IN TRANSIT

From the land of lure

To the island of lust

The feet travel

And the soul departs

Seeking earnest refuge

Beneath a broken sky

Bathing in the dust

Of a river running dry

Pierced by thorns

Caressed by scorns

Crawling on pebbles

Strangled by shackles

Befriending darkness

Conversing alone friendless

Pushed into a stinking room

Vagabonds call it their home

Surrounded by feminine smiles

Senses retreated for a while

Nailed to a broken bed

Gasping for freedom unlimited

Skin slowly transforming into sand

Nothing seems to be grand

Threatened by a gun

Admiring the dead sun

The soul did turn back

Almost like a zombie off the track

Shattered from within

To start on a journey a little less mean

-vociferous

OUT OF NOWHERE

Foolish or stupid

But logical

Perfect and imperfect

Yet acceptable

A deluge of surprises

Gush towards life

Out of nowhere

Bitter or sweet

But experienced

Beautiful and ugly

Yet admirable

A moment of misdeeds

Haunt many existences

Out of nowhere

Darkness or illuminated

But visible

Sharp and blunt

Yet ethical

A casket of maladies

Delivered to doorstep

Out of nowhere

Active or passive

But identical

Determined and deteriorating

Yet poised

A challenge of might

Presented in fury

Out of nowhere

Loved or hated

But agreed

Shunned and shunted

Yet firm

A lifetime of felonies

Weaved with despair

Out of nowhere

-vociferous

PARADOX

I fought myself being myself

Allowing my conscience

To plunge into an ocean of blood

Stabbing dishonesty and choosing

Honesty over everything else

Today I laugh at myself

For being a stupid crusader

Foolish enough to lose out

On the many opportunities

That promised greener pastures

Abandoned by some friends

Forgotten by advantage seekers

Banished by snatchers of my ideas

I find myself in a deep black hole

Digging hard into the grave of my identity

Promises made to me lie

Long broken in the valley of darkness

Many a times I have tumbled

On skeletons of these dead promises

And got haunted by their ugly spirits

I am no more the same

My instincts have run insane

Every drop of sweat I wasted in vain

Has pushed me into a state of disdain

Intolerably keeps increasing an inner pain

If I choose to speak out

I am shown the way out

If I defuse the ticking bomb inside

A real ‘me’ within me dies inside

Over a million times

Lying on the bed of thorny questions

All these years I have turned

Into an insomniac with hope

For less nightmarish nights

But all in vain

The battle within me has taken me far

To a self created premise of lawlessness

Everything is fair out here

Be it killing or conspiring

It helps me live with dignity

I have whined and I have complained

But I yet to lose out to myself

I have to continue fighting myself

Being honestly myself

Just for the sake of creative justice

-vociferous

THE REAL ME AGAIN

I wish I could be the real me again

My soul as free as the air and rain

My dreams as true as this life

And the unsung fame

I wish I could be the real me again

As happy has the lather in beer

And the sweetness of sugarcane

I wish I can be born human again

I wish I can be the real me again

As pure as the creation of a God certain

Let me try and become the real me again

God make me the real me again

But make me abundantly sane

I wish I could be the real me again

My promises as true as prayers

And as the stories of bygone years remain

Free of prejudices and free of fake fame

I wish I could be the real me again

Sneaking into a train

Clinging to a colorful curtain

I have a desire to be innocent again

I wish I could be the real me again

Scribbling and doodling on paper

Writing my stories with fountain tipped pen

I fantasize of being a little child again

Running on the parapet wall

And slipping into a fresh water drain

I wish I could be the real me again

Strumming the guitar

Walking through the narrow lanes

Of my hometown that bears my name

I wish I could be the real me again

Tumbling over a heap of dried grain

Running bare foot on a muddy plain

I wish I could be the real me again

Let my eyes well up with tears of joy

And let I not suffer in heart burnt pain

I wish I could be the real me again

Cycling through twisted roads of mountain

I imagine rolling down like an insane

I wish I could be the real me again

Let me come to this world

With a real identity real name

Doing things that are not tagged as shame

I wish I could be the real me again

Let this life be mine and let me be me again

I wish I could be the real me again

Talking to people, to friends, to souls

And connecting with my loved ones again

I wish I could be the real me again

-vociferous

NEESHAAN

Kaanton par chalte kadmo se

Behta paani jaisa khoon hai

Khoon ke behte inn nehro se

Hazaaron aahein nikalti hai

Har boond bayan karti hai dastaan

Kahi tootey dilon ka thaa makaan

Khushiyon ka beekhraa hua dalaan

Mayoosi mey ruksat huye mehmaan

Gunahon ke bazar mey beek gaya imaan

Iss khoon ke bhee naam they kai tamam

Auro ki haisiyat ney kia isko badnam

Rago mey daudta hua mangta hai ehsaan

Apney hee mulk mey yeh khoon hai mehmaan

Thagta chala hai dhoondne ek naya mukaam

Isko kahi bhee nahi meelta hai araam

Behte chala hai chodte apnaa neeshaan

Kaanton par chalte kadmo se

Behta paani jaisa khoon hai

Khoon ke behte inn nehro se

Hazaaron aahein nikalti hai

-vociferous

INNER VOICE

Motivation

Motivation

Motivation

Screamed my soul to rebel

Demoralized

Deterred

Destroyed

My mind struggled to think

Blinded

Bruised

Battered

My suffocated voice choked to speak

Tortured

Tormented

Tattered

My wounded dignity aspired to fight

Abashed

Attacked

Abused

My erased identity rose to respect

Suppressed

Strangulated

Silenced

My depleted conscience bounced to life

Dream

Dream

Dream

My eyes keep teasing to keep alive a rebel

-vociferous

THE LONGING

Like a wingless bird,

I stare out of my cage,

To catch a glimpse of the rains,

Descending on the roofs,

Of an abandoned playhouse,

The rains heal my sordid pains.

Dreaming of freedom,

I stretch my neck out of the bars,

Twist it to my left,

And bend it in shame,

To repent over my plight of disdain,

Desperate to splash beneath the rains.

Held hostage by my nightmares,

Teased by veiled hope,

Burnt someday by the fire of desire,

I will turn ash,

My cage shall lay hanging,

Only I will perish in quest of freedom,

To revel beneath the halo of rains.

-vociferous

VERSUS

I inflicted hurt to tall egos

In the competition of indulgent ideals

To prove my HONESTY

I broke rules to make mine

In the midst of supreme tyranny

To unleash my REBELLION

I defied limits to emerge victorious

In the chaos of ineffective regulars

To strengthen my IDENTITY

I walked sluggishly to finish last

In the rat race of stealing credits

To proclaim my EXISTENCE

I wrote outrageously to forge networks

In the bad world of untruthful convictions

To survive my PASSION

I broke hearts to heal wounds

In the times of blind love

To reclaim my HONOUR

I killed myself to live myself

In the game of dangerous desires

To salvage my DREAMS

- vociferous

AN INCOMPLETE BYPASS

A poem is incomplete

Without words

Words that are incomplete

Without alphabets

Alphabets are incomplete

Without buttons of keyboard

Buttons which need

A special touch of lovely fingers

Fingers that keep laboring

To give birth to words…

Words that lend voice

To many unshared feelings

Liberating expressions

That remain captivated in the mind

The mind which is powered

By ageless imaginations

Imaginations that fuel ideas

And boost creativity

Creativity is incomplete

Without excitement

Excitement that is incomplete

Without motivation

Motivation is left incomplete

Without sermons of positivity

Sermons which need

A vision that perceives beyond

Beyond impossibilities

To create new possibilities

Possibilities that give birth

To golden opportunities

Opportunities that bring

Smiles to faces

Faces known and unknown

And in pursuit of salvation

Salvation from pain

And also from fake happiness

Happiness is incomplete

Without a smile

Smile that is incomplete

Without a reason

Reason that is incomplete

Without an objective

An objective to survive

Through the odds

And live independently

In the abundance of evens

Evens that are melodious

Like a smoothly flowing poem

A poem that is again incomplete

Without words

Words that are again incomplete

Without alphabets

Alphabets that are again incomplete

Without buttons of keyboard

Buttons which again need

A special touch of lovely fingers

Fingers that keep laboring endlessly

To give birth to words…

Words that make us what we are…

-vociferous (in association with Wow Buddy)

IN CONTINUATION

The day engulfs the night

The night eats up the day

The day is teased by the evening

The evening is swallowed by the night

The night is again engulfed by the day

And the game continues…

The right is threatened by the wrong

The wrong is challenged by the right

The right defies lawlessness of the wrong

The lawlessness compounds the wrong

The wrong is again fought by the right

And the cacophony continues…

The bitterness is overpowered by the sweetness

The sweetness is instigated by the bitterness

The bitterness twitches the sweetness

The sweetness twitches back the bitterness

The bitterness is surrendered to the sweetness

And the tussle continues…

The strong befalls the weak

The weak attempts to shatter the strong

The strong stands unfazed by the weak

The weak is left angered by the strong

The strong keeps coaxing the weak

And the competition continues…

The success is faced by the failure

The failure is in pursuit of the success

The success endeavors to endanger the failure

The failure flexes its muscles against the success

The success suffers from the failure

The failure stands crushing the success

And the game continues…

-vociferous

RAINS AND AROUNDS

The poor rebel
The rich complain
Entering the lanes
Barging the bungalows
Drenching dreams
Camouflaging desires
Rain pours seamlessly

A muddle follows
The puddle subdues
Far somewhere
Handful of urchins
Whine for food
And in search of it
Rain comes unwarily

Everyone is same
In the eyes of rains
No one is insane
And most of us so sane
Getting wet in waters
Splashing through gutters
Rain seduces wickedly

Pulling herself beneath
A torn umbrella
The female beggar
Deals with hysteria
High society madam mania
Travels in car singing Mama Mia
Rain instigates endlessly

Wet cigarettes float
Empty plastic bottles
Become instant boats
Tearing the waters apart
Lives in the nude slums
Start falling apart
Rain pours unduly

Lovers embrace
And kiss to make love
In dripping rooms
Feeling the warmth
Relinquishing to every breath
Getting wet together
Rain instigates prudishly

Foes for foes
Friends for friends
Everyone runs hand-in-hand
Taking shelter
From the scamper
Phew the crazy raindrops
Rain follows frantically

-vociferous

RAINS

In my palm,

I clutched the rains,

Asked it for calm,

Urged for more rains.

Drenching my soul,

Spreading addictive fragrance,

Captivating my soul,

I was seduced by the puddle at a distance.

I requested the rains,

To stay longer,

Reminded it of my lone pains,

Asked it to arrive stronger.

But the rains denied,

To descend as I wished for,

It narrated a sad story,

I had never longed for.

The world has changed,

Complained the rains,

There are no humans,

Only inhuman pains.

No one enjoys our arrival,

Everyone grows sad,

And appear to be in denial,

Everyone human feels sad.

We are blamed to drown,

The many innocent lives,

Children of God frown,

For endangering their lives.

I had tears in my eyes,

Kissed the pure water in my palm,

The world has turned so unwise,

Even rains have lost their calm.

The rains will keep coming,

Again and again,

But one day I fear they will disappear,

To never come again.

-vociferous