What Next?

And what next is to happen?
After all of the hope has left thee
And all of thy dreams have died?
Is this the way it is to be?
Just flesh and bone with nothing inside?
What next?

I know the days bring thee no relief
And nights shed their blackness of pain;
The sun gives thee no soothing joy;
The moon is but distant in her reign
And all time does is destroy –

Wrecks, pillages, murders and rapes
Thy heart that once used to sing,
Thy soul that could leap so high,
Thy song that was a living thing,
Thy eye that knew not why to cry…

But what next can possibly happen?
For hurt is what is left of thy heart.
Thy tongue has no words to say.
Thy song ends where the tears start,
For hurt is all that’s left of thy heart.
So –

What next?

To Rajeev.

To My Journeying Friend,

I remember the times we were together,
As children, but that was long ago …
We lost touch and lucked out on knowing
Each other in life’s incessant flow.

Destiny perhaps has a way of tapping
One’s shoulder and saying, “Hello,
“This is the same boy with whom
“You shared your life with, some years ago.”

Then we probably smiled
On our way down or up the stairs;
Listening to her, and said “hello”, though
We were still wrapped in life’s many cares:

That said college and family and books and computers,
(I smile here because I like knowing you)
And then, suddenly, we met and knew each other,
And destiny got her way and point through.

I won’t make this a long poem
Which would tax an engineers mind;
But a topper is what I know u to be –
Not to mention, to a friend like me, somewhat kind.

So you begin another phase of your life,
Traveling thousands of miles away,
So I think I shall sit back and type out
The things I wish to say.

I wanted to come over a lot
These past few days and spend loads of time with you;
But I know you needed your space with mom and dad,
Because I can guess how much they’ll miss you.

So on the day when you read this,
You’ll be flying off to a distant land,
And I probably won’t be able to say much –
The reasons for which I guess u understand.

I have come to know you so much better,
It’s like losing a friend all over again;
And there is selfishness in abundance
That’s mingled with a degree of pain.

But thousands of miles are easily crossed,
And time has its tricks of faith,
There are plans probably in the making,
And several twists of fate.

But in all I do hope you do well,
For others, yes, but yourself most of all;
And if you ever need a friend
You know who you can call.

And time now won’t matter I guess,
Nor losing touch, like the time sometime ago,
Because I know destiny has other plans
And will be tapping your shoulder asking u to say hello.

Bon Voyage,
Come home soon.

To Di-

Terror in my heart
Rests placid,
Like a corrosive acid,
That bores though my mind.
Not a breath of calm it leaves behind.
Such breathing to look forward to
Is what drove me to find you.
But you are caught up in World Power
And upon questing hearts you rule and glower.

Terror in my heart rests placid
Making its present beats strange and flaccid;
Something it’s not a stranger to:
The world has had its share before you;
But now two oppressors it cannot endure.
Quick! Quick! There’s got to be some cure!
Do I let it burn, shrivel and die?
Hope for Providence to hear its silent cry?
Do I let the world and you succeed?
Or find ways to make you both cry and bleed?