Saying Goodbye

No matter if you are a grandparent,
so long as our parents are alive,
we enjoy the moments
of being a child.
A life will exist,
concerned with our personal affairs,
until they are no more.

Even when death
is a relief from old age,
we can't help
but mourn the loss.
With hearts raised in gratitude
for the treasure house of memories,
we say our goodbyes
to that life,
without whose presence
we wouldn't have stepped
into this world.
Thank you.

-

Desist, My Heart

In replaying painful thoughts,
I am no different
from the cow
chewing the cud.
Over and over,
it churns the agony
in the dark cavern.
In validating the torment inflicted,
engage in surging self-pity.
Unable to wrest control
from my unremitting mind,
I self-sabotage.

Do desist, my heart.
Spit out the bother,
for it is not your burden
to carry.

-

Causes

Words can inspire,
rouse,
incense,
lead,
hurt,
incise,
heal,
kill,
revive
or hail.

The way we employ them
sets the course
of our destiny.
Fireballs shot
will singe our palms
before thrown,
while fragrant words
linger
to revitalize withered lives.
The choice is ours.

-

Peer, Peerless

Not a mean feat to build a core
with the fierce majesty
of the peer, peerless Himalayas.

Holding up to the harshness,
even as the environment
eats into my senses,
I feel the cut deep within.
Yet each leaves a facet,
polished to shine bright.

Complaints can breach embankments,
whereas the refusal to give in
with dogged perseverance
builds resilience.
Rising with such buoyancy
will find me
one day
as the peer, peerless Himalayas.

-

A Love Affair

The fingers of frost
caress the fallen leaves.
When did you fall,
my love, so green?
Year after year,
I rush in
eager to embrace your abundance,
yet unheeded,
you gently depart.

Knowing my breath
can bruise
your tender buds;
you wisely let go.
Away and away,
you sway
until you return to Earth.
Though withered,
I breathe your fragrance
and fall as a snowflake
beside you.

-

Destiny to Ransom

Parachuting into the mind
come thoughts unbidden, unwelcome,
compounding on challenges knee-deep.
We find ourselves hapless
with no idea
of patterning the design
that leads us
to a merry dance.

No one but we can save ourselves
from the challenges
that swamp our lives.
Stand up and be counted.

The call rises from within,
a thirst to prove
that we hold our destiny
to ransom.

-

Dear youthful friends,

Honouring ties
that bind us eternally,
you unhesitatingly stepped out
to plant sprigs of hope
far and wide.
With pure-hearted spirit,
the joy you lit
will create ripples
seamlessly brightening lives.

In travelling
beyond borders,
you’ve sparked
an awakening call
to arise
and march ahead!
With all our gratitude
and love,

-

Life at the Crossroads

When her life was at a crossroads,
she conceived.
The new life helped heal
fragmenting bonds,
yet time inevitably fraught changes
in the mother-to-be.

Now the joyous birth of her child
is clouded with the uncertainty
of illness.
As she struggles to cope
with the devastating pain,
it is the thought of her son
who anchors in her
the will to live.

The little one,
though days old,
holds in his fist
prayers from across the world.
Our wishes are for the baby
to grow into manhood
with his lioness of a Mom
beside him.

-

Reticence

As relationships frayed
and hung in tatters,
the man, we believed reticent,
lay the first stone
for his voice and space.

Smooth flew the words
he unhesitatingly shared
as we gaped to see
his atypical manner.
Surprised, we joined
in the flow of chatter.

I salute this brave soldier of a man who,
through words,
reached out an olive branch.

-

The Hidden Veil

Who would have imagined
that we each have a hidden veil?
The causes of the past
bundled up as karma
has the power
to hamper our perception.
With such a shaky foundation
we tend to make
shoddy judgements.

Yet, in breaking through
such impediments,
we see the sun of wisdom shining.

-