Stay

Try as I  might,
I could not lock you out.
Stayed behind walls,
Strayed behind the rails-
Yet you came crashing through -
Breaking all bars-
To color my world,
And make me love the stars.
I'd sought nothing-
Looked out for none-
Afraid of walking the same path again-
And seeing the same end.
Yet your strength guided me,
Out of my dilemma-
As you reached out to
My core.
In every step,
You'd made your essence felt-
As deep in me, something stirred.
A primate emotion,
Long dormant-
Resurfaced with its varied hues.
You gave me back my sense of wonder,
And led me to place my faith
In life and its simplicity again-
Far away from all crooked corners,
And twisted neural pathways.
Somewhere,
I'd always given my all to you-
Unknowingly even -
At the first touch,
Or the first kiss,
As I found back my state of bliss,
While you led me home again.
Now I feel safe and sure,
With my head buried against your chest-
While your arms keep me steady
And careful eyes
A mirror
To me.
Joy surrounds me,
Like soft bubbles suspended perpetually,
While we live in and live through the present,
As the future remains obscure,
Like a jigsaw puzzle.

Test of Strength

The old sage had taught her to believe,
In the magical words of faith and trust.
Told her that hey were the charms,
Of all the voodoo,
That one had to practice,
To keep steady and evil away.
So long had she been blind,
Led by simplicity that irrationality could deploy.
She's walked a straight path,
And burnt her way through.
Followed her heart to the hilt,
Then see it shatter into minute
Incredulous pieces.
She bore a smile affixed-
Plastered like plastic,
While her eyes were blank.
The mirth she exuded,
Was none that she felt
Yet the sage had told  her to spread the cheer.
She clapped for others,
And danced for them-
Made herself a part of their joy-
Yet innately was much removed-
To the reality that she saw.
Aloof to most beckoning,
She walked on,
To the silent rhythm of her heart-
To find peace and joy-
Of her own.
Yet the innocuous wish seemed elusive.
As the promises one made to her,
Time and again,
Fell flat as they fell through-
Dragging her along with their
Broken flow.
When retrospective,
She thought back to the sagacious sayings,
And felt her bitterness as bile
Down her throat.
She laughed- aloud-
After years,
Amused at her own folly to follow her heart-
While all along,she could sense
Duality of motives and intentions.
Faith seemed harder to salvage
Than to find-
For all seemed rosy to her eye-
As she accepted most at face value.
Today , though,
When she looked into the mirror,
She could attach no recognition
To the person
Who stood in her reflection.
The eyes were dark,
As chocolate pools of caution-
While the hawk-like gaze was watchful.
Raw amusement crinkled at the corners,
As the wrinkles made their appearance too-
The white orbs, lacked life-
Soulless they seemed ghoulish-
As they looked rigidly at her.
The face had grown older too.
And more expressionless
While the smile seemed even more glassy-
Than what she would have let it be.
She shook her curls,
As the hands reached out to hug her tight,
And she stood, lost in her own self.

The face unloved

The eyes stare at the reflection,
Of the face unloved.
The creases around the eye-fold,
Stared back too- empty
As soul-less black pools-
Devoid of look or life.
The mirror cracks,
Smile, in the mockery,
That the face earns in its wake-
The body is leaden.
As wooden as the inner being.
Immobile and complacent,
The mind tries in vain,
To overcome the static and the strain-
That arrest its vision.
The tears, hiding far back,
In the forgotten recesses of the membrane-
Lurk around as they prick and poke-
Yet the flow remains absent-
While the splintered soul feels heavy-
With all that is pent-up-
Without an outlet.
Dry words die at the throat,
As the hollow voice refuses to speak up.
In silence, the shadow looks up-
In defiance- of the crippling times-
As the ugly feet rest abound in chains and shackles.
The much unloved face turns paler,
As with eyes closed,
The pain is felt deeper.
The gnawed hands,
Reach out to steady the body,
As it sways as it stands-
And then falls - with no echo.