question

you are a winner
when you win;
you are a loser
when you lose.

has it anything to do with you?

*****

Aum *

this moment of consciousness i share with the child just born somewhere
taking its first breath wailing
and with my friend here in the hospital bed
gasping out his last breath.

his children chant the glory of Ram.
the whole room resonates.

beyond the window the sky resonates.
an eagle circles unhurried
among the clouds,
like a duster erasing all statements,
all beginnings and endings.

*****

reunion *

the first rains of another indian summer monsoon
came pouring down...
together we set paper boats sailing
over the pool in our backyard...
away somewhere...

*****

sparkle

there is a sparkle in the canopy—
tilt your head this way and that—
rainbow flashes
blinding—
blue, red, green, violet...flashes—
a dewdrop,
a kohinoor,
this moment.

***

out of step *

being here
disconcerts.

here I am--
an unreal entity in an unreal city.

sometimes i am as eloquent
as a tomb in a merry park.
revellers fall silent in my presence.
and when they walk away,
their footsteps on the gravel path,
dumb with forebodings.

at other times i am a wild lily
that had escaped the gardener’s notice;
and i waltz with the roses and dahlias
to the pitch and fall of the breeze.

it disconcerts...
to be thus
conspicuous.

***

electrified *

i hear the tolling of the bell
the beating of the falcon’s wings...

i quiver expectant—
the steel claws lifting soaring into the clouds weightless swinging
electrified…

*****

Baffled *

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not you?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not me?

I feel your fingers twined around mine,
Your pulse throbbing on mine;
But I can’t say which is which—
The beats diffuse as mist into mist.

You open the window and look outside:
I see through your eyes a solitary crow
High on the swaying sparkle of a tree
Preening its feathers warm in the sun.

Its feathers all damp from last night’s rain,
It shakes its fluff in shuddering bouts—
Oh how it itches, itches, beneath the wings!
How nice the sharp beak combing, scratching!

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not the crow?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not the crow?

*****