Saturday, October 22, 2016

What is a haiku?

What is a haiku
When robbed of structure
Lines and syllables
That differentiates it from
A non-haiku?

What is a poem
Written for happiness
For the winning of award
When poems are born
In the the sorrows of the mind?

What is love
When it is found in
Every nook and corner
Giant teddy bears
Melting chocolate
Dying flowers?

What is a life
Deprived of all cravings
Reduced to moments
Following a pre-decided upon path
With a heavy heart?

Who are you
When you take what isn't yours
From someone who isn't yours
And give nothing at all
In return?

What are these words
I leave behind
Never to be read
By the one person
I have dedicated my every word to?

Friday, October 21, 2016

Mosquito

I want to kill it
The mosquito that peacefully
Clings to the blue tiled wall
That reminds me of the ocean
In the toilet in which
I sit on a white commode
And wait for my body to
Shit whatever is ready for disposal
For it has something
That I want
As it calmly clings to the wall
That reminds me of the ocean
Its own kind
Restless
Whir around me
Look for the juiciest part of my human body
To feast on
And I don't want to kill them
Because they are as empty as I am
Unable to quietly meditate
Like the mosquito that clings to the ocean-like wall

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Death

If you are lucky, they'll remember you after you die
Talk about you weeks after your funeral
Write about you
Share photographs and memories
Claim to have known you
If you are lucky, they'll remember you after you die
And if you aren't
If you are one of those unfortunate souls
That can die without anyone noticing
Then your name will be forgotten even before
It is engraved on a tombstone
For the grave bearing your name
A grave no one will visit

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Untitled

On some days I find myself with the courage to admit
What I want out of life someday
These words I write
Typed on paper
Bound together
Filling bookshelves
So that when the days are dark
My eyes will not be burnt by the
Glow of a computer screen
Technology I detest
But rely on
To store my words
Thoughts I must rid from my mind
For they burn like a fire
Just like the one that gives me the courage to admit
What I want out of life someday
But the fire dies a sudden death
And my courage flutters away from me like butterflies
And then I'm left with nothing but self-doubt
That cripples
And twists out of my heart
Every ounce of strength
I had
All that my dreams are made of

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Stranded

Here I am
Sitting away from them
Removed
From family
The people I’ve known all my life
Their voices reach me
Conversations I’m not part of
Partly by choice
Partly out of having no other choice
For I no longer feel
One with them
They
Sibling and mother
Are on mainland
And I
Stranded on an island
With rising water levels
And it blinds me when the sun
Hits it with force
The blade I used to
Cut the bridge made of rope
That connected us
Their hearts and mine
Blood bonds that are supposed to make us stronger
Not weaker
Not more afraid
Or angry
Not more unsure of life
And as I feel waves
Lap at my feet
I close my eyes
Wave goodbye
Silence their voices
Ignore the words that reach me
Of conversations I am not part of
Neither as participant nor topic
And unknown to them perhaps
Hopefully
I cut them from my heart
Thread by thread
Just like the blade
Sliced through the bridge made of ropes
That connected me to them
That connected this island of mine
To the safety of mainland

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Don't worry about me

Don't worry about me
Not this time
You go ahead
Don't stop because of me
But let me rest
Just for a while
I'll meet you somewhere
Along the way
But don't you worry
I will catch up somehow
I won't get lost
I won't go back
Just let me rest
For I'm too tired
To take even a single step
Forward
Don't worry about me
Not this time
Let go of me
Let me be
I promise you
I just need to rest
Soon I'll be fine
And I'll come find you
So go ahead
Leave me behind
Don't worry about me
I'll be fine

Friday, October 7, 2016

Not you, but me

It's not you
It's me
It's all on me
It has nothing to do with you

When your message has been seen, read
But not responded to
It's not you
It's me

When I've seen that missed call from you
But don't call back
It's not you
It's me

When you see me in a crowd, wave
And I smile slightly, walk away
It's not you
It's me

When I don't let you
Into my life
It's not you
It's me

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Looking for you

I've begun looking for you
After all these years
In places I know
I won't run into you
I look for you in
Bookstores you've abandoned
I look for you in restaurants
And cafes
While I dine with friends or by myself
Wondering if you go there anymore
I look for you in buses I take
Although our routines
Aren't the same
I look for you at the various events
I know you will never attend
I look for you because
After all these years
My heart stubbornly refuses to let go
And I look for you in places
I know I'll never find you
Because our minds often
Trick our hearts into believing they are
Getting what they want
And so
As I look for you in places
I know I'll never run into you
A familiar voice or figure
Will make me pause for a moment
Body going cold
Lungs heavy without the breath I forgot to take
And for just one moment I wonder
If I've finally found you
In a place I thought I never would