மாநகரத்து மாமழை

Image Source - Google

மண் புணரும் முதல் துளிகளின்
மயக்கந்தரும் இனிய மணம்
அவ்வளவாய் கிடைப்பதில்லை!

சாரல் மழையில் கை நனைத்து
உடல் சிலிர்க்கும் குழந்தைகள் போல்
நெற்கதிர்கள் சிரிப்பதில்லை!

பெருமழையில் தலை குளித்து
புதுப்பெண் போல் பொலிந்து நிற்கும்
பச்சை மரங்கள் பல இல்லை!

சூடான தேநீர் தந்து
மழை நேரக் குளிர் போக்க
அம்மாவும் அருகில்லை!

ஜன்னலோரச் சுவர் சாய்ந்து
தமிழிலக்கியந்தனைப் படிக்கும்
அப்பாவும் இங்கில்லை!

கார்மேகத் துளி பிடித்து
கண் சிமிட்டி மேல் தெளிக்கும்
குறும்புக் காதல் இனி இல்லை!

மழை முடிந்த மறுகணமே
சுருதி கூட்டி இசை மீட்டும்
தவளைகளின் ஒலியுமில்லை!

காகிதத்துக் கப்பல் வீசி
களிப்பு கொண்டு விளையாடிட
நீர் பாயும் வாய்க்காலில்லை!

எவ்வளவு பெய்தாலும்
ஊர்ப்புறம் போல் ருசிப்பதில்லை
இந்த மாநகரத்து மாமழை!

A Rainy Dawn

Image Source - Google

A rainy day’s darkened dawn
Sky swaddled in glum, gray clouds
Sea was wearing a gloomy look!
Suddenly piercing the veil of clouds
Shined brightly, a ray of Sun -
Like an artist peering through
From inside the flowing curtains
At the arena he is about to perform!

Silence

Source - Google

Smitten by love
I sent a missive once
Like an orphan’s cry
It lies unanswered yet
How can I mute
Sound of this silence
Voice of your indifference
Deafeningly resonating
Through the screams
Of sea waves, and
Noises of my days?!
Tell me one ‘yes’
Or, stab me with ‘no’
Hold my heart close
Or, just let me go!

Judge Me Not!

Image Source - Google

Veiled by the wiles of Life
I wandered alone in the deserts of Time!
Were you seen nowhere then
With a hand to guide me home!

Drowned by tears and pain
I once frowned and furrowed my brows!
Were you around nowhere then
Wiping my tears and healing my woes!

Was I down, trodden to dust
Oblivious like an un-raised Adam!
Were you heard nowhere then
With words to soothe my wailing bosom!

Burdened by burgeoning doubts
Was my soul weary with thirst!
Nowhere was your shoulder then
Nourishing my soul with needed rest!

Having never mended my rended heart
Never guiding me through stumbling blocks
Not knowing the fires that wrought me on
Judge me not, my Perfect Stranger!

Hold your whips, those scathing words
Rest your gavel, raze those gallows
Spare those barbs and sheathe your swords
Judge me not, my Perfect Stranger!

I have slipped and I have stumbled
I have been down, but done, not yet!
I will rise and live my lessons, hence
Judge me not, my Perfect Stranger!

Loneliness!

Image Source - Google

Burns within me the fire of Loneliness
Billowing through my battered soul
Burning down my riddled heart
Burying my dreams in heaps of ash!

Fuelled by my flowing tears
Shed unknown to the outside world
Rages within me this fire of Loneliness
Tainting your memories in somber hues!

Parched lips have forgotten the kisses
Palms now clasp only the passing winds
Heart still misses the comforting cuddle
My shirts have also lost your smell!

Springtime evenings’ gentle breeze
Struggled once to sneak between us!
Years have now passed with ease
Since that final, tearful gaze!

Memories of those lovely days
Wilt away like the roses we shared!
Your absence stays taut as thorns
Pricking me every day and night!

From the Debris of Babel

Image Source - Google

Built was, yore, a tower in Babel
Pulverized to dust at Your peculiar whims!
Were we a family till that moment
Wrought as different in a fateful second!

Sifting through that debris from Babel
We picked some bricks and built our lives!
Some bricks built our religious reigns
Some cues brought our ethnic strains!
Many fences we built with caste and creed -
Staying ever aware of our varied seed!

Torn as tribes and tattered as clans
We were strewn by Your sanctimonious plans!
Strange does it sound, God, then
To hear Your sermonizing us to be one!

Used-Book Shops

Image Source - Google Image Search

Dull, dog-eared, some torn pages
Fading papers with blots of coffee
Worn out by use, smelling decaying papyrus -
Walking across the ‘used books’ shops
I sense some sad eyes carve into me!

Laden with the sense of nostalgia
Sighs soaked in yesteryear’s memories
Resigned to their hapless fate
Books lie at the roadside shops
Like the orphans of old-age homes!