Category: Poems

I haven’t even started yet.
My confidence is sweating out.
I’ve handled bigger things. And worse.
So, what am I so scared about?

I’m smart enough. I’m strong enough.
I’m quite enough to take this role.
Then, why my echoes laugh at me?
And, why so vacuous my soul?

I’ve learned to breathe. I better do.
I’ve learned to focus. Better do.
I’ve learned to calm the voices down.
I better calm my panic too.

I’ve got this. Nice and easy now.
It’s just a minor change in life.
I’ll flourish in this madness too.
It’s going to be quite alright.

I’ve overcomplicated me:
There’s comfort in my misery.
Instead of dealing with the day,
I freeze, philosophise away,
And then convince me I am wrong.
I’m indecisive all day long.

If “too much” is what I resist,
Solution is a two-do list:
A selfish act for my own good,
A service act I know I should.
By lunchtime, I will finish one.
By dinner, second will be done.

Whatever doesn’t fit the two,
I have to swear I will not do.

Despite eight hundred CIBIL score,
It took convincing – quite a lot –
To get a credit card again.
Was it because I didn’t return
My loved one past their last due date?
And kept defaulting every month?
Perhaps, my credit-worthiness
Is fast diminishing upstairs.

I do not have to stay up late.
But here I am. Unsleepy mess.
My wide awake is full of chill.
I never sleep enough to stress.

My lips and tongue are always burned.
The coffee kills my craziness.
The water keeps my hosing clear.
The green tea calms my guiltiness.

When days are tough, I have my breath.
On easy days, I play some chess.
No matter what the nights are like,
I always have unsleepiness.

He would have cared if troubles had,
By habit, stayed instead of passed.

He would have cared if growing up,
By luck, he would have seen a loss.

He would have cared if sleeping in,
By God, he knew his time was up.

The clock is pacing. Time is still.
I watch them with my ticking feet.
My heart is in a gym somewhere.
His heart is trying out a beat.
So much in me I want to say.
So little coming out today.

Do hearts enjoy Miranda rights?

They bought all lemons from all farms
To fake a market scarcity.
And when the price went seven-fold
They railed for gov’ment charity.

The gov’ment’s conches drowned it all.
They blamed it on a scowling sun.
The lotus loafers booed and claimed
They’ll get the lemons by the ton.

And so, upon the ballot day,
The lotus loyals loaded carts
With lemon, sugar, salt, and ice
To cool the voters’ thirsting hearts.

Annoying!
How he doesn’t care
For hours anymore,
Though everyday he’s living up
His final twenty-four.

Annoying!
How he spreads his cards
Upon the naked floor
So, Solitaire can wager him
His final twenty-four.

Annoying!
How his tally marks
Are stacking up a score.
He’s Type-A every second of
His final twenty-four.

Annoying! Annoying!
Annoying as before.
Annoying how he proudly lives
His final twenty-four.

Some things I took for granted: gone.
I’ve learned again a lesson learned.
To err, I have no latitude.
You aren’t easy, Gratitude.

The turtle doesn’t care for last,
For slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
The race of life is how it’s viewed.
You aren’t easy, Gratitude.

I booed the DJ up the sky.
His mix for me was boring, dry.
My playlist, now, has crises queued.
You aren’t easy, Gratitude.

Sometimes the shiny things I chase,
Distracted from my steady sail,
Are just the things that help me cross
The rocky maze of chasing tail.

The length of chewed up copper wire
Became the pin that picked a lock.
The scattered shards of limestone busts
Became my workman’s marking chalk.

The silver of a shaving glass
Became a makeshift periscope.
The knowledge that the lost is found’s
Enough to bring me back my hope.