Dog-eared night
Conscientious barks
serving as bookmarks
for a world in repose
A token of continuity
lest it forget from where
to pick up the next day
if left to go silent

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Rain leaves the edges of the world
adorned with pretty, hanging droplets,
so elegantly that it seizes the mind
It reminds me of my grandmother
who would crochet scallop borders onto
the edges of pillow covers and handkerchiefs,
beautifying whatever she could find
with such earnestness that it makes me
wonder if she intuitively understood
that "beauty would save the world"

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With a gentle flip, she parts
her wet hair in the middle,
like opening closed doors
Droplets of water splatter
like a startled flock of pigeons

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'Iktara'
Man is a taut string tied on one end to the temporal, the material, and on the other end to the eternal, the spiritual. Though there is tension in the string, it's also why music emanates when the hand of loneliness plucks the string.

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NON-DUALITY

The illusionist within
chopped our perception into
two - 'I' and 'not-I', deceptively,
like the classic sawing trick,
while we gladly remained
a credulous audience

-

Rotating fan -
a full moon; tides rising
in the curtains

-

The evening shadow descends on the
city skyline, like the progress indicator
of an audio clip nearing the end
Another day marked by nothing but
the indecipherable noise of primal pursuits
Except for a brief moment of wonder
as I witnessed the wind playing
a silent melody on the accordion
of window curtains

-

A tiny sparrow perched on the parapet,
chirping intermittently, with imperceptible glee
Conscious neither of itself, nor of the onlookers
Neither proclaiming God, nor denying
Spending no energy in trying
to be anything other than itself
Without even knowing, delivered a sermon
on the forgotten art of simply being
My gaze remained transfixed

-

Non-stop broadcast on the idiot box
interrupted by white noise
Rain comes as a much needed respite
from my chattering mind

-

Moon-stamped envelope of night
torn open by the sun
The world pops up from the dark
like a cut-out greeting card

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