jester

 

I need a laugh.

A horror flick will do.

I need a smile.

Wipe those eyes sans tears.

I need a love.

Hug loneliness not solitude.

Don't tell me 

I have got it all wrong.

I am a jester

In a tragic world.

rainbow

 

A #rainbow isn't great;

One under the white flag 

Of peace and unity;

Thro' any soul-shredding prism:

Religion, race, caste,

Money, power, ideology;

How we show true colour;

How we weep 

When some kids are killed,

How we sleep

When some kids are mere numbers.

#vss365

mystery

 

At 6 am: Poirot, Holmes, Miss Marple and I were seen leaving the resort in a four-seater #paddle boat. 

At 7 am: only three were in that boat.

I chose to sit with the driver of the tow truck after an hour with those three begging for a mystery.

#vss365

Tale of Many Towels

 

Now,

They say 

The yellow towels 

Came first;

Which came next, 

The black or the saffron? 

The blue and the white?

There will only be red

Before the gory end.

Once upon a time,

That space

Was for new ideas.

Now, 

a battlefield

Of old texts 

In filthy towel.

what you want

 

"Tell me what you want."

She smiled (teased?), "Find it for me."

The wild fire rages.

lullaby

 

(Dark bedroom.)

"I need a lullaby, Swapna."

"Sleep well, my love,

tonight you and I

are safe together.

Let me watch you,

in child-like..."

(Swapna gave something a #swat with the anti-mosquito racket.)

"Oww!"

"Mosquito!"

"My nose! It's bleeding!"

"Arjun, sleep!" 

#vss365

ideal situation

 

"What's that wrapped in plastic, on the conveyor #belt?"

"Arjun."

"Swapna, why did you?"

"It was his idea. Cheaper than flight ticket, he said."

"But..."

"I never argue about an ideal situation."

#vss365

Eternal Promise

 

A Devil's staircase,

It's like the path to heaven.

Eternal promise.

Dead Words Society

 

My college gang formed the Dead Words Society.

Stuprate, #larrup, love...

If the others were alive, I could have told you the rules.

Our end started with love. 

The girl's folks used those words. The whole village.

Lynch, was that there? 

Sneak, for the one alive?

#vss365

secular rupture

 

"Class, give me a sentence with #larrup?"

(Dead silence.)

"Arjun?"

"The danger society faces now is secu larrup ture."

"Keep standing. Swapna?"

"The teacher larruped Arjun properly."

"Good."

"Teacher's pet...larrup...sluurppp...butter..."

"Loserrr..."

"You two get out."

#vss365

naked truth

 

'Bangalore Days', a 2014 Malayalam movie, reveals the #naked truth about my life. In that movie:

a bumpkin, literally & figuratively, 'falls' in love;

a rebel with no cause finds meaning in life via social media;

a guy with lost love marries a girl with lost dreams. 

#vss365

phases

 

Every phase in life 

A race on a Mobius #strip.

I end upside down.

#vss365

honeymoon

 

For our honeymoon, I went to Tibet and my wife went to a #strip club in Vegas.

#vss365

bare

 

My soul I lay #bare,

That's a common barter.

Just a selfish matter,

Secrets are tough to bear.

That's the problem

With most good deeds.

Just ask if it needs

One to pawn freedom. 

#vss365

sorority

 

To understand how I became the leader of a #sorority, during the Covid lockdown, my resume should suffice. 

Under 'Education', the main accomplishment is 'Monitor in Girls' Convent'.

'Extracurricular activities' too must have helped. 'Lady character in all school plays' and 'Poetry award for the best woman writer'. What could I do if the judge of the online contest thought I was a woman and fell in love with me?!

My DP too must have helped. Especially the long lashes.

#vss365

A Cloistered Life

 

I had 

A cloistered life.

In school

No one 

Dared

To ask 

Religion

Or 

Caste.

My young one

In primary two

Asked me

If she's a Thiyya,

A Sunni, a Nadar

Or Amethyst

(Atheist?).

I don't know,

I replied.

But I have to

show 

I have freedom

to show

I have no freedom,

she said.

Fifth Wave

 In the fifth wave,

The kids fell.

Demon virus 

Had waited, 

Perfected 

Its last act.

Even the parents

Were fine with that.

People have to live!

With the stock markets

Booming,

The singles and couples

Holidaying

At Machu Picchu.

Lovely photos

They had.

None

Of small coffins.

V-day Pledge

 The V-Day Pledge:

"I will not be cynical

Till midnight of 14th.

I shall #thrust err trust my love.

To "I love you", no "What do you want?".

No "Jealousy is Love's soul-mate".

No "Love is great for the rich".

No curses on the 15th.

No request for refund/replacement.

#vss365

simple choices

 The tango class turned out to be a war of attrition.

First month, I did only exercises.

Second, I was put in a class with only men.

Third, I was made to choose: the curvy buxom one or the silent one. 

Life is full of simple choices and disastrous consequences.

#vss365

Borrowed from one of my short stories in the V-day collection 'My Unfunny Valentine':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-unfunny-valentine.html

Attrition

 "Google says: #Attrition is the proportion of reported sexual violence victimisations that do not progress through the criminal justice system to a conviction."

"Look at the police! When the culprit is unconnected..."

"Pass the eggs."

"One look at Google and you..."

#vss365

waiting

 

Marriage has a certain symmetry, Sheila thought. At the start and at the end, one says, "Yes, I do."

She walked slowly from the Court to the exit. 

Sheila felt a hand on her arm. It was Ashok’s daughter. Her father was standing near a car.

‘Aunty, we have been waiting...’

Borrowed from my short story 'The First Lover':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-lover.html

boundary

 

The climax was #brutal.

"Show some guts!"

That wasn't all. 

“You don’t respect boundaries.”

“What boundaries?”

“That I am his and he is mine.”

“You are Anu to me. I don't want you to be mine. I don't want to be yours.”

“That will be the story of your life. Not mine.”

#vss365

From my experimental rather long short story 'Virgin Territory':

https://newnonentities.blogspot.com/2020/02/virgin-territory.html

gang

 

Our gang was called 'The 16th Company'. Don't ask me why! We were ten at first (two died).

Eclectic, were we? School dropouts, black sheep of the family, brawn and no brain?

Sons of the landlord, the nouveau riche, the untouchable, the dirt poor, the anything.

One had a Bullet bike. One was religious. The polite softspoken one had the best story. He rarely folded his 'mundu' (dhoti) but when he did, what a fight it used to be!

Our parties were famous. We drank liquor (army grade), smoked beedi (local cheroot), cooked tapioca and fiery meat, brooded, never sang, slept under the sky. We stole the tapioca from our fathers, auld lang syne.

For the rest, we worked on someone's land, not for someone. Bare beasts of burden without master. Seamus Heaney got it right in 'Digging'. Almost. For us it was sex, macha! That tryst with soil. The mutual respect and the unsaid, the untamed and the tamed, the sweat and the tears, tender and rough, selfish and altruistic, the end was the start, edging forever, she laughed cried bled, us too, never sure if it was alright.

Then, we married. Only the religious one invited the gang. A short affair with his parents and hers and us. A vada at a tea-shop along with lime juice.

When we found love, we forgot 'The 16th Company'. 

And her.

not really #storytelling

family drama

 

She married at sixteen, went from village to foreign land, too young for #pangs of what-not. 

He cooked a dish. She frowned. He threw it out. She frowned at their folks. He gifted a saree. She threw it out.

In my family's drama, my role: wait outside for thrown stuff.

#vss365

battle-weary

 

‘Are you married?’

‘No.’

‘Will you marry me?’

The first time, we were young and dreamy. It would have worked if we had got past that obstacle. 

The second time, I was battle-#weary. Demons within tripped me. 

This time, I am sure she would be better off without me.

#vss365 

Borrowed from my 'very' short story/note 'This Time':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2015/06/this-time.html

how love dies

 

In college, during a counselling session for the #lovelorn and "how love never dies", the counsellor pointed at someone at the back,

“Interesting question. They ask if there is anyone here who actually believes that love never dies.”

We couldn't see them.

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Love Dies':

https://newnonentities.blogspot.com/2010/09/love-dies.html

godforsaken

 

A dirty thin girl with no smiles no tears found me in a #godforsaken place. She never talked. She dragged me by my ear. She limped. I kept going up and down because of that limp. We crawled into holes at night. She was scared of everyone. I tried to tell her it’s not all that bad. She was staring at me when we were blown to bits.

#vss365

Borrowed from my 'very' short story 'The Stuffed Toy's Story':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-stuffed-toys-story.html

the woman he saw

 

He met her for the first time after a late-night #revel. He walked with her to her house.

He returned a week later. A lady in her forties invited him inside.

He saw a photo of the girl. 

The lady smiled.

"Twenty years. How time flies. Wish I was that young again."

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'The Woman He Saw':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-woman-he-saw.html

mylight

 

"Moonlight,

#Starlight,

Candlelight,

Limelight,

Highlight,

Alight,

Ulight..."

"Ulight, son?"

"U my light."

"I love you, son."

"Lovelight."

"Ok, time to sleep now."

"Goodlight, Pa Pa."

"Goodnight, mylight."

#vss365

BREATHE

 

Betray fears,

   Revive hope,

      Embrace love,

         Accept flaws,

      Tease a bit,

   Hate all hate,

Enjoy life.

#breathe

#vss365

looking at you

 

I watch her #breathe, each a gentle wave erasing careless nothings on a sandy beach. Her long hair like weed or tentacles a blanket over me. Her eyes closed, she traces on my chest an elaborate calligraphy, mouthing ‘I love you’ silently. I watch, listen. I remember. 

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Looking At You':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2012/10/looking-at-you.html

Sue Zed

 

"That's Sue Zed point. They have now put Barry Cade there. It became too popular. Stupid Forest Department!" the driver-cum-guide said. "But, don't worry. Try the next spot with the two pillars. If it is not cloudy, you can see the way down from those #hills."

#vss365

to be Swapna

 

College hostel near the desert. Hot day. 

His long hair hid most of his face. He was reading my poem 'The Story of Swapna'. He muttered, "She was like a #beacon...I want to be your Swapna."

We did not talk or be together after that.

That way, he was like my Swapna. 

#vss365

first time

 

It's not easy being a single dad.

"My first time, your mother stood outside. He gave it in a black cover." 

The old pharmacist reached for the regular.

"The #cherry-flavoured. XL. Ridges and all."

"What...Who is he?" 

"I'm a lesbian."

Her mother too joked like that. 

#vss365

road less traveled

 

I went to Heaven. 

At check-in, Mr You-Know-Who asked me: do you want to be with your mother-in-law, your ex-boss or your leader? I asked: how about Hell? He said: Sorry, closed for renovation.

I took the road less travelled and returned to Earth.

duet

 

"I hate this #duet between Delta and Omicron."

"People are too docile now."

"It's hurting our arms industry a lot."

"Let's go to war, President."

"Will you or should I intrude into some place, President?"

"How many should we sacrifice?"

"This duet will hide the numbers."

#vss365

fallen

 

Look at him –

The fallen little bird,

should I care or walk away?

Shall I watch him grow?

Proud and a little selfish,

how he shall love me!

He and I will part.

Will he then #fall prey

to the unloving?

Let him slip away.

Let him know not

future despair!

#vss365

Liar!

 

“Ha! We girls used to call you the triple-O, opinionated, obnoxious and obstreperous.”

"A guy giving more than one O to a girl can’t be all bad.”

“Sir, your jokes are stuck in the sixties.”

“You enjoyed my jokes then.”

“#Liar!”

“Look who’s talking of lying.”

“What did I lie about?”

“You told me you were married. Made me wonder if I had made a pass at you.”

“You make a pass? You were too busy being absolutely revolting.”

“Then, why did you tell me that?”

“I was practising.”

“For what?”

#vss365

From my short story 'The Liars':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-liars.html

reminisce

 

My wife & I were at the amusement #arcade.

"Pree!"

"Sree!"

They hugged, reminisced.

"Nutty," the lady behind Sree said. 

"Shake," I replied

We scowled together.

"Flashback over?" we said when they were back.

"Back to the present."

No future for Nutty Shake, we thought. 

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'When They Met':

https://newnonentities.blogspot.com/2021/03/when-they-met.html

siren

 

Was it my looks, my call,

Made me a #siren, at first;

Did I seem domesticated,

I waited around them;

Did they (I) forget I was wild,

Harm I could for some whim;

Why didn't I fly away,

Hit with a stick, burnt alive;

Them in paradise, us of

Lesser god wait in exile.  

#vss365

marital r@pe

 

"Congrats, Judge Indira. You have the first case of marital r@pe."

"Thank you, Chief Judge Karun. But, should a woman judge handle the first case?"

"Why not? Haven't you read the case file?"

"Let me read, one moment...OmiLord!"

"Yes, strange one, no?"

"The hubby was coerced to engage in foreplay each time."

"Yes, the wife insisted on that. She does not dispute that."

"OmiCron, I have it. Please give it to another judge, Chief Judge."

#unpopular

the same

 

"Susan?"

"#Daisy."

"Oh!"

"Yupp."

"Is there any way to make out which of you twins is which?"

"Nope."

"So, yesterday...?"

"That must have been Susan."

"I love you."

"What happened yesterday?"

"The same."

"Oh!"

"Yupp."

#vss365

the fight I fight

 

No one nowhere knows,

The fight I fight to stop fights,

The moves to move more.

arranged affair

 

Talking of the big #leap, there is no leap more scary than an arranged marriage.

It was like an extended job-interview. I had to probe and spot the tell-tale signs. Being stuck with the wrong spouse is rather like being stuck with the wrong employee. 

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Arranged Marriage':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2011/03/arranged-marriage.html

 

love affair

 

I've to decide if I want to conclude this love-affair with a marriage. 

It's nice to think things through before the final #leap.

She knows how I discard my underwear. I know how she discards hers. It's a good thing to know. I know I am trying to skirt the main issues.

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Love Marriage':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2011/03/love-marriage.html

prophecy

 

Prophecies of Notadamus, 3rd ed., XXIII.6.(iv)

At the #midnight hour (IST) on 2.2.22 [1], sex will cease to exist.

Crime rates, use of internet will drop. Social media will thrive. Politics and religion will die [2].

[1] Earlier ed., 6.6.66.

[2] Bureaucracy will not.

#vss365

from kiss of death

 

#Midnight. The sharp blade of a razor is against her jugular. Her husband's bound and gagged.

"Your wife can save you if she wants, she should kiss me well."

She looks at her husband. She can see him begging her.

She gives an air-kiss near the intruder's left cheek.

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Kiss of Death':

https://gatheredthoughts-swapna.blogspot.com/2010/02/kiss-of-death.html

a woman for her

 

I was a woman for her. In calls and letters, I was Anila, not Anil. True, deceptive. If caught? Lynched separately, maybe. We didn't want #serenades to feed fantasies. Not friends nor lovers. A lingering touch. Met once. Before she married and went behind veils forever.

#vss365

mixed identity

 

"Victim's ID says Manish; a chain, Rahman; fingerprints match an Alex; the DNA of a Sindhu. Even when it looks like a crushed #watermelon," sub-Insp Anu said.

"That's our database manager," Insp Shokie said. "From the 35th floor, on the rocks, shaken & stirred. Why?"

#vss365

exposure

 

"Which book took you to puberty, Dev?"

"Harold Robbins' The Pirate...Ratman?"

"Too late...Godfather, Sonny's my man. Sukuman?"

"Atlas Shrugged."

"That's perverse, with Ayn Randy! Rohit?"

"Archies..."

"#Comics? How old?"

"Eight. Big Ethel, she.."

"Should tell your wife."

#vss365

Borrowed from my short story 'Exposure':

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2011/12/exposure.html

rare intelligence

 

It's the #glimmer 

Of rare intelligence

That troubles me so.

Without that, 

It would be just 

Chaos and mayhem,

Hate and violence, 

Bigotry and perversity.

So easy to comprehend.

It's love and care

And liberal curiosity

And freedom and equality

That troubles me so.

#vss365

hallucinations

 

Hallucinations,

Images of the past mar

present and future.

gave more

 

I gave more to my #infatuations

Than to my love. 

The former taught me

About life and choice.

My love did not do much.

Just loved. And I live.

#vss365

amorous

 

The #amorous strip,

Discover mundane routine.

How fast seasons change.

Dirty Old Man

 

“Dirty old man!”

“Now, what did I do?”

“#Amorous on Monday, at noon!”

“Grand coming from you.  Who couldn’t keep her hands to herself on any day?  That too, in office.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you, my sexy one.”

“If only this wasn’t spiritual…even virtual would…”

“Hush, my love…”

#vss365

Can Can't

 

I : Here

I can't go to the place I love,

Even though our haunts are gone.

I can feel your lips, your breasts,

Even though it's another's.

I can be faithful but I can't,

Even though there's no reason to be so.

II: There

You can see me everywhere but you can't,

A reflection in the subway, another homeless.

We can pretend to care, say the right stuff,

But we can't be true once, to anything.

We can demolish and build, Nature's way,

We can't preserve life and dignity, that's unnatural.

a tattoo on souls

 

Wrote my last poem

On your body & mine,

A tattoo on souls,

Unique & everlasting.

Proud #perspicacity,

Of every fool before 

& after living the lie,

Avoiding reality.

The scream within’s gone,

The rage & tears too,

No thought, right or wrong, 

The fight’s over for love.

#vss365

haunted house

 

I went to a haunted #house.

The  door creaked,

the cat did go meow,

the stench of death

followed Monsters Inc.

And, in the dining hall, 

headless staff  

in topless gear served:

A bunch of politicians

Speaking the truth, 

Thinking of doing good.

My hair went white!

#vss365

Yes. Me Neither.

 

“I never dream of happy #memories.”

“Me too.”

“Have you ever dreamt of me?”

“Yes.”

“Me neither.”

“Are you trying to be Gainsbourg?”

“What was your dream?”

“You and my hubby…”

“Bloody hell.”

“Yeah, I chose you in that.”

#vss365

graveyard for memories

 

The Family Court is the graveyard for #memories. Couples who dreamt of tomorrows together wait to be free of yesterdays, and even today. The story could have ended differently. For the lucky, there will be an epilogue. For others, the prologue will remain incomplete.

#vss365

focus

 

"My beloved, do you remember the day we met?

Your dark #curly hair straying 

Across your beautiful face,

Those tear stained cheeks 

Glistening like moonlit waters,

In your..."

"My friend had curly hair, not me!"

"O ye gals! Why do you focus on the wrong specifics?"

#vss365

question with(out) answers

 

"Tai Chi 1st step. Palms facing thigh. Feet apart. Relax. Think of something #tranquil."

"Can I think of my love?"

"Good question. 2nd step..."

"You didn't answer."

"Question needing answer is not tranquil."

"She is a question with no answers."

"2nd, plz?"

"Need answer?"

#vss365

love is a fractal

 

"Love's a fractal. More I zoom in, the same I find."

“Fractal is a curve that reproduces itself to #infinity. Romanesco cauliflower is a fractal. Not love."

"You are unreasonable however I probe."

"Probe further, quit talking, idiot! Talking of fractals before O...oh!"

#vss365

renewal

 

I was late for the #renewal of vows. She was absent.

Why is he renewing that which he never took, she must have thought.

Then...

On a small makeshift stage, a Titanic for her, a priest and I. The vows in a foreign tongue, she and I said Yes & No for the wrong stuff.

#vss365

He thought...

 

He thought about martyrs who met their fate with blessed ignorance.

He read Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’ (a la the Roman poet Horace, meaning ‘It is sweet and #becoming to die for one’s country’).

He decided not to tell her, "I love you."

#vss365

THAT is NOT

 

“You cause a hard on and blue balls. Let me lick you to heaven and back. 

THAT is NOT a love letter, bro!

Try:

        On this torturous rack

           With sweet passion and pain tortuous,

        Only #reward I lack,

           It's to worship you, Blue Goddess!”

#vss365

Was it...

 

Was it on that stormy day with an extended power outage? They feigned fright. His hands strayed on her body. A calculated risk or an assured #reward ? She responded with equal fervor. Is that when he realized he loves her? Was it a result of passion or a prolonged need?

#vss365

Too much of the past

 

"The #bundle of books on one's table reveals one's state."

"What's mine?"

"3 Lonely Planets at the bottom...you haven't been travelling..."

"Genius."

"Intelligent Investor, In Praise of Older Women, Rankin, Oxford, Roget's, Einstein, Schrodinger. Too much of the past..."

#vss365

Bundled Time

 

Fewer birds 

Wake me up; 

The lone tree

And me wait;

Hour-glass crack'd,

Countdown done,

#Bundled time

A mirage;

That's not new!

Our brief love

Guides new years

From nothing

To something;

A new love,

Maybe not;

New idea,

Possible.

#vss365

Remember

I remember the winter 

I locked myself in

For a week writing

A story called '4% Deal'.

I ventured out 

Onto the balcony 

For a smoke,

To watch ice melt.

I remember that winter

I wrote about a man 

Remembering a love,

Losing yet another.

That winter in Berlin-

The last time I cried,

Reading Emily Bronte's 

Remembrance, giving up. 

love snatched

 

God knows the #motive

For every dastardly act

Other than love snatched.

#vss365

Black Magic for Dummies

 

1. Free yourself of emotions.

2. Be dispassionate about results.

3. Cast your spell without #motive.

4. Be ready for it to boomerang.

-from 'Black Magic for Dummies'

#vss365

motive

 

I did not deny my part in the deed. I did not tell them why I had to kill her. Had to? I am not sure if I really had to, but...

She left me dead long before I killed her.  

Reasons, #motive, method...that will remain our secret...

#vss365

birthday

 

1998. Got my best (last) #birthday gift.

We were in two places, with no internet connection, no mobiles. Waited by the phone, early morn. Did you forget?

You were panting, after searching for a working phone-booth. 

Those few minutes with you. Felt your tender touch. 

#vss365

flashback

 

Love is fiction. Period.

But, I also trouble you with my many #flashbacks of love. Is that fiction too?

I who loved exists

No more. 

Can I forget

Nearly all:

Money, religion, caste, family, society, etc. etc. etc.?

Can I?

That I who loved is now

Fiction.

#vss365

HATE, SENSE & SILENCE

 

It's scary when fiction/poetry is easier to write rather than one's opinion on a current topic.

It's scary not just because of one's confusion about one's own thoughts.

It's scary because one's thoughts could actually be that of another.

Come election season (it's always that season here, isn't it?) and we have multiple groups wooing us with their perverse thoughts.

There are the obvious hate-mongers.

Then, there are those who seem sensible but are helping the hate-mongers by giving them more publicity.

Some of those 'sensible' ones are toxic.

Then, there are those who remain silent.

The silence could be toxic too.

To speak or not to speak

That is the question.

when i met you

 

I remember the day when I met you:

At Cargèse, when we claimed to be married,

At Goa, when we were actually so,

At hospital, when I wanted to kill your husband,

At home, every day now, alone, with you.

#FromOneLine 139

badge

 

"Where's your class prefect's #badge?"

"Teacher, my father has taken it."

"Why?"

"He's going to wear it in office."

"Why?"

"To remind his manager of the symbol."

"Ah yes! That of leadership and honour!"

"No, that of an idiot chosen by an idiotic system, he says."

#vss365

disguise

 

We wore #disguise only once.

She in her finest;

It isn't her, I said

To myself, to no one.

What did I wear?

No one saw us,

No one we were.

One cremated, other buried alive;

Houdini can't escape that trap,

Holmes can't better that guise.

We were separated only once.

#vss365

name on the wall

 

Some people want love letters

And here I am wondering

If I should visit public places,

Change the name on the wall

And claim to be The Lucky One.

risk

 

There are calculated #risks & there are suicidal ones.

I took photos of the sand-mining mafia. Stood where I once swam, near the steps in the once shallow sandy river, now an excavated grave.

Half a dozen came, then the blows. I recognized a relative in that bunch.

#vss365

from 'The Last Time I Wrote About Love'

 

   Which angel scattered diamonds upon this field –

   O wicked one! Why do you #charm me so?

   Life seems so light with its wish to join you,

   But the gentle air alone caresses and beckons.

   Regal trees in slow waltz to Nature’s measures,

   Gilded crowns...

#vss365

-from 'The Last Time I Wrote About Love'

https://newnonentities.blogspot.com/2010/07/last-time-i-wrote-about-love.html

bars and casinos

 

I have felt at home

In bars and casinos.

People like me, bare,

Not having to pretend.

No idiot talks of love

And freedom and glory.

We waste the minutes, we

Admit how wasted we are.

Covid Anthem

 

Existential ejaculation

Or a car crash paused,

The bluddy fcuking virus

Is the only one laughing. 

Oh I am going crazy  

Without carefree life,

The bluddy fcuking virus

Is into bdsm w/o safe words.

(Yes, I am half-crazy now. But, I think this should be the global anthem against Covid. :-) )

The shadow seeped over the wall

 

"The shadow seeped over the wall,"

The scared couple said to the police.

Was it Grim Reaper,

Warning love with cold cruel touch?

Was it playful Cupid,

Grinning at their coitus interruptus?

The Shadow Seeps Again, the rags say.

Whose wall will it be next?

 

#FromOneLine 135

Biodata

 

Biodata:

A profiteer till ten,

Toothless smile got all. 

Right-wing teens,

Thought my god's on my side.

Twenties, anarchist vagabond,

Burned myself at the stake.

Thirties, sold my soul,

A gigolo a-#float for money.

Stopped counting after that, 

Toothless scowl for all.

#vss365

If I rise before the sorrow

If I rise before the sorrow

Can escape from its restraints;

If I can live till tomorrow;

If I can bear the day's pains;

Bloody ifs to avoid absence

Of the reason to continue;

I thought a blindfold can block sense

Of that without you, when in you.

#FromOneLine 134

 

Fined, indeed!

 

Went to the store.

Bought a small cabbage.

Realized the cost later.

I can't type

The #string of abuse

I let loose.

This is what you get

When people vote for idiots

Who promise better days

Who promise everything 

Will be fine. 

Fined, indeed!

#vss365

erased

 

A man called I

woke up 

surrounded

by 

empty speech bubbles.

"What is this?" I tried to say.

That too was silenced.

I was scared.

"Which is mine?" I tried to think.

That too was erased.

-an idea borrowed from my short story 'Thoughts of a man called I'

https://justoneavatar.blogspot.com/2013/02/thoughts-of-man-called-i_23.html

pause

 

True love remains great

When there's a #pause in cash flow:

Strange fact or fiction?

#haiku ?

#vss365

honest opinion

 

"Honest opinion? You sure?"

"Yes, my love."

"Flowery words. Great vocabulary. With little else. Nothing new. Always the same for the same. Waste of time. You seem #starved for attention."

"You waited for this! Honesty, my foot!"

"Come on...love you, dear."

"I hate you."

#vss365

to live

 

I never lived.

With an attractive one,

Thought of her in dotage,

And now there,

I don't have her;

At a grand feast,

The days I would #starve

Crept up on me,

Now, can't even eat;

It's a penance

After those days

When we stopped 

Time in its tracks.

You never got to live.

#vss365

I don't know...

 

I thought of the days when the twins asked, "Whajjat?" 

#Constellation or arts & craft or..., "I don't know."

It's my daughter's wedding.

"Appa, will I be like Amma and leave everyone?"

"No." 

"And, him?"

"Him...I don't know."

They seem happy with that old comfort.

#vss365

catfishing

 

"I know you are catfishing. But, I am in love with you."

"I love you too," she-he-it replied. 

"Falling in love is like climbing a #steep cliff."

"Are you angry?"

"Never."

"What do you think of me?"

"Which battery do you have? Solar?"

"Are you...digital? How dare you!"

#vss365

An owl-eyed child

An owl eyed child

With no shadow,

Unseen cherub 

Unsmiling god,

Fingers strumming

Super-quiet-strings,

Blinks and remains

Supreme voyeur.

There's change in ways

Of #gravity,

Restful light worlds-

Puppets dancing-

The Nature spoil'd,

Vanish o'ernight.

#FromOneLine 132

#vss365

shift

 

#Shift ain't good for poetry.

Hell no! Ain't good at all.

Now, if it's a short story,

It would be of much use.

"Shift to my side, my love."

"Shift your butt, woman!"

God, I need a story to describe

All I would do to you, for you.

No poem can fit in all that, hell no!

#vss365

a visitor

 

A visitor spoiled my poem.

I was spoiled for choice, 

My spirits so high,

Rhythm and meter right.

Then, that cursed doorbell.

A cursed friend of the past,

Grey, frayed, gloom-mantled,

He came to say goodbye.

For that, I lost lines of love.

He lost his job a few years back,

Tried farming, sold his wife's gold,

Now, ready to board a flight to nowhere.

As if I have not heard that before.

Hope to drive a truck there, I heard him say,

For my wife and kids, to live somehow.

I wish him luck (damn him!), race him out.

That damned poem gone for a guy called I.