loop.

Imagine Dragons- Not Today comes on. PERFECT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV6UrDhsWN4

And then a sudden screech and a flash and a dash of yellow and BAM.
He's down and out. He's been hit by a cab.

And he wakes up after two days but he can't understand why he can't feel his legs. They're there. he can see it, he can touch it.
 But he can't feel it.
He is paralysed, waist downwards.
Sometimes the old familiar feeling returns and he can almost walk- almost walk again. Almost. But not quite. Phantom Limbs.
Perhaps.

 Well, what do you say to him? You should have stayed home that morning? Who runs on rainy mornings? It will get better. Maybe. But how much?
And does that even matter?
How much should be enough before he is allowed euthanasia?
 Why is it not legal here?

Will he walk again? Perhaps. Will he run again? Difficult.
We must realise that there are certain things that once broken, don't work again the same way anymore.

Some people splinter their spine and can't feel their legs.
It is an accident but it's done.
You can blame anyone but it doesn't change anything.
Sometimes physio works and they recover.
And sometimes they don't.

It's not that they don't WANT to walk again.
Hell, they'd do anything to go back to how things used to be, but some experiences are watershed moments and you can't go back to how things were before.
They have instances when they feel their phantom limb
 but it isn't there.


It is the same for those who splinter their hearts.
Maybe even worse.
Because a heart still works, even if you can't feel it anymore.

If you didn't blame the boy for his paralysis.
Why do you blame me for mine?

The Light Is Always On the Inside

Her brown eyes

were fireflies 

in disguise.

Only lighting up after dark.

I stayed up all night to memorise their flame.

I can still see the white light

behind my eyes 

whenever I close them

.

The light is always on the inside.

But when I wake up to this

never ending December world-

I am met with

 endless violets printed on rough yellow paper 

lining my smoke-filled, four walled room

that suddenly seems endless

to my lovelorn heart.

What good is rain on an iron heart?

You thought it  would wash away the dust.

You thought flowers would bloom here.

But everything turned to rust.

#Untitled

I tried saving myself from his eyes but alas!
my heart became entangled in his brown-grey curls.
Oh Love, till when will you play with me?
I am standing before you, helpless.
I admit Defeat.

I press my palms to my ears
but still the accusations pour in.
Oh what have the people done?
Our love story remained fulfilled
only in the rumours of these gossip-mongers.

Unknown to others,
I spend my nights watering my pillow
with the memory of your tears.
Maybe I was wrong
when I turned you away.

Countless lovers fall for my smile
but none want to see the
scars in my eyes.
A wound is only recognised if it bleeds.
People peel off my scabs with their harsh words.

I laugh and turn away from the world.
On nights like these, I laugh at them
and myself and you.
If direct words could soothe heartbreak,
'Ghazals' would become obsolete.

Under the full moon, the night street is filled with cries,
Is it a poet or a lover or a madman?
A voice whispers back,
'What is the difference?'

Black Noise on the Street

 Lets lacerate blue
 butterfly wings
and  cloudy clumsy dandelion things,
pulling that fingernail off
and letting it bleed.

The sound of defeat
Black noise on the street.

 Somebody broke in too deep
 and now you can't fall asleep no more.

You should have held your peace
when the priest said,
 'If anybody has any objections,speak now...'

How long,
 how long does it last this way?
How many times,
how many times, will he never stay?

Broken hearts have paper locks on them,
to secure wayward pieces together.

Black noise on the street
The sound of defeat.

When you grieve
for a nobody,
the shadow in your eyes
are always a little darker.

Everybody gets them roses.
But yours died on the way here
You don't deserve them, anyway.

How long,
 how long does it last this way?
How many times,
how many times, will he never stay?

The sound of defeat
Black noise on the street...



And this song is on loop.
Go Figure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIkXPs4SbYo