Monday, July 23, 2018

Hidden treasure

Treasures are hidden among ruins.
A broken heart hides treasures.

- Shams Tabrezi

a lie told often enough

He was a clever man
and she was a wise woman
they saw that
it looked like a good thing to do
they didn't believe in the new god
but they saw that it was good to socialize
to be accepted, on equal footing
to have help when they needed
to sing songs, to celebrate together

we will learn the ways of the world,
they said
but we will not change our heart and soul

but their children grew up
with the new songs
in their heart and soul
along with the old
you almost couldn't tell
which was which
the lie told often enough
had become a half truth
even though it was told
without much conviction

and their children
were born with
most of a new heart and soul
and their truth
had all their soul's conviction

and by then it was too late
to save their old soul

it was gone, forever

probably not

i wonder if i can stand
my man telling me
whether he can or cannot
"send me to work"

a woman, then
has more on her plate
than even before
a woman, now
needs to be constantly
on her toes
so that the equation
doesn't slide back
into the old weights

i wish it didn't have to be that way
i wish a woman could just trust in love
and not worry about upsetting the balance
but a woman, today, is not so naive

zone, comfort of

and once she asked me
if i was not scared to cycle through
the city rush

of course i am scared
i am scared shit-less
every time a bike whizzes past me
or a car inches me to the left
i panic
my heat beat rises to a crescendo

but then
can i spend my life sitting
because i am scared?

we started on the same footing,
she and i
and maybe we were equally confused
at one point
backing out of everything
that required
stepping out of comfort zone

and i wonder when it was
that she decided to stay there

just a note
about the importance
of courage,
if you have nothing,
or no one
just the courage
to keep taking the next step
so that you don't get stuck
where rite of passage left you

invisible hands

They are simple people
They believe in hard work
Hard work has got them thus far,
and nothing else
And they refuse to believe
or even see that it is not everything

If it was, I ask,
why aren't the
hardworking farmers of Nepal
richer than the Chaudharys?

They will still insist
that it is their hard work
and nothing else
that gave them what they have now

And they are right, of course

Friday, July 6, 2018

Logic inversion

Behoshi ma hos ka
Tana bana bunne uni
Hos ma sadhain
Timrai yad ma
Behosh hunchhin

Lonely

The terrifying sorrow
Of isolation
When i lose you
To vapours
Of your own making

Sunday, July 1, 2018

the night before

one tattoed a phoenix
on her wrist
one colored her hair
a burning pink
and one went on a
long long trip

the anxiety of the bride
who feels she has to do everything
before she ties the knot