Brick-lined curbs.
Scattered rows of human hearth.
And then the never ending road
Stubborn not to end.
Loopy smoke
Jaded clouds
Smiling men in rainbow shrouds
Walking down the treaded path
Stopping by the bend.
Eager eyes.
In teary mess.
Drinking down the loneliness
Peppered with the bitter snack
Of love not making way.
Hatred frowns.
Freeze in time.
Lavenders with lilies rhyme
Joyous dance the young at heart.
Lose the squandered day.
Vultures.
I see them swooping down on carcasses left behind by men.
Merciless. Irreverent. Hungry.
Dogs fight for stray limbs of half-burnt humans.
Letting go a shrill cry of frenzied thirst
Not a sound.
Not a sound to be heard.
Hawks nibbling at lifeless eyes.
Empty sockets stay gaping blankly at the night.
Stars too afraid to shimmer.
The moon takes refuge somewhere safe
Clouds- a shade of sinister black.
Life weeps somewhere far.
Like a child too afraid to touch the dead
I wait behind the curtain of silence.
Not even a prayer
Not a prayer on my lips.
Not a hope on my mind.
A spectator.
Only a silent spectator.
Helpless.
Still.
Infirm.
Bones rattle out in the open again.
Sooty at being half burnt.
Bury them!
Bury them deep somewhere
I hate the smell of death.
No incense, please
No flowers.
Death is not glorious here.
Death is not a feast.
Children sing at a far off place
I can hear their song.
Or is it some hymn of death.
Are all the dead awake
To see the living fare
A flux of life snuffs out the cold
from the womb of the night
Like that unborn child
in silent despair
It grudges life to death
Somewhere.
Again, I hear whispers.
Soft, soothing like death.
They are here.
Or am I just hearing things.
Oh! I forgot to breathe for a while.
Sighs.
That rend the air
Ricochet twice from end to end
In mourning of a great demise.
No lip will ever arc in a smile.
No flutter flap inside my heart.
I died a painless death that time
When I kissed your lips.
When you drew my blood.
In an endless trickle
With greed in your eyes
I saw death in them.
Let the dust-storm lull.
Let it all begin for once.
Let the rot run riot in your veins too.
Let my ghost die in some peace today.
And float somewhere far away.
To a place where I may avenge this day.
Someplace- I may meet you half-way.
Siblings of my tortured soul
Dancing to their grave.
Dragging feet on Existence
Life and Death fondle Pretense
The butcher comes out brave.
Every stare dipped in drug
Tethered to some sorrow.
Tranquil tremors mock at me
Apprehensions peep to see
Will there be ‘tomorrow’ ?
Sinking voices clutter thought
Mindless masks in place.
Lust-drunk fingers feel for her
Stealing across barbed wire
She blushes half-undressed.
