@ Anonymous

Who art thou?
Wish I knew
Have you ever
Asked for me too?

Where art thou?
Wish I knew
Have you ever
Searched for me too?

How art thou?
Wish I knew
Have you ever
Thought of me too?

Wish I knew
Who the heck are you!
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I will move on

My years of passion
That I spent writing for you
Have cajoled spirit
To go on devoid of you.

Of years reclusive,
Nothing again I would talk
Even if you ask
With you love, I may not balk.

Loving the same you
Being with the same old clique
But it hurts a lot
When you want to but can’t speak.

I dealt with all that
But I lost to your temper
You asked me to love
But then, I failed to concur
May be I am still a cur.

=============================

Written for 3WW CXXVIII (Cajole, Recluse, Temper)

Tried to follow Choka here; however, the length of the poem may be a concern here.

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The Hunting

She called out, rather shouted at him. She yelled, she growled, she roared to stop him. She wanted to, but could not get up, for she was too weak to do so. He stopped for a moment and looked back. He could see her crying. She was in agony. The pain was increasing with each moment. The pain was getting unbearable. He looked at her one last time, turned back and jumped over the small rock and disappeared into the bushes.

He did not stop. He could not. For all the females in the pride were waiting for him. There was a new flock of zebras coming their way. This was their first chance to get a good hunt after last few weeks of draught. It cannot be ignored. He knew this. Even she knew this, but she wanted him to be by her, may be for the last time. Emotions do not matter at such situations – at least not for the King of the Jungle!

The lionesses moved slowly in the tall yellow dead grasses of the Kalahari, trying to single out an animal of their choice; probably the weakest one and the farthest one from the herd. They camouflaged themselves in the grassy fields and moved silently as if nothing is actually moving. The lion, the head of the pack went ahead swiftly and created his ambush behind the tall crag, away from the cirque. He sprawled in front lying low in the grass. He was the last thing a running animal will see when it nears him. The ambush was well planned and almost impeccable. Two of the females were ahead towards the right of the neck of the herd of zebras and one was in the last, following them. Two more were to the left following the herd as they single out the zebra which was almost at its full age and was limping a bit. Once in eight steps! That was enough for the lionesses to choose it for their meal. Probably a fracture in one of the hind limbs that might have occurred while crossing the vast grasslands; a small twist of the hoof was going to be the reason for his demise now. However, who has the time to think about these now? The lions were hungry. They were on a hunt – hunt for their food. A zebra is a mere meal to them.

The last of the lionesses started the chase. It just ran through the flock in random and bifurcated the whole flock into two. The zebras were all targets at this moment, and having nowhere to hide, they just ran wherever they could. The target zebra was in the left part of the scattered lot. A few moments later the lionesses in the right marched in; a soft march scattering the rest of the flock and covering the object towards the cliff, where the chief was waiting. They did not run into the zebras, they just walked in, saving their energy for the ultimate chase. The zebras were running for life, as the other two lionesses in the left were just following the target keeping their bloody eyes fixed at it. Moments later, they started chasing the zebras in front of them in full pace. The zebras did not know who exactly the target was; probably the target knew it, but could think only to run – run as fast and as far as possible! The lioness that started the chase slowed down and stopped chasing at one point in time. She started walking towards the meeting place – the cliff. As the last few zebras were nearing the cliff, it was time for the two lionesses at the right to maintain the chase. They came out of the grasses and started chasing the one target now. There were four lionesses running behind it now, and it had only one place to heed to – the cliff. That was exactly what the lions wanted and it concurred. It was running directly towards the target area. The four lionesses formed a ‘V’ pattern and chased the poor creature. The formation changed as two of the lionesses at the left slowed down as the zebra paced towards the cliff. It was almost near the perfect point, when the slouching lion jumped with a thunderous roar with paws ready to break the neck of his hunt. The zebra looked up one last time. It could see only two paws and some yellow skin. It breathed last moments after this.

The chase was successful. The hunt was successful. Now, the pack had a good serving for a week at least for all of them, even for the ailing lioness. The ailing lioness! He almost forgot about her amidst the heat of the hunt. She must be waiting for them – for him. He wasted no time. He jumped on the zebra. Jabbed his nails on the chest of the dying animal and cut it into half. He grabbed one part and tore away one of the limbs and took it in his mouth and stepped ahead. He looked back at the pack and everyone got his signal. They tore apart the carcass into pieces and took them in their mouths. The lion started running back to the den as everybody else followed. They ran, as fast as they could for they were failing to match his pace, leading in front. They were tired, they were hungry but they ran.

They reached the den in no time. He could see her lying there; with her eyes searching for him. As he came near, she tried to look up. She could not. He dropped the piece of meat in front of her and sat there. She could see him now. He was breathing heavily – she was breathing heavier! He could see her dying. He tried to smile, but could not. He could not have cried too – and he did not. He put one of his paws in between her paw and head. She rested her head on that. She smiled and closed her eyes. He rested his head on hers. The heavy breathing continued for a long time as he fell asleep in the same posture. The breathing stopped somewhere in between, he could not feel it. When he woke up, the other lionesses were sitting encircling them. He looked at their faces and it told him all. He looked around. The carcass laid there, same place. A few flies were hovering over the meat and a few more over the dead lioness.

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Lets play love again

The true fact remains
You are the one for me, love
Let the game begin
LETS PLAY LOVE AGAIN
Let the game begin
You are the one for me, love
The true fact remains

Linked to: NaisaiKu Challenge IV

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Kiss Me and Leave!

Kill me if I'm wrong
I too don't want to carry on,
Stance that you may take
Should stay intact and not spawn.
My love awaits you
Even my heart would cry too
And I would just stop
Not, to take you out of blue.
Despondent I am
Leave me, I don’t give a damn!
Eager to leave you
And dream of another sham.
Vallate my love with your kiss
Evade me forever, Miss!

Learnt of Choka, here in the Writers Lounge. Tried to couple it with Acrostic Poetry. Not perfectly a Choka, as the total number of lines here are even. Followed the syllable Count: 5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7-7

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I'm in Love

I don’t love you ...
May be I love you like a cool breeze
In a scorching hot noon
Nor to stick to me forever, but
Leave me chilled soon!!
Or like a red rose, amidst
Vigorous schedule
Encouraging me to live and wilt!

Also linked to: Monday Poetry Train Revisited
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Limerick: Horse's tale

There once was a man from Nantucket,
He had a wife too but, just chuck it!
It was his horse that matters
A favorite of the latter's,
Ate her newly bought denim jacket.

Limerick, a new form of poetry writing. Learnt it here, in The Writer's Lounge.
The following link has a good set of Limericks and I'm sure you will love to check it out: Yesterday's Island
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A Love Sublime

She left
And then suddenly,
I felt left alone
Alone again
In the same corner of the world.
There I was
Where I was
Sitting for years all together
Gather nothing with passing time.
I know
I lost
A love sublime!

Linked in Sunday Scribblings #153 - "Listen up because this is important!"

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Haiku: Dark Night

Dark night yet again
The stars twinkling, yet again
Lone Tan, yet again!

I learnt about Haiku here, in The Writers Lounge. A new facet of poetry writing. Loved it too much. I will invite you all to try it. Its nice. Looks simple, but it is not. The above is not my first Haiku. You can find the First set of Haiku I wrote here, posted in the Lounge. I know that Haikus do not rhyme, but the one I posted above did – somehow. Adjust!

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कहाँ हो तुम?

तेरी आँखों में मैं
खो गया हूँ
कुछ इस तरह से
जैसे बादल में खो जाता है चन्द्रमा ।

तेरी होंटों को
छूने की चाहत है
कुछ ऐसा
जैसे वोही मेरे दिलकी है रहनुमा ।

तेरी गेसुओं की तले
रात भर सोना चाहता हूँ
तेरी बाँहों में आके
आँख भर रोना चाहता हूँ,
तुझे ढूंढे मेरी हर साँस
तुझे पुकारे आता जाता हर लम्हा ॥

Sahityika suggested the second stanza to be like this (3/5/09):

तेरे होंटों को
छूने की चाहत है
कुछ ऐसी
जैसे तू ही मेरे दिल की है रहनुमा ।

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Conversation

Cover my face, I don’t want to see
O my friend, what’s happening all around me?
Neither can I sleep at night in peace. Nor
Visualize the agony in the eyes of the broke
Every now and then when I looked around
Rivers of blood are what I found
Sailing on them with flags of terror
Are those brutal who’re killing the hour,
Taking lives of millions of innocents
Igniting upheaval between sister strands -
Organized criminals are enjoying bliss!
Now is the time, to put an end to this.

Visit Acrostic Only for more such Acrostic Poetries...
Dedicated to the Sri Lankan Cricket team; after what has happened today in Lahore!
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How much you love me

Even if you want to go
Even if you would never show
In the deepest of my heart, I will know
HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME
In the deepest of my heart, I will know
Even if you would never show
Even if you want to go

4 More Wonderful NaisaiKus check: NaisaiKu Challenge III

Also posted at: Monday Poetry Train Revisited #17.

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Love You Dear

Let’s share life
Once more
Violating the rules. Now,
Even more

Years passed
Over the edge
Under the same roof

Dealt with life
Every time
And again
Reassessing all proof'!

Crossposted this in The Writer's Lounge on February 23, 2009

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Life Goes On

Inspired from Life Goes On in The Writer's Lounge

Little world
Insufficient friends
Failed relationships
Endless rendezvous

Ghostly appearances
Online chats
Eager weekends
Specious retrospect

Only because
No attachments!

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Good Bye My Friend

As I say good bye
I love you, but I am shy
I hope this is no end
GOOD BYE MY FRIEND
I hope this is no end
I love you, but I am shy
As I say good bye

Catch more awesome posts at: NaisaiKu Challange II

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Heads Or Tails #79 - Case

You can try this at Heads or Tails - Home of the Tuesday Meme

********************************

Shona was bathing in the pond near her house. It is not their own, but since it is in the neighborhood, everyone in her house used to bath in this pond. A fishpond, but habitually used for bathing and washing. Where else would everybody go? They had only two ponds in the village and the other one is strictly used by the fisheries. She dipped in a couple of times and came out. She was about to keep the soap on the rock near her and it just slipped out of her hands and fell into the water. She dipped in again and searched for a long time, but could not retrieve it. She cried, but no one came to her aid, for it was noon and everybody was busy working in the fields. No one had time to search a soap cake in water for this 7 years old kid. She was alone. She was helpless and she was at fault. This is the second soap in two months that her father bought her a soap cake and she lost it. A soap might cost a huge sum and that was the reason father never used to get her one that frequently. Father will be fuming on this and may not buy her any more soap in the future. She has lost her soap now – probably the last one! Her bathing was over.

She cried for a couple of minutes more, but once she realized that there would be no one coming towards her, she stood up. She gathered her wet cloths and started walking back towards home.

“It’s not my fault at all,” she told to herself. “I asked father to bring a soap case along with the soap. He did not bring it last time too. I warned him about this. Maybe, I did. Whatever, but it’s not my fault. It’s his fault that I lost the soap today. I would not cry anymore. Why should I? Even Lailee lost her soap the other day and she borrowed mine. And this time, it’s not my mistake. I’ll ask father to buy me one more soap and this time and a soap case as well – the pink one!” She was confident now and had all the answers to father’s probable questions.

Shona talked to herself all the way home. She was convinced that it was not her liability that the soap was lost. She was even prepared to face her father now and was sure to scold him for not buying her the case. She would not let him escape by scolding her for no fault of her own. After all, the soap was lost for the want of a case!

She looked around as she crossed the fencing around their house. There was no one there; probably the ladies were all asleep and her father was obviously in the field. She crept in silently. She went to the hanging lines and hung her cloths. She paid her regards to the Gods in the small temple and went inside the house. Everybody else was asleep, as she thought. She went to the kitchen and had her lunch. It was almost time to go to play now and she did not waste a single moment to reach Lailee’s house. She had forgotten about the soap totally by now.

She came back before dusk, cleaned herself and took out her books. She sat on the mat with a bowlful of puffed rice mixed with onions and some mustard oil. It was almost dark and she had to use the lantern. She has just started learning the alphabet and it was fun for her. Everything was so new and funny. No one in the house could read any of those symbols there. If it would not have been for her selfless teaching, her father would not have been able to recognize anything from that book. She was proud because of that and used to put a lot of effort while studying and teaching. She had almost finished the alphabet now and would start learning the digits in some days. She was very happy. She took out the book and started to read the letters on top of her voice.

“Shonaaa…” Her father called her aloud once he entered the premises of the house. She ran out of the house and leaped on him, as any other good evening. The very touch of her father sunk something deep inside her. She remembered the soap! Oh! All her happiness disappeared. She felt vanquished. All her thoughts of self confidence vanished. She was in her father’s arms – the safest place in the world she knew; but that could not stop her from howling out! She grabbed her father with both hands; as tightly as possible and broke into tears. Father kept on asking what happened but did not get a reply. She kept on shedding tears as he was holding her close to him. She cried and cried more and when she was tired, she slept – all the time in her father’s arms. After a long time when there was no more sound and no more tears on his shoulders, the father realized that Shona was asleep. He shook her a little and got no response. He took her to the bed and slowly but carefully laid her down. Just before he left her, two words came out of her mouth, which made no sense to him, “Soap Case.”

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Shadow Dancing

She stood there in the cold
Hiding her shivering hand,
All alone, by herself
Digging down into the sand.

On her mind there is me
Whether she likes it or not,
Deep down inside her heart
And in whatever she has got!

Now tides were touching her feet
Cold, as cold as it would be
In the middle of nowhere,
Nelly was standing, thinking of me
God! That’s where I wanted to be.

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A Rainy Encounter

It was another Monday and he knew not what to do. The morning was broken and no Sun rose. Dark clouds covered the sky like a thick blanket. A few beams of light came out from here and there but could never match the sunshine he had yesterday. The sip on the cup of tea was bleak – it tasted like syrup and looked like mud water. He kept the cup aside and stood up from the easy chair. He removed the yellow dirty curtains with his shivering hands and moved out in to the verandah. The indoor plants there were still wet from the late night drizzle and so were the streets down. He held the railings tightly and looked up once again towards the sky.

Drops of pearl are hiding
Behind the blanket of cloud
The glacier of rains
Not moving but shouting aloud.

Go away, O cloud great,
Let there be sunshine,
Let the rays pierce my heart
And reach this soul of mine.

No, it would not rain soon, he thought. Is it good time to go out? He looked at his watch, probably for the tenth time this morning and it tells the same time. It was time to sit back at home and get more bored. He turned back towards the door of the verandah and leaned backwards on the railings. He took out the small linen piece to clean his spectacles, again for the tenth time probably. It was shining like gold by now. He cleaned it once more and went inside.

He turned on the TV to see if there was anything interesting. Astha Channel! Damn! There is nobody home today. He need not pretend to be watching this freaking channel anymore. He turned on the Sports Channel. WWF – yeah, the program to watch now. He liked this fat man in red and white, but could not recall his name. Whatever, he was good – he thrashed those two bulldogs the other day and it was fun to watch. Let’s see what he does today to this bear in yellow.

“साब, मैं जाऊँ?” (“Sir, may I go?”) the maid enquired. She has always been so nice to him. Always ready to serve him the way he wants. She’s probably the only person in the world who takes good care of him. Probably an ‘achhut’ (untouchable) – pretty dark, tall and exposing! She must be in her late twenties. She has all those immature gestures of that age. Probably unmarried too, but he never had the guts to ask her. These people do not clad that way too, so you cannot just tell if they are married just by looking at them.

“साब, अब मैं जाऊँ?” (“Sir, may I go now?”) the maid enquired again. Damn!

“सिउली, बेठ न थोडी देर. घर में कोई नही है. थोडी देर बय्ठ्के चली जाना.” (“Shiuli, stay for some time. There is no one in the house. Stay for some time and then go.”)

“साब, दूसरी जगह भी जाना है.” (Sir, I need to go to another place too.)

“अभी, अभी जाना है?” (“Do you need to go right now?”)
“हम्म, नही. थोडी देर बय्ठ्के जाती हूँ.” (“Hmm, no. I shall stay for some time.”)

She sat near him, alongside his easy chair. He felt anxious. She was sitting so close to him that he almost could smell her sweat. He hoped that it starts raining and never stops now.

Rain now,
As if you never did
Wash away the earth along
For, it’s you now, whom I need!

Rain hard,
As long as you want to,
Don’t ask me why, now
Just that I want you.

He could easily feel that Shiuli did not take much interest in wrestling. So, he gave the remote to her and asked her to select a channel she would like to watch. She took the remote with a tiny leap, but then looked back at him as if asking permission. He smiled at her and winked. She was all smiles. Could not read much though, but she was happy getting this unexpected privilege. She browsed through the channels and finally held on to a Hindi movie channel which was showing a not-so-new movie on it. Shiuli seems to be enjoying.

He could not look at her directly, even if he wanted to. He tried to move within his chair as far as possible, but could not get a glimpse of her. He moved again and again in quick succession, but still Shiuli’s beautiful face was away from him. He could feel the togetherness and the proximity, not knowing if Shiuli was feeling the same. He did not care for that. He was trying to get as close as possible, in his own way, from within the boundary of the easy chair.

“गोविंदा मेरा सबसे मनपसंद हीरो है साबजी. आपको भी अच्छा लगता है?” (Govinda is my favorite hero, Sir. Do you like him too?”)

He came out tearing through the spell of her beauty.

“हाँ, हाँ क्यों नही. बहोत अच्छा है. और कौन अच्छा लगता है तुझको?” (“Yes, why not? Whom else do you like?”)

“गोविंदा, शाहरुख़, अमिताभ और सलमान. आपको?” (“Govinda, Shahrukh, Amitabh and Salman. And who’s your favorites?”)

“हाँ, मुझे भी.” (“Yes, I too like them.”)

It started to rain outside. It was drizzling, but now it was heavy – just what he wished for. Shiuli was getting more relaxed and friendly with him. She let go the knot in her hair and let it loose. A subtle fragrance filled the atmosphere. He could feel it – more with every breath he took. At times, she would catch hold of the leg of the easy chair and would shake it. The sudden movement would set a chilling feeling in his spine. He was very excited – a feeling of freedom and mischief was filling his mind. He was about to ask her to close the door to the verandah when she looked up at the wall clock.

“मर गयी साब! नौ बज गया. मुझे दूसरी जगह भी जाना है.” (“Oh My God Sir! It’s 9 o’clock now. I need to go to another place too.”)

“चली जाना. ये फ़िल्म तो खतम करले.” (“Finish this film and go.”)

“नही साब. मुझे अभी जाना होगा. घर में मेरा एक साल का एक बच्चा भी है. अकेला है वो. मुझे अभी जाना होगा.” (“No Sir. I need to go now. I have left my one year old kid back home. It is alone. I need to leave now.”) With these words, she stood up and started to tie her hair.

He was dumbstruck! He never saw that coming, not from any direction he could think of. He felt lost. He felt selfish. He felt weird and shitty. Ashamed! He knew not how to react. A weird feeling filled his head and the feeling moved down through the throat and chest and reached his stomach. It was almost aching! He sat straight in the easy chair, trying to relax. He was breathing heavily – almost audible. He wanted to walk up to the door and open the door by himself, but could not even stand up. His heart was sinking and he could feel it. He could utter no word.

Rain O rain,
Stop pouring!
Take a break and stop for sometime
Let her reach her goal. Then rain again!

The downpour slowed down. Shiuli left, not before reminding him of the glass of milk and his medicines. He raised his right hand as if he promised her to have those on time. She locked the door behind her and threw the key from beneath the door. He need not move towards the door. He could not. He was too ashamed to have looked at her again or to move any further. He sat there for I-don’t-know-how-long. The delicate scent of her body, hair and sweat prevailed, but he could not feel it anymore.

He stood up holding his knees. He walked up to the door to the verandah, removed the curtains and leaned on the railings. He remembered today to be another Monday morning. He ardently hated this time every week for four years, since the time he retired. It was not raining anymore, but the streets down were all wet. He looked up in despair. I am not sure, but probably he cried – for one last time!

A feeling so impure
I felt today,
I would shed tears, but then
Laugh, you may.

What would you do there?
Come down and pour on me
Drench me, soak me and clean me
O Cloud great, I pray to thee…

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