Regret

Past unspoken, kept in a quiet box

Never to be opened; even when

I speak my heart, for fear of perjury.

Broken hearts. Sounds from a television to

Mute the surrounding air. To not

Hear the words truthfully spoken.

Nights of wandering in taxis and turmoil.

Chaos raining down upon a wily little brain.

Tangled hair, unkempt, unshaven

Sparkling lights shimmer when it rains.

Laughter, music, madness, magic magenta clothes,

Mystic, majestic rainbows. Clouds drifting in

Dreams realistic, calling for

A lone place called home.

Regrets- never unnerving, never thinking,

Never appealing as a cause to

Cry, wail, surrender.

A criminal walking behind closed doors.

Knocking at times, to peek and be subdued.

Hot humid climates, cool drinks, cucumber skins.

Sand and water engulfing the sound of waves.

Washing away the thoughts to surrender.

Repressed memory of a day,

A night, an afternoon or something.

A regret: repressed, reproached, unspoken, unknown!

-- Mohan

Random thoughts in the absence of creativity

His body swayed with the weight of his soul,

His heart was cramped with the feelings he stole

From the glance of his gory eyes. He walked ashore

And stood within the grasp of waves that rose

To salute his feet and wash his mind clear from

The deeds that sank him down a hole.

He was anon, his stature had grown.

He missed the breath and snore of people he had known.

Sleeplessly walking in the night. He stood aloof

In the brightness of a ghastly light that showed

A city washed with gutters, dried in coarse

Sand and cloth, everything that dirt endowed.

He smoothed the wrinkles on his vest,

Leaving the finer details of opulence to the rest

Of the crowd to discern.

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My throat is dry,

Dehydrated by the fear that permeates my future.

Drowned in the acid that holds tomorrow in despair.

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There is no solace for a soul as kind

As a winter morning which lets me sleep

For longer hours as she withers in the biting frost.

Hadn't it been for her concern I may wake up

And dream. And sail my thoughts on ships

That avert to the slightest hint of wind. Lead astray

My mind on hopes of pots of gold, buried beneath

A surface bold and hard and worn with the wintry chill.

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Do my eyes see far, or do they bend with the earth

As she floats around the sky trying to find a place

To rest, but circles around till she dies, ever chained

To a bigger brain, which rules with fury and disdain.

Does she not flower from his grace, his mindless grace.

On random thoughts in the absence of creativity.

-- Mohan

Howling wind

How this wind howls for silence,

Disturbing dreams and creating anguish

In the souls of a few merry men;

Who sleep till day break and wake up to sleep again.

Lazing in the sun, they talk, they converse,

Coerce as a group. Confidently taking their uttered words,

As words of wisdom being abhorred.

What lost creatures of earth brought you here,

Creatures created in the underground.

What unruly widget put you up on the wall.

Hung your thoughts helplessly for a mourning soul.

What darkness has taken its toll..

Bombs and guns and what not and what more;

Dreaded by all, advertised too,

In a world caught in a dilemma of one plus two.

Are the voices we hear, the voice they heard.

The voice of millions unheard.

They look now through peep-holes in the wall.

Listening to the talk and and clumsiness of all.

Digging for dirt in a magnificent grave,

Day in and day out slept their souls,

Talking of things that were "Nevermore".

-- Mohan

Summer breeze

I know you're there

Like the sun after sunset

Hiding under the dry summer leaves.

I know your eyes are still yellow,

From the nectar you drew

From the flowers around you, in your sleep.

I know you're there, somewhere

Under the clouds. Hiding

In the shade of a big banyan tree.

Watching this silent circus of time.

I know you're there ... like the wind.

-- Mohan

We walked down the road

We walked down the road,

On a silent night, riding the moonlight.

We felt our heart and soul,

In the silence surrounded.

We watched the wooden dolls

Come to life and dance.

We dreamed a little house-

Beside a lake, green and blue.

We dreamed the sky would be

Red in the morning hue.

We saw it with our eyes,

The sunrise and sunset.

But, why can't we hold on tight

To this quiet commandant.

-- Mohan

Fear

That was me and now I am,

A wasted thorn,

silently thrown.

There was me and there I was

Walking

In the dawn,

Where was I, Oh where I am

In a tunnel

underground.

Who was I, now who I am

I've forgotten.

There was once a time forlorn,

A time when there was beauty around.

There is now more than love.

No heart to feel, but for fear alone.

-- Mohan

Transit

There's an enormous ego

Bloating inside my brain.

Blotting the blind side

Trying to keep me sane.

Laughing with laughter

And watching the morning rain.

The moon, the stars,

The Sun, the planets all mislaid.

Always the same pictures

Crowding my mind and heart.

Every step taken

Feels like a fresh start.

-- Mohan

Sing another song

Sing another song.

Oh, you little dreamer

Sing another song.

Sing another lie

To make the sun

In an other world shine.

Sing a little high,

Oh dreamer! Sing a little high.

If I dare to ever call you swine

Or condemn you to die.

Sing with all your heart,

Oh dreamer! with your every breath and beat.

If you ever let me win,

Then I'll be the one to weep!

-- Mohan

Summer and/or Winter

If it rained it would be

So clear and grey.

And the trees would sway and swirl

On a sunlit day.

If you were here then we could sing

Soft and sweet and sober green.

And glide across this moonlit river

When the night falls on this summer's eve.

Yes I can't think right now.

I've forgotten how to write.

If I do remember, I may.

But I won't know what is right.

I don't know if its night

Or in the night, wolf's do prey.

But, if I had to see the stars,

Then I would've to wait another day.

To wait for another morning

Is just such a pain.

Sleeping on a bitter back

In the winter chill and rain.

Oh, oh so sweet the thunder,

I wish it would sound again.

Drive away the winter sorrow,

Longing and disdain.

-- Mohan

Without your smile

I try to sleep with your smile etched in my memory deep and I
Remember your warmth, your voice, your laugh.
Oh, how can i sleep without your smile.
Your warmth, your voice, your laugh. But here I lie.
Dreaming you are nigh, while you are farther than the sky.

What never dies

Daring drunken monotony,

Sweetened by the winter's evening.

Creepers  growing on cracks and walls,

On roofs and broken windows.

Apart from the laughter,

There is the scathing voice of fear, of sobs,

Of broken ties, dripping sweat and riding thoughts

On the awaited fantasy of a  future life.

Making sense of what is wrong,

Forgetting always what is right,

Assuming its all written in the past,

And where would we be, if we were wise.

Thunder and lightning and storms all cost

An acoustical treat nearby,

If we aren't truly lost, then we should have found 

What never dies.

-- Mohan

My world crumbled

I'm withered. Yes I'm withered

By these northern winds that

Blow upon these turbulent seas.

Disassembled by the sun that

Sways over the skies.

What good did thee bring, sunshine?

What good;

But to light this waste and dust

Spread over these lands so ungrateful.

What pity are you giving,

What love will thee shed?

I see you riding your high winds,

Over dales and ditches all the same.

In some  place, the light, lights up the way.

Whereas at others I only see life when its grave.

And you wind,

You marauder of nature.

Masked in your glorious contour.

What love did thee bring from over the seas?

I can smell only the

Filthy fragrance of my surroundings.

What love did thee bring as you promised?

What message bottled did thy sail

Carry across the sea?

It was but terror, terror

And worldly manners while

My world crumbled under the weight of its wave!

-- Mohan

Another Day

Frivolous dreams echo in my sleep, wanton

Thoughts of willful disobedience, scream

In this canopy of endless nights.

Magenta clouds, their silk dress embroidered

With sunlight bold, yellow, colored in nature exquisite.

Skies so cold, their breath sweat drops of dewy remorse.

Marauders and sailors vying against hope, defying

The very nature of land, to stay still, and eat fresh food.

Stale and sombre for days on end. Waiting for the

Sickle to bend. For the hammer to fall down

On broken earth and dry riverbeds.

Another day, another sunshine, another dream.

-- Mohan

Morning doubts

He walked around with his head submerged in doubts,

About the coming tomorrow.

Listening to the ‘leaves of grass’ shedding

Tears in the morning sorrow.

Without a glance, he changed his stance

To resemble the clouds flying afar.

Feeling anon, with his head on stone,

Turned up to gaze at a falling star.

Tears in his eyes, his legs frozen and cold,

His heart covered in a mannequin fold.

What could it be, his longing for sanity,

An unrequited dream? A passing fantasy?

-- Mohan

Timeless frenzy

Your sweet breath it lingers on my earlobes,

Sauntering, blossoming its wild fragrance.

Your voice, it haunts my chilled bones,

When all that I’ve asked for has been granted.

How we lay there, pouring our souls bare

On the cotton crevices of our bedded bodies?

Sleeping on the sweet succour of our innocence

Playing tricks on senses, skin, touch and feel.

When we knew our eyes and ears,

Our nails, fingers and fears

Would all be erased in a timeless frenzy.

Our hearts now don’t beat at the same place,

Nor do our breaths match the temper of crashing waves.

Our eyes only see the sands slip away, from

Under our feet into the dreaded tidal sway.

-- Mohan

Beside the house

Listening to the heartbeat of a wagtail,

Running on the ground covered in dust and ash.

Sweating not in the summer heat, but lightly pressing

Its feet to the earth, scampering to her nest.

A crawling mongoose, with ferocity in her eyes,

Lurking creepily under the bushes, searching

For something to eat, now and then coming out

Into the sunlight, standing tall with her tail behind.

A few sheep grazing gracefully, quietly

To fill their larder. Once they go home

To feed their young ones with milk

Sweeter than nectar, nutritious and pleasing.

Every one of the old, surrendering

Their self to fight for their young.

Who sit and wait in the shadows to eat

And savor the tit-bits to grow up

And take the same care and share the same story.

-- Mohan

Chirruping bird

Chirruping bird,

Chirruping bird.

You sing with the buzzing bee.

Like, no other song I like,

You sing your melody.

Chirruping bird,

Your heart is sweet.

Your throat is made of harp-

Woven from the softest silk.

It tears darkness apart!

-- Mohan

Trepidation

 Magical and misty nights,

Drown my corpse'y bed.

Lying above the field of cotton candies,

Soft, tender and silky white.

Dreaming of blue water droplets,

Falling from the green leaves of trees

Bending over to get raped by the wind,

That pushes on and on in a ritual intercourse.

Sweet sweat flowing down the hair,

Burning eyes that are closed and wet.

On the pillow a lusty maiden

Lays her head.

Turn, kiss, love

Get lost!

-- Mohan