My mother always advises me
to unload my heart and let it rest,
to unfurl the tangled electricity
hustling in my brain,
and kiss goodbye to the ruins that occupy me.

I look around and see
creatures tinier than me
carry crumbs of sugar like a celebration
in some mundane corner,
how a mosquito survives
on mere drops of blood,
how honeybees build
their little hexagonal worlds.

My mother assures me
I'm the protagonist of my life,
and everything around—just decoration.
Even if they try to outshine my fragrance,
the vase remains useless
without me.

Then,
I look at her.
Her words flow around me
like a river,
filling me with life.
I flinch at the sight
of meandering wrinkles near her eyes,
the strands of hair fading to grey,
the leg that aches like an old prayer.

I almost ask her
why she doesn’t lay her burdens down
but instead,
I massage her head with coconut oil.
She sleeps light until morning.

-

The distance between you and me
is the exact distance between
my childhood and I.
Sometimes, you're the jasmine
that falls off a branch and
lands on my feet.
I pick it up and keep it
pressed inside a book so
it lives forever.

How do I get rid of the responsibility
that doesn't exist?

Distance
is just another word
for you.
And there's too much of it.

-

In the middle of the night, we get up.
Gazing at each other in total friendship,
we know so clearly what the other wants to say.
Bound to each other like dreams are to sleep,
we slowly walk down the hall.
I can barely walk (/ breathe) through the shadowless air
yet I know where you are

with my eyes closed, we are fated to each other
like two black holes that are to merge together,
violent yet the whole body is one -
this is most blessed time of my life.

I quietly call you.
You come and hold my hand and I say
I can't look further, I can't look beyond this.

-

I'm waiting and waiting.
I wait until I forget why I'm waiting.
I'm becoming restless.
I try my best to recall
But all I remember is my forgetfulness.

-

No wish to be a hero or be free
I just long to change into a tree.

To stay still.
To grow for ages.
To not hurt.
Anyone.

-

I don't want to
leave anyone behind.
I want to hold
and be held.
The way the light keeps
its shadow.
By engulfing it.

-

उस दिन पानियों मे भी आग होगी
जब मेरी खुद से मुलाकात होगी।

इस दर्द को सीने मे दफ्न कर दू तो बेहतर होगा
क्या करूंगी जो फिज़ूल हमदर्दी की खैरात होगी।

सादगी मेरी मुझे ही छल जाती है
अब आँखों से जज़्बातो की रुसवाई
सर-ए-आम होगी।

बादलों की खोज मे रोज़ रात होगी
जब होना होगा सब ठीक,
तब ही बरसात होगी।

-

You carry a tired moon inside yourself;
It is round, white and dimly lit.

And the day you are full?
People become ocean waves.

-

g = F/m

Not all denials are ugly;
For example, the more the
gravity rejects you,
the higher you fly.

-

Life is like a cloth peg.
It will hurt you with its grip
but save you from a slip.
It will hold you from flying away
But won't stop you from trying anyway.
It will leave you hanging but
With enough amount of air.

-