remedies

frames of memory can be
wiped clean of you.
the mind can be persuaded
to be forgetful.
those people who saw us
laughing together
singing, dancing,
walking together
and clicked souvenirs
can be left behind.

"people come and
people go. Life goes on."

didn't we spout such "wisdom"
to gullible strangers all the time
nestled cozily in our cynicism?
where did we lose our naivete
where shall we look for it
now when we need it most?
then again, maybe we won't.
mornings will find reasons
to drag into lousy afternoons.
evenings will find books.
nights will find pills.
you will be gone.
everything beautiful
as before.

all i need now
is an antidote
for dreams.

birthday

days follow blindly
entanglements of memory.
life dances
to now familiar knells.
love wakes up
to nefarious truths.
hope writhes.wrenches
in restless sleep.
blank ceilings stare
at limp bodies.
blood invades floors.
slowly.sneakily.
and phones ring on.tiredly.
unanswered.unanswerable.
this birthday would mark
a beginning of another kind.

the masterstroke
of midnight.

monsoonal meanderings

i thought of you
in the unperfumed stillness
of a sticky monsoon evening
filled with mosquito bruises.
love was a breezy affair
that danced between leaves
of bright laburnum trees
promising eternal spring.
now clouds hang ominously
determinedly unwilling to pour
and peacocks cry hoarse
walking desolate concretescapes
with their trailing burdens
gathering dust and ashes.
soon they will chance upon
the winter of discontent
and all will be as it must.