The Mind Has Become Like The Wind

how heavily it blows

in one direction after another

and the world is disarranged too

things are scrambled and shifted

and are falling apart

like a child

handling toys and trinkets

in a showcase

who is doing this to us

I wonder

who is making these accidents

these wars

these tragic moments

where people die

how horrific it is to be human

to be dangled like a puppet

to be pulled on strings

we don’t know

we can’t see

because we do not live

we are dead

O world of zombie

brothers and sisters

our moon is the mad demon’s

lost tooth

our sun has been stolen

and transported

to some other world

and the stars are melting

in grief

their falling fire

is our food

and we stumble and brood

how once we were human

in this dead universe

in which now nothing lives

only darkness.

We Are The Wreckage

of this human collision

that bred us

and reared us

to love and kill

we are

such creatures

that populate

this world

we have almost

destroyed much of it

and in the process

withered and wounded

now we barely live

having killed so many

of our brothers and sisters

and fathers and mothers

and others

our breathing

is the lunge of life

trying to hang on

to this burning planet

this home as we once called it

and before our eyes

everything will go

the seas the mountains

the cities the continents

they’ll all fly like ash in the wind

and I am a wisp of that

weightless grey

my gasp of a voice

snuffed out like a candle.

Now It’s The Death Of The Sky

and birds carry it on their wings

crying

like people do at a funeral

and down here everything

has turned so bad

human serpents are often spotted

and their sting kills you faster

than the real ones

in their eyes you see hatred

that can only come when your heart

has been burnt to ashes

O I ask when will this world die

like the lucky sky

because life is such a lie

there is danger everywhere

there are 10 feet tall demons

whose wine is our blood

they gulp happily squeezing

our bodies into their mouths

and you just cannot say who is next

I have lost all fear of death

life is worse

a cutpurse a curse

and so I say

death take me

I am happy

to go with you

you are as old as life

you are nothing new

please please take me too.

Now This World’s Wickedness

is at its peak

pursuing us

like a demon

chasing us

from our lives

we run scared

like animals

until we are

finally cornered

and then we feel

the heat of

the demonworld

breathing down on us

and we start

to burn and we cry

and as our flesh sears we ask why

what did we do to deserve this

and soon our bodies begin to melt

and the demonworld starts to roar

in laughter and suddenly the flying flames

from its mouth burst our skulls and we are no more

but the demonworld’s fire continues to soar

until it consumes itself and there is only darkness

to the core.

Now The Weather Has Become Cold

and mist moves mesmerisingly

over the mountains

like my mind

slowly beginning to feel

the temperature change

in my body

and it makes me

want to tell you

a story

that is singing in wings of glory

there was a man a woman

and children

and they were looking on in the rain

like they were searching for something

something they had misplaced or lost

something that came at a very high cost

and all sadness now became the rain

falling like tears bringing so much pain

and their plight was pitiful

they couldn’t find the beautiful

it was hidden somewhere

and it did not care

that these people were suffering

then slowly the man the woman

and the children began to look harder

and their searching brought them strength

and they kept wandering the earth

for it and there was something

that was taking shape

on its own

something that was its own creator

something shining something nice

and they finally found it

and it was light without any body

it was just form and it was bright

but they found to their astonishment

that they could hold it in their hands

and then they suddenly felt this

same burning flame  in their hearts

and then the birds sang it is love

it is love like a mother like a cow

and then those people began to run

and found that life was so much fun.

The World Is Honking

while there are people talking

and birds chirping

and the earth is turning

around the sun in joy

and you can feel its happiness

in your hair

blowing in the wind

and those old memories

come flooding back

in your mind

that picnic

so many years ago

is what the planet

is now passing by

and I can see

the green hills of Karnala

and its bird sanctuary

with its colourful avian creatures

and I remember the trek uphill

and the misty monsoon

and the green water pool

and I remember the earlier part

of the day

when our driver disappeared

telling us he would return soon

and we were stranded on the highway

outside Bombay for a long time

when this whacked out classmate of ours

called Rakesh had had enough

he started the bus

and for a few moments

it seemed we were travelling

in the right direction

but then the bus began to veer

towards the side of the road

into a ditch and Rakesh quickly

got off the driver’s seat and

many of us scrambled out of the bus

and the bus rolled into that ditch

and stopped and then the rest of us

got out and a Traffic Officer

from a chowky nearby was running

towards us shouting and huffing

and reprimanding us he got into the bus

and parked it in its place once again

sometime later our driver arrived drunk

but no one complained

and the trek was difficult

but fun at 17 and I did not know

how I and my friend Joseph could drink

the quarter of Old Monk rum

I had in my bag

with so many of our collegemates

all over the place

and Joseph was so excited

to know I had liquor on me

and he was so resourceful

and hurried me as we ran downhill

behind a big black rock

and I opened the bottle

and the two of us

took big gulps of the strong rum

and finished the drink

then we were so joyous like those birds

we had seen before

we were flying over the green hills

of Karnala and I was so happy

that Joseph was so ingenious

and Vasu was helping Jaya walk

because she was totally exhausted

and Supriya looking around at the greenery said

that she wished life was like that everyday

and I felt that she had spoken my mind

 and the wind blew and Makrand said

he could smell drinks and I smiled inwardly

to myself and I was so happy to be going downhill

I was running in joy and I felt once again

I had wings in that cool weather

with the warmth of the rum inside my body

and its magic in my mind

when I see how that same moment

has left me here on the side of this hill

in Kumily and I once again see the earth turning

around the golden sun

and mist moving across

that evening of so much fun

as slowly I find the words are birds

on this page before me waiting to take off.

There Is Music In The Air

there is the silent chant of love

there is the chain of clouds

all invisibly linked

and differently shaped

like a duck like a kitten

like a wild boar

all in harmony

and the birds are nothing

but sheer magic

multicoloured they form

the orchestra in the sky

and down below here

we too are in harmony

humans dogs cats cattle pig

and our hearts are bold and big

and as we walk the earth we sing

our lives like the birds

in the skies wing to wing

O life is such a joyous thing

and happily our voices ring

and we know we too are magic

like the birds and begin to dance

and in the blue sky the white clouds prance

and the golden smile

of the sun fills the world with more light

and our hearts beat to the rhythm

of the universe and she like a happy mother

kisses us with such pride our gratitude

flows from us like the air we breathe

and we find when we live others live in us

even the dead and we know when we die

we will still be alive in the living and

so we know there is joy only in the giving.

Sun Says

hello hello

look at this new greengold world

isn’t it beautiful

aren’t you happy to be alive

and I reply

of course

there is magic in these mountains

inside them are the children of joy

our children who will sail the oceans

and travel through space like us

and how we fly like the birds

who are kin to us in body

and beauty and song

and how they navigate the air

like children at play

and I remember

myself running as a boy

and speaking to the stars

in our special silver language

and I felt the happiness

of the moon smiling

how she showered me

with motherly affection

and the old streets

were full of people and feeling

and our hearts and minds soaked

in the sublime golden sunset

and we knew what it was

to be human and beyond that

that was the reassurance

the sky gave us

that was what

it told us we were made for

so I looked at the buildings

down the years and saw

they had grown old

with the responsibilities

of parents withered

still they looked on smiling

at their children

marching down the skies

on and on

and we were airborne

our hearts were aloft

and laughing at the world

we were now flying

in and out of

hysterically roaring at

the comedy of it all

we fell into each other’s arms

and the seas sang

and we were picked up and kissed

by the sun

with love.

Peace Flows Across The Blue Skies

that calms your body like water

and the ladies in colourful sarees

and headscarves

are like the beautiful flowers

in many colours that bloom

this green monsoon

the birds are our children

they are our own flesh and blood

in multi-coloured flying bodies

chirping and so delightful their voices

and then the ladies talk all together in joy

and that makes the sun in the sky shine

I say sun shine on me and let me be happy

as a flying Frisbee

and the birds laugh so glad to be alive

and I love all this

and the ladies laugh and now I can hear

the flowers sing and the blue of the sky

like bells ring my heart my heart you are free

and you are human and you are given the life to be

mother mother I cry thank you thank you I say kissing the ground

and the mountains cheer in happiness in silence you cannot hear

and then you look at the green trees and you recognise your fathers

of many ages they have sired us in their shade their children

and we are full of life and the very air we breathe is magic and our love.

Early November

and it is cold in the morning

here in Kumily

the leaves of the trees

are turning red yellow and orange silently

like they seem to be mourning

and I am feeling sad

because my mother passed away recently

and it seems to me at dawn

the mists move in sadness too

slowly they cover the green mountains

in their haze of white

and the talk outside and the TV at the neighbour’s

seem meaningless to me now

how the world just goes on and on

and I can’t take it at the moment

and as sunlight appears

I see the mountains

and I see they are grieving too

like my father at my mother’s funeral

quietly

and I am searching

for my mother in the universe

and from somewhere she comes alive

her scrambled eggs her cutlets

her ripe mango curry

her saying mind my arm

to my father the evening

she was brought out of the ambulance home

before she smiled at my sister

and died the next morning

the birds are chirping

my neighbour’s daughter is talking

to someone and someone else

blows the horn persistently

in the distance dogs bark

but that is nothing

I’m sitting with my family

in Five Gardens in Bombay at night

my mother my father

my sister and me

and the stars shine over us

as we eat kulfi

and the dew on the grass

as it touches my skin tells me

Dominic this is love

and my heart is filled

with moonlight and gratitude

as the scene melts in my mind now

but there is that silver camel

on my desk in the hall

my mother and I had gone

to a Rajasthani fair in Sion

and she had bought it there

and the animal is looking up tirelessly

like it could see my mother all the time

the woman who gave it a home

and I too feel that way now

I was in her womb for nine months

and then our first home

in Matunga where I slept next to her

and that house with its green paint

was another womb for me and our family

love was a burning golden bulb

a florescent light was proof

that all was well in the world

and I think of all this now

as I sit here at the edge of the forest

and in the afternoon I sleep

in my mother’s old bed

looking at the valley outside

and I can feel her inside me

in my body in my breath

and when she had headaches

I would massage my mother’s head

and she said I knew exactly where to touch

and she told me often that when she will die I will cry.