Four To Go + One More

1.
WHAT THE WISE OLD MAN TOLD ME IN MY SLEEP
Remember: The silence which surrounded Milton's head
Was not the end
It was the beginning of paradise




2.
WHAT I INTEND TO DO - SINCE ONCE UPON A TIME IS NOW
I want to cherish memories in my desk
For things have no history
Haven't you noticed the debris of nation-states (and even national-leaders)



3.
WHY I WANT TO CONCEAL MYSELF, TODAY
I do not want to be a king or a clown
I want to transform into a keyboard, and alphabetise other people's treasures
About their ideologies, idiosyncrasies and irrelevancies



4.
MY FATHER FED PROFANITIES TO THE BIRDS IN HIS KITCHEN
Because one day a dinner guest swallowed a betel-nut
Admitted to his folly, and said
“Everything is begot by the earth, to her everything should return”


5.
THE HISTORY OF MAN
For years I have been trying to comprehend him
Whether he was a celebrity in my mohalla
Or in someone else's gully
Or was she my aunt who collected white lilies, and firewood for her own bonfires
Before she passed away

Two Good To Be True

1.
After straightening
His noose
The hang man
In a rare moment of retribution
Promised
To dye
The loose strands
For the next candidate



2.
Sometimes you're so busy
Discovering new friends
You rarely recall the ache
You rarely recall the gentleness

You rarely touch the marks of a lost world
That gazes at you
Hurrying, from here to there

In appreciation of Astad Deboo’s body of work

1.
For many years
I sought treasures
In far-away lands, across the seas in celestial palaces
Hoping to become a very rich man
For many years I read the Holy Texts, and even Nagarjuna
Exchanged views with a sage on a hill-top
Hoping to become a very wise man
Until, one day I met a solitary old tree
Who had grown wise
Accumulating treasures of leaves.



2.
Everyday, I devour my meal:
Of wheat and millet, along with organic plants and spices
Which praise the earth
For generating invaluable fortunes
Which one day, I vow to return to Her.



3.
I had no place I could call my home
I am a citizen of the world
I have no address
I am a visitor on this planet
I am merely passing through
In the hope that I would befriend someone, anyone
On this trip.



4.
What the prudent old man told me in my sleep!
Remember: The tranquillity which surrounded Thyagaraja’s head
Was not the end
It was the beginning of music


5.
Every time my friends ask me for the road into the sea
I show them a path
They don’t see it
Maybe they don’t want to…
Maybe they cannot sense the goodness of the waves
From the distant shore


6.
Since
The man
With the calliper
Could not enter the Sea
And swirl along with
Waves
He sat on the shore
He dreamt about make-believe
Creatures who whirled out of the foam
In the dark of night
To play children games with him

Six Shorts of Sorts

SIX SHORTS OF SORTS


1.
When
Malik Sunder
Was
Escaping
Through The Royal Passage
Beneath
The Sacred Tomb of the King
He
Was Overjoyed
That He Had Not
Constructed
A Muncipal Sewerage
As
Promised To The People
Of The Land
During
An Election Campaign




2.
The
Thunderbolt
In The Azure Sky
Was Meant To Herald
Wet Rains
Instead
Of Striking Down
The Solitary Metereologist
In
His Observatory



3.
Every Fort
Has
A Temple
Where The Citizens Pray
For
Good Rulers
Who Win Wars
And
Declare
Public Holidays



4.
Miles
And Miles
The Two Epigrammists
Walked
Knowing They Would Have To Brush
Away
The Polysyllabic Phrases
And High Theory
To
Decipher
The Dust
And Rubble


5.
City Crowds
Are Rushing From Street
To Renamed Street
But
Seldom
Are City Crowds
Moving
In The Wrong Direction


6.
When
The Wise Man
Saw
A Rock
He Sat Upon It
And Pondered
About The Inevitability of The Historical Processes
Whilst
Defecating