In my village Kadalil, there is an old temple with two deities: one, a mirror that reflects you; the other, a mirror that reflects the opposite of who you are.
That's to make the #incomplete whole, according to belief.
People go to the new temple with a stone deity.
#vss365
"Swapna, what's happened?"
"Arjun-style rigor mortis."
"What?!"
"Happens whenever he writes too much of romantic stuff."
"Oh! Should we take him to hospital?"
"A kick in the butt will do."
"Will that release him from the grasp of love?"
#vss365
I’m not a Nature guy,
Frangipani or mulligatawny,
Syllables for god-knows-what,
But this tree
Takes me within
And it’s there in all my dreams.
I’m not a Love guy,
Lust or love,
Semantics for #release-perhaps,
But you
Don’t leave me
And that’s all there is to my life.
#vss365
Woke up with her beside me,
Hid my face in her hair,
And pretended to sneeze,
She laughed and warned,
"As long as you stay #distant
From your well-rehearsed act."
I struggled to live in the now,
To let the unmentionable happen,
She slipped away from the I I am not.
#vss365
"Arjun, why do you write?"
"It's a barometer of love. The ones I love never read it; the polite say it's horrid, others remain #distant. Those who read it find true love. Elsewhere."
"Nice sales strategy."
"You, Swapna?"
"I write about the fictitious ones who love you."
#vss365
I was a kid
When told to take
The road less travelled;
If only
They had admitted
Truth is on the #brink of disaster;
Two roads diverged in the wood,
On one, we were a couple,
On the other, mere ghosts;
We travelled
On those Penrose stairs,
One ending in the other.
#vss365
(Apologies to Robert Frost. My last 3 pics here are products of my first experiments with Deep Dream Generator.)
A wannabe Bond (age 14) went on a date. 3 lechers spoiled their fun. "You have to be a man," she said.
Still traumatized, James (age 24) intervened in a fight between a couple. She put him in hospital.
He remains stirred and shaken on the #brink of depressing confusion.
#vss365
#TrueStory 🥲
Why do I see all
Through rain-stained pane?
Remember this place
We daydreamed about?
Holding each other,
Sharing breath,
Awash with tears
Of the future
Already the past
At a #tangent
To the present.
Which lover doomed
Loved less?
The way of wars too.
Never right.
#vss365
"Problem with my thoughts?
Oh! The troublesome #tangent
At a saddle-point."
"Arjun, your problem:
You try your pomes in Maths class
And Maths in no class."
"Swapna, understand
The agony of never
Knowing future path."
"Do not worry, lad!
Sliding down or climbing high,
You will be a pain."
"Hey, why are we talking in haiku/senryu?"
#vss365
(Just a tangential post. 🙃)
Life is clear
When I hallucinate
a merry romp
with buried past,
My first kill,
Merciful they said,
Second even better,
Those kind eyes,
Skulls wink bones tap,
I will stop when
It's like that again,
#Bereft of guilt.
#vss365
To escape ragging, I hid in the Library (b/w Russ. Litt. & Vict. Litt). She (b/w Q. Chem. & Optics) was 2 years my senior.
3rd day, late #evening, I asked, "Ma'am, can I escort you to Ladies Hostel?" Carried her bag. Walked behind her. Gangs of seniors waited for me.
#vss365
"Soldiers without the I
#solder us into one nation."
"From where did you copy that, Arjun?"
"Ma'am, it's mine!"
"Swapna?"
"Ma'am, he took mine and left his."
"Read his."
"Solder, solder, burning hot,
What do I do with this word?"
"That's Arjunesque, indeed!"
#vss365
I woke up with a tattoo.
At first, it was like a treasure hunt. Hunting people for their head, for the clue tattooed on top.
Then, we realized our #mistake about the treasure.
If the heads are in the right order, we will have the ultimate holy (or satanic) verses.
#vss365
"I was 5 when I read my first book: 'Mystery of the Missing #Easel'. An artist is murdered. His easel is missing. But not his valuable paintings."
"Murdered with that?"
"Stuffed in every orifice. How did you guess?"
"Been there, done that."
"Really?"
"Rough teens!"
#vss365
We never danced together,
But we did walk together,
Hand in hand, never,
How easily I use never,
It's easy,
With just the past,
With no present,
No future.
But we did, together, walk,
And I do retrace that walk,
Every moment I feel you,
Whenever I feel alive,
Alone, with you.
The party is over,
it's time to:
1. restrict lovers to reminders;
2. maintain status quo of rest as loose #connection;
3. keep track of bills/dysfunctions;
3a. change will;
4. cut losses, brag profits;
5. schmooze for loans/free drinks;
(5. Or, should I love for such?)
#vss365
"Miss our V-days in B'lore."
"Every year, the sushi place on Church Street."
"Enter, look at the price."
"Exit! Ha!"
"Then, to the joint opposite. Phulkas, mutton curry. Yummy!"
"Which place? Which girl did...?"
"Oh!"
Warning: Do not excite the #vixen in your Valentine.
#vss365
Assume that you, yes, you human beings, have 30 minutes more before going #extinct.
What will you do?
1. Finish a bottle of Glenfiddich.
2. Have s*x.
3. Tell loved ones, "Good riddance, huh?"
4. Pray, "Plzzz, lemme come back as Dracula."
5. Others (Specify).
6. Sleep.
#vss365
My first date was on V-day.
She (and her sister) and I tried a new burger joint. We nibbled (the 'red ant in our heaven' gobbled).
We went for 'Fanny and Alexander'.
Sitting still, senseless, satiated, we touched briefly (when the sis snored).
#Extinct lovers now.
#vss365
“Swapna, well done. Read your sentence with the given word.”
“The #pronking stock was laid flat by the short-seller’s report.”
“Arjun, why have you written that you want to take the Fifth?”
“Didn’t you spell it wrong like how we spell f-c-u-k-i-…”
“Out!”
#vss365
My pet name is Chijee.
My girlfriend (from the Far East) made that Chilli. She said my name in public. Seductive it was.
I was deported immediately.
There's an Interpol red notice for a short dark ugly guy with the alias #Qilin. His alleged crime: romantic monster.
#vss365
In my daydreams,
there's the Mittyesque hero-joker
with (Juno, Kafka, Garbo)-esque ladies
I write about.
Then, there's the path to Nowhere,
dreary dreams, dross, real.
There,
lovers play poker,
politicians are #mimicry-artistes,
masses ready to be fooled by that act.
#vss365
Last night, I was in Wonderland.
Watched a monkey feed an eagle,
A King Cobra shook its hood
Reprovingly, others stayed away,
An #amarok nursed my new born child,
I slithered away soullessly leaving fear,
The dark shroud conquering their light.
In the crumbling temple of the dark,
A tunnel damp with all downside up,
Cries and screams of new kills
Awakened fresh murderous thoughts,
At the bloody altar I sang the hymn
Romance of the Dead on the Rocks.
#vss365
Gone are the days
When I could have boasted a fine litter
Of thoughts and scribbles around me,
With cut-paste-delete
And with the full moon a day too old
The vacuum is too clear, bright Night,
Let me howl long,
If I had loved you like I should have,
This would be an epic.
They told me not to look at you
But that's all I wish to see;
Doomed by your presence, they say,
But it's your absence that ruins;
You came and went as you pleased,
Why did I not complain or curse;
I was loony before and after you,
With you my real self did not hide.
"Monkey!"
"Donkey!"
"#Parrotfish!"
"Pink-bottomed macaque!"
"Well done, students!"
"Will this help?"
"No problems if you pass the 30 chambers of Couple Therapy."
"Sensei?"
"Yes?"
"Should we use the 29th before the 30th?"
"Always use pillow-fighting before name-calling."
#vss365
on a bright warm morn like this
those forced to #hibernate
rose red-eyed raring to go
at the throat of the sleepless dead
the animals with no space
the trees broken and burnt
the seditious patriots
pointing fingers at themselves
the poets
ready to scream not sell cheap
the lovers too
with no excuse
with no shame
with lust
with care
but
not i...
#vss365
A merry five we were
Thro’ thick tumblers of ale.
We helped lawyer Kris
With patriotic lies for a billionaire.
No politics please,
Neel’s dad is bedridden bcos of that.
Soldier Mohit has toxic tales,
His defenceless uncertainty its truth.
That left the joker
And the Grim Reaper.
I got to know shape-shifting spirits after joining Twitter. Some follow me. Most have stopped talking to me. They didn’t like it when I remarked that their #kelpie-hooves remained intact even in their human form.
#vss365
I have never been more wrong
Than when I thought I was right
In every way I could think of.
The catch was neither obscure nor hidden
Even without hindsight or natural #sloth
Unblinking I stared blindly at the truth.
#vss365
Here, it's not V-day but Half-day that gets lovers into a tizzy.
On Feb 13th, lovers have to speak half-truth/lies. That is, an obvious lie with truth to support it.
"I am a model," I said last year. "I modelled for a photo contest: playing chess, trying to be a nerd."
"I am an escort," she replied. "I cater the girlfriend experience."
Very few lovers survive.
"I dreamt about a #wolpertinger."
"What's that?"
"Something they use in Bavaria to put kids to sleep."
"Freud's interpretations say you will enter a forest (life?) with an attractive woman on a full moon, meet this thing and come out happy after giving her to that."
#vss365
"'Tirra lirra' sang Sir #Ocelot. Do we crack the mirror now, Ma'am?"
"Why is she called The Lady of Onion, Ma'am?"
"Swapna, I did not expect you to stoop to Arjun's level."
"This Lady is so meh!"
"Sir, indeed! Tirra lirra, my left foot!"
"Both of you, out! Now!"
#vss365
(Apologies to Tennyson)
I ain't no #zoophilist
I ain't no cynophilist
I ain't no ailurophilist
I ain't no lover
Bcos my loves were those.
I could be gastrophilist
Or a thalassophilist
Definitely a clinophilist
I ain't no lover
Bcos my love ain't those.
#vss365
(Animal-themed prompts? 😱😨)
