"Oye Zero, why all the #tissues?"
"Met a girl I nearly married."
"And?"
"Nothing."
"What did you do?"
"Girls have to do all these days."
"And, she scooted? Btw, sad face suits you."
"Can't you say oof, Swaps?"
"Not when all you do, and think, is to do nothing."
#vss365
"If this doesn’t work out, I would like the parting of ways to be amicable."
"I too have a request."
"Yes?"
"Let’s leave the past alone."
I thought that would be one of the plus points.
A talking #pillow perfect for therapeutic catharsis of the self?
I shrugged.
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2014/05/seconds.html
When democracies around the world gave way to the whims of authoritarian rule, the village scoffed at the news.
Their own legal system seemed intact.
When her fear became known, that too began to crumble.
A #poster came up in the market.
“Even gods are hypocrites.”
#vss365
from my short story 'Michael Corleone':
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2026/04/michael-corleone.html
"Stay at the Galle Face Hotel. Opened in 1864. You can sleep with Noel Coward and Carrie Fisher," they say. "There are grand rooms with four-#poster beds."
I dreamt of a four-poster bed. I was with a lady who knows how to use it a la Fifty Shades of Grey Part Femme.
#vss365
from my old Colombo travelogue:
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2017/04/incomplete-unedited-notes-colombo.html
“Why are you sulking?”
“He’s a #sponge! I’d spent more when I invited him.”
“Come on, it’s the thought that matters.”
“Yeah right, I will keep that in mind the next time we make love.”
“So, that’s your problem, huh?”
“You are the one who insisted on quid pro quo.”
#vss365
After a brief honeymoon phase, we were asexual.
We do not want to have a baby. To cut the #cord or to erase the link. For whatever reason. People thought we were noble.
Were we trying to hurt the other or oneself?
Our therapist guessed that.
We denied, of course.
#vss365
At a Bangalore scientific conference, a scientist talked about natural and man-made disasters.
His conclusion: disasters are a result of random events, with no memory of past events.
If there is a God, he or she plays fair #dice, the speaker said, inviting brickbats.
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2015/02/11-steps-to-end.html
Why am I thinking
Of a #towel smothering
When I see these clouds?
#vss365
#senryu #haiku ?
#AI
The best thing about AI is that it has magnified the importance of all things untouched by AI.
Who believes what's on blogs, matrimonial sites, photo shoots and any 'feed'?
Face-to-face interaction must have an extra appeal these days. There too, one can't trust the visual aspect. What has been artificially enhanced?
But then, what about the people who can sound AI-generated?
Remember that old pal who spoke whole texts from a P.G. Wodehouse novel?
(Aside: With that last line, did I reveal that I am decades older than Gen Z?)
"The #kettles these days fail soon after warranty ends. Can't even be repaired."
"Marriages don't last that long. Sans repair sans warranty."
"Do you have to bring that up all the time?"
"Only when you delay my morning cup of tea."
"Cup or mug?"
"Grrr, Misterrr."
#vss365
During dinner–
she wanted news, he #soap,
watched sports;
one farted, the other burped,
washed the dishes together;
In the bedroom–
silence,
then,
one said, "you love me, no?",
the other, "yes, you love me?",
nodded in the dark,
mumbling,
"I want to be me."
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2013/09/i-want-to-be-me.html
He brushed dust from his clothes, tucked in his shirt, adjusted his underwear, zipped up, took out a #comb, combed his hair and mustache.
I slipped. He turned. Saw me. Looked bored. Raised a finger to his lips. Walked away.
I saw a body near the unmarked grave then.
#vss365
from
https://gatheredthoughts-swapna.blogspot.com/2010/05/scream-within.html
On that powerless night,
The kids waited for the zombies
The elders had let loose.
A trench full of explosives
Around, the fuse in hand,
Ready to kill evil at first sight.
Nearly.
“Where’s the #matchbox?”
“Next to the candle.”
“And, where’s that?”
“In the water tank.”
#vss365
Satya found a suitable girl through the classified in the newspaper. His folks were there to protest.
‘You are too young,’ they said.
‘You are challenging fate.’
‘If there is no love, death might not strike,’ some #shrewd voices said.
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2013/10/gutter-talk.html
I'm not the #garden type,
More the wild n free,
It's nice to say such
With little to show,
Not even a mirage
Of an oasis.
Blame it on the mood,
Between the cloudburst
And the burning heat,
It's tough to joke n laugh,
Not the time for truth,
I'm nothing, period.
#vss365
"Allied forces calling #evil forces," he said from behind his pillows. "Surrender or face annihilation, rocket-head."
"You'll see Hell, chicken-livered carrot-top!" she said building her own barricade.
The pillows remained intact but the bed crumbled with a loud crack.
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2018/05/reunion.html
"Swaps, I had a dream. My love drowns right here.”
“Nightmare, you mean.”
“Oh no, to give her a gentle push is the sweetest #toil. Why are you moving away?”
“Arj, this is all because I used the word equalize in last night’s Scrabble, huh?”
“Cheater.”
“Caveat stulte.”
#vss365
In primary 3, I strayed a little and gave my first love poem to Josephine rather than Swapna.
I must have had this #urge to share my love.
Swapna seemed formidable with her forehand.
Josephine smiled and held my hand. That's all I wanted from love. Then.
And now?
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2011/12/exposure.html
The first #sprout of love,
Greeted with bemused wonder.
She deserved better.
#vss365
#haiku #senryu ?
🥹
Long ago, I prayed
For #divine retribution.
Oh yes, it hit me.
#vss365
#haiku #senryu ?
🙃
It was #fertile ground for opportunistic racism to take root, a parasite feeding on minds confused by economic turmoil, spreading in the guise of nationalism or religion or some supremacist stupidity.
We joked about it, only to each other, that it felt like home.
#vss365
from
https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2013/12/touch.html
Infidelity is not a dirty word.
It sounds like one to you.
How we hated the wronged one.
How we coped with the #chaos.
Our love/lust was the true one.
You disliked us for finding a better life.
How you smirked, judged and executed.
How irreverent we were to you god.
#vss365
I fell in love
The day I became invisible
In more ways than visual.
No, that's not an excuse,
I tried to explain to her
In every way unscoffable.
It can't be a coincidence,
She said looking through me
In the way that #tends to be sole-searching.
#vss365
#vss365
Never thought I would share my wildest secret in an online writing contest. Not just any #creation of my feverish mind.
Submitted it only on the last day.
Next day, I got to know my wife's one of the judges.
Something told me she knew about my entry.
That night,
1/2
Are my memories
Of #temptation black and white?
Sixty shades of grey.
#vss365
#haiku #senryu ?
