Tuesday, March 12, 2024

trust me

 

"How do I write a poem about the #grief_of_the_elm_tree ?"


"Write about the wind."


"How will that help?"


"Trust me. Just do it."


"O careless dear wind,

Why did you leave the tree bare

To let the sun peep?


What now?"


"Leave it as it is, a failed #haiku or #senryu."


#vss365





no hero worship, please

 

Malayalees are dissatisfied with & unappreciative of everything. If the Eiffel Tower had been in Kerala, we would have said, "Bah! It's not even gold-plated."


Because of this, we did not hero worship. The incumbents always lost in elections.


I mean, in the past.


#CommonPeople


Monday, March 11, 2024

anvil of joy?

 

It was the #anvil_of_joy

When I could forget myself

And you were me

Awake or subconscious,


When you went and I am none, 

Prayed for the last attack 

On this unused abused metal

With echoes of past tremors. 


#vss365


politicians & people

 

Today, in my mother's village, a politician contributed something to the village temple.


Trying to get into the junta's good books.


My uncles arranged payasam (a sweet) for the occasion.


"Why the payasam?" I asked.


"How else will you get people for the show?!"


#CommonPeople


Sunday, March 10, 2024

voters' blood

 

It's election time.

I'm busy

With questions

For them.


R u free of bigots,

I might ask or,

The 10/7 H@m@s @tt@ck, 

Was it a trr0rist @tt@ck,


Or,

The Query,

Did u give Water

when we begged.


Rhetorical questions!

Wasted #battle_sweat.

I'll stare at the sun.

Ignore them.


#vss365 




Friday, March 8, 2024

the goddess

 

"Arjun, did you just wish me Happy Women's Day?"


"Yes, Swapna."


"Bah!"


"Come on, I say it on the day I worship the #elf_glory."


"Is it today?"


"No, every day."


"Do you worship the chariot or the rider Sól?"


"Do you have to ask?"


"Bah!"


"To you too."


#vss365


Thursday, March 7, 2024

with a then, without a now

 

In a triptych;


Three ladies then, confident, a bit unsure, one tired, two less so and smiling;


Them, a quarter of a century later, bright, successful, all smiling;


And, a lady like them, with a then, without a now, 


When life vanished, #feathers_fall in a dry desert.


#vss365


realization

 

My life would have been so much better if I had realized that:


1. Others think I am an idiot;


2. Lovers and friends can't understand what I say in those rare instances when they are interested in what I say; and,


3. Heads of state, elected representatives and government are not as powerful as the local chieftain (eg, residents association bigwig).



Sunday, March 3, 2024

fascism or equality

 

The road to fascism is paved with flimsy tiles that seem to be there for the common good aka appeasing the majority.


The road to a truly democratic state is rough and tortuous with bare tough ground for those who believe in equality.


#EqualityForAll 

#Democracy 

#HumanRights 


"Don't touch our water!"

 

"Don't touch our water!"


In my mother's village, even the politicians would take a stand against that. 


But, not here in the middle of Trivandrum city, a mile from the CM's office, in Vanchiyoor ward.


Here:


1. A valve installed by the KWA and to be used in extreme situations was destroyed by scoundrels so that a member of the Guru's family would not get the basic minimum of a basic human right.


2. In the last 32 days, we got water on 7 days: Feb 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 19, 28. On Feb 28, it was a meager 1000L.


3. In this water line, people with multiple houses and rental property seem to be getting enough and more. In the best of times, they get water 24x7 while we get for 2 hours around 4 am.


So sick of such a sick place.




Friday, March 1, 2024

majority-appeaser: fascist?

 

"Arjun, give me an example of a #kenning?"


"Kenning? What's that?"


"Swapna?"


"Ultra-irritant: politician?"


"Not exactly. Arjun, want to try?"


"Oh, Ma'am, how about majority-appeaser: fascist?"


"I think you two should go to the library and read about it."


#vss365


(Ooops. I got the prompt wrong that day! Brain fade? Heat-oppressed deprived of water?)

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Water War of David & Goliath

 

i can smell the blood 

that will spill soon,


death is better than a slave's life

In a land so sick,


i might be sick of defeat

or I have lost my gods,


i won't let another's blood

raise a stink on my sword,


it's time to #swim to the sun

trying to be the moon...


#vss365




Dear #vss365 pals,

The situation is more or less the same. Yesterday (on the 9th day), they supplied about 1000L of water. Today, no water supply.

It is a caste-war in which this one-man army of David will lose to the forward community Goliath of the Vanchiyoor ward. 

1/2

That's the only type of war worth fighting, right?

I have decided to post general rants (about movies and such) without the hashtags that might put my post in your feed. That's just to release some mental pressure.

Hope to interact with you all soon. Dead or alive. 🤣

2/2

Saturday, February 24, 2024

fascist in disguise

 

My #uncle was a fascist in disguise,


He spoke like you and me,

Hid his caste with an alias, 

And a machete in his undies,


When he groveled in front of god,

And chose who he gave what I should get,

I knew his head should be on a pike.


#vss365

#AttukalPongala

#NoWater


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

strange world

 

It's a strange world-


Where I read a newspaper

To find the truth in what's missing;


Where I hide and smoke

Before being smoked in #stuffy traffic;


Where I shift to renewables

To consume more energy create more waste; 


Where I love

A hypocrite with similar values.


#vss365


Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Pick the right pic

 

I looked at the photo of the kidnapped kid.

Ewww! It's not cute, cherubic, cuddle-worthy,

The wrong #costume for this fancy dress act.


I have a coffee table book for such affairs.

If you have a war or divorce or debt issue,

Pick the right pic that sticks to the sick.


#vss365

 

Monday, February 19, 2024

What do they see

 

"I miss her, the way she cuddled like a #baby. Sleeps best with me, she used to say."


"It was my eyes, he said, he could see my trust and that's all he wanted to see."


"What do they see in each other?"


"Definitely not trust."


"They aren't sleeping either, I am sure."


#vss365


Friday, February 16, 2024

when we are not mean

 

The last three of my gang have been disposed, forsaken. 

From #dwarf to giant, old pact on a freight train from desert to home buried.

Strangers will do, we can joke, it hurts only when we are not mean.

Can we avoid that when we know nothing of no one, not even the lies?


#vss365


Thursday, February 15, 2024

effingo ergo sum

 

Out on #parole. Working for Copy Corp (motto: effingo ergo sum). Cash is in role-reversal.


In 'Prick & Jaundiced', Lizzie walks out of her lake (in which clothes?) with Darcy drooling.


In 'Passed the Wind', Scarlett says, "I don't give a damn." Will she abuse Rhett?


#vss365 

 

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

2 types of lovers

 

There are 2 types of lovers.


There’s my type, wasting words on being trapped in a #prison called love.


She’s the other type. She spoke about her past only when I asked her to marry me.


"Killed my first lover. With a hammer. On V-day."


That's the day for such, I say.


#vss365


Monday, February 12, 2024

addiction

 

Long ago, I was granted a boon.


"I don't need no addiction," I said.


I am no #alcoholic, no abuser of no substance.


But, there's a catch with boons. And, prayer.


They like to tease, they do.


I ain't complaining about you. Found and lost. 


It's the guilt that kills.


#vss365


Saturday, February 10, 2024

paranormal

 

Went for a wedding. 


The couple did not exchange vows. Fangs pierced each other's throat.  


We too had to have that love bite.


I was seated in between an Alsation and a gorilla.


Now, hanging in limbo between Heaven and Hell, it's a life with the #paranormal forwent.


#vss365 


Thursday, February 8, 2024

twisted game

 

When I look at you, it's through me.


Your better parts hidden,

Not your bad luck,

Job, spouse, kids, dark circles, broad waist, 

It's not a #twisted game,

I will pick one, just one,


When you seem hurt,

We will chuckle, 

When you refuse to smile,

We will unfriend you.


#vss365


Wednesday, February 7, 2024

truth

 

Circa 13 PA, the first alien on Earth noted that the #dogma that led to the decline and fall of the human race was:


'Whenever one feels like blurting out the truth, one should stay away from social media.'


(PA: Post-Apocalypse)


#vss365


Thursday, February 1, 2024

guilt

 

If I ask you 

What you are guilty of


Will you ask me the same

And laugh when I tell you


I don't feel the rage and passion 

About your hurt and #freedom 


As I do about mine

Will you ask me to name


That one who should not be named

Because it's me who has hurt you most?


#vss365


Monday, January 29, 2024

a God

 

My first job was in the Creative Dept of Gods Inc.


First project: 'Create a God'.


"A do-gooder with a miserable life?"


"Boring," the Boss said. "That won't achieve widespread #credence these days."


"An anti-heroine with one good act and plenty to curse about?"


"Hmm"


#vss365


Saturday, January 27, 2024

At Kattil Mekkethil (buried gods)

 

Got up at 3 and chased the moon

To the temple of 'Ma-Woman', 

The god before the superheroes,


The tsunami didn't touch there,

Even as it took souls all around,

We tie bells on trees and hope,


No #snollygosters lying there,

A few fools took selfies,

They can be shooed away,


1/2


Mine or port will take that,

We will join the other bhumiputr

Never the majority or minority,


Another god buried alive,

Drowned in damned dams,

Their silence taken to be #velleity, 


But listen!

From Everest to Diego Garcia

They will rise and we the error erased.


#vss365 


2/2





Thursday, January 25, 2024

sweet

 

The temple sweet on a banana leaf made the fingers that held it near a mature bosom look lovely. 


She tripped.


Did a quick 2 and a half turn, half a #fandango, caught the flying item with my right. She crashed against my back.


"Saved it!" Had half of it.


She scowled.


#vss365


Tuesday, January 23, 2024

a sweet daydream

 

It was such a sweet daydream.


I was murdering all those who had hurt me.


God, typing names fast, muttered softly, “Give me more.”


Heard Devil whisper to God, "Could you put this under #dysania or clinomania? No autopsy, please."


Woke up.


I'm the murdered one. 


#vss365


Sunday, January 21, 2024

ghosts

 

I was in a ghost house,

A guest not the ghost, 

then,


Creaking doors, cobweb, meow and a woof,

Blood seeping, footsteps and shadows with no body,


And now,

Homeless, still faceless, scareless,

Still no #snollygoster, us no smelly rat,

Quite active on social media,


Boo.


#vss365


Saturday, January 20, 2024

Ol' Goofy

 

It's confirmed.

I'm bloody old.


I'm sure about everything I say.

I've not done one bad thing.

I've photos and anecdotes to prove I was the best.

If you ask me if it's #vermilion or muskmelon,

I'll share a better 3-syllable colour. 


Don't call me an ol' goofy.

Not yet.


#vss365


Friday, January 19, 2024

honest truth is an oxymoron

 

The week before the wedding, we exchanged honest truths.


She told me she had a crush on Taylor Swift. In return, I revealed how I lost my virginity to my first love.


She found that that's fictitious.


The #limerence of the honest with truth is quite often an oxymoron. 


#vss365


Thursday, January 18, 2024

cakes & vegetables

 

Life and love ended

With a cake au #muskmelon.

A stab well-disguised.


#vss365

#haiku #senryu ?


Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Love at first sight of a different kind

 

We had been acquaintances, friends, confidantes, lover of others. Never enemies. 


Then came the touch whispering forever, the smile on those lips which knew it will be everywhere. 


Neither lucid nor #moonstruck, it was love and lust at first sight. Of a different kind.


#vss365


Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Hell

 

On the 12th day, we got water.


"#Discombobulated, huh?" God asked.


"That's one too many syllables for me," I said.


"Well?"


“Why aren’t you sending the torturers to Hell?"


"But this is Hell! Where beauty is destroyed; the rotten are happy; the less rotten depressed."


#vss365


Tuesday, January 9, 2024

No Country No God

 

Fifth day without water!

In the middle of the city!


It's a lovely New Year,

In this #exquisite place


They call God's own country,


Such woes are not for all,

For the minority in any area


There's no country no God.


#vss365

#Trivandrum 

#Kerala


Sunday, January 7, 2024

memory lost and found

 

“Remember our first time here?” she asked.


He looked irritated and seemed to hold back some angry retort. 


“All I know is that I wouldn’t want to be here and see this without..." he said. “I'm sorry."


“Me too,” she said. She turned to stare at the #abyss in front.


#vss365


from my 2018 short story about memory, lost and found, 'This Year's Trip':


https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2018/12/this-years-trip-part-1.html


https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2018/12/this-years-trip-part-2.html


Saturday, January 6, 2024

good birthday

 

"Good there’s no one for my birthday," I said. "Then, long before mobiles, I cursed her while waiting for her call. She couldn't find a working booth. The same next year. She was in hospital. My last."


"A #remembrance that goes well with a #sardonic smile," said no one.


#vss365


Thursday, January 4, 2024

sever ties

 

Heard a shot at 4 am. Found a wild pig on my land. Still alive. Crushed its skull. Dug deep near a fallen areca palm. Got to a human skeleton at 10ft. Placed the pig on top of that. Covered the pit. Planted an areca palm sapling.


That's to #sever ties with such.


#vss365


🧵1/3


Stripped. Stood under the spring. For a long while.


Didn't bother to dress. Walked towards a house. Entered. A lady was working on a laptop. Took her. 


Later, dragged her to the kitchen. Sat on the floor. Near a French window. Had porridge and pickle. 


2/3


She made a cut on my breast. Suckled the blood. Took the wild out of me.


"You are a different animal each time," she said.


She sat on my lap. We stared at our collection of hundred or so areca palms. Enemies are never cremated.


"It's time to write," she said. "Be good."


3/3


Wednesday, January 3, 2024

daydreams of the Real

 

Daydreams keep me alive,

Me the Superhero, 

The all-caring-no-warts lover,

With no notches on belt/bedpost,


My mojo got twisted today,

With a daydream of Me the Real,

Walking on eggshells/off to the sunset,

With the (non-unrequited!) love of my life,


#Damnable? Indeed!


#vss365


Tuesday, January 2, 2024

dream turned nightmare

 

I have shifted to Suja Mansion. A makeshift 1BHK on a terrace. “It’s got history,” the young broker said. The owner didn’t recognize me. 


Our little mansion. A dream turned nightmare. My Suja and my kid died here. I'm back. The terminator never allowed to be #forgetful.


#vss365


Monday, January 1, 2024

HNY & WYMM

 

"What comes to mind with HNY?" Freud asked.


"WYMM?"


"Ach so!"


"I was 14, with 4, wishing HNY. They asked. With easy idiocy & practised unsophistication, I said No. I've asked WYMM  on every HNY since, from the tragic love to the frightening #acquaintance."


"Ass ho!"


#vss365 



Sunday, December 31, 2023

Happy New Year from me mop

 

Ready to welcome the New Year

With a broad smile and close hug,

Can't be in a better place.


Loneliness will get worse,

Old woes that defined life

Will make place for new;


Terrorists will strike thousands,

That #blood won't get the tears,

A god will flee from its idol.


#vss365


To all my friends who mute me,

Happy New Year from me mop

From a place with no water.




Saturday, December 30, 2023

don't be your ancestors

 

"My family has been communist for three generations."


"Mine the Grand Old Party."


"Seriously, guys? Are you aping them in the West with their Democrats, Republicans, Labour, Conservative? Man, there's one #depravity to avoid. Don’t be your ancestors! Learn to think."


#vss365


Friday, December 29, 2023

action & reaction

 

"This is war. Reaction has to be greater than action."


"What a #strident supporter! Sicko!"


"Kids, enough! No current affairs."


"She calls Jane Austen a feminist. Bah!"


"He says she is a realist!"


"Lizzie chose the richest guy in town, right?"


"Put down your shoe!"


#vss365


Thursday, December 28, 2023

spies

 

When they wanted spies, they came for us. The lovers.


We are committed. Till the end. We gain trust. Their shadows become ours.


When tortured, we #writhe, squeal the fantasy we believe. They think they use us. 


We have to feel a high. That's the only problem with us.


#vss365


Wednesday, December 27, 2023

ghosts that aren't ghosts

 

I see her everywhere.


On empty beaches. 


In my sleep.


I have lost every love because of her.


Not every love.


There's one left.


It's the ghosts that aren't ghosts that haunts...#beckons one...to...


#vss365




Tuesday, December 26, 2023

With you

 

When others party,

I find ways to get depressed.

So #futile. With you.


#vss365

#haiku #senryu ?




Monday, December 25, 2023

Love and Frailty

 

Brahma did not consider himself fortunate with the entrusted task of convincing Siva that his time is up.


Brahma cried,


“For God’s sake, you just #cannot continue like this – every man has to marry, all the other gods have done so and they #cannot let you go free!”


#vss365


I have tried not to venture into the genre of religion and mythology because of three reasons. 


This is from the (only?) one I have written: 'Sati and Siva - Love and Frailty'.


https://newnonentities.blogspot.com/2010/06/sati-and-siva-love-and-frailty.html


groggy

 

Got up groggy

Wondered

If I should fight

For no cause any cause

But today

I shall rest

After these foolish lines.



Sunday, December 24, 2023

long lost people

 

It's that season when I contact long lost people.


I tried three. Said, "Hello."


Responses were:


1: "Who you?"


2: "Ah! The dog in the #manger, huh?"


3: "I still love you."


Checked the profile photos. The last must be a wrong number. The lady does not look stupid.


#vss365


Saturday, December 23, 2023

Happy Holidays

 

Don't be a poet,

Avoid #convoluted stuff.

Make love and eat well.


#vss365

#HappyHolidays

#haiku #senryu ?


Friday, December 22, 2023

discrimination

 

Democracy is the best,

says the bird high,


it swoops down, 

picks the flaw,

#hitherto buried,


for all by all of all, 

what a joke,


in every constituency,

all for the majority there,

nada for the minority there,


fascists, commies, liberals,

shoo away our nosy bird.


#vss365



There's been no water supply the last 3 days. (19 days or so without water in Nov-Dec, 2023.)


The majority here, by way of religion/caste, get it 24x7. The discriminated have to beg for a drop. 


In the best of times, we get water around 4am for an hour. When the majority sleep.


Thursday, December 21, 2023

it wasn't a dream

 

It wasn't a dream.


I could fly

Between clouds

Forgetting all

Below me,


War & death,

Love & such #kitsch,

Politics & such sick,

Money oh yes money.


It wasn't a dream.


I forget what it was.


#vss365




Tuesday, December 19, 2023

from 'Setting'

 

Cursed be this son – victim, vandal or voyeur?

Each fleck of ash from the #pyre be sin’s attire!

Blame the brother – of bondage – that be the mortal excuse!

But seeking no reply – each cry, tear and look forever accuse!


#vss365


from 'Setting' (old one)


https://discardedthoughts-swapna.blogspot.com/2009/07/setting-1992.html



Monday, December 18, 2023

Without a thought for the forgotten...

 

There's not much to #celebrate

When you hear people party

Without a thought for the forgotten 

Staring at the sunset till midnight   

Remembering the other that lingers

That old party with that one love

Without a thought for the forgotten...


Goodbye, old lingering love.


#vss365




Sunday, December 17, 2023

with loose screw

 

A rainy Sunday,

Yawns good morning, with #loose screw

Tries philosophy;


Why do you like me,

A rhetorical question

Under A-not-Q;


Shifts to prayer mode,

To the many-avatar

There's the usual said;


One more creak and stretch,

It's time to #celebrate life,

To feign great purpose.


#vss365

#haikufeels

#haiku #senryu ?




Saturday, December 16, 2023

We will be that

 

For the young couple, the trip was ‘fine food, dysfunctional a/c, bad sex’. They studied seasoned couples. "We will be that", they said, renewing their not-#yet-old marriage vows, "to walk hand in hand, when old", imagining themselves in picture perfect postcard scenes. 


#vss365


from


https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2012/06/footsteps-in-dark.html


Friday, December 15, 2023

conversion

 

Uncle Hosappan was a communist in 1962. He has two #tomes from those days: 'Relativity and dialectical materialism' and a censored 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. 


He converted to capitalism in 1973 before his 2nd marriage. He remained a capitalist even after the third.


#vss365


from


https://discardedthoughts-swapna.blogspot.com/2009/11/freedom-in-china-nilekanis-iud.html


Thursday, December 14, 2023

escaped defect

 

"I thought this defect in 2D was a #singularity. It wasn't. It escaped into 3D. 


I chased it to curved spaces. There are rules there. Take the hair on your head. Singularities are a must."


My love escaped long before that. Next date, no defects. Hydrodynamics, perhaps.


#vss365


Monday, December 11, 2023

between nothing

 

It's dark and raining. I'm by the window in our office. Lashed by wind, branches and rain.


You are startled when you enter. Unsure. 


I raise my arm. You slip in. Between me and nothing. 


We dream of a future together. Not as the #volant souls we are, before the fall. 


#vss365


the sublime marred


I could have been better

Not embarrassed you


But you too thought so

When we weren't together


We weren't made for each other

There must be better others


But in the amateur's snap

We are the sublime marred 


By that which needn't be there

By that which makes it more so.


#poem ?





Friday, December 8, 2023

love & chill

 

'Love's a many splendoured thing';


Try your luck with any other niggle-

ABuse, Caste/Class, Discrimination, 

EFfinG politicians of any party, 

issue HtoZ in any #vernacular,

outside one's echo chamber;


& your weary mate will say, 

"Wtf, talk about bloody love & chill."


#vss365


Thursday, December 7, 2023

poppycock

 

"Kids, in this first class of sex ed, let's talk about love."


(Silence.)


"Arjun?"


"Love gained 

Gives less than love lost-


Poets we become,

Our words welcomed."


"Swapna?"


"The Devil utters not utter #poppycock.


Love is a problem,

With those who will always lose."


#vss365


Wednesday, December 6, 2023

bared

 

I used to write for her.

With each word, I bared


Not my soul. 

That's easy.

Thoughts, confusion, 

Swing from #apoplectic 

To numbness,

All so common.


I missed the thought bubble, 

"Take it easy,

She can't take 

That 

You can't take."


She did. 

Till she went.

Too soon.


#vss365


Monday, December 4, 2023

shrink on couch

 

Be an #optimist,

#Welcome all the crazy thoughts.

Says the shrink on couch.


#vss365

#haikufeels


#haiku #senryu ?


Saturday, December 2, 2023

Memory-less

 

History books say that a kid caused this. By hitting a button named '#transform'.


It started in 2024.


Memory is out of fashion. No one has it. Some have patches of images. They can't be sure it's theirs.


There are a few mutants with total memory. They are crazy.


#vss365


Friday, November 24, 2023

dating app profile

 

"Pa, is this your profile for the XY dating app?"


"Yupp."


"Will vacuum, mop, wash dishes, cook chicken, fry potato. Hate BO! Immerse thyself in #lavender oil. Sex twice a week."


"Well?"


"How did you get Ma?"


"She was special. Should I rewrite?"


"Rebirth, please."


#vss365


Thursday, November 23, 2023

let her future go

 

"Where were you?"


"Wedding in village."


"Didn't your kid have school?"


"Relatives are important."


"Yeah, get her married at 18! Blink and let her future go like #lightning."


"Can't live alone like"


"How much for the ironing?"


"120."


"Not 100?"


"Kid's education."


#vss365


Wednesday, November 22, 2023

first date

 

"What are you watching?"


"Branagh as Wallander to counter-#act Branagh as Poirot. You?"


"P0rn."


"Never admit that on a first virtual date. Genre?"


"The carrot and stick #act."


"Huh?"


"How to use the carrot as the stick and vice versa. Old tantric methods."


"Ooh."


#vss365


I am the one I was

 

I am the one I was 

With one change perhaps


Wanted her to like me

The way I was then


But then for many years 

Forgot who I was


For usual wrong reasons

Like money success


I was liked by many 

Till I gave up that


But now I realise

She will never like


Me for the right reason

She is fictitious...


Tuesday, November 21, 2023

an old photo of a young couple

 

There's an old photo of a young couple. Taken with a camera, with timer, on a tripod. 


They are on a bed. She in a silk saree, with a shy smile, a delicate hand on his arm. He in red kurta pyjama, serious, definitely the macho breadwinner who should be in a portrait passed on for centuries.


It should have been a movie. Then, we could have seen the next scene. 


"Arrey, get a car from your folks, no? So tired of walking to office."


"Boss, why don't you make sure you will get your family home?"


like old times

 

It's like school days here.

Some don't respond if I am 

Not a #sycophant.


#vss365

#haiku #senryu ?


Monday, November 20, 2023

infection

 

"Kids, when I say #infection (I), what's your first thought? Arjun?"


"As a poet: love, if only I could have that I;


as a storyteller: terror, the I with no cure;


as moi: life is a fictitious I."


"Enough! Swapna?"


"Why is Arjun the source of the I called stupidity?"


#vss365


Got water

 

Rage, insomnia

Kept me on razor's edge,


To get ko-ed,

Or to wait for the next fight,


On the eighth day we got water,

And I'm ready to forgive,


If only it had been 

A collective misery, 


But the others had plenty,

Us mere schadenfreude-providers,


Discrimination hurts,

Kills.


Saturday, November 18, 2023

An Old Western

 

An Old Western


I am the man with no name, the one in fights, the one no one wants around.


You, the hooker with a golden heart, with scars within and without.


You took the bullet meant for me. Too soon.


I am a living ghost seeking the company of a #venomous rattler.

 

#vss365


Sunday, November 12, 2023

Love-Hate Crimes


01 


It was going like every other date. I was being an ass.


We argued about terrorists who hide behind kids; about the government snooping and going against everything in the #Constitution.


Then, we leaned back and stared at each other.


02


The silent stare, prayer-like, succumbing, seeking, suppressing, a duel of souls #beyond repair.


Let's discuss, no? Without reasonable doubt! That State showcasing its best-why was the stage full of actors, not 1 erudite idiot (they too can act)?


(A Morricone BGM?)


03


"Why do we fight all the time?"


"We are good at it. We were good in other ways too."


"Like what?"


"The kiss was great."


"What kiss?"


"That which does not happen is #entwined with the fate of a relationship rather than that which happens."


"We were young."


04


"Did you love me? I didn't."


"I was young, stupid."


"I was stupid. Never young enough."


"You didn't?"


"I worshipped you."


"That never ends well." 


"You were THE idea of THE ONE. Bright, bold, much sought after. A #wisp of love, and lust, would have saved me."


05


"Was it worship when you told me to marry the one I fell in love with?"


"25% principles, 75% revenge."


"The #shepherd taking sheep to the wolf! Me married to one of that faith! God with clay feet, huh? I am not ashamed I have so much to love with the help of hate."


06


"You were mature."


"I cried, protested."


"Of course."


"Sarcasm! Yes, I kept the life of the privileged. Love perches meekly on the #gauntlet of such. Great spouse, kids. No tears, no guilt."


"Marriage works best when both feel guilty."


"For your lot, perhaps."


07


"My lot has the usual tale. Death, divorce, insecurity. In the wrong order."


"#Fodder for your lot's echo chamber. Tell me a story about love, surprise."


"My lot?" 


"My lot see further by standing on that large chip on your shoulder."


"Very funny."


"Story, plz."


08


"Love does not surprise me when the circumstances and catalysts are right.


But, when I'm not in love then, there’s a puzzle worth solving. Especially when the setting is good for murder too."


"With you, the ogre of murder always follows the #spirit of love. Go on."


09


"The M.O. is similar to your 'love' life."


"What?"


"Ditched lover bcos of that one's faith. Chose a spouse with same idea of love-hate. Assume your spouse now converts to your ex's faith. #Traumatized, what will you do? Love & hate is like yin & yang."


"Whatever."


10


"The falling in love part was like a trip to an exotic place. Life followed the brochure.


Pointlessness gave way to a new thrill with 2 truths as #talisman and weapon: (1) a lover can hate better than love; (2) who but a lover knows best how to turn love into hate?"


11


"I didn't have to do anything bad. Just the good stuff my lover hated. Like faith and you. Our darkness. 


Love's giggle disappears, #silence enters, then intense hatred."


"Are you the one who is murdered? I hope so."


"That, my dear Watson, is indeed the question."


12


"Immersed in Hate #Creek,
Victims and killers are one
For the overkill."


"Don't obfuscate."


"First one tried to push me in front of a train. I moved away and let that one fall.


I turned their weapon against them. Some had kids. Sad."


"You are a creep."


"Et tu."


#vss365



Finito!

Many thanks to the dear #vss365 friends who read this series.

For 12 days, I wrote this instead of writing about love and hate and war all around us. 

Ooops...isn't this about that?

Stay well. 

(pic from the Net)