SEATBELTS

Warning!
Caution -
Attention:

They splay out the risks
one by one
in swift lines and
the finest print.
You know it all
but you do it anyway.

They feel at ease
nestled in the comfort
that, at least
they did their bit.
You go ahead
and undo their doing.

Somewhere, in a dark,
and dangerous corner,
a mind is at work -
exploring mayhem,
exploiting confusion.
And you just sit there
half-busily turning the pages.

Someone somehow knows
your secrets.
They gnaw at you
and you hope for a sign.
The signal goes amber
and you speed off.

Tomorrow, around your remains
that they discuss in headlines,
you'll hear them all say
"I told you so!"
But you took that plunge
and everything that followed.
Except, you weren't there
to see it through.

Statutory alarms go off
and you snooze them one by one
In your inertia is
your biggest move -
you dreamed of doing it all
but you woke up.
Can you do it anyway?

Rubberband

Touch and let go
Let go not to set free
But to bind
To cage
To withdraw.

There is a passion
that consumes me
Makes me want to stretch
The fibres of time
Not to enlongate
But to snap
To break
But I stop.

There is a fear
That protects me
From what comes after
The split I want
The pain
the hurt
The anguish
The loss.

There is a wonder
In this tussle
Of wanting and waiting
To see what works out first.
in The struggle
The release
Or the stillness.

There is a beauty in this
In this moment of tension
Exhausting and excruciating
With every impulse
Yearning for release
but we wait
We disengage
We unleash
Only to resist
for a while longer
before it all begins again
To collide
to crumble
To spark
Only to cease
Only to make
room for more.

20/2/14

Aaannndd I'm writing again! But I've taken a turn to speed down the road of Hindustani poetry. Pardon the misuses of language if any are spotted [insert quip about poetic licence here].

Tumhare naino ke jharokhe se

Mujhe apna jahaan dikhta hai,

Haqeetaton se kahin door

Ek aalishaan makaan dikhta hai.

Badalon ko cheerta woh chaand bhi

Mujhe adhoora sa lagta hai

Jaise lahu luhaan kitabo mein

Ek panna kora sa jab milta hai?

Uss mein ab hum rang bharenge

Khwaabo ke pardo se ab yeh manzar sajenge.

Tumhari baaton ki lehro par

Ek chehekti naav sa mann lagta hai.

Aaj main apni si hoon nahin

Par ek kal mera aashiyaan lagta hai.

Sapno ki duniya mein basa

Ghair bhi ab apna lagta hai.

Koshishein laakh ki thi ab tak

Manzilein kachchi si lagti thi

Par tumhare labho se tapki adrak bhi

Kyun mujhe mishri si lagti hain?

Keh doge tum paagal humein

Ki pal bhar mein humne sansaar rach liya hai

Pal bhar mein hi sahi

Tumne khayaalo ka manzar sach kar diya hai.