MORNING THOUGHTS

Fish in bowl

Bowl in Sunlight

Dancing waters

Crazy colours

Coloured pebbles

Leaf

Little fish resting on leaf…

I sip my coffee

At peace with the world.

 

I AM NOTHING

This morning

I looked in the mirror

A beautiful person stared back at me

but then...

I looked at the slim stereotype model

and compared to her

I don't matter

I am NOTHING.

I am a homemaker

through the day

I cook amazing meals

I clean, I take care of all my family's needs

I am their friend, my children's teacher,

a tailor when they tear their clothes

a nurse when they're sick

a storyteller, a counsellor par excellence

an interior decorator, a artist when they ask those charts in school..

but then...

I saw this woman with her handbag 

making for her office, beating the traffic

and earning money

and compared to her

I don't matter

I am NOTHING.

I am so good at computers

in office, I am the go-to person

to resolve a glitch

the one they depend on to get things done.

Am in a steady relationship 

and I further my studies

and I can sing like a nightingale

but then...

I look at those who have a bevy of friends 

around them

and seem to breeze through life

and compared to them

I don't matter

I am NOTHING.

 

STALKER'S PLIGHT

Your footsteps

follow mine

all the time.

The dark alleys of your mind

believe I'm your torch.

Am I good life personified?

Or is it just a wish to see me perish?

 

Your footsteps

follow mine

all the time.

footprints

where I've been.

 

Come, let me now take you now

to the foot of a steep mountain.

My nimble feet climb with ease

and I look down at the speck

that is you -

on flat ground.

 

So lost, so left behind.

 

DEAR NARCISSIST

Dear Narcissist

Not all I say is about you

My posts aren't about you

My speech isn't about you

Social media isn't about you

The world isn't about you

There are rules made without your consent

There are lives that don't live by your rules

Someday, you'll get thrown out of the spinning Earth 

in a tangent

And lie there still thinking

I'm too good for them

These talks, these poems, these posts, these rules, these lives

are aaaaaaall about you.

 

WHAT'S THERE TO BE POSITIVE ABOUT?

Think Positive they keep saying

and I try

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why did you die?

Why did they kill you?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why were you raped?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why was justice reserved for some

and came too late for others?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why did you lose your loved one?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why did you call just to insult me?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why did you celebrate when I lost and you won?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why are there sooooo many children and women hurting so bad?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why were there laborers walking home while I protected myself from Covid and stayed inside with food on my table and a roof over my head?

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why did you hear me out just to do just the opposite of what I asked?

Just when I'm thinking positive

why did the seals in Antarctica die?

And 

Just when I'm thinking positive

Why are there so many painful programs on Netflix?

And yet, I must think positive

meditate, ruminate, and shut out all the crap that's happening

because my thoughts can 'affect' my body

So lead me like the proverbial lamb

to the slaughter house of Positive Thinking.

SEMMOZHI PARK - CHENNAI

Time spent with wife and kids

No peak hour traffic, deadlines or late hours

Watch my two-year-old

move around like a clockwork doll

Present her a flower and leaf

and revel in her wonder

Throw ball to little fella

He falls flat on his face and pretends to sleep

Wife points to the trees -

to racing squirrels.

Hold hands and walk around the pond

Little ones run in front

Twilight hours

The lights go on....

Thank you Chennai!

 

don’t we all know 

how to live in a shell -

secretly alive...