Like a benign king, for ages past,
I sheltered all who came to me
-Children, elders, travelers, lovers;
Homes I gave to birds and squirrels,
...
Ask me not, my beloved, for the love long past
I thought your presence filled life with radiance
If I have your grief, why struggle with the world's woes?
...
A whiff of fragrance blows
From the vale of memories,
Bringing with it visions
Of buoyant childhood, happy-go-lucky youth,
...
In this country,
Poetry is an aged mother.
She can support you with maternal love,
But cannot put
...
Once an expert of the Jewish law
To test Lord Jesus, a fine chance saw,
And said 'Laws are many, big and small,
Which is the greatest of them all? '
...
The unwary heart,
Caught in a whirlpool of desires,
Loath to drown in the sea of sorrow,
Clutches desperately at straws of hope,
...
Dream if you must, but only while asleep!
When you awake from your disturbed slumber
You'll realize that what you thought you saw
Was only a figment of your imagination,
...
Diverse are the pathways
In the journey of life,
At times rough and tortuous
With slippery roads
...
I broke my heart at your feet
But you did not deign
To glance at my offering.
...
It may be true that
Beggars can't be choosers,
But how unfortunate
Are those mortals,
...
In the inner chambers of the house of glass
Innumerable glass pieces shimmer;
Peeping from these fragments of glass
Are images in various shades;
...
As a creeper was I born,
Meant by nature to be supported,
But fate willed otherwise!
Weaker ones clung to me for survival;
...
Thus said a dewdropp to a rose:
"As the jealous wind pushes me down
From your soft fragrant petals,
I visualize a heartless woman
...
As I put my pen to paper
To write a poem, a story,
I see a multitude of words
In my mind’s eye.
...
Many a secret it hides, life's like that
In nobody it confides, life's like that
Often it makes mortals cry, sometimes laugh,
...
Each heart holds a book of memories,
Whose pages are filled haphazardly
By a whimsical writer
Whose name is Time.
...
When I was a little girl,
My wishes were fanciful…
To be a butterfly fluttering in the garden,
A fluffy cloud sailing in the sky,
...
Wistfulness….A withered rose
Bereft of colour and fragrance,
Whose thorns still retain
Their painful sting.
...
Mother tongue: Malayalam Education: B.Sc Maths Physics Chemistry BPR Bachelor of Public Relations Urdu correspondence course from Jamia Milia Islamia, N.Delhi Tehseene-ghazal course from Maulana Aazad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. ‘A’ Level course in German from Goethe Centrum, Hyderabad Learning Syriac Career: Joined Reserve Bank of India, Hyderabad and taken early retirement as Manager from Central Offfice, Inspection Department, Mumbai. Writes/ Translates in: English, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi)
Monarchy
Like a benign king, for ages past,
I sheltered all who came to me
-Children, elders, travelers, lovers;
Homes I gave to birds and squirrels,
Showered flowers and fruits aplenty.
Now, old and derelict, my bounty‘s over,
No shade, no flowers, no fruits have I,
My bare arms I raise to the skies in vain
None comes for comfort or to comfort me.
Nay, my dry body still remains…
When the axe falls, I'll be of use again
Provide gifts galore to mankind,
Firewood for warmth and food,
Wood for doors, furniture and decor too.
Again I shall be among my people,
Like a kindly king in disguise.