Monday, March 18, 2024

Achieving The End Goal

Keep digging at the tunnel, maybe the treasure's just ahead, 
Never entertain the possibility, that it may lead to an end that's dead. 
With each stroke of the hammer, the rock is developing cracks,
The log will have to eventually split, never mind the blunt axe.
 
'To repeat the same actions, and expect a different outcome,
Is the definition of insanity', as you reflect, you realize you are dumb. 
Dig a tunnel in another direction, or just use a sharpened axe,
By changing your actions, a little or lot, you'll fill your coffers, and sacks. 
 
'I'm a loser, I don't deserve treasures', 'getting them is a pain and not worth',
If you are denied treasures for long, such thoughts may readily take birth.
Single loop learning is so passe, examine your beliefs and mindset,  
By changing your thoughts, a little or lot, on the road to riches you'll be set.
 
Stick to your actions, change strategies and tactics, or even change your mind, 
Have you considered that in the first place, you don't need to treasure find.  

Monday, March 11, 2024

A Depressed Brain

Some loss here, some sadness there, some genetic vulnerability, 
Some distortions in thinking, some diminished mood regulating ability,
Some ongoing stress that leads to, an increase in cortisol, 
A deficiency of serotonin and nor-epinephrine, starts taking its toll. 

As the days become months, the brain networks start going awry,
The limbic system comprising of amygdala, kicks-in in its full glory,  
The PFC, both ventral and dorsal, gets subdued and becomes hypo-active,
You become lethargic and fatigued, and to the negative you are more attentive.

As the months become years, the brain structure is at stake,
The shortage of BDNF means, it can't new neurons make.
The hippocampus atrophies, neuro-genesis is held at bay,
Only with medication or therapy, can we reverse the damage, pray!

My brain may be depressed, my constitution weak, I'm down, but not out,
If you had to endure the things I lived, your brain too would have lost the bout.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Cultivating Fallow

Memento Mori, put the day to productive use, 
Take the bull by the horns- don't let it pass, or refuse.  
The hour that elapses, won't come back again, 
You need to write daily, come storm or rain. 
 
Premeditatio Malorum, you'll hit a road block, 
When the field's not fertile, you'll need to take stock.
The day may get wasted, but you'll emerge recharged, 
Rest will give you a momentum, and ahead you would have barged. 

Amor Fati, just appreciate the downtime, 
Bow out gracefully, while you're still in your prime. 
Enjoy the sleep, the rest, remain barren and fallow
Play with words and phrases, or in nostalgia wallow. 
 
Summum Bonum, let the poem ferment,  
While the words do all the talking, look at what the pauses meant.
 
 

Saturday, March 9, 2024

A Proposal (1996 version)

If roses are red and violets are blue,
Then till the end of time I'll love you.
But roses are red only in seasons of love,
And so my love may end but my promise will stay true.

They say meeting is joy and parting is pain,
The world is round we'll meet again.
But meeting & parting after a time leave you the same,
And you realize dating & dumping are all in the game.

Surely pearls are precious but diamonds are colossal,
If you love me accept my proposal.
But pearls and diamonds are all dust to the saint,
And your loving me is a fantasy quaint;

So forget the proposal that I'll never make you,
And come quietly on a blind date with Mr. Rendezvous!

Epilogue: Words

Rhyming words and rhythmic beats,
like empty stage with crowded seats.
Magnifying the vacuum in the crowded space
with words struggling hard, but not keeping pace!

These words are so disturbing, disgusting and deep
like a wife trying to find herself besides a rich man's keep.
They no more flow gaily with the ebb of life
but demand they be treated as either a whore or a wife.

But words and more words, can they suffice?
can the stage-actors don a believable guise?
Up on a pedestal they amuse and excite
with the meaning of death lost in the funeral rite.

So off with words and off with prose,
            off with Cinderellas and off with rose,
If you can't say something -at least be frank;
            and on what remains unsaid let your poetry bank!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

 I

With the Sun's angry radiance tormenting my heart,
        And I pining for the moment when will shine my star-
I died every day amidst hope and fear
that come night and you'll be there -but almost that far!

I watched whole night your youthful plays
        With an intent gaze so that your light may not fade
Knowing that despite light years you were close to my heart
that your twinkling from a distance was just a big facade.

So I proudly, confidently, quite blatantly asked
        'That you forget who you are and come within my reach'
To which you graciously replied that you can die for me
But to steer from your chartered path would be a cosmic breach.

II

I injured, baffled, bewildered and lost
        for once to you did willingly lie
That if you need your heavens to charm the earth
I can use my earth to forget the sky!

And die you must 'cause I can't bear the pain
        of acknowledging the distance between you and me
And am constantly burdened by your presence above me
so I invoke the promise you made to me---

--"If ever you ceased to get light from my eyes
        You won't get dwarfed or dimmed in the night
But to show that your love for me was true
explode like a Nova with all  your might!"


III              

For a fortnight I steadfastly adhered to my pledge
Burying myself in earth- never glancing towards the sky
So imagine my horror when after this momentous ordeal
I looked up to find you smiling -in the torturous sky!

The agony of realizing that to me you did lie-
That even for that moment our Love was not true-
you'll shine for someone else- draw light from elsewhere-
you wont care a bit if that light makes me blue;

Overshadowed the relief -of seeing that you are not dead-
my fortnight is over- you are still shining and new-
you'll hear my pleas now- accept my worship from afar;
But my love had been thwarted  - so hatred grew.

IV

I realize now - you are not a poet like me-
Who conveys instantly, what's in his heart-
your celestial divinity prevents me from knowing
Whether you are intact & strong.. or broken and in part.

Even though on that night something might have snapped
And you might have been consumed in my fiery hate
The light you sent out to shine in this world
Will burn for years and conceal your fate.

So I'll live every night in pain and doubt
not knowing whether I've killed you- and if so at what cost,
With the moon's tender radiance piercing my soul
And I praying for eternity when will be exorcised my ghost.

Kashish

Lucky Guy! He just had an heartbreak;
                            He's now charged and inspired !
Just look at the pictures that his sonnets paint--
                           a heart that is broken and tired.
What precision, what style,
           You can count on this emptiness to make him full !
With so many layers and levels of pain,
               he can choose at will which sad chords to pull.

Poets live for eternity--He's lost his love for life--
                                      at least for a while,
You can count on a dying man - for a fancy prose style.
So let's live and rejoice in the 'kashish'--
                          that he so effortlessly spins,
He may lose his Love..or life...or hope..
                        ..but never mind, the poet wins!

Of course this world is a market
    and the emotions that he's showcasing must be on sale,
We appreciate his craft and will offer all we can--
                         praise, respect and eternal fame.
Long Live the Sadness in his Heart ! Long Live the Agony's Cry !
Let Music flow from Unhealed Wounds, Let not the Echo's Die.

As I cant bring you any happiness-
          only the 'kashish' in my poems to you some joy brings;
So though I'll be dying with every single line that I write---
                           I'll make sure that the poet lives .