The inspiration died
The words fumbled
And poetry died.

The emotions eloped
The rhythm sighed
And poetry died.

The spirit fizzled
The content fled
And poetry died.

Poetry died this very day
For want of it all
It is dead.

But rise it will
In a new avatar
In a different garb
And a different hue.

Dead it is
The poetry you see
Frozen in its current form.
But as with all other things
It will thaw one day.
The day of its reawakening.

Broken

Once in a while you feel so empty within that even emptiness cannot capture the emotion. Nothing matters anymore, it is just a gaping void and you deliberately want to be sucked in. You carry on with life as if everything is normal but there is a constant ache. But even that ache has a beauty as it lulls you to face the reality. The ache becomes a part of you, a reminder for the times to come. The spirit once broken cannot heal, the crack remains like a scar. And you bottle up all that is left with an emphatic never again. Never to be broken again.

Silences

He asked a question
I promptly replied.
Was it the answer I had?
Or the one I could afford?

I told a story
The characters so real.
Was it mere fiction?
Or self-introspection?

I wrote a letter
So candid and frank.
Was it all there was?
Or also that which the heart still has?

The gaps in a conversation;
The engineered reactions;
The camouflaging fiction;
And the shrouded emotions.

Is it just bout the spoken?
Or are the silences conversing too?
Don't the unvoiced cajole for space?
Or does the spoken barricades even their trace?

What are those hushes in the stillness then?
And what of those murmurs in the quietness?
What of that clairvoyance; that intuition?
And what of those psychic, telepathic connections?

What? If not, silences.

Another Day

We had a plan to meet and chat
And I said another day.
Even when idle; I sat
I said another day.

One fine day we decided to meet
And the circumstances said another day.
We tried its true if only in our thoughts
But it was always another day.

And things went bad on your side
I couldn't make it even that day.
While death crept up and I ran along
I lost out to death that crucial day.

In soul and in spirit;
And in thoughts and in deeds;
You are remembered now
Each and every day.

Time would fly
And forget I will;
To keep remembering you each day.
But rest assured we have a rendezvous
Set by God himself and that's our day.

Reticence

The nip in the air
And the smoke filled skies
The noise and the chatter
And the lights blinking by.

The warmth of the lamp-glow
And the screams of the kids
The sweets and the smiles
And the festive spirit.

The silences in the heart
And the absence that one craves
The said and the unsaid
And the unsaid that is said.

The dos and the don't(s)
And the ifs and the whens
The should(s) and the shouldn't(s)
And that reticence within.

With a smile on my lips;
And a flutter in my gait;
I marched towards the threshold.

With a twinkle in my eyes;
And a twitch in my hands;
I stood quivering at the threshold.

With a jingle in my voice;
And a thudding in my ears;
I announced my arrival from the threshold.

With a catch in my breath;
And a shudder in my heart;
I stood transfixed at the threshold.

Threshold which I longed to cross-
Was now a ravine!
Completely at a loss, I waited.

And I waited
And I waited
Waited at the threshold...

Inner Conflict

I have a question,

Difficult it is;

Not the question itself,

But the answer it seeks.

I have a dream,

Promising it is;

Not the dream itself,

But the hope it gives.

I have a fear,

Dreadful it is;

Not the fear itself,

But the strength that it needs.

I have an understanding,

A covenant it is;

Neither with God nor any mortal,

But with my soul that seeks peace.