Saturday, December 24, 2016

I cannot bring a child in this world

I cannot bring a child in this world.

I dare not wish for a girl;
I dread fair skin
an invitation to dark vultures
and dark skin
not treated with fair mind.
That I may teach her
to be strong for herself
yet bow to weak
to protect her.
That I'll tell her
to be a feminist for herself
and feminine for others.

I mustn't wish for a boy;
for then I'm a label
"still wants a boy over a girl"
That I may teach him
to protect his sisters
yet pull him back
from the slug-fest of justice.
That I may instill
the values of gender equality
yet ask him to forget
if he falls in love with him.

I cannot bring a child in this world

Where moral stance
makes for a better status update
and 140 letters
sums up the character set.
Where environment
is a topic to converse
not preserve.
Where home is for work
and work for politics
and politics for corrupt and national TV debates.
Where kindness is a weakness
and ignorance an attitude;
Where living in less is a failure
and aspiring for more a greed.

I cannot bring a child in this world.

When terrorism
is no longer the problem
but a solution.
Evil is the one
that drops bomb
and the good must answer
with two in return;
where Ravana is declared
better than Ram.
Where love is
lost in literature
and war reminds
us of our history.

I cannot bring you, my child, in this world.

I cannot anchor you
on the two parallel pillars
of aesthetics and the ethics;
my love isn't enough
a moral compass.
My sin of inaction today
is far greater than
my moral teachings
to build you
a better tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Road To Home

I went down the road that
shone hollow
like a moonless night.
I walked,
closer to the edge,
into the darkness
of my heart.

I found some old wounds
lying naked
in agony.
They wanted my sore touch
to live again.
They felt undesirable
having been forgotten
for so long.

I found some abandoned dreams
buried below
my consciousness.
They wanted my fresh memories
to reside again.
They felt vain
having been forbidden
for so long.

I found some shattered promises
pierced with
shards of lying words.
They wanted my consoling voice
to believe again.
They felt betrayed
having been denied
for so long.

I found some withering hopes
stifled with
merciless truths.
They wanted my reviving belief
to rise again.
They felt defeated
having been lost
for so long

The sweet pull 
of being wanted,
invited me
in its open arms.
With abundant emptiness
to settle down
in the known comfort of hurt.

And as much as
I wanted to stay,
love pulled stronger
than all the dark forces
ever conjured.

I found that blossoming love
trickling down
the dark abyss
of cold misery
and unforgiving regrets.
It wanted nothing from me,
having found
the rest of me,
after so long.

I found the road,
at last, to Home.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Let My Words Be Free

Staring at a blank page
Hoping words of hope
Will flow
And fill this meaningless vast expanse

But hoping is for naïve
And innocent
I no longer am
For I have seen life

So let me be real
And brutal with my words
Only they can salvage
The wounds of hope
The white allure of the ideal

Let me rip apart
this shroud of goodness,
Muddying the reality
Only honesty can cure
This lie of civility

Do not coat me
With sugar of righteousness
and honor and integrity
These exemplary words
Ring hollow without action

Let me write free

If not live so.

O Night

O Night, why do you come
with your calmness galore?
The boats were rowing,
My emotions aboard, cruising smoothly
The waters seemed clear and blue
Now, in your stillness,
I see the mud too.

O Night, why do you come
With your ceaseless silence?
When people draw curtains
And ready them
For a mindless sleep
Gates of my heart open
The pain seeps out in quiet tears

O Night, why do you come
with your veiling darkness?
It awakens my sleeping demons
My fears and rejections,
Trapped behind sunny smiles

O Night, why do you come
With your unfathomable void
It engulfs my light for life

O Night, come tonight I beg,
with your addictive sleep
So I do not struggle with light.
This contrast is too steep a price
For every dawn of hope