By the cliff

The hands holding on the cusps
The edge of a steep rock face
I looked down nervously
Saw my body fall
Fifty feet below into the foaming falls
Crushed by sharp rocks
Drowned by rushing waters
The other I held on
Lighter, devoid of ramblings,
Railings of human existence,
I felt it, something told me
I could fly, be one
With the clouds
The elements of my new existence
But I held on.

Twilight

The cold June rain is falling

Dreamily over my roof

And out on a lonely tree

A bird is calling, calling

Slowly as the night grows deep

And the wings of sleep are falling

My heart like the bird on the tree

Is calling, calling, calling for you.

Hornets

I will leave this sordid house

Dark stolid ambience

Torrid depressing thoughts; Lonely

Step outside to the patch of greens

Now black this February night

The stars are few; apart

The moon blocked by clouds

I’ll tune my ears to the sweet

Whispers of the night

Instead I hear mosquitoes sing

These night hornets bite

They bite hard

I will blow the pain away

And brush my now bumpy skin!

Thoughts

Always seek thy face
When you’re young and cannot fathom
How green and venerable one is
To this world of ills
Call on him to prevent
The parturition of the shadows
That crawl behind you
Only to strangle your life later
 Scenes from your past remain
Etched forever in your mind
And pray that when you discover
(Yourself) You’ll find yourself “better”
Or else face the wrath of this world
Be judged against by race, creed
Or suffer even worse; discrimination
Insulate your mind from these
Or even better learn to ward off
Temptations of things never seen
Pleasures never indulged
Money never earned
Learn to avoid philosophies of confusion
Half baked ideologies that brainwash
The masses; they pride themselves
In relativity.
There is no right or wrong
But remember there is no peace
On either side coz
Life is always easier on the other side

Fell for That

Who are you?
And why do you stare at me
What, my smile…the sunrise
Wow! What a flatter
Your day…already made
Anyway, where do you come from?
Forgotten, lost…lost in my eyes
Oh! So they remind you of the sunset
Trying to be clever huh!
And why the sudden weakness in your knees
Carried away, sweet melody, what music
My voice makes the singing of birds’ noise
Seems you know your cards well
What, my wings, what wings
God! You think am an angel
Okay, am speechless

Life Complex

This is from one who finds peace in solitude
One who relishes the idea of being forlorn
One who’s life is a tasteless piece of sham
An infinite maze leading to nowhere

Why is life full of suffering?
Why is its radiance fogged with things unliked?
What about its many fears and uncertainties?
Or bumpy up and dreary downs?

Can you tell me what death is like?
Do you know what happens to a soul after one’s demise?
Who draws the line between mortality and immortality?
Where is heaven or is it just a dream?

I don’t believe in mediums or spirits
Neither do I listen to the astrologer
For theirs is a different gospel
And cause I put my trust in the most high.

Threshold

Here I stand at the brink of betterment,
At the edge of a long night,
It is almost morning,
Here I stand with absolute resolve,
To let go of weakness of thought,
To let go of lack of purpose,
To live not like I did,
To search for the truths,
To live my dreams,
To have a larger than life purpose,
To associate myself with greater souls,
To be displined beyond reproach,
Not to practice partiality,
To be a soldier in resolve,
To win the battle against sleep,
To be obedient to a greater cause,
To abstain from the lure,
Of short term pleasures,
To follow and be subject,
To sound instruction,
To be led by the far star

Safari Walk

Dry twigs, brown leaves

This forest of hedge wood

Dead wooden sticks

Covered by earth

Home to the Safari ant

African termites that call out

Srrt srrt srrt as if mimicking

The singing costicolas

Birds who though shy by the day

Flit by as if envious

Of the lovers who sit still,

On the park bench.

Still

Years on

You still make me lose my breath

I still blush when you look me in the eye

I still get myself staring at you

You still make me smile when I want to frown

Still make me laugh when I want to cry

I still mumble lost for speech at such beauty

I still have butterflies when we meet

You still remain the first thought when I awake

And when I sleep I still think of you

At times I wonder why this still happens

And I think it’s because its still you

Years on.

Lost Time

But o’er the twilight groves, dusky coral caves
The serrated edges of the mainland isles
Black melancholy sits, and round her throws
A death like silence and dead repose
Her gloomy presence sadness all the scene
Shades every flower and darkness every green
Deepens the murmur of the falling tide
And breathes a darker horror to the night
The stale air suffocating a sepulchre
The moon’s charm dissolving apace
It hangs impotent, frigid
As seen through the turbid fluctuating air
Wearing a wan circle round her blunted horns
The stars emit a shivering ray
Or frequently seem to athwart the gloom
And long behind them trail the whitening blaze
Snatched in short eddies, plays the withered leaf
On the rocky beach lies a broken hourglass

The trophy

Smooth panpipe melodies play still
Satiated notes mellow and idyll
Surreal artistry painted on the background
Variegated with shadows of objects around
Images doing the tango with the light
A close up then they move to the right
Animatedly then dangerously like dueling knights
Upholstered seats shod in brass toe caps
Tables done in an indigenous oak
The atmosphere cold
Save for the warm Persian rug beneath
The tune playing persistently
Painstakingly dissecting the veneers morose
An old classic brick fireplace
Overlooking an array of trophies
Some with an authentic golden finish
Others done in pure silver
One old and musty
The most prized of all
A shotgun; it was given by
The District Commissioner

Mirror

Behind these expressionless eyes
Beneath this dark skinned cabin
Far different from what you see
The depths not what you think
The soul that lay beneath
Between the bones, sinews, flesh
Enmeshed together now devoid
Of rational, emotional
Vain flutterings of the brain
Here lies a man

Memoirs

Silhouettes of my yester follow close,
An enigma crawling from the inside,
Gnawing to the very core,
Rippling an effervescence,
Encroaching in an abyss,
Of a wanting, a desire, a craving,
A gaping emptiness inside,
Crackling,
Suffocating them,
Killing them,
Carnations on top of the grave,
Exhuming skeletons,
To haunt them forever.

Stranger

Shuffling forms in slow motion,
A song in soprano,
Black and white hues,
Flight upon pinions,
Wings thrust, coins fly,
Forms moving,
Tea pouring on a gray table,
A baseball flying through a street,
A glass window shatters,
Gray clouds gather,
thunders roar,
Rain drops
Spheres in fast motion,
Muffled splatters,
Flight without wings,
My heart is cold
Am a stranger!