The Answer Question

The body lies trapped in the soul’s snare;
choking it inch by slow inch that merciless sprite
neither lets it die nor does it kill.
Wonder which grudge is it holding upon.
Such a sudden, vicious clutch at the throat
that the body thrashes desperate
praying for the breaths to cease.
The wily soul however, keeps it lassoed
with that final breath.

Eyes forget to blink, staring in terror as
the soul sharpens its claws, deliberate
and malicious on the millstone of time.
It’ll be one of those days again, when
every layer of thought will be scraped raw
plucking and snipping the seams of memories.
May it just rip out and uproot all feeling,
cast them into that smoldering inferno,
forever turned into black ash, never again
ever to be sensed by the body.

Smiling with diabolical coldness instead, the soul
one after the other, meticulously lines up
a glaringly exposed, stark naked parade of
every plucked feeling, every incised memory,
in the sadist flickering of that infernal light.
There’s no respite behind eyelids shut tight
for this graphic tirade brands itself
as a sizzling retinal scar, marked forever
if ever at all it heals, though with every intent
to eternally fester, an oozing wound.

Amidst every grip of its talons, every choke,
every rip of its claws, every frigid smile of its
devilish lips, amidst every thrash,
every scream of the tortured body, the soul
had not uttered a single word
nor made the faintest noise. Nothing
but a cold unwavering maniacal stare at
the Body, slipknotted with that final breath.
At length, in reply to its every question
the Soul simply whispered its own-

          “Now, why should this mirror terrify you so?”

Nebula

Remnants of ancient red giants,
Sparks from young supernovas,
Wakes of celestial voyagers-
Stardust, long adrift in nothingness
Desperately seeking community
Warp across space by unseen forces
Restlessly gathering at a galactic horizon.

A playground for gravity-
Irresistible attractions,
Collisions upon collisions,
Innumerable nucleic explosions,
Countless unseen implosions,
A raging cauldron of entropy
Threatening to rip itself apart.

And yet it is an aspiring whole,
An undiscovered singularity.
Soon there will be a stable warmth,
There will be a unique radiance,
A peerless stellar energy.
Soon,
There will be Light!

Phoenix

“Her heart’s turned to stone;
Could at least shed a tear!”
That’s what everybody said
Some with sympathy,
Others with sarcasm and
Most with insensitive indifference.

No one knew though
That her eyes
Weren’t always barren.
Back then they’d brim over
Even in little joys.
One fated day he left.
Why and where? Unknown.
No talk, no letter nor a goodbye.
He just left.

Comprehension beyond any attempts
And no semblance of any reprieve.
Patience, perseverance, trust, hope
All collapsed brick by brick, burdened under
Pity, blames, sarcasms, comments
And the hollow noisy rumour mill.
Once the dam was breached by the tears
They just flowed and flowed away
Leaving behind nothing but a desert.
Indeed, she’s stone-cold on the outside
But within her, rage cataracts of emotions
And questions.

     “Thoughtlessly, it is he who left.
     Did his heart ever hold him back?
     Ruthless he, merciless he, emotionless he,
     Then how am I the stone-hearted one?
     He forsook that love, forgot those times,
     Those memories, the laughter et al,
     Why am I the one who’s stone hearted?
     I simply loved, seeking nothing in return.
     Then why should I endure the smears?”

     “My eyes shall not always remain barren.
     But not a single tear, I swear
     Will be shed in waste, especially for him.
     The stone which the world’s turned me into-
     I’ll hammer, chisel and carve out of it a new me.
     No longer would I be reflected in societal mirrors,
     But in the mirror of my own making;
     Only I'll bear witness to,
     The resurrection of the new phoenix me.”