House of cards…

The hesitant feet at last turned to the end of the lane

And stopped at the house that bore the broken window pane

Thoughts froze

Mind stunned

It wasn’t merely the panes that’d broken

Wooden doors had swollen

The whole house seemed deserted and sullen

Dilapidated, shattered by bad winds blown all of a sudden

Where hopes and dreams once resided

Now it’s all a fog, loneliness and haunting memories…

Gloomy chandeliers

Toppled wall hangings

Hunted animal face

All the majesty gone to flames

In that monster fireplace

Rusted and dead seemed

Every grill, every pillar, every bar

No longer was coming from kitchen any single aroma

Smoke in the chimney had dried up completely

Charred barbeque in courtyard lying lifeless

Covered by nearby trees’ twigs and branches

And what winds were those

God alone knows

Ears can still hear cries and echoes

Winds blew and thud came the house of cards

As if a child had built it from a pack of playing cards

Eyes had seen this happen

But mind had stood still; helpless

Even today it stands helpless

Till finally it tells me

“Drive back”

“You too have responsibilities to caress”……

Paper boats……

Fragile and sloppy

Delicate and wet

Back then in ponds how merrily they’d float

That naïve paper boat

Everything has an age

Now currents are different

Times have changed

Perhaps rains have dried up……

If now they’d come out with paper boats in rain

They’d be called insane

Back then boats of any paper were alright

No particular paper was wrong or right

Just go, tear off any page, and make that wonder

Now tearing any paper would cause a blunder

If now they’d row, boats would wreck

Their hearts would sink in the water deep neck

Back then their paper boats used to chit chat and sway

Now from each other their boats try to move away

There never existed a method to row them- correct or incorrect

Now everything is demarcated- correct and incorrect

So paper boats are fuming

They don’t want rules

They want to be rowed anyhow

In ponds, puddles and pools

Here and now

Paper boats gone; childhood gone

Life today’s a different song

Back then they tuned up very well

As to each other they belonged

Now boats have disappeared

Paper has dried

Innocence has disappeared

Hearts have dried

Dried hearts won’t know the whole ecstasy

After all, they’re at the changing times’ mercy…...

Panorama………

Narrow lanes

Tiny by-lanes

Edgy footpaths

None walks on footpaths

Walls made of red bricks

Acting as partitions to homes

Peddled bicycles leaning against walls

Expressing, “we belong to the homes…”

From some far away places come more galloping bicycles

Balancing their way through stones and pebbles

Kites getting stuck on electric poles and wires

Rows of sparrows happily sit on wires

Mind stopped a thousand times with the smell of greasy hot corn shaft

Kept over the grill

Somewhere hands joined in to warm themselves up over fireplaces

Beating the chill

A thick smoky mist

Everything vanishes in it….

Plucking eucalyptus leaves

Breathing in their scented fragrance

No one to stop; no vigilance

Come summer

Panorama changes

Tangy tamarinds and sour mango pickles

A slight provocation causes a tickle!

Scorching heat

Burning feet…..

As July passes and August shows up

Clouds open up

Celebration galore

Green seems to be every color

Rangolis scatter……..

Far away from farms

Come sounds of cow bell

Barefoot with slates and books

Innocent minds run two blocks away

With the sound of school bell……………