करवट

फिर सूरज सो गया, ओढ़ के रात की चादर,

फिर तेरे ख्वाबों ने मेरे आंखों में करवट ली ।

Missed call

The screen lit up, it read 'You'

Promised a chat, long overdue

The meeting drawled, boring as hell

Was gonna lose you, I could tell

The buzzing stopped, I had missed

A chance... to have my ears kissed

-Piyu

Escalator

I run through the gate

Dragging the suitcase

Stumbling on the steps

Of the escalator

A man in front

With an impatient grunt

Gives way to me,

(the clumsy navigator)

I turn to smile

It takes a while

To find the face

Familiar beyond measure

The smile is halted

The eyes are haunted

A burst of memories

Sadness..... yet pleasure

He picks the bag

Fallen from my hand

We stare stunned

At the lover, the friend

The fingers slack

The hand goes back

The escalator has,

Reached it's end.

-Piyu

Friday, 3.2.23

Slowly drifting to placidity

Barely veiling the turbidity

Of a hidden world

Lying wrinkled, curled

My emotional stupidity

Tapestry

A tea stall by the street

Hidden by a foggy sunrise

Many swirls of mists

An old woman bent over

A kettle of bubbling buff fluid 

Glass bangles on wrinkled wrists

An outstetched hand

Longing for warm fingertips

Circled around a chipped cup

A skinny dog with warm eyes

Wagging a Q shaped tail

Sitting on a bed of cold stubs

A couple on a motorbike

Squished together 

Blowing heat into each other

An old man with a newspaper 

With thick rimmed glasses

Laboured breaths, light as a feather

A winter morning, chilly,  brutal

Huddled around the stall,

Strangers brought together by tea.

The woman,the dog

The beggar, the lovers

Oh what a rich tapestry!

Oh what a rich tapestry!

-Piyu

Perhaps Somewhere

Perhaps somewhere in an alternate universe, 

There is a mellow sunrise

And an idyllic tree with a grassy mat

With a stream flowing beside

Perhaps sometime under that tree

You sit with your eyes half closed

Your body resting on angled arms

Lips moving to songs you chose

Perhaps somehow, the songs you sing

Travel from your lips to mine

Strumming a quiver through my heart

Warming the mellow sunshine

Perhaps something stirs inside

Humming buzzing through our eyes

I nestle even closer in your heart

And breathe in your sleepy sighs

Perhaps somewhere in an alternate universe,

There really is an idyllic tree

Under which we twine together 

You promise me you, and I promise you me. 

-Piyu

Conditional Love

He broke me

Slowly killed me as I sat

When he confessed his love to me,

Albeit with a caveat

Oh! you are the sweet one

The one whom I fancy.

You are the prejudiced Elizabeth 

To my proud Mr. Darcy

You are never the stunner

Who can turn a man's head

You do however pique the interest 

Of a man's mind instead

You almost always speak well

Are thoughtful and articulate

But never the bombshell with whom

The male glance can relate

There, there, you aren't pretty.

Are not a work of art.

But when you open your mouth

You prove that you are smart

If you waddle into a bar one day

And have nothing at all to say

Trust me no one will spare

A second glance your way

But the moment you decide to speak

You more than hold your ground,

Most men (me included)

Are inexplicably drawn to that sound.

You are warm and gracious.

You know how to pull people close.

But then you know not to distinguish 

A prickly thorn from a rose

And while I may love you,

And fall for your homely charms.

But there are many others beside me

Wishing you were in their arms

So I do love you, my darling

Your sweetness draws me in

But I can find no warmth for you

Not a care for you within

I will let you go on my darling,

To be the soft, kindred soul

While you may be able to love me,

But I can never make you whole.

And that's how he broke me.

Slowly killed me as I sat.

He finally did confess his love

But it came with a caveat.