When Helplessness Hits

Wings clipped

Hands tied

Mouth shut

Unable to understand

Unable to explain

A sudden tremble

Treated as a criminal

Accused of being who I’m not

All the trust

Slipping away

In one moment

How do I explain

When I can’t understand

How do I understand

When I can’t explain

Free Mind

Is a free mind

really free to wander?

Does freedom to wander

need the mind to be free?

For how long

does a free mind continue?

Does it stagnate

when life takes a different turn?

Free mind doesn’t dwell

on sunshine alone

It swims in dark waters

It transcends reality

and takes a plunge at oddities

It gathers up courage

to break away from

the talons of suffocation

It takes the souls

under its wings

and sets them free

It decides to perish

rather than exist in a rut

Evening Rainfall

The evening rainfall

Leaves tremble in cold shower

Dog barks at the moon

Keeping Pace

My mind runs wild

Spirit dances with the soul

Tortoise keeps its pace

Fifty Winters

Zipping across the trees

Walking past obstacle bridges

Crossing fifty winters

In a forest much older

Above the forest

Space filled with birdsong

From the treetops

A safety cocoon

Away from the land

That carries the weight

Legs bear thousands of steps

Body flexes to carry on

Spine recoils to sustain

Heart beats like a drum

Through winters yet to come

The seeds of life

Love grows wings

Flying across the sky

Then twisting down like a falcon

Deep, long breath

Between the trees

Elements of Existence

I play with fire

and inhale the smoke

as colourful flames start dancing

I feel the rain

then the scarcity

when the water isn’t enough

Silence in the air—

just the sound of rustling leaves,

birds and bugs singing their songs

The earth I sleep on

has survived thousands of seasons

yet still holding me

Trees touching the sky

within the vast space

opening me to another world

Kangaroos and wallabies

stand to look with curiosity—

who is this being

from out of this world

Tiny Fireballs

Tiny fireballs

Peer down through tall canopies

Campfire smoke rises

The River Forgets

Heavy tides turn

a river into a stone

Such brutal tides

the stormy nights—

the river devoured

The river forgets

who it has become

The stone forgets

who it was before

Trying hard to regain its flow—

the stone shatters into tiny fragments

The tides grip so hard

like the web and the claw—

the stone unable to flow

The river stops flowing—

only the river of tears

flowing from the fragments

Beneath the Softening Clouds

The clouds softening—

can you see them sending

some rain your way?

Every raindrop holds the memories

we've created

touching your skin

and running down your spine

Short fragments of moments

meaningful or not—

however you choose to define them,

we carry them inside

The rain slows down

washing our two souls

swimming in silent ponds

We're soaked and cold

beneath all the sadness

seeking some warmth

The distant bonfire

under the night sky

licking the darkness

calls our weary souls

Approaching from two directions

we see our faces

as we draw closer

A Spare Set of Wings

A spare set of wings

sitting on my shelf—

they aren't on lease

nor are they on sale

The wings long to belong

to someone—

wanting to rest

on delicate shoulders

With a bit of courage,

they hold on to hope—

dreaming of flying away

to a new home

Wake Up First

What is your voice saying today

Get up and say it

Own it

Come—

Pick up the phone

Your inner voice is screaming

Why is it still held captive

Imprisoned in tiny rooms

Claustrophobic

Suffocation

It’s raining outside

The grass is wet

Let the rain pour down on you

Walk barefoot on the grass

Don’t fall asleep

Wake up first

Before you sleep

What Ears Want to Hear

Ears pretend to listen

but they only want to hear

the things they like to hear

Anything else becomes unbearable—

the brain bites the bullet

voices perceived as war cries of foes

Wisdom laughs at the

absurdity of human behaviour

Words inside the books wish

they could burn down to ashes

Read and Forgotten

Everyone seems intent on

singing their own tunes

When the words are left unobserved

the intent is seen

hidden silently

behind the masks

Once revealed—

the silence becomes audible

the masks begin to disappear

The real faces

begin to unravel

Everyone seems like

the hungry wolves

emerging out of the woods

Am I one of them?

Have I turned into one?

I rush to see the mirror—

I see many faces

staring and laughing at me

My words—

just a speck of dust

in the ocean of sands

basking beneath the sun

I am all alone—

red and burnt

read and forgotten

Awakened by Ghosts

Even the ghosts are asleep

at that time of the night—

she was awakened by her own ghosts

Smoke from her candle of thoughts

slowly covers her morning sky

Thoughts dance in front of her eyes

as she twists and turns unable to sleep

like a serpent lost in the dark woods

She might awaken the sparrows

far away in the garden

as he sleeps in his other world

He writes serenades in his dreams—

perhaps this is the real ghost

that's keeping her awake

Half-Baked Brains

The primitive brains

in the island of frogs

know no world

outside of theirs

They know time

They know sky

They know water

They know earth

A ship arrives

with a load of

half-baked brains

Half-baked brains

presented on golden trays—

know no time

know no sky

know no water

know no earth

The wise man refrained

while others delighted,

enticed by the glamour

Last words of him—

“Find your way”

only to be swept away

by the ocean waves

All that remained

were the half-baked brains

The Flow

A bucket of paint

thrown on the canvas

creates an artwork

As the paint runs down,

an image of misery

could become a colourful joy

How do I know

the artwork started with misery?

It could have been the other way around—

joy running down as misery

Can the flow be intercepted midway

to change its course?

Yoboseyo

A lady answers the phone

and screams in a sharp voice—

yoboseyo

yoboseyo

yoboseyo

Barrage of arrows

shot over the line—

distressed speech

a spirit on the line

Silence with a bang

The line goes dead

Eardrums awakened

Who was that?

Who intervened?

What just happened?

Love Exists

Love exists

At unusual places

In the most irrational situations

At the illogical turning points in life

It sticks and won't go away

It wants to add and multiply

Defies the rules of mathematics

Revolts against morality and ethics

The lovers want to dissolve

They want to be swept away

They want to reach somewhere

They seek meaning

Amid all the tension

Then everything else stands between

Like a silent, lifeless wall

Constantly challenging

With a quiet spite

"Let's see how you'll move past this point"

The Metamorphosis of Freedom

Wings forming

behind my arms

A vast sky above

the clouds calling me

beneath the heavens

My legs tremble

my wings flutter

ready to spread

Awaiting

awakening—

the moment of leap

Now perched in freedom

soon morphing into

the flight of freedom

When the earth cracks open

I fly high

far and wide

fly within depths

and touch the sky

Unbounded by limits

the thresholds to be crossed

stepping into the unknown

to find what awaits

I question the flight

I question the perch

I question the heart

I question the soul

I question my freedom

before settling down in freedom

River That Wants to Roar

The river wants to roar

like the ocean waves—

its mild currents

lacking a voice

The shore touches the river

it hears the flow—

the sound heard

heard clearly

but only heard

never listened to