Don't lean on me
I'm like you
in my infirmity

but life
must go on-
an inevitability

until
our mortal game
is over--  finally

pluck whatever
that does comfort
or console-- gratefully

don't depend on me
chart your own course
in life's harsh journey

Clear is the day
gone is the mist
now that you're here
nothing is amiss

the shadows
of last night
have given way
to the day's light

behold --there's a rainbow
beaming in the blue sky
the tender breezes are singing
every joy is drifting by

now that you're here
no more tears will fill my eyes
all that which greets me is so very dear
they bear the very fragrance of paradise

I needn't go too far
being here is enough:
there's no better world
out there- here I can touch
the edge of time
and keenly feel
the pulse of life---enlarged
by the wonder
before me
by the energy
I discharge --
new paths
I'll discover
and chart-

why should I
ever want
to reach the star
like a child
in its fancy
over-indulged?

I'll be still:
life needn't be
too much
of the unwanted

only the barest
of essentials
will be the crowning
they will suit
my heart
in every part.

Do you remember?
Surely you still remember

that September
('twas summer
and roses  in the meadow
were blooming all over)

when an amourous letter
you sent to Amber-

how you heart
did flutter
and how
you did wonder
whether
she would agree
to meet you -under
night's cover-

you were 17 then
15 was Amber

restless nights
haunted you
you were all over:
would she reply
your letter?

You were
not yourself
and your parents
asked: Do you
have a fever?

Not a word
did you utter

a week went by
and by the post-box
you did linger
but no postman
came over-

school you missed
' I'm unwell, Miss Clover....'
and quite concerned
was your headmaster-

how you did despair
like none other
struck by
love's poisoned arrow-

on one dark
and gloomy morrow
came at last
the long-awaited letter

you rushed to open
(how your hands
did shiver!)

its contents
were brief:
' I've chosen Arthur
please forget me
dear Peter'

When in-laws pay their visit
a cloud descends on the family:
when will they leave?
A day is like a century-

how they talk and advise
with such alacrity and impunity
they can't be contradicted
or they'll turn enemy-

too eager they are
to share their past history:
' Do you know I was the Beauty-Queen?
  All the handsome young men fell desperately for me!'

The father-in-law must have his say:
' I was a Colonel in the Royal Military
  in Flanders Field I fought with distinction
  to our country I brought honour and glory!'

  Meal-times are moments most trying
  nothing suits their tastes-- not even to the slightest degree
  so they suggest dining out for the whole family
  but they will not volunteer to take out any money!

Laws are men-made
men are fallible
ergo,  no law is infallible

Don't tell me
the bravest
have no fear
or fears-
human they are
like me and you-
their strength
does wane
they falter too

for courage
is relative
a matter of degree-
in the battle-field
death stares
at their faces
they'd wish
to return to family
and abandon
possible victory

prudence
is stronger
than bravery

the bravest prefer
to live than to die
for king or country

The hard part
is not doing
how people inch to act
they know no ceasing

myriad words they pour out
daily,- unending
bent only on
the same thinking

their minds too stimulated
never in silence, resting
other people's ideas
they can't stop picking

what has been taken in
  is like leech sticking
on the skin-  time rushes in compounding
  what's left is but the death of meaning

They were always
ahead of me
but somehow
theirs was not the victory

on past knowledge
they relied-- blindly
and were not aware
I'd since changed my strategy

H   Hold on

O  Open to possibilities

P   Partner it

E    Engage with it

Upper class
middle class
low class

measured
by wealth
inheritance
education?

I'm a humanist
hence
humanity is my class

no distinction
do I trust

Life's inevitability-
old age
I accept
I don't rage

others are upset
they debate-
with beauty and wonders
I engage

time is tyrannical
often it does berate
I look askance
the day I celebrate


aside I've willingly set
every grievance and regret -
when the final chime strikes
I'll ready to embark on the passage

The mind proposes
the heart opposes

Imagination
is either constructive
or arid
but many
can't distinguish -
deeper they sink
into its labyrinth
and are unconscious
their pursuit is sterile
and unproductive

it's hard
and often impossible
to step back
or retrieve

yet they cling on-
so strong
is their attachment
and belief

I can't write
like Keats or Shakespeare
a simple note, there and here
will adequately endear-

I can't sing like Luciano
Carreras or Domingo
' Happy birthday' and ' Home, sweet home'
will make my heart glow-

I can't climb Mount Everest
nor sail the wildest sea
but I can take part in a 5 mile walk
it will make me really happy-

I can't be like
Napoleon or Genghis Khan
but my duty I shirk not
my best is yet to be done!

I change
or I'll wither

human I am-
to myself alone
I belong
to none other

I'm what I am
because I change-
if people don't
that'd be truly strange

it's moving ahead
to meet odds
and every challenge
I might not achieve
but not changing
is to be enslaved

I'll not be the same
but from others
and life
I'd not be estranged

no tricky game
I'm playing
only myself *******
to a new enlarged stage.

Who dares say
self-pity is unhealthy?
The sufferer bleeds
known to nobody:

the self looks at itself
as none other ever could
the depth that devours it
the pain that nothing can soothe

the world is other people
each unto their own, steeped
beyond that carved boundary
it doesn't care to look or peep

who has the authority
to say self-pity is unhealthy?
When into hard times that person falls
he will hold on to it---so very tightly!

Yes, I'll be back
and not slack
substance, my words
will not lack

instead the hardest walls
they will easily crack
when meaning has been found
where would there be any lag?

Innocence
  wins over experience
  it holds no offence
  it needs no defence

experience
stifles innocence
it steals the latter's beauty
and robs it of its essence.

I'm member
of no club
on my own
happily I sup

if I were there
I'll find the perpetual snub
I'm at my kitchen now
doing my meal--where's the rub?

I ask no prize
from life
being sufficient
on my own:
to that direction
I never turn
my eyes

all wanting
is but strife-
only a child
would this need
out of insecurity
and pride

living
on my own terms
in simplicity
acceptance
and contentment
is my most
precious prize

never, never
have I ever wished
for any paradise.

I choose
the life of freedom
lived in poverty
over the serfdom
of prosperity

For most
life seems
no more
than a paraphernalia
of trivia
the same monotony
which they somehow
treasure
although such experiences
are hollow
and bear
no beautiful feature

ah,  the blight
of human nature
lost in the labyrinth
of ignorance
stranded in
the realm
of lost pleasure!

I know
I'm small
puny
but this doesn't
hold me captive:
I'm still free
and nothing
is lost

size doesn't count
and I've seen
the big and strong
in life's ocean
being hit
and tossed
felled
rendered helpless

I'm tiny
in comparison
with the rest
but not small
in heart
or spirit:
my own flag
I raise
my song
I sing
to the remotest
I dare travel
the highest mountain
I scale
the sea
most treacherous
I sail
fearlessly-
and upon
my last breath
to my life
I raise proudly
a  resounding toast.

I know
I'm small
puny
but this doesn't
hold me captive:
I'm still free
and nothing
is lost

size doesn't count
and I've seen
the big and strong
in life's ocean
being hit
and tossed
felled
rendered helpless

I'm tiny
in comparison
with the rest

but not small
in heart
or spirit:
my own flag
I raise
my song
I sing
to the remotest
I dare travel
the highest mountain
I scale
the sea
most treacherous
I sail
fearlessly-
and upon
my last breath
to my life
I raise
a  resounding toast.

Happiness is no manna
falling from heaven
you've to work at it
over and over again

Are you gentle
or prone to anger?

That which can be described or uttered
does blemish what's the greatest splendour
residing in the deepest labyrinth of the heart
it can't be drawn upon -- this wonder

of wonders whose abode
is beyond the ken of the seeker-
it's the sanctity beyond all sanctities-
the mystery known to no discoverer

Ah, how our hearts long
to love and belong!

Where's the beauty
of the world
sans the arts
which before us unfold?

Life so meagre
so drab and poor
in its monotonous  tones
to live such is to deplore

my heart I'll open
to embrace beauty -manifold
time shall take its mindless flight
but I'll never grow tired nor old

I'll stay away
my being here
might add
to the existing confusion
and needless babble:
where people
gather---anywhere
there's bound to be
some misunderstanding
dissension or squabble
for such is human nature

do excuse me
I can't accept
your invitation
to stay
or something to say

I'll go
my silent way
and none
will I offend
agree with
or defend--
peace I'll have
this will make
my happy day

My words
shall be few
more will pollute:
it's enough
if they are true
to what makes me
as I am--no more:

here, there
everywhere
words flush
the daily air
endless
careless
needless
at every thoroughfare

silence
I must learn
and be aware
of the sanctity
of words unspoken
there's the hidden diamond
beyond compare.

How to live?
Be creative
don't be imitative
or hybrid
nor decorative
in this-
new ideas
you'll conceive
yourself
you'll never deceive !

To the world we belong
but of us it takes no notice
yet from it we can't detach:
living demands we seek our own peace

while life watches
in nonchalance and indifference
before long, as time rushes
we meet our end-- dispensed!

I
you
they
and life-

the inseparable quartet
we are

in our being together :
every day
our drama
is played

Go elsewhere
I'm not your man
unlike the others
I can't pretend-

to your chorus
my ears I can't lend
leave me as I am
your song I can't chant

I've no castle
nor mansion
if you must
my heart I'll open

for you to enter
at your every desired moment
not made of mortars or bricks
what's within shall never be broken

Life-a series
of endless variations
on same themes
in different intensities
  in constant contradiction-

the lacuna, the opaqueness
the lack of transparency
the mist and the haze
the veil and the obscurity

and even as we speak
something is missing- authenticity
is far flung- words are shrouded
in strange mystery

the poets how they write
of love in all their over-enchanted poetry
but experience does prove sadly
love can be such misery in reality!

Too far I've travelled
there's no turning back
over there my epiphany
lies-  it can't wait

the sun tortures and scorches
my face the winds they wildly smack
my feet are giving --of thirst I'm dying
but I can't drink my own sweat

yet there's no giving up
I've to stare at the face of fate
not an inch will I be reduced
by sheer will I must reach the desired gate

night falls and the road
is invisible - I'm blinded-
still a voice within me urges:
for victory your life is made

In reducing others
   you self-diminish
    let goodwill be
     your daily language

    we 're one in likeness
    faults we have,  each-
    to one another we should reach
    and together flourish

In response to a post:

..but you can always give yourself what the world can never--
this alone will grant you the courage and wisdom to move forward as you will have become your own torch-bearer

The no man's land
is not nowhere
but hidden
within oneself

the labyrinth
left alone
terra incognita
where no seed is sown

that wasteland
the owner can't claim
the dark cave that can't
be lit by the brightest  flame

time rushes on mindlessly
and will not arrested or tamed
the self shrinks and  dissolves
its life morphs into a sorrowful game

Time I'll allow
to live on its own
its twist and turn
but I'll find my way
on my terms -alone

in my choice
and freedom

I might fail
or fall
but will learn
and I know
too well
life is hard
to comprehend

yet I'll never yield
nor to despair bend
squarely at its face
(august and stern)
I'll fearlessly confront
up to the very end!

What others regard
as absurd
I don't reject-
it has some
hidden content
that I can extract
which others
do not detect -
haven't we heard
of the folly of the wise
who sometimes commit
stupid mistakes?

And thus
I'm open-minded
in slicing
the inside
of what others
hold as absurd
and lift the veil
hopefully
some meaning
to unearth.

They wear a mask
because their own selves
they fail to trust

Misled
by another?
No, more
by oneself

The king, the prince
the billionaire, the aristocrat
like the pauper and the lowly
each will end in the grave

The world
they discovered
but their true self
they forgot

Fallen
bruised
hurting
but not broken

strength
recovered
unyielding
the odd, conquered

Never ask anyone
why the person is silent
it's over-stepping the line-
unwarranted and unpleasant