बादामी रंग की मट-मैली शॉल ओढ़े हुए,
बरसों से उलटी करवट सोया ये रेगिस्तान
लाख आवाज़ दो, न कोई जवाब मिलता था
न खातिर, न मेहमान-नवाज़ी..
बूझ नहीं रहा था
इसे किस बात का मान-गुमान है?
इस hour-glass की सारी रेत रिस कर
हमारे पाँव तले बस गयी थी,
ढलती शाम को उसी वक़्त के ढर्रे पर बैठे -
अपने हाथों से नरम-गरम रेत कुरेद रहे थे,
और नज़रें अटकी थी आसमान में
टिम-टिमाते तारों पर;
तब महसूस हुआ - जैसा कहीं न था,
इस रेत के समंदर में
कुछ ऐसा इत्मीनान है!
In a quiet gathering
Of cold shoulders.
I muffled my voice
Into muted screams.
Somewhere,
I sold my patience -
So long, bid goodbye
With nothing to lose
And nothing to win.
When I will be undone,
Lost and never found
Every word
Never heard
I shall hope -
Echoes
And shatters the silence;
And if you be kind,
I'll be doing my best
I will come around.
I can grow numb
Empty and dumb
But I can
Drill a valley
Through the mountain;
On a brand new day
I can erect the trust-
Just guide me here
And it builds behind us.
If you are kind,
Don't let me wander
Maybe don't,
Don't give up on me.
I don't want the world to see me, coz I don't think that they'd understand.
Ever wondered,
If I chose this?
If this moment
Ever since birth of time,
This stubborn, immovable
Lump in its continuance
With every tick in the clock -
Has been pulling me,
Closer
To set me apart
And then set me free?
Two left turns,
two next rights -
Every sundown
On open streets
Eyes rolling in search
of a dream and hope
Year by year;
Burying the self
In layers down the ground
And burning the fossil
To fuel the idea;
Being my own hard-hitting hero
For I were to live
A precedent that no one else would.
Everything must converge here.
The beginning of the end.
The design is compassed,
The arrangement done.
The disequilibrium
In animation of reality,
A long realm of nothingness; here,
Purpose has no place.
I realize now-
I've never had any real interest
In anything.
Is this the real life?
Never have I ever,
but I think I just might -
Let life that underwhelms,
Overwhelm.
A crude moment
Of self-confession,
A fixed star in my sky
With rapid implosions
And a bright flash of lightning -
Collapses and ruptures
From stardust into memories
All at once
Like infinite half-open matchboxes,
Surrounding me in the standstill.
I narrate my story
Trapped, in an unpassing moment-
Time-less;
Space-less
Floating;
One memory to the other.
I narrate this story
My yearning and her zeal,
From a little girl’s room
Witnessing the miracle of her life,
In her youthful passion..
I watch her rise,
Fall,
And rise again;
With hope that she will, for me,
Save the day.
Forever is the word
And this moment, right here -
Is my forever.
What happens now?
It’s gravity -
that keeps pulling me down;
Don’t let go, there never was a plan B
Stay!
