The Ballad of the One Who Stayed

I watched "The Lunchbox" recently and was reminded of this write here, called "The Nit Picker's Ballad", which I then shared on my Facebook Wall. That in turn brought me a couple of requests for a different ending... or the extrapolation of the narrative with a different ending. Here goes :)

On the shores, bereft, he stood
(Though it should be she
He having left at her honesty
At her gift of love)

Gazing long at the loyal waves
That came back again and again
Asking him, beseeching sometimes
To find his peace.

He was young, they seemed to say
Love will come around,
Their quiet murmur consoled
The soft splash had nothing to do
Really, with the twin trails of tears
That found their way down his eyes.

Oh no! Not love. Not forever.
He knew they did not exist.
It was a lesson he was taught.

But.
A niggling doubt, a tiny seed sown
By her yearning eyes. Her silent plea.
By her unshed tears, and brave smile
As she watched him back away.
As she watched, and did not cling.
Did not pursue. 

Was he wrong?
Must he unlearn?
He would try, he had to try
He knew.
Else there would be no way
To ease the agony of his heavy heart.

Back he went, his footprints
Erased by each happy wave
That egged him on, to seek, to love
Then hold on, and never give up
Or give in, to the
Traitorous thoughts that reneged
On faint promises made to himself!

He followed, swift, the trail of wet prints
In the soft moist sand, landwards
Till he came upon her, seated
Knees drawn up, chin on knee
A faraway sadness enveloping...
In the shadows of her thoughts,
And the small fishing boat!

May I sit? hesitant, he asked.
Mute, she nodded.

May I simply hold your hand?
His voice trembled as he asked.

I couldn't stand for you to then leave, she said
I won't, a soft whisper from him, if you'll let me stay.

Let you stay? When did I ask you to leave?You walked, away, away...And will you, again? she did not look at him
As her pain reached out and pierced his heart.

I couldn't leave, I couldn't leave...
I went away, but couldn't leave, Hoarsely he repeated over and over...

There were loveless shores of such emptiness
He'd wandered, that he knew, unlearned,
And learned yet again...

Trust or not, Love or not,
Forever or not...
His survivor's heart needed her saviour's heart...

And as they simply held hands
Leaned into each others' love,
A flash of insight struck his mind -
He who was doomed to wander ever
Would now find safe harbour

In his sails wafted promises of another day
Another moment, another soul
To love, to be loved.

How glad he was
He chose to stay!

Online, 29 June, 2014

Under 500 words. :D

The Queen of His Heart...

... and a princess in mine, no less
That is my younger DIL
(love the way it reads too, in Hindi,
That's Neeti, for you!

Lovely, lissome, with a sense of humour,
Wit that cracks me up whenever, wherever it cracks :D
A generosity of the heart;
Empathy, deep and sincere!

These are her gifts
Ones she shares unconditionally!

She is undoubtedly, the only
One
Who can tame the Lion
With just a word, a hush
A look!

When all the Mother Lioness can do
Is flail, roar as loud as he
Not to mention, sulk - Lion-size
Just as he!

But she? Oh no!
All she needs is say
Why, A---, Why!

The clouds lift
The frown fades
The smiles return
The Queen, she has quite

Charmed the beast.

Absolutely no quarrel on that!

My dearest gurl
The day you found him
And so us, is when, truly
We've managed to get a lid
On the tetchy and till-then confounding
Situation that arises
When two Leos refuse to back down

Ah, yes, both those aforesaid Leos
Love 'Never Back down'
And so they don't!

You know, of course, exactly what happens
When that happens!

No more, Thank God!

No more!

From the movies to the songs
We've shared and enjoyed
Slices of dialogues we gorged on-
"I'm a gooo gurl I am..."
And the epicness of RDJ...

Wooohoooo, gurl!
Is what you make me say!

There's an uncanny sense of
Sweet sorority, not really maternity
I feel, you know?

You know.

(Now, your Lion's going to have to figure that one out)

There are soulmates, in our friends
In the everydayness of familiarity
In the anticipations we hold
With those we love...

Though, especially,
When they aren't family!

It's never been that way, with you
You're an alter ego;
Someone who's so me, sometimes
That it's a joy
A reaffirmation, if you wish
Of my belief
There does exist, an alter-ego

And, Lo!

She can be family too!

Though, perhaps, too much, there is, then, of us?
Let me hoot a bit here
(I know you're joining me, as you read)

My dearest Neetikutty
Let me this day wish you

Pretty promises that come true

Dreams fulfilling, Monsters running!

Loads of love to envelop you
Linked arms and hearts to catch you
Each time you think
The bottom's going to fall out!

May you be strong, and healthy
May the joys abound
May the goodness of faith protect you
And

May you always find love.

Always, but always... and then some more.

We love you, dear one!

Happy Birthday!

(26 August, 2013, through 27 August, 2013)
For 30 August, 2013 :)

Young, Ever!

With you, beside me,

Love, hope, and an open mind -

Young, I'll always be! 

20 August, 2013

Written for the prompt, 'Age', (link)  at the recently discovered blog, Haiku Heights (link)

The blog tells you about Haiku writing, and several samples are there for sheer enjoyment, and for practise as well! More on Haiku writing, given on this blog, here. (link)

Falling in love with Haiku writing, all over again :)

A Woman ...

Am I, am I.
And glad of it. 

I'm Daddy's Girl, still Growing Up
And I wonder if I'll ever be
The Right Age :)

I'm that Little Girl yet
Who hasn't given up on dreams,
And Carousel Rides :)

I wish I was stronger.
But then I might give
Mr. World a run for his money.
Thank you. I am happy this way :D
For now. :P

I've lived Sepia Dreams And coloured them bright :)
I have my reasons and seasons
And most times, I am defiant :D

Today, too, like other days
I celebrate me. And you....
All of you, who be humane ...
Who loves and respects another,
Especially a woman; for then,

You truly live. 

8 March, 2013
Wishing every reader here, both men and women the best of the day, and of life, as you walk through the world, sharing your respect for everyone, especially women. Happy Women's Day.
And for a change, I shall not excuse myself for a self-aggrandizing post, linky linky one at that :D

Listened to, as the first song of the day, "Woman" by John Lennon. Magic :)

Nit-Picker's Ballad

On the loveless shores of dissatisfaction
He wanders, dark and sombre.
She said she loved him, you see.
And he wonders why.

You, the reader, would now smell a skunk.
You don't? You're supposed to. There!
Why does he wonder why! Because, you think?
Fine. But why?

He wonders, that's why.
Now, why he should, does it matter at all?
No, you think? Why not, I ask.

Walking the shores, with promises of love
Given endless dreams, and lustrous hopes
A hand held warm, a heart cosseted gently
Why would he wonder? Why should he?

But then he is that alter ego of everyman
The one that never takes on trust, 
The one that fell foul of love
The one who found no love within. 

And yet that one, too, is he
That quietly stood, and braved the angst
When she lost her mooring.
Gathered her when she was washed ashore
From a tumultuous voyage, bereft, and battered.
She knew. Though he did not.
Saviour he was not. Survivor, he was.
As was she. 

A pause to this tale, here now;
To tell you how love, it creeps upon you.
Perhaps to envelope, perhaps to smother,
But always to fill each pore, till replete it is.
And so it was, with her. She knew.
And so it was, with him. He did not.

So there comes, then, this moment:
Survivor to survivor; the honesty of a heart,
The unfathomable depths of utterance
And the incomprehensible betrayal of the ear. 

She confessed. He ran.
In circles, on that loveless shore afore mentioned.
What then? The storyteller is asked.
What then? And you wait with bated breath.
Willing a fairy tale to happen.
Knowing that some things are never to be. 

Will he stay?
Will she accept, then?

But ah! The threads, they dissemble, the weave fragmented...
And the spell of the storyteller is broken.
He sighs. His gnarled fingers wrap themselves around his staff.
And on, he plods. 

Thinking, dreaming, of what could have been.
Had he stayed. 

1 March, 2013
Online, on yet another silly line of thought :)

The Unbearable Lightness... (due apologies to Milan Kundera :) )

The trembling within
Knowing, just across the room
You look at me
With smoky warm eyes
Radiating...
Oh! Oh my!
Why does it feel like
I'm mere molten mass?

It's like our fingers simply brushed
Walking alongside;
Whisper soft brushing,
A sleeve here, a wrist there
And fingers - Oh! Oh my!

And then we stop
Together - unplanned
Seemingly deliberately. 

The world fades
Into that poetic moment
That the mad crave
That delicate, perfect solitude.
Of us.

And I don't need more
Just the cloak of your arms-
As I do - you.
Toes touching
Wrapped in feeling feather soft 

And we become
This poem.

21 September 2012

(Mush and goo; blame it on a playlist that made it happen :D) 
And the icing was that wonderful link that Shilpa shared that says more than this write will!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-50-most-romantic-photographs-of-all-time

Wedded - A Haiku in Celebration :)

Merging my soul in

Yours, I’m lost: only to find

Completeness in us.

19 April, 2012

For 29 June, 2012, when they got married!

Off-stage

And when the last show has been done
And the curtain falls, one last time, on the night
And the stage, abandoned, except for those who
Lurk on the edges, undoing the glorious garb it wore

When, the people slowly pour out, in the
First great wave, than a trickle, as the flow
Is damned, in loud, then hushed riposte
If ever you could, hushed...

When only your other self, that wowed remains
Ethereal, formless on the emptied stage
You sigh.
The high, of having been that form
The regret of now leaving it behind
And always, the yearning.

Why did it have to end?

11 February, 2012

Quest(ion)ing

I work with words

Work around them

Turn them inside out,

Sometimes invert them

Within themselves...

Split each one, tear limb from limb

And share their screaming silences

Or their silent laughter

With innocence writ large in confounded

faces

Sometimes, again, with blasé bored shut down faces. 

Sometimes, I see them dancing, hanging playfully

Below the ceiling, creeping in through windows

Where a stray eye streaks out to escape the 

Stifling metaphor that coagulates her brain...

And at question time, I wonder at the looks:

Ask, and eyes vacantly hunt upwards, 

Seeking the selfsame words I tried to give them

Only they indifferently ignored them... :)

And now, I see them, there, tantalizingly hovering

Playing hide and seek, as the questing eyes

Cast upwards...

Quest(ion)ing...

How I love that about them!

31 January, 2012

(Live in Class today :))

Happy Day Haiku :) (For the Sailor Who Took Home a Poem :) )

True blue to your club

Truer yet, to your glowing bride!

Happy Day, her Cap'n!!!

Happy Birthday, Arjun S. Kumar! May the sweet joy of this day permeate the rest of the year! God Bless!

23 December, 2011
For 28 December, 2011


(Title tagline, credit to Sachin Stalin who titled the album of Arjun's and Sashu's wedding pictures, thus :) )

Forgotten?

In daily consciousness
Is oblivion-
Memories to negate.
For, what lies in sight
And impinges upon the ear
Oft, are we blind and deaf to.


In forgotten realms
Abutting that consciousness-
Is that where you place me?
Hovering on the fringe
Of your knowing?


Of course, not consciously.
But in off hand negligence
Living the taken-for-granted
Cliché.


I desist, though. And will
Resist. 
Willing myself 
To hammer against that wall
(Clear as glass and just as hard)
Of accidental denial.


Waiting for the pane
To shatter.
So that I can
Yet again, redeem you.





13 December, 2011






Fishing, again :D

Death Smiles [Tanka in Tandem]

The beautiful rose

Tall, vain, proud- but now slain, lies

Picture-perfect on

The coffin of her mistress,

Whose hand fed that vanity!

Death waits and smiles in

Irony – the beautiful rose

Tall and proud, now his

Prize: another soul to take

Away – unexpected Gift!


30 April, ‘07
(Pictures from : scholez18.blogspot.com ; www.guardian.co.uk)




***
(I read this beautiful poem by Somkritya, here, which made me want to repost this tanka, from a collection of them posted way back, called Tantalizing Tanka :D)

Tanka, like Haiku, is again a form of Japanese Lyric Poetry.

[As you know by now, :) ] A Haiku works with 17 syllables arranged in 3 lines of 5/7/5 syllables to each line, and evokes an aspect of nature and the seasons, with the last line holding the punch so to speak.

Tanka on the other hand gives the writer more space to work with – 31 syllables, arranged in 5 lines of 5/7/5/7/7 syllables each. Tanka is an older form of the lyric in Japanese… dating to 13 centuries ago, while Haiku is just about 3 centuries ago..

Tanka was mainly written between lovers, as society had accepted the fact that a man’s dallying with another woman, other than his wife was normal!! After the man departed early in the morning, he would send a Tanka to his lady love with his message of love..

Aftermath

In splintered glass

Its shards - sharp, silently

Holding the shrieks

Deeply felt, unexpressed...

When mirrored hearts

Unable to take the

Screaming pitch of 

Untold grief

Simply shattered.

Broken pieces of emotion

Jagged ends of pain

Liquid molten ooze

To soothe the 

Calamitous infinite moment

That endless eternal moment

I never thought

I'd recover from.

The splintered glass

And shards

Mirrored again-

Multiple hues

Myriad dreams

From whole to parts

Complete in each

Broken incompleteness.

All is not lost.

Each minute dream

Grows rich again.

Each reflected colour

Promises life again-

Each sliver, on it's own

Finds itself again...

Life, it still has

Meaning.

2 August, 2011

(Written while supervising the senior children writing their poetry, on the theme, "Life, it still has meaning". :D)

For You, Neeti :)

Lovely, lissome
And always on the
Brink of Laugher

Charming Grace
Quiet understanding-
Great company on a
Binge of fun and frolic!

Resonating wavelenghts
With the empathy of knowing-
The said, more, the unsaid :)

Daughter Dear-
You are joy, you are light :)
And you are wished dearly
This day...






May God Bless you
Abundandtly
With Love and Success...
May your fount of hope
Never run dry :)
May the brightest colours
Of your Dreams
Weave themselves into
The tapestry of
Happiness, and blessings, always :) :)

Happy Birthday, Neeti :)

30 August, 2011

(The previous post on this page is for Ashwin, my second born, to whom this daughter of mine, Neeti, is engaged :) :) Nicey nice :) :) )

Manoeuvres

Adroitly
I sidestepped
The Question;

I’m not ready
Yet,
To respond,
I mumble.

Fearful, I peek
Between my lashes.

I can feel you
Withdrawing,
I think; and
Miserably wait.

I know, of course
I cannot hold out,
Either.

So why don’t I
Just give in to
A natural progression?

Adroitly, yet,
I sidestep, and
Refuse myself.

Warm hands
Cup my face,
Lifting it gently.

Looking into his eyes,
I know, I am blessed!

For, it’s there-
The unconditional patience;
The unwavering faith;
The rock like strength.

That you let me
Be me-
That is your greatest strength,
And my loving weakness!

And I cannot help,
But surrender!




20 March, 2008

Golden

Rich harvests they say
Come from careful tending
Golden grain, smiling with promise
The fruit of sheer love. Mirrored across!

Careful tending, such as
Only you can do.
Together, concerned.
Loving, protective.

Watering with endless encouragement
Pruning, gently, when needed
Watching over with pride
Each stalk, each leaf, tenderly.

Stepping back, so that they could
Soak the sun, be part of it,
Stand upright, all on their own.
Their own. Yours. Ever. Always.

And steeped in a heavenly glow
As would a hallowed halo
Still there, bound in a
Circle of love, enveloped in golden sheen.

Dearest Mummy and Daddy
You're wished from our hearts
Filled with love, by your own.
Your very own. Us all!

Happy Golden Anniversary-



Dad and Mom
There's Viju, and Vinu
And me, Trips and Anu...
Archie, Arun, Lakshmi n Kiru n Chotu and Kunju...
Not to forget... awww... achudu
Malu, Appu, Paru, Kuttan and Chinnu!

Remember, your family adores YOU!

2 December, 2010
(on a wave of sheer inspiration, in school :D!)
(For 7th December, celebrating our parents' fifty years of togetherness!)
Psst... if you came here first, perhaps you'd like to go across to "Overdrive", my other blog, where I have another one for them there, called "Golden Moments" :)

My Pride of Lions or, The Fantastic Foursome :)

He's right up there, with the best of the Kings

Just a hard-headed Ram, but like his lion brothers, he sings :)

Caring, relaxed, wordy, wise,

With, nerves, chilled with ice :)

Now this one's a Lion, I knew it from the first

Twinkling eyes, a smile and cheer, on the brink, to burst

To punch a line, wholesome, wondrous and witty :)

In a flash, no less, he gets right to the nitty gritty :)

The next, a pretty one, of the zodiac of twins, whom everyone heeds

Perhaps not a lion, but the Pride, she undoubtedly leads :)

Dainty, demure, incisive, and more so, the stronger

She, well, they certainly don't want to mess with her!

All the while, with them ahead, he bided his time

Quiet growls, that grew to roaring, his signature chime

His is the Heart, he wears on his Van Heusen sleeve,

His smile, the sweetest, his will, I have faith in, and believe!

My Fantastic Foursome, that's who they are

Nestlings mine, they've flown to lands distant,and far!

Each a delight, each so dear and sorely missed

God's grace and blessing, they're always wished!

3 October, 2010

Salute!

Simplicity redefined
Refined to excellence!

A living symbol of
I am, you are;
Live fully
Let others do the same!

Yours are the strong arms
That first held us -
Led us, supported us
Guided us.

Hands that we now hold
Up, for all to see-
Strong, callused, dependable
Daddy's hands.

A heart that holds
More than words could ever tell
That goes beyond empathy
That makes you
His own.
A heart that knows
Only to love.
Daddy's heart.

In the universe of that love
Held close to your heart
In the circle of those capable hands

Daddy

We rest secure
Because we're yours Daddy.
And proudest ever
To be so!

The love and strength
Will ever be all
The precious treasure
We ever need

With you by our side
Not a care in the world...

Because, Daddy, you're the best!!!

9 September, 2010

The Blessed Touch!

In the gap-toothed smile
Or perhaps the brightening twinkle
In eyes, brimming with laughter!



In the brush of tender fingers
Wanting to hold your work callused hands
Or a wet slobbering kiss
Planted on an unsuspecting cheeks



A sudden hug
Strangulating from behind?




Or a trusting drowsing face, tucked into
The nape of your neck
Curled into you, cuddling softly...

Have you been blessed today
With the butterfly touch of a child?






15 August, 2010

The images have all been googled and taken from different webpages :) All of those beautiful pictures belong solely to the owners :) :)