moult

the old self

is wearing off

it no longer fits.

strangers

everyday faces
lock me up 

I'm hungry
for one I know

trickster

big-eyed child
honesty won't

get you too far

learn to lie
just a little bit
to find your way.

keith jarret

he fills you up
growing from
your head
down your spine
waking up
sleeping nerves
playing a little
tune on them
finding the
tips of your toes
racing through hormones
fuller and fuller
tipping lightly
this way, that way
tripping delight
let's go
bounce with bud now.

western ghats

great gushing
torrents of water
pour over the hillside
thundering, roaring

in other places
rippling streams
run crystal clear
through muddy green

fresh smell of eucalyptus
blue beds of kurinji
dark-leaved coffee
neatly pruned tea

dense forests
echo with the sounds
of crickets, frogs
shhh! listen

wild eyes
glow at night
creatures, large and small
roam their territory

the morning light
exposes some stories
tiger scat,
deer hair and bone

but the forest
constantly nourishes
new life - purple frogs
flower buds

birds, snails
a butterfly here
and other beings
well-protected from human eye

every rain replenishes
this moss underfoot
thick canopy
nurtures life overhead

you, carefully tucking away
your treasures
like a lady would
money in her saree-blouse

you, the mother
giving, yet
guarding in your embrace,
breathing, awake.

6089

the train slows down

pulling into

katpadi station

look, brahmapuram

watch from the window

VIT, lit up at night

in that unavoidable

silencing awe

girls walking back

to C, D, E blocks

with late slips

shadows under the shades

men's hostels

twin buildings

little squares glow

digital-like

a story living

in each light

but a story

different from yours.

chennai

brown gunny bags
piled on the platform
emanate a strong,
humid smell of fish

auto annas
dark, suspicous faces
and prices, you timidly say
yevalo?

city of bargains
saravana bhavans
roundtanas
and crowded subways

take the train
to ooru suthufy
cramped sweaty bodies
and the relief of footboard-breeze

lighthouse beach
sand in between toes
fisherman, burger man
boy with a monkey

old british houses
stand beside urban aparments
wide roads, lined with
a variety of vendors

colleges teeming with activity,
jro, saarang
students shopping at spencer's
and landmark, four!

home to kalakshetra,
music academy
the hindu
and nalli's

pondy bazaar,
glittering, reflecting the heat
filter coffee
in tumbler and dabarah

busy, colourful
dendritic streets converge
into mount road
the spine

the city, actually,
a large, peaceful village
a melting pot
in the sweltering heat.

unwant

offer me no comfort

I'm afraid

I might start seeking it