I write so I may breathe

 Many times I am asked 

By my daughters tasked 

To reply this query , trite 

Why do I write ? 

I do not publish 

No one reads this 

Then why 

Oh why ? 

On a winter day 

Clad in a wet towel 

I am hammering away

My consonants and vowels

Why I make it a point 

To put down in print 

If not for notoriety

Or posterity

I have no  adequate reasons

Like Earth has for changing seasons 

I have to jot  my thoughts down 

At the risk of appearing a clown 

For if  a thought is generated 

Around the cranium ricocheted 

It had better be expelled 

Like an apprentice rebelled 

In a wizard stronghold 

Before it has a choke hold 

On my life and heart 

Simply, I write so I may breathe 

To be put in one's place

 I thought I was 

Being generous

And offered 

Some fish head 

To my daily maid

Her reply made 

Me open my eyes 

Look at myself, scrutinize

" What is to be done ? 

With the fish head and bone? 

She asked me , pretending as if 

She has been fine dining all her life 

In that she made me feel small

As what I offered were scraps after all 

She and I both knew this

I tried to put her in place 

But eventually without crossing any line 

She had managed to put me in mine.

Ahalya 2

 She stood facing the harsh sun

He was  doing the proclamation 

It was relentless summer 

She was still all a - shiver 

Her hair cascaded behind her 

Warm brown , her eyes of ochre 

Her skin was of honey colour 

They'd bound the hands together 

As if that was enough to contain 

Centuries of infamy and pain 

Baah . Man , ideas so totally vain 

Anyway, we state it  bare and plain 

As things stand . Fearless of fall 

Well , within the sight of all 

As was foretold , there rose a squall 

As if the wind and sun were in a brawl 

When all quietened 

Silence heightened

All were silenced 

Rather stunned 

She , who was brought to be stoned 

Had turned to stone , zoned 

Frozen. Her stare cold , jade 

Her hair in a stony brown cascade 

The trees took pity on her 

Growing a protective layer 

Of green and brown around her 

Twigs , vines , moss, bark and burr 

Grew in lush green plentitude all over 

Hiding her in their bosom , forever 

Stilling her fiery heart , soothing fever 

Resting her , nestling in arms greener 

Than anything she'd ever known 

The girl facing the sun 

On her face a question

In shape of a frozen frown 

The girl facing the sun 

With hair falling brown .

 

Why I buy the things I do

I bought it because 

Number one excuse 

The shopkeeper 

In that hutment there 

Reminded me of a cousin 

Who I vividly remember

The chap did nothing 

The whole day, ever 

But he spoke kindly 

With his arms spindly 

His teeth with paan stain 

Sigh , don't try in vain 

To comprehend my reasons 

As to why I bought the mud 

Pot , meant to feed bird (s) 

It leaks . Even the chaps sons 

In confiding whispers, told  me so 

But he looked so much like dadu 

I can understand when it beats u 

How a man in dhoti cheats me , oh 

That another woman in a white saree 

Smiling in  all her toothless glee 

At my apparent gullibility 

When I let her give me , almost for free 

Two rotten gourds , which she lugged 

All the way from her stone age hut 

I felt my grandmother , as she hugged 

Me .Her breath of cloves and betel nut 

I can't begin to explain 

The smell of familiar pain 

Of my  village-y yesteryears , 

All scraped afresh , it appears 

Not sounding like Celine Dion 

But it's all returning ,coming 

Haunting me ,

Taunting me 

For I, who went farthest 

Climbing the hills highest 

Crossed rivers at their widest 

At heart, remained the closest.

Cinderella

On mic someone brayed 

A music they played 

Then a little girl braved 

On stage she grooved 

Crooned a lovely ditty 

No one heard , what a pity 

Shoo they said to her , " Page ! 

"Get off the stage "

Let others sing and dance 

Adults who know how to prance 

Who pick up fights and the Lance 

Let them show you perchance 

Please learn the correct steps 

You won't get too many reps 

And the girl tried very hard   

In the end she  mastered 

She danced masterfully 

To adult steps specifically 

And lost her originality , fully 

" Oh ! She dances wonderfully!! " 

Everyone clapped

Rushing to photograph 

Take her autograph 

She had laughed 

And cried at the same time 

"I can't sign "  she said , "Me? 

" I have sold my soul , can't you see? "

And it's time for me , to flee ."

"To keep my word with Beelzebub 

She told the bumbling hub bub 

She ran with her gown in her hands 

Leaving her glass slippers in the sands

Just stand tall

 Shakily , I painted Prussian blue 

Instantly , I knew

 it was not the right hue 

Where to learn? From who? 

In the absence of tutors 

Teachers and mentors 

To read no memoirs 

I taught myself the colors 

I looked up the sky 

I saw the birds fly 

I stared at the leaves try 

To speak to me and cry 

Of their highs and lows

Of their hates and loves 

Whether  On or off 

Their parental bough 

There they were with all others 

Resplendent in million colours 

The blues , the greens , the ochres 

Verdant and lush , acres 

They taught me a lesson

That in nature was so common 

Whether you are big or small 

It's just important to stand tall 

That is about all 

That is it all 

Just stand tall 

Proud and tall .

Dance

 I never danced .

Ok , maybe in primary school , under the tutelage of strict nuns .
We danced to holy tunes , with lamps in our hands . Twisting and turning our young bodies , never letting the lamp fall.
Burning candles could have set our tulle skirts alight . So we were ultra careful . It was a beautiful dance . Dangerous and spectacular . Never before staged , in a small Jharkhand town . Their own girls , weaving such other worldly magic. It was a superhit . If there was stardom to be attained , there it was . We ruled the hearts and imaginations of an entire small town . What more to crave for ?