Foul tempest wind dost beset thy slumber,
its rain doth drain and dampen to stupor.
I rithe at thy great agony's bequest,
haunted by frightening reminiscence.
'Still the torrid pleas of thy soul!', I cry.
Thunder does naught to distill the shrill screams.
Lightning drenches me in thick vulgar sweat;
heart racing, mind pacing, fervent unrest.
'Will I e'er see a brighter morn than this?';
for foul tempest has consumed most my years.
But just then, when all seemed undone, foregone;
rain culls, clouds lift, and a rainbow now dawns.
09.02.2026
('Resist the devil, and he shall flee')
('I have set my rainbow in the clouds...')
Remember me -
a pair of eyes?
Can you still see
my sad surprise?
In a bygone year,
you made a choice.
Can you still hear
my trembling voice?
The air went still,
and I went dumb.
I could not distill.
I was only numb.
The ground, I couldn't feel.
I could not taste
our last meal.
I had been replaced.
Remember me?
I remember you well.
Do you agree -
heartbreak has a smell?
Things get simple later in life...
OK, not everything gets simple
But emotions distill to their essence
There's no time anymore for the noise
While fighting to filter things out from the background
And background is what you've worked on a lifetime so far
Like picking out from the multitude that one perfect star
The one that aligns with the orbit you've found
With your head in the space where your feet found the ground
And all of your wandering brought you right here
To the point on this sphere where the tears in your eyes
Don't dim the reflection of the path you've been on
Leading up to this point where things all boil down
Reducing your life to the importance of focus
Toilet in the open. No secrets.
Plexiglass. Concrete. Stainless steel.
Pleas turn to echos, blend in.
Captors - no trusting smile.
Bosses more ruthless.
Colleagues don't yield.
Cries at night.
Helpless.
Sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The broken amphora leaks wine dark as ink~
not for drowning sorrows but for making sigils on stars.
We don’t merely rearrange rubble with our words
we ignite phosphorus in marrow-bones
guiding wanderers through sulfurous nights.
When the world grinds its sermons into dust,
we distill comet-trails from the grime.
Those soaring meditations? They become
bridges where ghosts cross with new alphabets,
each footfall cracking the ground into stars.
Perhaps he spoke without meaning to share,
During a dinner with societal friends;
Others may agree, though none would dare air
Something so smug, for most would offend.
Was this the goal of each of these diners?
What of the wait staff who had overheard?
Do lives distill to this simple one-liner,
And does our culture to this end concur?
But tribes believe that all should partake,
In the feast that comes from hunting success–
A potlatch from a collective grubstake.
His greediness is our era's distress.
Someday, somehow, there’ll be surfeit to share,
So that even he may say, ‘They have theirs.’
Stand firm though winds may try to break your will,
Dare to begin where endings cast their shade.
Endings are myths that stubborn minds distill,
Sow your own path though doubts may leave you frayed.
Withstand the tide, for even storms grow still,
Drive your soul where inner truth is laid.
As a lad four years old,
I knew what I could see,
and I knew what I was told...
and that was reality.
Then something popped that balloon -
appearances might lie.
It was a TV cartoon -
a mirage tricks the eye.
As a teen in junior high,
I found we only see
what sends photons flying by
in wavelengths we can see.
Our brain then does translation
into what we perceive.
Our brain's representation
is what we believe.
Now, I'm older than a hill,
and everyone knows what's true.
Reality they distill
and impart to me and you.
Society and politics?
They'll tell you for free,
Maybe we're all dumb as bricks,
and see what we want to see?
'Tis not of feline lives we'll speak today,
Nor lords of meth-wrought realms bid hold us sway
Regrets we'll face, yet love shall not decay,
For life's true joys will guide us on our way
Not false deceits that liberty would bring,
But honest toil, our grateful hearts to sing
Though death may loom, our spirits e'er take wing,
As hope and faith their steady light will fling
The path is clear; if we but have the will
To cast aside the lures that would distill
Our moral strength: With courage, we fulfill
The promise that our better selves instill
Though shadows threaten, still our radiance glow,
Dispel the night, let humanities brilliant beams hours flow
Jill and Bill glide on the rill,
Bubbling with thrills,
Embracing the chills,
Past serene hills.
Patiently yearning for gills,
Jill—with her bait and skills—
Fills her spirit with a frill,
As tranquil waters lie still.
With each catch, a hidden drill,
Bill, overjoyed, concerns distill.
Moonlit eve; savor the grill—
Jill and Bill, relish nature's will.
The storm recedes, its rage now spent,
Leaving the earth to emit a scent,
A dank, damp, earthy smell of wet grass,
That breaks the drought, from its parched impasse.
In the quiet there after, all is still,
Thunder's rumble quelled to distill,
Sound to liquid, rage to peace,
As hopes of rebirth and new life increase.
The scent of rain is a heaven sent smell,
Wafting up to dispel a lingering spell.
It's a therapy from nature's apothecary,
Dispensed from a dry-grass prairie.
Imbibe the aroma of the heavenly scent,
To flush the stench of discontent,
From your life's toil and strife.
Imbibe its smelling salts, revive your life.
As daylight fades beyond the distant hill,
Dusk paints the sky in hues of soft repose.
Through swaying boughs, the birds their songs distill,
While gentle breezes dance on tippy-toes.
Lotus treads the path with a weary stride,
Her thoughts are as heavy as the fading light.
Yet with each step, her burdens seem to glide
Away, as if prepared to take their flight.
A flower, bent and worried, catches sight
Of Lotus passing by with a slowing gait.
Its petals tremble in the dimming light,
As if to share in her conflicted state.
The blossom and the woman, kindred souls,
Find solace in their shared anxiety.
As twilight deepens, nature takes control,
Embracing both in sweet serenity.
In the evening's hush, a transformation blooms,
The flower straightens, and Lotus' spirit lifts.
The worried stem no longer bends in the gloom,
As peace becomes the night's most precious gift.
Together in the gloaming, fears subside,
A fresh perspective blossoms with the stars.
The day's concerns, once seemingly amplified,
Now fade like distant, long-forgotten scars.
I once wished your praises to pen
O in our exclusive love den,
But most of such dreams—nine of ten,
Oh, buried were ere they began.
Poems are now bereft of words,
Our den, nestled by no more birds,
Before blossoming died have buds,
There’s no alibi to meet you.
I tried to distill me from me,
To filter my fair will from me,
And go uphill along with you,
Alas, it’s too late to meet you.
There’s darkness under a lamp
All undergrounds far too damp,
Now that I’m used to my camp,
It’s too late O to meet you.
I once wished brightness of Sun,
All shadows in life to shun,
From very Self I now run,
It’s too late O to meet you.
Flowers have lost old fragrance,
From steps hast gone usual dance,
Betwixt us two, no romance,
Far too late O to meet you.
I still carry old tuneless harp,
Old memories no longer sharp,
With life’s mixed-up woof and warp,
I wish no more to meet you.
_________________________________
Inspired by a Gujarati Poem by Rishabh Mehta
Quatrains (rhyme and refrain) |06.03.2024| lost love
One of the poems from my chapbook #IT'S GODLY
The howling winds depicts no hurricanes
The sound of rains tapping on the stones is no noise
But a reminder that in the fields,
human silence predominates,
In the fields time stand still and troubles distill
Birds hosts with lullabies to comfort and heal
As flesh decompose, a beetles' meal.
Rest and forget! The world is cruel
The gap is undefined, the bond undescribable
Reading the epitaphs reminds how temporary life is
Holding close to the souvenirs reminds how good yesterday was
Crying for you reminds how chaotic the world can be.
But in the fields is where serenity is
Rest still, freeze till
We shall and we will
These boundaries will fade, be erased
And in that beautiful canopy, a mystery, we will enter
For in it there is a life again and forever.
With animosity I endure each pain
Read each word as they describe disdain
Do not compare or look for blame
Distill yet comforts release the gain
The outer world always preaches
while villains they reign like leaches
Do not give solace or even fame
Realize the love that comes from your name
Though long placed aside inside it stayed
Though only through words love was made
I recognize my loss by absence named
Yet I returned remembering our game
Time has past and it’s my still my move
I pause to think how to enter the groove
I cannot blame cold shoulders for my desertion
I still after time I held on to my devotion
And try to caress with words that charm
I try to take away the alerts and harm
And reach for times to reminisce
Use you as the tool my Muse gives bliss
You replace the widowers loss
As well as take place
of the Ex’s I’ve crossed
But in this outer world you remain
At least I hope that to regain
I don’t know what we are
Yet I know not insane
I could be your doll you be my game
And still resolve our lonely pain
While being one another's eternal flame
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