You have a taker.

They say you are dark,

And yet would care

Their lashes and lock

Ever to be black.

They like to their heart

The Koel and the Tusker,

Dark though they are,

And would rather admire

The dark horse in race

And the black bull in fight.

To me you look no dark.

The solitary diamond

That radiates on your nose

Is far shining –

Like a lonely star –

From your new-moon face.

Whenever you grin

There forms a crescent

Across your cheek,

Flashing like a lightening

From the rain-cloud sky.

Your teeth are far milky.

Draped in lime-white voile,

With jasmine weaving your tress

And silver anklet

Circling your limbs,

You are a snow-clad peak.

No more are you dark.

I like you to my heart

Only because you are dark

And not though you’re dark.

Be assured you have a taker.

08.01.97, Palakkad

The gift of the Go

The God is blind

In distribution of fortunes,

But is kind

In giving away a gift

To all alike,

Which is that no one knows

When he will die,

Which is why each one lives,

Till he dies,

With hopes kept alive.

22.10.97, Palakkad.

For the fair deal

Your thumb and index

Only labour most

To deliver you the best.

But which finger do you adorn

With a golden ring?

Why should you, then,

Cry for fair deal from others?

22.10.97, Palakkad

Regrets stored

Uncle, aunt and granny,

All poured me love in plenty.

They were gone before I could repay.

There were a great many

Who lent their hands and money.

They were gone before I could repay.

Parents gave me love and blood

And guarded me from any crash.

They were done in benevolent neglect.

Cousins, nieces and nephews,

On whom I showered honey.

Had licked it and slipped away.

There were scattered peers,

Whom I pleased in all spheres.

Ere my asking, they vanished.

Daughter and son were the hopes,

Who too, as grown up, broke their rope

And had no time to repay.

I leave as much debtors

As I had creditors in my life.

Kindly tally, my Creator.       

21.10.97, Palakkad 

Pleasant to admire

My dear Honey!

Upon you, your radiant eyes,

Sharp nose, pouty lips,

Pointed chin and raised cheeks,

I focused my look.

You were illuminated,

But I was shaded,

‘Cause beams of light

Never illuminate the part

They arise from.

My dear Honey!

Into you, your hidden ear,

Slender neck, beating heart,

Throbbing lungs and tender ribs,

I shall breathe out a song.

It will resonate in you,

But won’t deafen me

‘Cause waves of sound

Would vibrate the parts

They arise from.

28.08.97, Agartala

Who is my God?

At a new moon in the jungle

Was brought to an altar

A roaring goat, fully black,

By an awesome peasant

To the fearsome Kali,

Made of granite, red in cloak,

Under arbour of a peepul.

Before the Goddes stood

At dawn of death, the poor goat

Like a bull in a fight,

Arresting the attention

Of everyone, unknown of his fate.

The beast was put to rites,

Smeared with sandal paste      

And fully drenched in water

Till he shivered a jerk,

Which was taken as a token of nod

By the grace of Goddess for her feast.

The peasant was pleased;

The priest was pleased;

So were all, as though they’re blest.

One held his hind-legs,

Stretching them well behind,

The other bending up his front one,

The third locking his head

Hard onto the altar

For the priest to accomplish.

The act was done at a stroke

By the learned priest, merciless,

For the Goddess, all merciful.

Many-wards squirted the blood

Like a carpet, red,

Before the Goddess, her tongue dripping.

All felt that they had met

The thirst of Ma, full

As did a mother her child, ere asking.

The agony that was undergone,

Murder they committed,

And pathos that prevailed, who noticed?

The beheaded beast went straight,

To the feet of the Goddess,

“Ma, am I not your child?

If not, who is my Mother?”

Her lids dripped,

She cursed for having been chiseled

25.07.97, Agartala.      

Love that is lost.

Brick by brick was built our love over years;

A crack was unearthed. My heart broke away

And we were thrown apart miles away.

Yes, ‘A little less and what world away!’

20.06.97, Agartala