THESE FEBRUARIES

These Februaries

came in a row

one brought me love

one saw me grow

one took a toll

as it took my

one away

and left me crying

every day.

One brought me

the biggest gift of all

the love from my heart

in the form of a baby girl.

Then all Februaries

were spent in celebration

till one February

brought a funny sensation

my roving heart

that wandered out so much

had come home it seemed

if there really is such.

Februaries passed

and you'd think

aglow

well,

if you think that -

you just don't know!

Love moved to like

and like moved to hate

before either of us knew it

we were at the gate.

And today

is the last February - 

the last knot to untie

see how with the wind

the bits of love fly!

 

THE ORIGINAL PIED PIPERS

 

Parents

the Original Pied Pipers

made children appear - 

and when they did,

made them crawl,

dance to their tunes,

sleep to their lullabies,

read to their angry tones.

Dressed them, 

poor mannequin dolls - 

hair their way

clothes their way.

The mannequins

now turned 

walkie-talkies at parents' bidding - 

paraded in front of uncles, aunts, 'the whole school'

'participated in 'This Got Talent'

'That Got Talent'

twisting bodies and minds

forced to count and read

before they could walk and talk properly.

Complaints piled up

"your child is running down the corridor"

"your child laughs too loudly"

"your child cannot pronounce properly"

"your child is a dunce"

And Pied Piper parents

hold all the answers - 

grades, grades, grades

concentrate, study -

"my child is a genius!"

"my child is an engineer!"

"my child has a job!"

"my child is getting married!"

Somewhere in the midst of it all - 

So silently, no one noticed

the mountain had slid open

and both childhood and children

had disappeared.

WHO WE ARE

Strutting about—

our pompous ways!

Fussing over spilt milk;

disdain for the inferior;

dusting invisible specks

off of ourselves.

We're the See-Alls 

and the Know-Alls.

After all,

didn’t the mob declare us

Fashion Beyond Fashion?

Icons in our own rights we are!

That’s what makes it so strange

that when the Creator arrives

we fade away—

mere Puppets On Strings,

playing our assigned roles after all…

 

POSTER - ICKY

Elections and posters go hand in hand

Mug-plastered all over the city.

I would like to be on posters too!

There’s Glory! And there! And there! And there!

There, there, there…

Going by the Law of Diminishing Returns

You’d actually be going

Wow!

Oh yeah?

Shucks!

Crap!

That’s cheap!

Sic!

Forget it!

Turn away!

Silence.

Posters…first lesson in self-defeat.

 

 

PIGEON TALK

GLORY TO PIGEON:

Greedy Pigeon!

Don’t fight with your wife!

Give her some rice

You’ve chased away the sparrows

Why’s your outlook so narrow?

Learn charity and kindness

Don’t act like Royal Highness

And you’d better meditate

Your stress levels aren’t great

Your eyes are so red

It’s time you went to bed

PIGEON TO GLORY:

Kurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

 

HOW FAR

I wonder how far I can go?

she wondered

Not this far, I said,

Really? So it's that far then!

And by that far she meant

The whole world

 

HEART WORDS

Heart words beat wise quotes any time

strangers most of you, yet

somethings resonate, don't they

in a world of changing equations

yet, global, reachable, connected

yet not redefined

friendship remains based on mutual

love, respect and trust.