Seaside Gifts

Seaside gifts

I have collected
Every discarded shell of a reason
Arranged them in neat design of argument
Splashed with the spray of persuasion
To ask you to stay

I have rehearsed them
More often than I have counted
The waves under my breath

I have wondered if the simple act of obstinacy
Of refusing reason or permission
Would be enough to keep you

But yet I know I will offer neither
If you should choose to walk away

For deep within me I know
That the ocean of love
Cannot be contained in
Crushing embrace of ownership

But know this much even as you leave
Should you ever ,pause and look behind you
You will find me here at the seaside often
Gifting your name to the waves

—shubha

Twilight dances

Twilight dances

I dance at the precipice of reason ,
Twirl between shadows and light,
Ease into arms of the unexpected,
To revel in the balance between dualities,
Just a step away from the insanity
A glance , a turn from gloom
Just to spin out of comfort’s arms
To oblivion
A slip into the abyss of doom

And so we dance
In the twilight of half truths
We dance
In our ignorance
Waiting for the sun
To dawn , shine on us
The spotlight of truth

—shubha

Attention

Attention


Our worlds coalesce

From fog of the indistinct

To reveal , that which claims our attention


May our attention

Always be on that light

That illumines our intellect

And our world


That as we wander

Though our fogs of doubt

In our journeys

We always have that light

To reveal our worlds with clarity

Each step of the way




— shubha

Confetti

 In shimmer of laughter

Wrapped childhoods gain warmth, gilt

In the the glow of raindrops

New found romance, a new found us, meaning

In the cracking warmth of families

A settled base, finds us cocoons

In the glint of spectacles

Old age finds its’ sparkle

Our lives held together by shining memories

Gathered painstakingly

And just once I will throw up this glittering treasure

Walk though this golden rain of confetti

To disappear

Evanescent as them all

—shubha

Foreign tongue

 Foreign tongue

Poetry is a foreign tongue

Tracing indecipherable contours

On a page

Until it bypasses understanding

In words

To leave sketches in emotion

Until it bypasses your mind

To stir your heart

Then poetry sprouts

Among the words on a page

And in our experience

It is not to be understood , but felt

Known in the depths of feeling

Not the shreds of analysis

And we learn to feel, relate

To a foreign tongue

Until it turns familiar

Poetry is

when the other

becomes our own .

—shubha

Mirror mazes

Mirror mazes

Squeezed out emotions
Blot paper as words
Each a new squiggle
In this indecipherable map
Called life

And we twist into pretzels
Trying to understand
These markings
Of our own making
Assigning meaning
To hieroglyphics
Forgetting their origin

Turn away, inward
Away from the
Psychedelic colors
Projections of a mad mind

Turn inward to that source
That illumines the glass
Of this mind
Turning it into a mirror
And know peace

—shubha

What is , but love ?

What is , but love ?

What clothes us, but love?
What unspools into nakedness , but love ?
What builds us , but love ?
What crumbles our self made illusions , but love?
What gives us voice, but love ?
What makes us choose silence, but love ?
What was, but love ?
What will be, but love ?
What is , but love !
And we will be bubbles that rise, burst
In a cauldron of simmering love .


—shubha

Tapestry

Tapestry

I weave myself together
From glimmer caught in tiny hands ,
From warmth of winter sun in honeyed bands,
From the coolness of incessant waves on hot sands
From the fluttering of ribbons in the wind over many lands
From the movement of all creation , that creates, expands
From the stillness that sustains it all , as base stands
I weave myself together
To offer to You
As a tapestry of many bands
So I may subsume , understand
That is You who permeates every colorful strand.

—shubha 

You In-spire

You In-spire

My eye jumps from roof to roof
As it sweeps the town 
Laid out in its sunset glory
Collecting the last light of the day
In a bowl of a valley
And comes to rest on the church spire
Glowing gold in the fading light

And when my mind’s eye
Jumps the many roofs
Of many thoughts
Collecting soot instead of light
Smearing itself in dirt
And collects the debris of waywardness

And by much cleaning , when I turned my vision
To the church of my heart, Your home
It’s spiraling spire , glowing gold
Inspiration spires up
As Your gift , Your calling card

—shubha

Free falling

Free falling

I teeter at the edge of a decision
Arms flailing to balance the pros and cons
Until the balance tilts in one direction
And I free fall into the repercussions
Of the decision, questioning the choice
But with every fall or flight
Every scar , every tale of delight
I gain in experience
And looking back the only decisions, I regret
Are the ones , to not celebrate the present one

—shubha

Spring stirrings

Spring stirrings

Somewhere deep inside
A bud of hope unfurls
One shy petal at a time
In response to the stirrings
Of spring all around me

A flutter of hope beats
To the wing of the butterfly
A stirring so still
That it passes gossamer thin
Over the thudding
Of an expectant heart

That perhaps this time,
The winter of my discontent
Is to pass

And my heart will blossom, once again
In the spring of Your joy


— shubha

Stardust and light

Stardust and light

Stars swirl into being
Each an arc in destiny
Now flaring , now dying
This dance of eternity

Light flows , bends , swirls
Creates a spectacle illusory
We discover ourselves,
With a glance inward, cursory

We ,these children of stardust and light .

—shubha


P.S In response to a picture prompt of Van Gogh's Starry night

The feast

The feast

I husk the emptiness
Of my days , searching for meaning
In a whirlwind of chaff
Seek to find the grain

So I can consume it
For sustenance 
To find the strength
To blunder through this day

I am tired of being lost
Of seeking, searching
Help me find peace
To lay rest this swirling tornado
Of anger , injury

So I may feed at the repast
Of Your mercy, love, joy.

— shubha

Hammocks of faith

Hammocks of faith

On polarities
Of dual understanding
Swings hammock of faith

— shubha

Fishing for stars

Fishing for stars

Bare branches cast nets
Search twilight river of ink
Fishing for bright stars

— shubha

Dusshera

Dusshera

As we celebrate , of good over evil,the symbolic victory
With much pomp, gaiety,
Say goodbye to Mother's deity
With much sadness, piety,
Let us resolve to continue this fight
Within ourselves as a sacred duty,
Set aflame Ravan in  public squares
Burn with it,our greed, our selfish desires
Worship the goddesses trinity,
Continue in our quest,to see all as a embodiment of divinity,
With grace we will succeed
 As we celebrate this Vijaydashami.

--shubha

Gandhiji's legacy

Gandhiji's legacy


In circular arguments, we argue
If Gandhiji's legacy is a free India
That is today bound in her shackles
Of intolerance, corruption, fear

A philosophy of non- violent non- cooperation
That has been co-opted
By the most manipulative to be
Neither non- violent
Nor non-cooperative where the price is right

Is his legacy the dream of self-sustained villages
That broke at the sacrificial altar
Of the industrial revolution
As the population migrates en masse
To cities in search of dreams

Or is it the dream of a unpartitioned nation
Where its' citizens find in their hearts
Enough space for each other
Whose unraveling,broke him

Is it his firm belief that we can all rise
To engage with each other as brothers, sisters?
And use hands in service of others
Not their exploitation for benefit

Perhaps his greatest legacy
Is the one that all honest men leave behind
A living example
That by the dint of perseverance, faith
Goodness , greatness are within reach.

--shubha

Endless outpourings

Endless outpourings

I breathe your songs
In a whisper on the breeze
Who lovingly wafts them
Into nothingness
That they may remain hidden
In the womb of silence


To waft as melody
In the stillness of
Another heart
Rise to their lips
As their songs
And in so doing
Impart sweetness
That is You
Everlasting

And so from You
Unto You
Love flows
In endless outpourings.


—shubha

Be our guide

Be our guide


We know not where we come from
We know not where we go

We weather many a self made storm
Oh! What bitter seeds we sow

We travel this earth wide, tomes thumb
Always baggage in tow

Looking for happiness , oceans plumb
We search high, we search low

Lost children of God’s kingdom come
Seeking You, we learn , we know

Guide us to your lap , grow our faith some
Lead us to You, to us ,ourselves show

We know not where we come from
We know not where we go

—shubha

Kinship lost

Kinship lost

No longer do I chase words
No longer do they find me
No longer do I seek to express
Inexplicable beauty in them
My expression, my release

It is a kinship lost
Yet leaves no bitterness
No regret
For the beauty still speaks
Though not through me

No longer do I chase words
Perhaps they will return
When it is time to find me

—shubha