Out of Sync on a Summer Evening

the god ran all day in his seven-horsed chariot
chasing shadows all around
o'er vales, hills, hamlets, towns,
shooting light arrows at shadows that ran and fell
ran and fell got up and ran again without a sound

the shadows could not be killed
falling rising falling rising like the demon raktabeej
they laughed and mocked and spat
on the god's beaming face

and the god was wild with rage
his seven horses he whipped and whipped
and whipped till they bled
their blood sprinkling in the sky

now it's the evening here
the god is gone, the chariot gone, the horses gone, too-
a stillness hangs all around
and red stains are over there
I faintly hear a low wail coming from the west ~
perhaps it is the horses' neigh in agony
left behind in the air !
---------------
(A poem written way back in Sept, 1982.)

The Brahmaputra-Guwahati (A Poem)

an early monsoon morning:
ferries begin to ply their day on the brahmaputra
four white egrets shoot across to the greens beyond
a clever mynah excuses herself to perch on a ferry
twigs of anonymous trees
like promises rudely broken ~
are carried away by the swollen waters
while grey clouds gently take wings
to reveal the forehead of distant hills

i suddenly uncoil myself
to walk ~
the stinking alleys once again !
______
(Written on 16th July 2008, at MES Inspection Bungalow, Guwahati.)

Brahmaputra - A Haiku

white herons
against dark clouds
on the brahmaputra

Kamakhya - A Haiku

kamakhya on nilachal~
pilgrims trekking together
to mother's womb
-----------------------
(Note: The temple of Goddess Kamakhya Devi is on the Nilachal, literally 'Blue Mountain', near Guwahati in Assam, North-east India, where the Devi is worshipped in the 'yoni-mudra'. It is a prominent Shakti-peeth and a seat of Hindu Tantric cult since remote antiquity.)

A Gem from Rigveda (Translation)

Original Sanskrit~ yadagne syaamaham tvam tvam vaa ghaa syaa-aham syushte satyaa ihaasishah (Rigveda, 8.44.23) Translation: O Light Divine, if You become I and I become You, Your grace in this world would be proven true.

A Haiku

unknown wishes --
silken threads tied around
the temple tree

The Mahakali - A Hindi Haiku

parvat kee oonchaayee se
saumya, shaant, thahree huee -
mahaakaali
...
the Mahakali~
gentle, calm and still
from mountain height

(Note: The haiku refers to the Mahakali river in the Himalayas, flowing between India and Nepal, when seen by the author, some 30 yrs ago, from a high mountain on way to Narayan Ashram on the Kailash-Mansarovar route in Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand.)

Hindi Poems of Srikant Verma (Translations)

Main~
main ek bhaagtaa huaa din hoon aur ruktee hui raat-
main naheen jaantaa
main dhoond rahaa hoon apnee shaam
yaa dhoondh rahaa hoon apnaa praat !
I ~
i am a day that runs
and a night that stops-
i don't know what i am seeking :
my evening or my dawn ?
...
Nagar-nivaasee~
roz shaam sarkon par
phate huay urte
subah ke akhbaar
Citizens ~
every evening on the roads
fly torn pieces
of morning newspapers
...

Trees - Haiku

sticking to their ground
trees have nowhere else to go~
sun or rain or snow

Lucknow - Haiku

Residency Lucknow~

kids counting bullet holes

on the walls

Benares - Haiku

ghats Benares~
the Ganga washing away
devotees' sins