• The Ball Knows Nothing

    I dont know anything about football

    someone told me

    I said

    you dont have to

    just sit with the people

    who watch it

    you will learn the art

    of showing every expression

    that you can later mimic

    that alone is enough

    to prove

    that you know much about football

    like everyone

    just focus on two colours

    dont get distracted

    by the twenty two people

    chasing one poor ball

    the ball has no enmity

    with any player

    it never betrayed anyone

    it never ran away

    without paying its debts

    it is simply full of air

    and it bounces

    like some people

    whose minds are mostly air

    yet they bounce around

    as though they are travelling

    to a spaceship

  • What’s Up?

    From the other side of the world

    my friend typed,

    “What’s up?”

    I said,

    right now I’m in my room,

    so the ceiling is up.

    The light hanging from the ceiling is up,

    illuminating

    the darkest corner of my room

    and my heart.

    The paint on the ceiling is up,

    staying there for years

    in its bruises and patches,

    reflecting the cold of winter

    and the warmth of summer.

    A spider has woven a web

    that is up too.

    It lives there,

    not knowing its fate.

    It may be swept away

    in the next moment.

    Still, it waits without worry,

    perhaps believing

    that if it survives,

    it will simply weave another web.

    I didn’t have a straight answer

    for my friend,

    because I wasn’t quite myself.

    I had been staring at the ceiling

    for a long time

    before his message arrived.

    Maybe he was surprised,

    curious,

    perhaps even annoyed

    by what I replied.

    While he waited for an answer,

    the ceiling had already given me one.

  • Between Horns

    No guitar was played

    No song was sung

    Nobody clapped

    Nobody played any music

    And she went there

    To the traffic island

    And danced like a maniac

    Many of us got distracted

    But it was in that very moment

    I got the chance to see her pain

    Hidden in the disguise of dance

    She was simply expressing

    That too many horns

    Can sometimes make people

    Dance like maniacs

    When they reach home

    They will press nothing

    They will be tired

    They will sleep

    Then another day begins

    Another horn

    Another rush

    Another attempt to clear the way

    Because nobody is going to reach anywhere

    By going faster

    By annoying others

    Or by polluting the environment

    She was simply showing her art

    And many of us

    Failed to understand it

  • She Never Asked Why

    I didn’t know what to ask her.

    I went there,

    recited a poem,

    and she wrote her number

    on a small piece of paper.

    She pressed it into my hand

    with such certainty,

    as if she really wanted me

    to call her that night.

    I didn’t.

    Then I forgot.

    A week slipped away.

    When I finally called,

    she wasn’t the same girl anymore.

    Her voice had changed.

    Not the sound of it,

    but the place it came from.

    I managed to ask,

    “How are you?”

    She answered.

    But she never asked,

    “Why are you calling?”

    That’s when I realized:

    Every number has a value,

    but only while it survives

    its own time zone.

    Some numbers

    are meant to disappear.

    They arrive,

    leave a pulse in your mind,

    and fade before

    they ever become a memory.

    Her number

    was one of those.

    Something special.

    Not because I lost it,

    but because

    I answered it

    too late.

  • When the Sky Finally Broke

    After all the heatwaves

    the sky couldnt bear

    to watch people suffer

    people rushed to shops

    buying fans

    fan prices skyrocketing

    like the heat itself

    but what choice did they have

    otherwise they’d be roasted

    barbecued

    inside their own homes

    trains ground to a halt on the tracks

    friction causing disruption

    commuters stranded in the heat

    with no cooler no relief

    only battery powered pocket fans

    and folding hand fans

    every face turning red

    like a steel ball forged in fire

    the sky couldnt bear to watch people suffer

    and then it rained

    it poured and poured

    people took a breath of relief

    the air that once burned

    now carried the sweet fragrance of soil

    flowers that had been parched

    looked happy again

  • Rose

    Rose

    Rose

    Rose

    Someone is peeping at me

    from the garden

    it must be pink rose

    oh oh pink rose

    close

    close

    close

    it makes me feel close

    even when I am lost

    in my feelings

    it makes me feel close

    oh lovely pink rose

  • Why Again Why

    Things didn’t go as planned
    They left thinking
    I have no hand in this
    my hands are tied

    Unfortunately what happened to you
    is just a coincidence
    We didn’t want to affect you
    but we need your hours
    We are really sorry
    Unfortunately you have to go
    work somewhere else

    A bird who just arrived yesterday
    tried to push the big bird
    who had lived in the branches for long

    No you haven’t grown old
    No you haven’t become nonsense
    You just don’t belong to the space
    which I have allocated for myself

    I don’t care wherever you go
    but I need that space
    where I can grow and bloom
    Your fragrance is not required here
    Grow somewhere else

    And the flower
    didn’t have much to say

    They took it away
    planted in some other pot
    torn from the soil
    where it had anchored its roots
    deep down in the earth

    Will it survive long
    Or will it grow back strong

  • Echoes of Your Song

    Were you the woman

    who sang that song

    Ive been whispering this
    since this morning
    your song
    left its taste
    upon my tongue

    May I know
    why you chose to go

    with a man named Wong

    Wasnt I ready
    to become the sound
    of your song

    Wasnt I ready
    to give
    all that I own

    Oh baby
    just sing this song

    Even though we are far apart
    our memories
    wont
    leave us
    alone

  • Same Fence, New Lens

    recreation of the creation

    i got lost in the transition

    finding peace on the open space

    it flinches at the fence

    rusted wire dressed up as defence

    everyone has got two sides

    whether it’s penny or pence

    if one side wins

    the other side

    should not go silent

    let us come back to the fence

    run our fingers along the wire

    some feelings

    we cannot sense

    if beautification is needed

    same fence

    needs new type of lens

  • Welcome to My Life

    I can cry millions of times.

    I can shed tears like a crocodile,

    or like a genuine human.

    If you trust me enough

    to explore your happiness

    within my life,

    you are more than welcome.

    Come anytime, my dear.

    Come with the glam rock

    that sparkles through your personality,

    and I will pay for everything

    that is valuable to you.

    But my tears might not be the same.

    They might not be the same.