For Yasmin July 2, 2009

You are the glint in the eye,

You are the hint of a smile,

You are Desire; deeply felt and

hidden in the heart’s nooks.

You are my dream in disguise,

You are the walk in the rain,

You are Beauty; locked and captured

in the depths of my eyes.

You are the birth of a soul,

You are the kite in the breeze,

You are Wisdom; flying free

On a rainbow-hued cloud.

desire, beauty,wisdom-

is my heart ready to welcome you, my little one?

The cloud and the flower June 27, 2009

Brimming with the waters of life,

the cloud rained over the little flower-

And the flower wrinkled.

Nourished by the green earth

the flower reached out for the cloud-

And the cloud disappeared.

Love, sometimes, is cruel.

Dewdrops June 14, 2009

like a shy bride the

poem hides in the darkness-

awed by its own light.

if by the rain she

blooms and sheds dewdrop tears

whom does the bud love?

the river’s passion

makes the ocean a mad lover-

Salty crescendos.

on the river bank

I sought out your footprints, while

uncertainty sought me.

the sky answers not

earth’s plea for rain-unfulfilled,

the plea breaks earth’s will.

* these are not haiku, some of them don’t adhere to the syllable count.

Let me be June 9, 2009

I have no friend, I have no family

the world fails to amaze me;

Your talk is sweet, your words charming;

yet…

Can you not let me be?

I am not a poet, I do not see beauty

I am mundane and in that I thrive,

All I want is a little sunshine and drops

of rain….

Can you not let me be?

I have no need for words, I strew them about

carelessly, like my ideas, the vagabonds;

I know no rhyme, nor reason

Please

Can you not let me be?

My world is alive, it is not imagined

I exist because all nature is

for the simple reason- I am not

dead.

Can you not let me be?

I know no god nor prince

I know no magic, I have no dream

I’ve learned to give myself

hugs

Just to let me be…

Lonely… May 7, 2009

Joie de vivre May 3, 2009

 

 

Smile!

 

Send to me again,

the fragrance of the earth;

Fill my ears again

with the music of the rain;

Sing to me again

the joys of the rainbow;

Plant in me again

the magic of a smile;

Flow unto me again

the waters of the stream;

Light in me again

the glow of a dream;

Come unto me again,

Life, with all your whims…

… April 28, 2009

Stillness and calm-the

infinity of silence

Not what is, but not…

ஆசை April 18, 2009

இன்று என்னுள் ஓர் ஆசை

புயலின் வேகம் கொண்டு செல்ல

அனலின் சிவப்பை பகிர்ந்து கொள்ள

மலரின் தேனை குடித்துச் செல்ல

பூமியின் வண்ணம் பூசிக் கொள்ள

 

இன்று என்னுள் ஓர் ஆசை

அச்சமின்றி போர் செய்ய

கூச்சமின்றி காதல் செய்ய

வெட்கமின்றி மெய் பேச

தூக்கமின்றி வினை செய்ய

 

இன்று என்னுள் ஓர் ஆசை

பாதை மாறி நடந்து போக

முறைகள் சாத்திரம் நீங்கிப் போக

தோற்றமில்லா அகம் வளர்க்க

ஆம்! நானும் ஒரு பெண் தான்…

Longing… April 16, 2009

This evening, at the temple fair,

I wanted you to notice, my love,

the beads of sweat trickling 

down my stomach and the kohl-smeared

blackness of my eyes, caught unawares

As I bargained for a trinket.

 

I wondered if your arms smelled

like the land you tilled, fragrant in its fullness,

your smile made my heart beat faster, enraptured.

My feet, covered with dust, scurried along-

Wanting to touch yours, toe to toe.

 

My skin, brown like the face of the earth,

throbbed like the barren one, dearest,

waiting for the rain; my bosom heaving

to the pulse of the breeze; so now I ask 

shamelessly onto your face, my love…

 

Will you be my rain?

Would your love engulf my body even as your eyes do my soul?

Answer me, Don’t my lips speak desire?

Orphaned.. April 5, 2009

Sullied by the ocean,

The oyster redeems its glory

In the white of the pearl;

 

The pearl, pure and transparent,

innocently adorns grimy necks,

Unable to name the oyster its own