I, Bemused

Photo – Ajay S Nabial

I, Bemused

A tingle down his delicate spine
At the bemused birds in the screens
Wary he is of their gaze  
Following him persistently

Though tempted, he restrains
From testing the others’ mettle
Strangers they are, but peaceful
So the calm remains unsettled

Too much for his friend to fathom
In readiness to flee the adventure
He’ll claim to have held his nerve
But his visage waylays the assertion

Winter..

Auli in Winter – Ajay S Nabial

Winter

Lazy mornings
when sunrise was unwelcome
but the sun rays all pervasive
and through squinted eyes we saw
earth bathed in splendor of the first sunrays
And morning dew atop flowers
And frost atop surfaces where sunlight was rare

Winter evenings
of dreamy purple, crimson skies
that met the ‘winter line’ at the horizon
as light ceded an ephemeral kingdom to dark
“so early, the evening,” I sigh
silence engulfed the world at large
as ‘we’ sat around the fireplace
with tea for comfort
and my dog snuggling at my feet

Sleepless spent I
many a winter nights, my imagination
 at the mercy of howling winds
And I confess they haven’t
 ceased to scare me

The wait
for winter’s first snowfall
sudden calm that preceded it
squeals of delight that welcomed it,
Momentary peace that pervaded our souls
as snowflakes descended gracefully
on oak and pine, declaring them subjects
until their branches drooped in submission

….And all smiles were rosy faces

Confidant..

Photo – Ajay S Nabial

Confidant

The flight to guarded optimism
Was a trying pilgrimage
You’ve unflinchingly shared
The burden, rightfully mine
Like the monsoon showers
You’ve been a consistent experience
When one turns to a confidant
To ease the suffering,
I hope he is in your likeness.

***

Old Friends…

Photo - Ajay S Nabial

Old Friends

You don’t do that to an old friend
Don’t tell him that you miss him
Or worse, still care
Don’t test his brave façade
Don’t share how you’ve been
Or your plans..for he isn’t
part of them anyway
He might be from the league
With an inherent sense of guilt
And still coming to terms

***

Secrets

There he stands, very still.

Neither eulogies nor apologies
Neither prayers nor witticisms
Can undo his admission
‘Till a moment ago, your name
Was on the tip of my tongue,
And in the intent of each endeavor
It was a treasured secret
A secret, now lost it time’

***

Of Shadows & Silences..

Silence

Conversations are few
And far between,
Like rare astronomical events.
Doubts lurk in the shadows
To emerge at vulnerable moments
To gnaw at motives and means,
And to test conviction.
Silence is so deafening at times
That we seek the calm
Of a boisterous chorus

***

Flicker

A thought can reign for a while
But it will fade
A reminiscence may never die
But it will hibernate
Grief will hold unending promise
But don’t we all know
Determination will not prolong
Farcical sorrow

***

Memory

A gloom descends
‘Its winter,’ he sighs
‘Of the unforgiving kind’

Where was the warmth
In the embers of hope,
To set his heart aglow

He, a fading memory
Destined to be earth and soil
‘And only a matter of time.’

***

Freefall…

Freefall

To feel the rush,
You’ll have to trust yourself
And let go, for once.
Remember the relief,
When you woke up to realize the
Free fall was a dream.
In that moment of free fall,
Your breath stuck in your throat
And the only thought was,
Survival.
And in the ensuing relief,
You were happy to be alive.

More Bird Poems – Void, Home, Verdure

Void

Photo – Ajay S Nabial

Void 

To dust, the promise of spring
Am coming to terms with it
Just me and this tree
A harsh winter for company
It was just yesterday
That we contentedly shared
This forsaken bough
It’s a different picture now
Winter is here to stay
Plucked off in mid flight by fate
The garden where you now reside
Is beyond my farthest flight

*****

Home

Photo – Ajay S Nabial

Home

Our wanderings were not in vain
For this garden is a peaceful haven
Creatures like you and me
Thriving under the verdant canopy
Mark the contentment
Of other feathered inhabitants
The flora promises nutrition
For and in every season
And we are spoilt for choice
For our nest, many wonderful sites
Twig and leaf and before we know
This garden will be home
*****

Verdure

Photo – Ajay S Nabial

Verdure

It’s reasonable to suggest
That ‘green’ is contagious
Look, I seem to have acquired too
A tint of the verdure

*****

A Charlatan’s Diary (Entries Over The Years)

The Charlatan

Quell the desire to express,
You charlatan of a poet,
For it was only the muse’s beauty
That gave your unintelligible words
Some semblance of a verse.
And you, the semblance of a poet.

****

Refuge

Amateurish perhaps but it’s my only refuge.
You see, I have nobody to talk to
At weird hours, and nobody to listen to,
So I write.

And I have burdened my confidant with
Far too many of my woes.
Like Christmas cheer, woes are infectious.
So I write.

****

Peace

A yearning surfaced compellingly,
As on a cross road, I reflected sheepishly.
The insight was overwhelming for my wit.
Conscience prodded ‘, rest a while, sit.’
Unarticulated dilemmas must find a voice
Chronic solitude had done its time  
A moment of tranquility I craved,
So to this verse I found my way.

****

Rhyme

Thoughts are lucid when there is clarity
One more line to justify I always seem to need
Thoughts rhyme when there is honesty
A little more competence, the verses ask of me

****

Verses on the run

Riding on the wings of blue
Slip by, his stories and myriad moods
In pursuit of harmony, by impulse 
He, duty bound to chase the fleeting verse 

Verses on the run

****

To Behold a Tiger..

  

The King and I.

To Behold a Tiger

I fondly recall a journey, on the rear seat I lay asleep
A forest road in Uttaranchal, my father at the wheel
Our jeep slows to a halt on a deserted stretch
Its night, groggy I awoke to my father’s gentle touch
Hands resting on the wheel, my father beheld a sight
I instinctively followed my father’s gaze to find
Right ahead, a tiger peered at us, at the light source
his enormous length across the breadth of the road
His probing gaze upon us trespassers; time stood still
Majestic, he stood his ground as we sat transfixed

As a child, on one occasion the terror too I’ve felt
My feet quivered as anxious growls rented the air
Prowls in human habitation merited him the enclosure
From the safety of my father’s legs, I saw the captured tiger
Exhilarating the moment, like the experience in the wild
But as he agitatedly paced about, my fears came alive

So a childhood wish fulfilled, as I hesitantly lift him up
Respectfully, for he is a tiger, albeit a cub
For the first few moments, calm sits the tiger
This is reminiscent of an old picture of my father’s
Where he smiles benignly as he holds a cub
With a radiance, the black and white frame, is lush
But his whines offer promise of a reverberating growl
My embrace weakens; I relent to his impatient scowls
His feet find the ground; I observe his swagger
Consciousness of being a tiger reflects in his manner

The Faceoff…

 

The Faceoff…

Birds of grey, find another tree to roost.
Moments into our daily aerial tour,
You dispossess us of our favored tree.
And impoverish my friends and me.
You are masters of enviable abodes
The rooftop and crevices are all yours
To where I pray, do promptly return
And restore to us, our inheritance..