The Potter’s Daughter

Her fingers sink into damp clay,
Cold, unyielding, yet full of promise.

Beside her, her father hums,
His hands steady, shaping with ease.

She tries,
The wheel spins, the clay wobbles,
A vase becomes a bowl, then nothing.

He laughs, reshapes, starts again.
She sighs, watches, wonders,
Will she ever shape her own fate,
Or will she always smooth the edges
Of someone else’s dreams?

-

The Path I Didn’t Take

It was just a fork in the road,
One I barely noticed,
Until I looked back,
Wondering what might have been.

I could have stepped down it,
Followed the winding trail,
Into something unknown,
Something new.

But I stayed,
Rooted in the familiar,
Too afraid of the uncertainty
To let go of what I knew.

Now, I wonder if that path
Was the one that could have led,
To something more,
Or if it was always meant to stay,
A distant dream.

-

I Am Because You Are

You are the versifier,
I am the verse...
You are the hue artisan,
I am your artistic murmur...
You are that chiseler,
Carving my smile into being...
You are the Zephyr,
That soothes my storm...
You are the catalyst ,
That keeps me vibrant...
You are my euphoria,
That lifts my soul to ecstasy...
You are the power,
I will worship, always, forever...

-

आपका क्या ख़याल है

आपका क्या ख़याल है,
हम बस ख़्वाबों से बुनी हुई
एक ग़ज़ल हैं...

माफ़ कीजिए, जनाब,
हम तो मोहब्बत की एक-एक बूंद से भरा
वो गहरा दरिया हैं,
जिसमें आप डूब तो सकते हैं,
मगर किनारा कभी न ढूंढ पाएंगे...

अगर किनारे की तलाश है,
तो पास भी मत आना,
ये दरिया सिर्फ़ बेइंतेहा डूबने वालों का है...
जो लहरों के संग बहने का हौसला रखते हैं,
जिन्हें मोहब्बत में हारना भी जीत लगता है।

समंदर की गहराइयों से डर लगता हो,
तो साहिल की रेत पर ही रहना,
वरना निराशा का बादल
ज़िंदगी भर छाया रहेगा...

-

Ashes Of Once Was

Tears refuse to dry,
Hopes remain like wilted petals,
You drain me,
You drain my soul.

Love still stays,
The path still calls,
Yet you burn me,
You burn my soul.

Trust stands unbroken,
The bond remains,
But you,
You are no longer here,
Not in my world,
Not in my soul...

-

Unfurling Beyond the Concrete

Unfurl the spirit, unfurl the wings...
Let the heartstrings drizzle...
Like melody....
Melody of sun kissed air,
Melody of quirkiness,
That bestows the zest of quests...
In between the cyclical confines of spider web,
Let the sacred codes immerse..
Put the armour on,
Not to get...but to let go,
Let go of each and everything
Feel that sensation of annihilation,
Abyss to splendor abyss to anguish...
Damn Arcadia....pure Arcadia,
Now dazzle like that infant,
Who can't even do anything,
But fills all the embers with jubilation..
And he himself is the most jubilant,
Free from those concrete haha
Is it only for concrete???
Or the celestial tapestry,
Veiled by that concrete dark!!!

-

The Hollow Pursuit

Pursuit of serenades...
Stripped of melody,
Pursuit of avenues...
Deserted by the roamer,
Pursuit of mortalia...
Drained by it's undying spirit,
Ohh poor Arcadia...!!
Shaking, shackling, sinking...!!!

-

Climbing upon the shimmering tides,
The moon crumbles..
Breathing like a song,
A sigh lost in the waves..
Whose voice sings in the dark?

-

मन का श्रृंगार

तन को तो सजा लोगे,
पर क्या मन को भी?
मन की नयन को भर लो उस सुरमे से,
जो देख सके हर नमी का एहसास,
जो समझ सके हर छुपी बात।

वो नयन ही क्या,
जो आँसुओं की चमक न पहचाने?
श्रृंगार भी क्या करोगे,
जब मन ने सौंदर्य का अर्थ ही न जाना?

जीवन जी लोगे,
कड़वी घूँट को शहद बना कर पी भी लोगे,
पर वो साँस ही क्या,
जो जीवन की रंगोली न समझ सके,
जो हर रंग की गहराई न महसूस करे?

-

Between Here and Now

The river does not ask where it is going,
it simply moves,
carving time into the earth.

The wind does not keep what it carries,
a leaf, a whisper, a forgotten name.
It lets go, always.

I stand still,
watching the world shift around me,
wondering if I am meant
to hold on or flow.

-