Dawning from the womb of sky
I embark on my itinerary
Breathing in the earthian air
And,
coming down and down and down
To touch,
The parched lips
Of the deserted land,
The awaiting tree leaves
Clothed in yellow and green,
The tight bud that began to open
With the blush of pink,
The sleeping serene streams
To wake 'em up,
The hustled and bustled human land
To calm everything
Flowing down and down and down
To meet the eternal sea.

-

कितना भी समेट ले यहाँ
गुनाह का दरिया है ,
मुट्ठी से ये फिसल गया
किया था जब, डरा नहीं
फिर मंज़िल से क्यूँ डर गया ।

बेलोज़ तेरी हसरत जो है ,
खताएँ तेरी फ़ितरत सी हैं ।
इबादतगाहों में क्या ढूँढे मुझे ,
तेरे जुर्म-ए-मंज़र में भी
रूह मेरी बसी है ।

निकल ज़रा साये से तू
तेरी राह का मैं नूर हूँ
मुजरिम है तू,
तू दोषि है,
पर तेरी हर दुहाई पर
फना मैं ज़रूर हूँ ।

-

अपने तन से लहू की एक एक बूँद
निचोड़ कर किसी कब्र
में आराम फरमा रही,
और मैं फ़क़त दरवाज़े की तरफ़
एक टक निगाहें टिकाये बैठी रह गयी,
अाज मेरे बगल की जगह
ज़रा खाली सी रह गयी
नफीसा अाज स्कूल जो नहीं आई थी
(continued in caption)

-

.....

-

The  citylights  have gone down
And slowly,
As the anarchic clamours 
Find their end
I can feel
My demons crawling in
Demons carrying the silhouette
Of thoughts, 
Thoughts I wish weren't mine.
And as the dark moulds
Into the infinite sky 
I simply watch, 
I watch the world 
Turn into a cemetery,
Crowded yet lonely 
And it's rather funny
How these beautiful poetic verses
Mock my solitude 
Weaving the words,
Like these diabolical hours
Are the object of beauty 
And like these empty silences
Hum a tune of lullaby 
Because if they do, 
I can't hear them over 
The wild shrieks 
Of my untamed mind. 

-Shruti

-

Her skin pale and eyes wrinkled,
Her shoulders curved,
Under the freight,
Of all the heavy souls
She carries along to liberate.
Angel of death, as she calls herself;
I met her today.
And my puerile self
Couldn't help but ask,
'aren't angels supposed to do good?'
'But death is not bad' she smiled.
It's the prettiest of
All the kisses you'll ever have,
Most peaceful of
All the slumbers you'll ever sleep,
Far away from the bounds
Of time and obligations,
Like a new dawn
Inevitable and ultimate.
'Take me along!'
'Not yet' she said
Then how many tunes
Do I play and hum
Before I strike the harmony?
How many roads and boulevards
Do I walk,
Before I reach the horizon?
How many crescents and quarters
Do I sleep,
Before it's finally the dawn?
'Never Enough'

-

....

-

A gush of wind
Brings in the sweet lilac scent,
Yet wickedly dull,
For each breath that I take
Longs for a familiar and forbidden smell
Funny how
The time stands still
In these ungodly hours,
Where the stars mock me
For my solitude,
And the moon stares at me
With a faint smile.
We're friends now
For, the ignition in my soul
The cravings of my heart
The myriad little secrets
The moon knows them all
And I wonder if miles apart
You're watching it,
Smiling as you do,
Spill them to you.

-

And sometimes it's just easier to drown in the ocean of unsaid and embrace denial.

-

As the aurora walks in
With it's alpenglow gown
Flowing through the infinite sky,
And as the faded greys
March into the iridescent colors soon,
She wakes up all her
Myriad lovers
But none,
Like the lamp of nightly cosmos;
The moon.
For it is the one,
That catches her
On her first sight.
Oh the beauty!
As she walks down,
Through the aisle of night.
But the moon behind the
Cosmic eloquence stays hidden,
For, the universe
Works in a mysterious way
And their love, holy and pure
As it may
Ought to be forbidden.

-