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THOSE WHO WRITE POETRY Echo’s from the beyond….

Siddharth Anand

Lulu Press.

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To My parents Ritu & Mukesh Anand & My Grandfather B.K Puri

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C O N T E N T S

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7

INTRODUCTION 8

1. ABYSS…………………………………………...9

2. Those Who Write Poetry…………………………..10

3. ME & MY STRANGER………………………….11

4. Ashes……………………………………………13

5. Remembrance of a miracle…………………………15

6. Behind…………………………………………..16

7. STIR……………………………………………17

8. Why Birds Fly…?.......................................................19

9. Rare…………………………………………….20

10.Seeking you. Seeking your love……………………21

11.Poetic Exuberance……………………………….23

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12.THE FALL…………………………………….24

13.A Confession……………………………………25

14.Insomnia……………………………………….26

15.Joy……………………………………………..28

16.The Dark mysteries of the night…………………..29

17.Move the curtains aside………………………….31

18.Born free……………………………………….33

19.Sand Dunes…………………………………….35

20.Conversations with darkness……………………..37

21.A Touch of Love………………………………...39

22.Bleak Prospects………………………………….40

23.Near. Yet Far…………………………………...41

24.A Beautiful Death………………………………43

25.THE DAY WE NEVER MET…………………..45

26.Distances……………………………………….46

27.Dreams………………………………………....47

28.Gaps……………………………………………48

29.Insanity………………………………………...49

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30.Through your eyes…………………………….......50

31.enigma…………………………………………..52

32.Here & Now……………………………………..53

33.Life……………………………………………..54

34.Pieces……………………………………………55

35.I have stopped fearing death……………………….56

36.Simple & Easy……………………………………57

37.Just when I decided to walk away…………………58

38.Some moments……………………………………59

39.One Man………………………………………...61

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to my mother Ritu Anand For patiently reading all my poetry and for giving me continuous support and inspiration; To all my friends for their patience and love and specially to my brother for being a living inspiration for me and my family.

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Introduction

When I first started writing ‘Those Who Write Poetry I never thought that this work would lead me on to an amazing journey of self exploration and personal growth. While writing these poems I have lived them, learned through them and grown with them. I would like anyone who reads them to try not to understand them just to live them, just to become them and then they will hear their own voices. Echo’s from the beyond…

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ABYSS…

I push my hands through the sandflowing through, they discover a shape,an image, a distortion, a ripple.

The sun shines i can feel the lightI am sweating But there’s no water in sightI lose touch. I lose taste. I lose sight.

I feel like i feel no moreAm i dreaming or was i dreaming.I don’t think I’ll ever know

Bright light torches my faceI open my eyes, trying to fight the lightI hear a sound.Above me a bird. A beast.

I don’t want to goBut it waits; just for that.I pity myself.

I want; to move oni try;& i try & I tryI am helplessI cry.

The only sane way is insanitythe only way to survive with friends

with humanity.TO be true. To see true is sini live each momentinviting lifeif only i knew i am at the helm or driven.

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Those Who Write Poetry…

There AreThose Who Try;AndDieTrying.

ThereAreThoseCry;AndDieCrying.

AndThen ThereAreThoseWho WritePoetry:

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ME & MY STRANGER

I am not aloneThere is another meWhich cant see meAnd Which I cant see.

Me and My StrangerHave never metDestiny in its designsuch an Occasion Never set

The World of this Strangeris new to meThe power, the pulse, the energyOf a new place you’ve never seen

Of course I’ve been thereof course I’ve seen that place beforeBut through the eyes of a strangerI see through another door.

Imagination this phenom seems to meTwo souls in one body, How can it beYes I’ve heard of Alchemybut such a state in anothermy eyes have yet to see.

As People these persons are far apartThe end of One Begins from where the other startsI can't see it comingBut can feel it becomingand this thoughtbaffles me, frights me, excites me

From darkness to light and then back to what’s behind

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as if the curtains are opened then drawn inside my mind.

This stranger I hope will meet me some dayMay be on soulstreet I'll cross him on his wayAnd together we can, become that one man of whom we were fragments of whom we were partsAnd then, a new story

the true story will start........

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Ashes…

Walking on ashesI write poetryWith extinguishing flamesAnd my feetFeel a flickering pain Something more ofThe mortality burns,As I feel capturedIn a pensive concern

From the veryMoment of birthTo my last breathOn earthI was a flickeringFlame Flayed and movedEven by the slightest ofBreezesScared of theDark face I would Finally face I kept runningAway, Like a madmanAway from the slightestOf perils I tookStriving stridesTo save my selfFrom those riding tides

I tried. I triedTo save my lifeButEventually landedIn the palms of death

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Yes, I burn today Yes, I burn with my body Something more has died in me Something more than mortality…

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Remembrance of a miracle

Lovely was the dayThen; the birth of nightIt was the night of birth

Nothing specialThe sky was as dark as the night.no stars. no moon. no light

The rushing cries and thedelicate secrecy of creation;A moment. A miracle

And slowly my eyes expandedand so did the world. my world

The feeling of painThe feeling of ecstasywith me was i without me;Only a skyThe vast brilliant sky

I was drowning and was rescuedas if I just lost my previous lifeThe world was recreated or

was I.

Reaching towards the arms of my beholderI looked upNot sure of being sure but was driven IInstinct made me clingAnd I cried.

Today;I cry againToday;I am lost againToday;The abyss is deeperI see;I think;I walk;I feel;

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But I want to be lost.Lost into the eyes of a stranger...

Behind...

DifficultItIsTough ToFind

BeyondtheFleshBeyond The Mind

MansSoulBehind…

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STIR …

I sink withinAnd thoughts race byTears don’t appearI want to disappear..

To die.

Irrational is the worldUnjust its rulesThe game is still played in the jungle

But stars do exist in the darkness of nightTo save our soulsTo bring in some light.

The world is a stage, but I am not an actorDeep, within me, a mystery liesAlthough invisible to our eyesThere is no doubt that it does;

Fear is an illusionLove a mysteryThough, I’ve been through itI don’t comprehend the abyss. my history;

A glass of wine changes my lifeChanges my vision. Changes my sight

Fire can burn meTransform me to ashMy Being like glass, can crash;

Onto the ocean I stare, looking for my reflectionBut it keeps changing, rearranging

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I look for my selfand all I find is deceit & dejection.

It all depends on the stillness of the seaI know. I know I can see;

I want to transformTo be rebornI want to drown in the sea;

May be, that way Ill find my SelfThrough which I liveThrough which I beThrough which I can dive within me

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Why Birds Fly....?

When ever I look upInto the skyI always wonder Why birds flyWhat gives them hopeWhat gives them joyWhat is it that gives them that enormous high

I see every morningAs I see the sunriseFlocking togetherI see them flyingWhat is the reason they take offWhat makes them realizethere because

they never live by all those thingswhen they get married they don’t need rings

together they live together flytogether they take on the brilliant sky

I have a question for the aerial raceI want to ask them how is the skyWhat does it feel like when you fly…

Whenever I look upinto the skyI always wonder why birds fly….

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Rare…

ThereAreMenWhoLiveWithHopeAnddreams

There AreOnesWhoLiveWithdreadandDespair

ButAManWhoLivesWithLoveIsRare:

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Seeking you. Seeking your love

I have no choiceTo love thy this wayI don’t decide.Its you, who take my heart away

I have no choiceI am empty without you, with you I am wholeIts not me speaking its my soul

I have no choiceI long for you each dayEach moment without your kiss and your touch is filled with agony, the pain is too much

Yes I am addictedI am yours foreverEven if I dieI'll shout aloud your nameI'll call you out from the sky

Tell me you wont leave methat you wont deceive meTell me you will always be mineSpeak to me tell me this tonight

Seeking you. Seeking your love I have no choiceTo love thy this wayI don’t decide.

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Its you, who take my heart away

I have no choiceI am empty without you, with you I am wholeIts not me speaking its my soul

I have no choiceI long for you each dayEach moment without your kiss and your touch is filled with agony, the pain is too much

Yes I am addictedI am yours foreverEven if I dieI'll shout aloud your nameI'll call you out from the sky

Tell me you wont leave methat you wont deceive meTell me you will always be mineSpeak to me tell me this tonight

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Poetic Exuberance

The mystifying realityOf poetryCaptures you in timeEngrossing you; making you a part, of, the poets rhyme

The verses and linesThe depth and the music behind

They don’t speak through wordsIt’s the silences that have to be heard

Magic in the rhymeEach time you read it; a new meaning; you find.

A poet offers you a giftBut its on you to receive itThe beauty is ever presentBut its on you to conceive it

What it means to youAnd what lies beneath and behindIf on the sheet of paper you don’t findListen to your heart And the poet

Inside Thus becoming part of thePoetic exuberance…

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The FALL…

I fell downTouched and felt the ground;

It was somewhere I hadn’t been beforesomeplace I'd never seen before

My naked hands. I filled them with sandclinching my fist with anger and rageI lion caught within a cage

I raised my armsThrew them apartand caused a rain to start...

Rubbing my eyesClearing my sightup, I looked again..

Was I alive, or did I die..I demanded a answer from the sky.

I knew I had slippedFrom Acme to AbyssNow, I am not what I wasBut what, I am, going to be

Lying downI started to drown, in the seaThe sea of sand within me...

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A Confession

Being myselfis a challenge I face each day.

I am fighting with my own consciousness.

Great is the challengeTo go beyond the boundariesI draw myself, for myself;

With a borrowed mind; I thinkWith a borrowed heart; I loveWith borrowed eyes; I see

I try to escapeBut where do I goWhere will I runAway from myself...

So i cling onAlthough I know; Its wrong

And so I live on in the storms and the rainuntil the day I dieUntil the day I ‘am born again.

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Insomnia

The night is calm and silentAnd all things livingRest in the absence of sound and sight

The moon above silentlyGives a mesmerizing touch to the starlit skyAnd insects make that soundsThat starts and stops then drowns

I try to close my eyesTo the memories and reminiscesOf the dayAnd although the day is overThoughts of it stay

I have this silent sicknessWhich darkens each side of my mindI think along, the night that’s longI think along inside

Inside and outsideI am not stillI am in motion stillAnd although the lights are offThe world inside is awake still

PART 2

I think the being in meSomething it wants to sayNot letting me sleep

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Seems to be its way

Some part of me rebelsAnd some part of it criesAs it looks behind and analyzesThe broken dreams and the day that’s gone by

It shakes my bodyEvery part of itTill I surrender to its cacophony

The next thing I seeAre the sun and daylightAnd the chirping birds outsideAnd as I walk up from my bedI feel a silent tremor insideas I remember the sleepless night.

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Joy…

The instant of surpriseThe moment my eyesCaught hold of a sight

The phenom of a flower bloom;

I saw and I smiledAnd then I cried..The tears hanging from my eyesa mixture of sadness, joy & surprise.

Smiling at the sunWaving to the windsDancing with the birds & bees

I went on to Touch it;to Feel it;to be it;

and it relented and shared its joy....

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The Dark mysteries of the night

A deep fearEngulfs my soulAnd I try to protect What is left of meBeneath the dark fabric of the nightThere is something behindTrying to findSome wayTo make me A silent prey

These mysterious a quittances I would Rather avoidBut they insist on friendly associationsMy only escape is to closeMy eyesOr find solace in the darkness insideAvoiding thus its sight In this wicked dreaded ness Of this night

And the fear I encountersFinishes with nightAs if it could exist onlyWithout lightBut through those haunting silenceThere were words that were saidThings I couldn’t seeFilled me with fear and dread

And although for youThe nightIs just an absence of lightFor me It is much more

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For I can experience movementsAnd listen to soundsIn the dread of darkness which move around…

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Move the curtains aside…

Move the curtains asideLet my eyesPenetrate the abyss of darknessReach across and see the lightMove the curtains aside

I have been waiting for longLonging for a glanceLet my eyes be witness tonightOf this divine, mystic romance As I enter and open the doorI slip and drop in the nothingness belowAnd fly a strange flightI am falling like a birdWith wings paralyzedAnd the fading of distance and time I seeThinking insideof my eventuality

With no where to fall or dropEither my fall or I will stop

And in that moment of stillnessI see a form emerge

From within and from without

Of a storm and a dusty cloud

It has no form or shape or sizeSomething far from what I had thought or heard or seenIt was a surprising surpriseI know it could see the presence of mineBut I could not see its through mine eyes

Finally when It appeared

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And the cloud of fear disappearedI could see a mirror in sightI stared and hawked in disbelief and shockAnd felt a chill in my spineWhatever it was, that I was seeking all my lifeWas always with me, inside…..

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Born free…

Born with the same forceOf the same elementsUnder the same skyHow come we becomeWhat we become?

“There are rules”Speak The protector of humanityBut I ask their voicesWhich pronounce him as oneOmnipresent. OmniscientAnd then severalizeHim here on earth

How come you defyYour own logic?

So I refuse to chooseFrom his different formsFor who are weIn front of his Divine alchemy

All the rules You makeI will breakFor his rules are the ones I follow

I am segregated, separatedCalled a rebelBut I would prefer to be a wild flowerThan a dead stone

I call your tradition rottenFor it destroys freedomThrough nonexistent illusions

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And I proclaim my self As God

For what is God But a beautiful And splendid thought….

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Sand Dunes..

Wild winds and violent storms The ceaseless tides of lifeEngulfing meAnd my being inside

The cacophoniesOf thoughts and opinionsCeaselessly reverberate Creating waves in the watersOf the mind

Sleep eludes my wayAnd anxiety occupies the dayI know I am descendingThe narrow stairs of thisDelicate destructionOf mine

Limited Expansions Limitless contractions

My life is aIrony of contradictions

And I have no solutions Only conflicting conclusions

I might not be able to solve the puzzleOf lifeOr win the strange games playedIn the mind

I may end up losing I may end up crying

Drifting in the shores of timeI may become immortalized

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In the collective struggleOf suggestive anonymity.

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Conversations with darkness..

Oh blank and mysterious unknowingness of the darkCan you answer the questions I ask?

I am lost tonightCan you show me the way?Can you tell me the answers Never found In the day

Visions through my eyes in your intense realms I findMany different shapes and dazzling designs

Answers in the deep realms Behind the curtains you holdA story never heardWaiting to be told

I speak on, keep on knocking on your doorSilence is all you offer Nothing, nothing more

I insist, you answer the questions that I askEnough of the deep mystery, now remove this dark mask

you answer through stillnesstiring to frightmasking the light through the curtains of the night

Your words are never heardby the limitedness of my ears

But I knowYou have your own waysTo speak out, to say

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AndTo listen to your answerI have to silence the constant dancerAnd then I can exploreThe mysteries behind your wordsThe mystery of your soulThe mysteries of the darknessBehind the closed doors

Oh dark and mysterious silenced lightOh mystic blankness Oh moonlit night

I misunderstand youForgive me for that

Now I understandWhat you could offerWhat I could have had

Let us forget this frenzied fightOh darkness let us fuse togetherBecome one tonight

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A Touch of Love

The silent lakeGently reflects theMoon in itsCalm composedWaters

And the moonAdmiring itsOwn beautyShines a touch Brighter

The liquid mirrorDelights inIt’s fleetingPossession ofCelestial light

And slowWith the nightThe moon shiesAwayLeaving the lakeLonely, withMesmerizing Memories

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Bleak Prospects

Step by stepCarefullyI tread theThe dangerous

Paths ahead

Ferocious animalsAnd a frightening nightsAre my sole companionsAnd darkness willShow me the way

My survival dependsOn how wellWith how muchZealI face this Endless ordeal

I am just a character in the playAnd have a decided part to playI dare not sayEven a single wordFor it is not meWho has the say

The doors are closedOn both sidesLeaving no way outor ahead

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Except the prospectof death.

Near. Yet far…

I have never been Close to The real me

It is like I fear drowningSo I stay away fromThe deep sea

I look on from the shores Marveling At the endless horizonsAnd the infinite waters Of the still oceanWhich behold me

I see the sunRise & shineAnd go back again, in the nightAnd the ocean observesThis

I would loveTo have a splashBut I fear That endless depthWill engulf my limited self

So I look on from a distanceAnd listen to the wisdom Of the sailors of the seaTheir stories

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Their experiencesIs the closest to it I can be

May be some dayI gather courageAnd take a final plunge May be some dayI may unravel the mysteriesOf this deep sea Within me

And till Then I waitAnd till thenI live with this illusionary reality….

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A Beautiful Death

A flame Dancing on the candleRed and white and bothTransforming the wax into vaporsThrough a miraculous Spectacle of light

I touch it with the tip ofMy fingerAnd look at the

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Dark depositAnd wonderHow much more liesBeneathWhat burns under?

Intensely it burnsAttached to the wigAnd slowly it losesColorAs it kisses theGaseous universe

The candle knowsAs it experiences itsGentle deathAnd cries with What is left

I feel guiltThis wayBurning the candle awayI spread my lipsAnd a puff of airBlows the flame awayExtinguishing the beautiful death..

Sometimes I burnAnd sometimes I meltSo I remember the candleWhose life I savedI wonder if some kind heartWould save me inA similar way…

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THE DAY WE NEVER MET

The day me never metWe met each other in our heartsThe day we tried too leave each otherThe day tried to make a new start

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What happened before is gone foreverThose moments of love we shared togetherA new pain has replaced that never ending pleasureAnd I don’t know what to doThere is a part of me that is old and earthenThere is a part in me I’ve never forgotten And a part of me that is new

I stand and stare at my pastTrying to analyze what I’ve gained what I’ve lost Trying to assize the cost.

Was it worth this muchWas it a fling our loveThere is a divide in my head and my heartA dilemma that breaks me apart.

Perhaps it had to happen and it didPerhaps it was all to each other we could givePerhaps with it we can livePerhaps never again we will need to delve In the deep confines of our former selvesPerhaps this feeling we can outlivePerhaps someday or neverWe may forgive each otherPerhaps someday or neverWe can be again together….Perhaps someday or never….

Distances...

I saw a mysticOut side theMosqueLost in the music

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Of Allah

And I wonderedWhich world He Lived in?

I saw an orphanIn tattered clothesCrying for A loaf of bread And I wonderedWhich world He Lived in?

I reached my House, and behindClosed doorsLooked at theReflection Of a Man in the Mirror

And I wonderedWhich world He Lived in?

Dreams..

We can dreamAnd in those dreamsWe can fulfillAll our

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Longings, yearnings and cravings And each night we can chooseTo exploreA Different colorA Different themeAnd much more..

In those illusionary shoresWe can be freeFrom the barriers Of a limited realityAnd for onceWe can beAll we ever Wanted To be

Dreams, God made privateSo that we could liveThrough themThe life we wantedAlthough It had to be In an illusionary reality…

Gaps…

The palms of my

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Hands are incomplete

And I wonderAt the presence Of the gapsBetween my Fingers

Why do they look as if They are waitingTo be completed

And now I understandThat god made themTo remind me How incompleteI stand Without you Without The Palms of your hands

Insanity

And I have these fits of insanity

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Transforming meEngulfing meJust as if the wind blows me away

My skin is paleAnd my hair spills allOver my dry morbid face

If I would be colorI would be more a shade of gray

I react to My image in the mirrorAs if it was of a stranger’s

Don’t ask my addressFor I may lead you to the wrong door

Through your eyes… Some eyes are moist

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They speak of unjust

Sadness as ifThey are deprived of whatThey deserve to be

Some eyes are intenseDetermined to find answersTo endless problems faced Endlessly

Some eyes are angryProjecting violence& Vice Giving Rise To the Animals inside

Some eyes are wiseAs if they could see Inside of meI avoid themOr they might Expose my reality

Some eyes hypnotizeCapturing me in a magicSpell Their mystic alchemyTransforms My reality..

Some eyes are beautifulReflecting the beautyOf the soulWhich without Their mesmerizing gloryWe wouldn’t be ableTo imagine Or behold

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Some eyes areFull of gleeReflecting happinessAnd Joy.

A beautiful Reality

Some eyes are pureIn them I try to findMeaning, Traces of thoughtOr mind

But in that nothingness I find The face of God Smiling behind….*

*This Poem won the Prize for ‘Best Poem’ at Lady Harding Medical College in 2006

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Enigma God made flowersAnd they blossomed

God made birdsAnd they took flight

God made the sunAnd it spread light

And then God made Man

A phenom He isStill.Trying to Understand…

I live here and now...

My discontinuity withThe past gives me life

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I am not guided by what’s goneI live in the present& each momentI am reborn

I am least concerned withYesterdayThe things I did and I dintFor those are moments nowDead to meAnd only in today I live

I remember to forgetMy worries and regretsAnd insteadRejoice in this tremendous nowTo bury the deadAnd walk aheadIs my only vow

I am freeFor this moment gives meThe opportunity To sing, love and danceI don’t want to missThis moment of bliss I don’t want to missThis chance..

Life...

A fabrication ofa story in myMind

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Discovering the Nuances of the Characters, colors and designs

The script moves onLike a screenplay of thoughts

As I enact each scene Within the situations behind

How importantTo each person isHis Life

And how few, of the many, realizeBehind the characters, colors and designs

Is a fabrication ofA story in the Mind…

Pieces..

You came into my lifeAnd transformed my existence

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Like a turbulent floodYou washed my past away

To understand your enigmaI lost my own identity.

You made my day, and my nightMy eyes in each atom of existenceCould see only you, your sight

Me and you togetherThus became each other

Our love and its fragranceSpread about in all the four directions

And flowers, birds and starsBecame a part our deep allegiance.

And then one fine dayYou walked away

Leaving my lifeIn pieces..

I have stopped fearing death

I have stopped fearing deathFor now they’ve killed meAnd my soulThey’ve murdered the life in meAnd made me a cog in theWhole

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When I was a novice I was shockedWitnessing the naked realityAnd the rebel in meWanted to fight against the Forces of the darkThere was a flame burning brightA fire insideIn my eyes there was a spark

And then one day they butchered meWith spears, knives and swordsKilling every part of meSacrificing me to there gods

And suddenly inside I found peace of mind

For I had died to myselfAnd insteadBecame a part of the dead..

Simple & Easy

It has sort of becomeOur dispositionTo involve In things ofMore exertion

How easy it is to smileAnd how muchMore tough

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To frown

How easy it is to loveAnd how muchMore it takes;To hate

Still we’ve developed this likingFor the difficult things of life

If only we could seeThat the most beautiful thingsIn lifeAre simple and easy

Just when I decided to walk away….

I breathe the same air I eat the same breadI read the same paperI talk the same language

I listen to the same musicI watch the same showsI play the same gamesI drink the same waterI eat the same food

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I ride on the same roadsI tread the same pathsAnd stillThey look at me In that strange wayAnd stillThe words that they sayAnd stillThe way they walk awayAnd still

So I’ve stopped thinkingAnd I’ve stopped Fighting those eyesI’ve turned my backOn thoseWho’ve turned their back on meBecause…BecauseI’ve finally realizedThat endless source Of life within meI’ve finally realized My reality

Some moments..

Some moments Rare and few In lifeTake you within Deep, deep inside

Some momentsWhen you closeYour eyes And yet you

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Witness Cosmic rays & Celestial lights

Some momentsWhen you feel Something More than pleasureA mystic delight

Some momentsWhen you experienceAnd realizeThe presence ofWhat lies Beneath inside

Some momentsWhen youWitnessIts sparkling splendorAnd come face to face With theDivinity inside

Cherish these momentsIn them rejoice

For these momentsAre CalledLife…

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One Man…

One man is all is there isOf that man we are partsOne man there is one soulOne man there is in our hearts

Through different eyes we seeThe world that is eternally oneThe world created by that maker of allThe world of which he is the sun

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He thinks through us, through our heartsTalks through our speechListens when we talk to othersAnd He is the one who is always thereWith us when we are conceived our mothers

He is in fact all we areAnd he was there form the Beginning, from the startOne man is all we are ofThat one man we are parts

He wanted something to playHe created the world this way

Bored with one he created many apartDifferent facesAnd races differentHe wanted interesting art

None of us is wasted in himFor all of us he is thereThe sun the moon the stars the earthHe is everywhere

How can anyoneClaim to be his only sonAnd make us feel the othersEqual we are in the eyes of the kingAnd all are sons of him

For once listen to the voiceLoveThe voice inside your heartsOne man is all we are of that one

Man we are parts…

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