The Mask of Blue

They tried to end him even in his youth,

His very kin conspiring for his breath;

He gave away his Radha, in all truth,

To shoulder burdens and outface his death.

He lost his clan, his lineage, and his line,

Because he stepped to help a righteous war;

Branded a cheat, a trickster, and a sign

Of stolen gems and murders at his door.

With loves uncounted and with paths untamed,

Was he a saint, or player of the game?

Through every false decree by mortals framed,

He walked through joy and sorrow much the same.

And though the inner wounds ran deep and wide,

He wore a smile where heavier griefs were pressed

Bearing the universe with naught beside

A quiet peace upon a lonely chest.

The Unseen Echo

It is a foolish thought, yet strangely sweet,

To think we live inside another's prayer,

That somewhere, in a quiet, steady beat,

Our name is spoken when no one is there.

We catch ourselves and smile for no known cause,

While strangers wonder what we're thinking of;

A memory pauses time and breaks the laws,

Reviving all the warmth of vanished love.

The gentle talks we shared, the words we said,

Replay like music in an empty room;

A feeling that is safely, softly dead,

Yet blossoms from the ghost of what could bloom.

We cannot make this magic breathe anew,

Nor recreate the light that we possessed;

Yet just to know it happened, fond and true,

Leaves every quiet, longing shadow blessed.

Just a Glimpse

I'll wait across the span of endless years,

Because this foolish heart refuses flight;

I do not wait to hold you near my fears,

Nor ask to share your steps inside the light.

I wait simply to catch a fleeting glance,

To see your smile break softly through the day,

Content to watch from distance, by pure chance,

As all the heavy shadows drift away.

No prize I ask, no promise to be kept,

No claim upon the life you call your own;

While all my quiet, secret grief has slept,

I stand within this patient space, alone.

To see your smile redeem the quiet pain

For that alone, I'd wait through wind and rain.

Ishq Ka Safar

Dil yeh kahe lakh baar tujhse pyaar karu,

Har pal bas tere baare mein hi sochoon.

Tere dil mein aa kar darwaze bandh kar doon,

Poore dil par bas apna hi kabza kar loon.

Tere bina yeh saansein bhi adhuri lagti hain,

Har ek khushi bas tujhse hi judi lagti hain.

Duniya ki parwah kise hai ab mujhe,

Meri manzil toh bas teri raahon mein milti hain.

Basa loon tumhe apni in palkon ke saaye mein,

Chhupa loon zamane ki har ek buri nazar se.

Kahin aur jaane ki ab chah hi nahi bachi,

Bas tera ho kar reh jaun is safar mein.

The Waiting Fool

I say I'm sorry, though the words sound weak

This foolish heart refuses to be wise;

I cry and beg, though silence is you speak,

And know well enough how hope-born reason dies.

I stand no longer with my arms outspread,

Not waiting by the door for you to call;

Yet something in me lingers, fast instead,

As if just waiting for a heavy fall.

Damn it, what is it waiting for today?

Perhaps to learn the lesson one more time,

To take a final, sharp and bitter slap,

For daring to keep loving this sublime.

Sunny, Far Away

Sunny, whom I can never reach,

Never meet, never see, never touch;

Never feel your warmth beside me,

Yet somehow your light still finds me.

Bright, distant, shining on everyone;
Always glowing from afar,
A beautiful light, a distant star.

Too far for my hands to ever hold,
Yet warm in memories I unfold;
Sunny, you shine where I cannot be,
Forever bright… and far from me.

The Wait I Cannot Stop

Though I know you won't be back, I wait,

Though I don't want you back, I hesitate.

It isn't that I find joy in the pain,

Or wish to live through it again.

I don't wait for you to return to me,

I simply cannot stop what my heart makes me see.

Somewhere between letting go and moving on,

I miss you still, though everything is gone.