Hidden Secrets

This is one of my earliest poems..at least the first one preserved in writing.

Hidden Secrets

I would like to watch
The days go by
Just ride on the sun
Up across the sky

The day won't end
No night will fall
But darkness prevails
In the hearts of all

I would like to swim
In the depths of the sea
The deepest secrets
Lay bare for me

No sea too deep
No ocean too wide
But how can I know
What your tears do hide

Musings on memory

Another one from my writings of yore.
________

Musings on memory

The mind is like a forest in autumn - rich with the memory of bygone days, lying scattered and mixed like leaves on the forest floor. Every step we take crunches some leaves and discovers new memories. They lie steeped in many hues and colours - bright green, deep red, faded yellow and black. Each unique in its own way.  Real yet like a dream. They form the steps of life's staircase extending to the clouds and beyond - half hidden, half formed, incomplete yet whole. Some memories are opaque - clear pictures in the mind, some translucent, hazy images slipping like sand through the fingers, others faded beyond recall, mere gaps in time.

Every memory is a valuable experience... loved, hated yet cherished like the familiar lines a face aged with wisdom. No jewels surpass them in wealth, nothing could replace them, the lessons they teach lay hidden in one's mind.

From the faltering steps of childhood to the faltering steps of old age, memories flow like a river, starting in a trickle, growing with every step and meeting a greater purpose. But the river which meets the sea does not lose its existence. Memories linger on to make us laugh, to make us cry, to make us what we are meant to be. For memories are life itself. It forms our identity, our very being. It is something that none can take from us by force, but which is shared in love.

Rise and Fall

A part of my earlier writings. A personification of the Sun's journey. It is rhyming and is very sing song in its metre. I can picture myself teaching this to Arjun someday.


Rise and Fall

Rise he did from slumber deep
For long had he been asleep
Orange his robes but red it gleams
Washed anew in golden streams.

Flowers did bloom in his way
That was enough to make his day
Now perched up ever so high
Eternal life seemed so nigh.

He stretched and smiled a smile so bright
For everything seemed just so right
Every sight did gladden his heart
No wonder he found it so hard to part.

His health by now did decline
He knew it was time to recline
To be up and about for another day
Goodbye was what he had to say.

Red now in parting sorrow
Hoping for a better tomorrow
He sunk in to the depths from where he came
Knowing every day will be the same.

Hope

Now that I am slowly settling in to my new home..and actually figuring out where all my thing are..I have fished out my small diary where my old writings were recorded.

This poem has a fun story behind it. It was the last year of my graduation. The annual fest was on. My friends and I were participating in many events..creative writing was one of them. Sid and I took part in that event. There were many topics from which we had to choose and write a poem or prose. Coincidentally, we both chose the same set of lines..more suited for prose than a poem.

We both were notoriously unromantic and I remember thinking it would definitely surprise my friend Lakshmi if I wrote a romantic poem. Sid, apparently, had the same thought.

What started as a romantic love poem in my head got converted to a poem about hope. I remember Sid's poem also changed and became about an old lady.

We just couldn't be romantic even if we tried.

My poem won the contest and I was all thrilled about it. That fest was very eventful for us. Vandan winning the solo singing competition, Sid and Lakshmi singing the duet. I winning the personality contest as well as the extempore. My memory, though, becomes blank when I think what my friend Kruti did. Those were some fun days. I really miss the gang, life has sent us to different states and continents, but when we get in touch it does feel as if we had just talked yesterday.
_______

Hope

I remember the day, my friend
When the wind scattered my dreams apart
Like withered leaves they shook and fell
With my life, my dreams they crumbled

I looked in the mirror and saw my shattered face
Then I saw you take my hand
And promise me an unforgettable journey

We went tip toeing along a path
Amongst the trees
Back towards the end of the garden
Stooping down
So as the branches wouldn't scrape our heads

There a whirlwind had subsided
Leaving my dreams behind
A hint a form remained
Rest to be filled by my heart

Friend, I had you all along
Forgive the ignorance if this child
You taught me to stand and face the gale
You taught me that the leaves will come back

In your hands forever will I be
For Hope, without you
The child in me is lost.