inexhaustible

what a layered personality you are 

peel peel peel

and there's something new on offer 

you're inexhaustible 

show me more 

Nothing

days strung together

tightly, like nylon on a guitar 

fingers strumming 

fret after fret 

slightly out of tune 

time goes by 

fingers drumming 

on a table, waiting 

for another moment to go by 

another insignificant nothing 

an open window 

a bee buzzing

drawing zigzag patterns  

seeking sweet, sweet nectar 

but this room is empty 

 

a humid evening

​dragonflies humming 

the air heavy, holding back  

promises of something 

that's not going to happen today 

a sky full of stars

a cricket chirping  

smoke rises in circles  

fading into the darkness 

that was today 

confession

this is my confession to you 

of how much of you 

i love and admire 

i want so much of you 

but i only want that
which nobody else has 

and me wanting that 

will ruin

what we have now 

trapped

trapped by boundaries 

trapped because you're limited

trapped because you're only 

something in a container

trapped because you don't matter 

in the enormity of the universe 

trapped because you're an inconsequential speck

hardly capable of moving mountains

trapped by restlessness

a desperate, wanting, 

fiery, seeking soul

stifled inside your body 

 

but wait oh look 

a window of escape

a train ticket, an open field 

a dog licking your face

a tiny hand in yours

a note of appreciation

a winding road through 

that unbudging mountain

a warm embrace

a snail on a leaf 

a changing season

something beautiful, beyond reason

trapped between the 

beginning and the end

trapped by the fact that

this is all we know

who knows what's gone before 

and what will come after 

maybe this is our shot at freedom

keepsake

​let me not deny myself

​o​f what I feel for you

​l​et me feel the agony

​o​f wanting what i can't have

​s​o that tomorrow ​
​when ​i​ get over this

​i​ will remember what it was like

​t​o be so in love with you 

aging

​i don't want to be younger

i don't wish to turn back time 

look how far i've come 

i've grown so much 

​i'm wiser, i'm sillier ​

​i​t's okay either way

i don't want to be a child,
​i don't want to be a number

i'm happy where i am 

a point in the journey 

​of unspecified duration 

indispensable

so hard I try
to make myself indispensable
so easily
you dismiss me

brimming

my love for you
is like a pillow
bursting at the seams

i carry this around every day
waiting for an chance 
to explode and fill the room with feathers

happy

how willing we are to settle for "happy"
what a peculiar choice to make

when we can feel ecstatic
when we can feel breathtaking exhilaration
when we can feel life-affirming hope

when we can feel inexplicable angst
when we can feel numbing pain
when we can feel so hopelessly in love

and yet we want to settle
for a measly little slice of happy

liberation

aren't we all 

a bit like caged beasts 

confined by closed spaces

but equally lost in the endless vastness

bound by 

all that we know

and dwarfed by the 

things we don't

who knows what 

what true freedom is

or liberation  

if it exists at all 

it must be in finding a purpose

all consuming

a something that keeps you alive 

chase

if the thrill of the chase
is better than the catch 
then one has to keep running 

fantasy

you light a spark
and i fan my feelings
until it becomes a raging fire 

you say yes 

and I drop all my defences

baring all for you to see 

you say a word

and i add plenty more

to weave beautiful stories 

you drop a hint

and i foolishly believe

that i'm in love 

how i love these fantasies 

in my head 

that don't exist in your reality 

Distance

​I've seen the most beautiful sunsets

from rooftops, trains and window seats

Streaks of blood that slowly soak up the sky

spreading into a gentle wash on a watercolour canvas

I've seen birds journey home in geometric patterns

Their cries filling the evening air

Mingled with the sounds of kids playing street cricket 

A strangely chaotic yet calming dusk

I've seen the sun lower itself below the city skyline

Disappearing bit by bit, through electricity wires 

Leaving an empty sky, save a kite here and there

And maybe an early moon

I've seen your eyes reflect my thoughts

And I want to share this little space, this slot of time, with you 

Maybe this sunset, maybe a million 

If only time were that generous

Stand with me on the terrace of this house

Watch the evening birds make their way home

Stay with me in this beautiful moment

Even as it disappears bit by bit

Into a something we will remember once in a while

In our own separate worlds 

As we watch, from rooftops, trains and window seats 

The sun melt away 

the distance between us  ​

breaking point

look at that cloud

heavier and heavier it gets

stealing a little bit 

from the sun, every day 

until it's completely blotched out

carry an umbrella around warily

you never know when 

it's going to burst

a cloudburst , they say 

you know when it's coming

there's an ocean within 

about to erupt 

giant drops fall noisily

one by one

at my feet

from my cheek 

perfect

so little I know of you
maybe that's why
you are so perfect

journey

i'd like to go 

on a nice long train ride

through the network of your brain 

navigate through 

criss-crossed thoughts

discover secrets,

surprises and grey areas

let me roar through

steep mountains, dark tunnels 

and fertile fields of red and gold 

and ease up 

at dimly-lit abandoned stations 

nobody else cares to stop at 

look, do you see 

that cat on the platform? 

curious eyes watch 

from underneath the magazine-cart 

the door's open, 

let me stand here

and watch the sky form 

long streaks of motion blur

slow down, you say 

and patterns start to emerge

as the engine pulls into a new place

in anticipation 

of conversations over

steaming hot cups of chai 

and the promise

of exploring

uncharted waters 

the signal reflects

the fiery setting sun

it's time to get off here.

privilege

a shiny new car

a new shirt from the mall 

see, want, buy -- things we don't need 

but would like to have

the lightness of easy spending 

the buoyancy of affordability 

does it really make up 

for the guilt of privilege

that rests heavy

unbudging

art

a poetic verse
drowning in the sound 

of a crowd talking among themselves

an elaborate illustration 

lost on the walls

of a dirty, stinking subway

a beautiful song

trying to make its presence felt

among train announcements

a grey photograph

subdued by the loud

angry neon billboard 

a profound comic

dying in the noise of 

Instagram feeds

a rich voice

singing to the stars

in the middle of the desert

extraordinary works

undiscovered stories 

overshadowed by busy daily lives 

why bother at all 

to create a piece of art 

what is it worth? 

revival

delicate little

herb plant

you died overnight

leaves droop

and hang over 

the side of the pot

i add some water

in the hope that maybe

tomorrow you will revive yourself

and in the morning,

i find a miracle

replenished again, you're doing fine

if only this worked

for everyone.  

decisions

perhaps there are no right

and wrong decisions

perhaps there is only

a slot of time