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Best Poems Written by Manoj Kumar

Below are the all-time best Manoj Kumar poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

A Soldier- I Was

Lonely I was when I stood staring at the sky
Had a gun in my hand, was too afraid to cry
Fought bitter battles and never lived to tell
How at the altar of freedom, my body fell

My soul searches for reasons as to why I died
Did I save my people, had I tried?
Do they remember me, my deeds, my name
Are they proud of me or did I bring them shame

My battered body stood testimony to my fate
My heart had stopped in a battle brought about by hate
I had screamed in pain, and shivered with fright
But before I died, I did put up a fight

Remember me, my beloved country
It was I, my men, who brought you victory
I fought to the last bullet in my gun
I was a soldier, I was your son

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

The Empty Theatre

Applause dies
The performance is done
My violin rests

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Shooting Star

Tumbling randomly without any semblance of grace
Without any companion or a familiar face
No path to tread, no orbit to trace
Just a nameless rock, in the cold infinite space

The distances are large and encounters few
Constant darkness, never a soothing hue
Fear and desolation seem to be my only friends
As I fly through space that has no end

From a great distance I see your light
Burning brightly and I exert with all my might
To turn towards what could be my first sight
Of a world without darkness and fright

Being alone in space leaves me free
Free to make decisions, free to be me
But would I like to be alone, make it my destiny
Or should I be pulled by the love of gravity

But it is tough to resist the allure of light
And I make my decision, hoping it is right
I fly towards you, feeling no remorse
And I feel the pleasure of you pulling me close

I am happy that your love I feel
And I approach you with a lot of zeal
Knowing that my loneliness you will heal
Although your love, my fate it will seal

I feel pain as your love tears me apart
I start to burn, but in my heart
I feel love, in every recess small
It's better to have felt love, than not have known it at all

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

The Beggar and His Dog

We are as similar as opposites can be
He's short and puny, I am gangly
He barks when he's happy, angry or sad
Yes, he's my dog and he makes me glad

He looks at me with reverent eyes
As I beg before the world, for a morsel of rice
He's happy even though, it's in a broken voice, I sing
To him I am nothing less than a King

I am dirty and unkempt, my clothes in tatters
When people turn away with disdain, my heart shatters
But he's blissfully unaware of my pathetic existence
To him I am more than just means of subsistence

He is my companion, my friend, my guide
Together we surf the storms and the rising tide
Of everyday life and together we survive
I think, it is for him that I stay alive

As the day winds down, our spoils we share
In a dirty corner of a dirty street; Our lair
We always eat together, never alone
He always gives me the meat, and gnaws on a bone

I talk to him about past's glory, and today's misery
The world laughs at me and calls me crazy
But he wags his tail as though understanding it all
And snuggles up to me and sleeps, when night falls

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

Arjuna

My mind is dark with the thoughts of doom
Shadows of death and miseries loom
I wish I could try and fight
The stench of death and darkness of night

Many thoughts bewilder my soul
My heart bleeds through a jagged hole
Why do I have to kill to live?
Why don’t I have happiness to give?

My heart screams for an explanation
My soul cries for salvation
Why is my hand smeared in blood?
Why is everyone around me dead?

I walk through the graveyard of people I killed
Was this the death that god willed
Why was I the harbinger of death?
Why was it me who laid them to rest?

I live a life that I rather not dare
My nights are an endless nightmare
Why can’t I be released from this living hell?
Why don’t I have someone to tell?

Will I ever escape? Will I ever be free?
Will I ever be pardoned? Will my life ever be merry?
All I ask my God is sanity
All I need from me is humanity

I have killed to live, I have lived to kill
Done acts I am not proud of
Will I ever have peace to gain?
Or will I need death to live again

Tell me lord; am I not your child?
Weren’t they too, because of me who died?
Was it my fault that I had a gun?
Why didn’t I have a place to run?

Questions in my mind abound
My dreams come back at night to hound
My only release I know is death
I hope it comes soon and me it gets

When death smiles at me with all its charms
I will lie with glee in its waiting arms
Then for sure my soul will be free
And those of the people murdered by me.

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

Forgotten

Squeak, squeak, squeak. The sound that resonates in my ears. My existence in orbit around the source of this sound. Every move, in fact, every thought of mine, is associated to this sound. Like a placenta wrapped around a baby's neck, in a mother's womb. Sign of impending horror or remnants of an incident past?
Shining stars in the sky fail to beat the glitter on my chest. A chest once proud, now a frail shadow of loss. All that glitters on my chest is far from gold. A hand that once saluted with honour and pride, now outstretched, palm up, waiting for your largesse. You look at me with disdain.
Squeak, squeak, squeak. I move on


Treasure trove
Insignificant metallic honour
Wheelchair spares

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

Mother

Tears of joy flowed down the mother's eyes
When she held the emaciated baby in her arms
Looking more like a skeleton than an infant alive
Two frail pounds of flesh, God's alms

She saw a survivor in him, as he lived through the night
She fought alongside him, it was their fight
It was her smile he got, and some say her gait
It was her strength, that helped him punch above his weight

Ever mischievous, with lips ready to smile
But willing to work hard, and walk the extra mile
Mother watched with pride as he achieved small milestones in life
For a while she could forget all the troubles and strife

Her boy grew up to be a strapping lad
He gathered accolades and it made her glad
She saw his transformation from frail to strong
To see further successes, she did long

But her boy wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth
Despite trying his best, his career did go south
He fell by the wayside, though he tried to go ahead
His efforts to gain success, got him failure instead

But the mother still smiles hiding her tears
Her boy is her pride, and all that she fears
Is that he doesn't lose heart and hopes he strives harder
And gets all the happiness and blessings he can gather

The mother still prays though God didn't answer her prayers
She prays for her boy to be happy and never have tears
Though the whole world may see her boy as a loser
He will always be the one she loves, always a son to her

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

Despondence

I am a little blade of grass
In the desert of life
Trying to fathom what the world, for me, has
Other than misery and strife

I try to survive everyday
Trying not to wilt
Will I live to see another day
Or towards death, will I tilt

Don't have a friendly pat or a lover's caress
In this desert, barren and vast
Not even with a smile does anybody bless
Nor a kind look does anyone cast

As I try to hide my little tears
Beneath tiny drops of dew
I yearn for just a day sans my fears
Just a day with a happy hue

But the scorching sun burns relentless
To it, my life is nothing but a farce
I draw in my last breath, in this world merciless
What was I after all? Just a blade of grass

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

The Sentinel

I stand alone under the glittering stars
Miles away from civilization, roads and cars
It could be snow, jungles or the desert sand
But I am watchful, vigilant, with a gun in my hand

Far away in the night, my little baby cries
My wife looks alive but every second she dies
Not knowing if I will return with gifts in a bag
Or as a gift to my nation, in a body bag

My eyes though alert belies a heart empty
With occasional visions of my friends and family
My ears strain to hear the cooing of my new born
But even that doesn't deter me from doing my duty sworn

My grit doesn't waver even when there's war around
When the tranquility is broken by gunfire's sound
I stand firm in my resolve to protect this nation
Every animal, every tree, every citizen

When peace is brokered, nature steps in
Testing me, my mettle, my will to win
I never leave behind even a dog stray
My human values, beneath my uniform, on display

I am told the nation resounds today with ungrateful talking
Bad mouthing me on another power's bidding
But these voices don't matter to the likes of me
You may be a prodigal son, but you are family

So make noise, rejoice, enjoy your liberty
While I leave no stone unturned in protecting thee
Till there's life in me I shall stand tall
Ensuring that this nation will never fall

In return I ask nothing; no awards, no glory
No recognition, no remembrance, no reference in history
My duty is to my motherland and her I shall protect
My chest will be a wall to every bullet

Details | Manoj Kumar Poem

Will My Dream Come True

Your smile can brighten the darkest night
Even if I am hurt, dying and shivering with fright
Your love will tend to my wounds, my love
It will take the pain away, it will make it alright

Your eyes are brighter than the glittering stars
Shining a light that will fade away my battle scars
A battle I was fighting till the moment I saw you
When I knew if I could ever love, it would be you

I can’t stop thinking of the day we met
I thought you wouldn’t even look at me, I could bet
But your smile put my worries to rest
And I was happier than the happiest

I see you walking down the road everyday
My heart wants me to sing to you, to carry you away
To a world that has just me and you
Where the skies are bluer than the deepest blue

In that world I imagine, we have a house by the beach
Because I know you love the sea, to your soul it does reach
In that house of joy, with you, every moment I will treasure
Away from the crowd, oh! The pleasure

But do you even know I exist, my angel from above
How I wish I had the courage to proclaim my love
How I would like you to tell me, that to you I am special
Although I know for certain, I don’t have a chance in hell

But my life isn’t that bad, I have you to dream about
About your smile, your eyes, that I so can’t live without
And I wake everyday smiling, because in my heart I see you
With a glint of tears in your eyes, saying, “ I do"