The Heart Remains a Child

Though time may wear and weary wisdom fade,

This foolish heart refuses to grow old;

It stumbles through the mess of errors made,

And hopes for grace before the tale is told.

I lose my way and let the hours depart,

Floating alone upon a misty stream,

Where gentle winds console a stubborn heart,

And brush my cheek to keep alive the dream.

They kiss my face and whisper through the air:

"No matter what the passing years may cost,

The child remains forever beating there,

Whose pure and simple wonder is not lost."

Such a Fate

 I know you will not come, yet still I call,

And wish to walk beside you through the years;

Though well I know this dream will never fall

Into my hands, to dry these foolish tears.

Such fortune was not written in the stars,

No matter how I plead or how I pray;

We bleed against our own invisible bars,

And watch the one we long for slip away.

Damn with this fate that keeps our worlds apart,

And damn this quiet hope that won't give in

It breaks the heavy, unrelenting heart,

Yet keeps me wishing where I should have been.

Bas Woh Nahi Aaya

Hazaron log mehfil mein naye andaz se aaye,

Har ek chehre pe raunaq thi, naye aawaz se aaye.

Bahaar aayi, faslein badli, naye mausam bhi sab laut ke aaye,

Magar jis ek ki khwahish thi, bas woh nahi aaya.

Sitaron ne bhi chupke se gagan mein raqs theek kiya,

Hawa ne aake kano mein koi afsana theek kiya.

Zamane bhar ki khushiyan dar pe dastak dene baithi hain,

Har ek mehman ne aakar hamein yeh yaad dilaya hai:

Ki raste dekh kar aankhon ke raste bujh gaye sare,

Charag-e-dil jalaye jo, woh parwana nahi aaya.

Sabhi aye, yeh duniya aayi, yeh saara aalam aaya hai,

Magar is bheed mein tanha khada jo tha, woh nahi aaya.

Ishq Is Rocking

 Ishq karo toh dil se karo,

Thoda sa pagalpan bhi bharo;

Dil do toh khul ke do,
Har pal ko jee ke jiyo.

Pyaar mein thodi masti ho,
Har dhadkan mein ek hasti ho;
Gir jao toh hans ke uthna,
Ruk jao toh phir se chalna.

Ishq ho toh duniya rangeen,
Har lamha lage haseen;
Dil bole, “Bas jeete raho!”
Aur zindagi kahe—It’s rocking!

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.