All writing is pigshit
Note: This poem is inspired by the news about stand-up comedians, cartoonists, poets, and writers in jail.. Bits, chits, chunks, dunks, and bitesGrovels, howls, bursts, busts, and slightsEven vanity-stuffed insightsOr those with badges of rightsEnd up as pigshit. Pigs do not think twiceEven rhymes taste just as niceThey nibble gobble virtue and viceAlso ‘forwards’ rolled...
The proud water droplet
I am the sea with waves rising highThere are times I’ve touch the sky.I am the pond, stream and riverThat see parched throats quiver. I am the State and I leadLaws in wetlands of needInside a threat or a treatyAnd unprompted graffiti… In words that preach anythingIn pitches for brands to singI live in the...
Knowing what it is to create
See – she said – see what is not there to seeNo, not just behind the billboardsOf feats that swagger in gutsy spree.Even cupboards with glass doors hoardCompulsive reckless momentsOn their knees, imploringThe Gods of good omensTo appear and transform their boringWait for attention. And a conversation.All this is there for all to seeAnd even...
Being one
One thought and one resolve,One way ahead. One destination.Families and organisations evolveAnd so does a nation.The language and the grammarThe art and the scienceOf relationships together must stirForms of defiance into reliance. Call this a marriage or companionshipA target, objective, or goalOr a function in a championship —Or if you must, eyes needing kohl.Diverse slogans,...
A story called Irrfan
A story called Irrfan.A story within a storySurprising layers andLayered surprises,A balance betweenHollywood and Bollywood,Engaging emotions andEmpathizing with intellects.A story resisting tagsThat prop reality onAlchemized happinessYet entertaining peopleIn ways that demand attention.A story that went aroundWith a heart of poetry,Reached out, spread withinAnd swept across borders.The final word to this storyHas found its way intoOther...
Dark times are fine
Dark times are fine.Dark times with their dark talesOf people blinded by thoughtsNumbed by verbose wailsCreate unscalable wallsEverywhere. Yet a part of me believesIt is night only for a whileAnd when the night leavesDawn cannot be farFrom anywhere.I believe nights aren’t badBecause they embrace deathTo be reborn as hope…How else will there be a new...
The blind singer of bhajans
The blind singer of bhajans.When all I see is love for the divineEach moment here in this world is fineI sing his praise and he takes care of meAnd life adopts the high notes of wine.. . . . . .Arvind PasseyWritten on 18 March 2020Penned for this selfless singer sitting in front of a...
Take care of your world, not mine
Take care of your world, not mine.That wail zipping through neuronsActivating synapses that giveThoughts their words and giveWords their sounds.You know, sounds of fury, anger, despair,That they imagine fills the worldAnd prepares to get things doneOr at least make change possible.It doesn’t.It doesn’t because that wailAnd whatever it does will failTo reach out beyond their...
The unfair advantage
The unfair advantage The heart desires, the mind wantsBut time sometimes sits back, taunts.I don’t need riches nor everlasting ageI just want ‘the unfair advantage’. . . . . . . Arvind PasseyWritten on 08 March 2020
Riot
Have a riot and please your heartOr read the riot act to ease the uneaseGive your hair a riot of colors to startA new era if there’s an expired lease. Imagination runs riot to createA new world riotously entertainingAnd only a riot of emotions satiateNerves that have been over-straining. A riot that’s an outburst with...
A poem can be a saviour
“Take sides! Blame one or the other!Let your words spread the flameOne way or the other or don’t botherBecause this is the way we play our game.”Game? I ask and wonderIf a poem that promotes harmony is a blunder. .. Together cannot mean to get her or himHarmony hugs harm to transform itTo misspell peace...
I’ll tell you why we are burning
Loudspeakers are now a weaponSocial media updates push an agendaRoad blocks are the messengersWhatsApp claims to tell the truthNews anchors debate half-baked viewsHeadlines scream without knowing whyAnd being divisive is praised. All around are people stunned and dazedDreams have gone up in smokeBlood is no longer sustaining lifeSmiles tag beliefs that are irrelevantWords nervously look...
