I

Don't do romance

Don't flirt

But

I

Do all consuming

Affairs

That take a toll

On my very existence

I

Don't meet you half-way

Don't mess around

But

I 

Do leave 

When you leave

Mess Around

When you mess

With my head

I 

Do mad love

Lilith

Who still walks within us
Among us
Away from us
Listens to a different tune
Defies, dethrones
That which serves
Nothing in the end
Dark Aphrodite
Naked in her glory
Anger expressed
Through fists of fire
Hair that flies
Medusa incarnate
Goddess unacceptable

Venus, a retrograde

Affair that won't fade
As she descends into
A bottomless pit
Of all that love could be
And isn't
Unafraid she walks deep inside
The recesses of her heart
Body and soul lay bare
Ruthlessly cuts through the veil
Trivial moments where many a
Passing fancy felt real
Yet at the twilight of now
She falters, a bit
Ponders, ever so slightly
Merges with that which is
An outcast, locked away deep
Within this world and that
Lurks the shadow of her
Fighting demons on her behalf
Bravely walks ahead
The warrior with her sword.
Proud, her shoulders intact
Head, refusing to bow
Here, she lay her shield
Scars for them to see
Demons are but her own
Offsprings and siblings
From where began time.

Letter to Drew Lynch

Who stutters after an accident
That destroyed nerves on his vocal chords
But gave him a gift
To turn darkness into an art-form
One where he turns his vulnerability
To pause and laugh at himself

Who is a stand-up comedian
And makes me laugh and cry at the same time
Because he is strong
And makes me count my blessings every day
For the rest of my life, and
I will count my blessings till the end

Who admits that he was a jerk once upon a time
And treated people with disdain, perhaps
But now is with his girl who has taken up 3 jobs
For him, for them, together braving the world
Against all odds to believe and to make us
Believe

Who is an inspiration
And I write this for him
And I write my thank-you note in this poem
That has no rhyme but makes sense
Nonetheless.

Letter to my Ex

Once upon a time
The skies saw a promise
Of our meanderings
The trees swayed to the tide
Celebrating us
The fallen leaves changed hues
Welcoming October, yes
The one of our love
The clouds looked down at us
Not mockingly, but of quiet persistence
And then we walked no more.
You flew away like a minstrel
Maybe you did not want to
But by then, I left
Now, at this moment
As I remember us
I wish you health
I wish you happiness
I wish you love, even
A silent ode to longing
That you may feel now and then
It's only natural in my opinion
That you hate me
I only wish that you find your way again
To hope and all that which makes you happy
Even if momentary
Love lasts only for a second
Then blur becomes Truth
As you fight to find your way again
Not to me, but that someone
Who will be yours to take
Things will be fine
For a while.

On Passing

Death, be gentle
The bird that sings, gentle
The tree that stands, gentle
Death, be quiet
The clock that chimes, quiet
The lights on that house, quiet
Death, be brave
The ocean that lives, brave
The disquiet chaos, brave
Death, be a friend
Death, be my last letter
To a friend

I think I will miss
This and that and them
The slow start to a day
The jog to reach on time
The nameless faces on the streets
The coming back to everyday
And everyday
Must be every day,
A dot on my forehead
Yes, the one that I don't wear
Often, at night
I wonder how it would be
To leave all the memories
Made, and the in-between
Of memory-making that is
His story and her story
And their story
A where story
A when story
A how story
A why story

I think I will miss the rain.

In the heart of chaos,
there lies a stillness
Like that river
Waiting to be crossed
Slowly
The leaf falls
Waters rise
Silence remains

Dear You

There will be those
who will slander your name
speak ill about you
with a jealousy that
you think does not exist
But then it does
in narrow lanes
in morgues
shape shifting walls
inside heads
Dear you,
let go of the ashes
like they do for the dead.

Every day
I tell myself
That life is
Mundane
We revolve
We rotate
We are round figures
A statistical anomaly

Clearly isn't this
Extra-ordinary, after all?