|| by colorful words ||

she

does not even read

her own writing

that others steal

and write underneath

their own name

independence and desire

are important words

in human life

to be included in her representation

when her tears have become

as plain as the call of the cuckoo

and she tastes the salt from her own eyes

how then can she stop weeping

against the very flow from her own eyes.

(Painting : Sunayna Malhotra)

|| dream within dreams ||

The dream of becoming a river

is in the eyes

of the limpid water

the dream of becoming a sea

is in the eyes

of the unsteady river

the dream of becoming a cloud

is in the eyes

of the stormy sea

the dream of quenching their thirst

is in the eyes

of the gathering clouds

the dream of getting you

is in my

restless eyes

just like

pleasant dreams

are in the eyes

of the earth.

(Painting : Nisha Sharma sandhu)

|| In alien land ||

Like shamed seasons

dreams lie in a corner

of the eye.

In the sun's heat

dreams smolder

and still life makes

new dreams like

foreign friends.

Alone in alien land

tiptoe timid memories

darkness rains even

on full-moon nights

like the intense meaning of sad.

Desire looks for

new leaves so

desires may breathe

and new desires spring.

(Painting : J Swaminathan)

|| I know you ||

As the flower

knows its scent

water knows its own taste

the earth knows

to drink water

and water knows

to seep into the earth.

As the flower

knows

its fruit, its seed

the winds know

the monsoon clouds

as clouds know

the thirst of the earth

words know

their meaning.

Season know their

flowers, fruits, crops

rain knows its insects

I know you.

As tendrils know the desire

of the root

seeds sence

the scent of seasons

the earth knows

the eagerness of

the seed.

As the soul knows

the desire of the body

the body knows the comfort

of the soul

I know you.

(Painting : Panorjit Palatthuam)

|| A bird's eye-view ||

A bird

doesn't speak the language
of any one country
she doesn't even want to separate
herself from the sky

there are not tears in the eyes of
a bird
because
she knows how to fly

a bird
is never crippled
because
she doesn't want to triumph
in any war

a bird doesn't name her chicks
she doesn't want them
to be divided into different creeds

a bird doesn't seize at anything
she merely flies
and only wants to fly

that's why
she doesn't collect anything
neither by day
nor by night
has no rest
or offspring
she has neither a kitchen
nor a store-room
the whole earth
is her green abode
the bird impregnates the sky with her flying
a sky-flower
a colorful, beautiful and heavenly flower.