SHIVA

Light within and glow without
He stands upon yonder rock
One foot resting in a stoic stance
The other on his thigh was locked

On bone and meager, starved sinew
His skin was wrap’d like cloth
His arms were raised in reverence
Above his matted locks

His eyes were closed, and yet,the Gods knew
The fire that burned within
They lashed him with dark rain and wind
Yet He glowed like fire in a kiln

He stood his will on yonder rock
And it held his frame upright
It froze his mind on a single thought
While the days wailed into nights

The nights were days, and the days were weeks
And the weeks were months and years
And the countless years were a moment again
That flowed like an ever-new creek

And then the dot he saw within
For a thousand years and moreV
anished into his longing
Like a drop on a lonely shore

And within a question slowly stirred
'Why this sudden still?
Where is the sky that filled my eyes
The crescent 'pon the window sill?'

So saying the sage trained his eyes
Outward, towards the light
And there on a crag of rain-whipped stone
The Lord filled his sight

Resplendent he shone like moonwashed snow
Hugged by a deep blue sky
Ash sprinkled from his chiselled self
The earth slept to the soft lullaby

Eyes awash the sage arose
And touched himself to the ground
And on rising to HIS loving gaze
He spake with a voice newfound

'Thou knowest Lord, my destiny
And what, from you I seek.
Tis thy will that shines from the pearl
To the burnished mountain peaks'

'If it be my task to free the souls
Of my ancestors from their ash
Then grant me this boon, bear her Lord
For with boundless power, she falls'

'So be it', said the loving God
As he stood, casual, askance
He grew, the crescent kissed a passing cloud
And he shifted, to a regal stance

'Come!' he called to the far beyond
All things fell silent, still
He freed his mane of matted hair
And the heavens felt a thrill

She heard him call, and nodded assent
And tinkled her anklets sweet
With folded hands and a crescent smile
She dropped, the earth rushing to her feet

Faster than light, she flew through the void
Faster than segmented time
Droplets that strayed from her silken robes
Turned to icy, enternal chimes

Like a column of jewels, like a diamond spear
Like a bolt from Indra's bow
Like an unspoken word of unstoppable truth
She thundered towards HIS brow

The earth shuddered and the firmament shook
They felt the surge of her soul
A moment ago she was a star
And now a galaxy whole!

A thousand miles in half a blink
eons in a single sigh
She was power that roamed beyond mortal ken
And beauty that words belie

She fell with the sureness of rising dawn
But knew not what transpired
She saw him shake his night-like mane
And now, in HIS locks, she was shired

In a trice, she was freed of her playful pride
She bowed in awed reverence
With a joyous swell,she gurgled forth
And lovingly, his feet she cleansed

'It is done', said the lord of a billion suns
And of time sans end or source
Dawn came, and was warmed by his smile
While the river made its course

HUSH

Hush, beat softer
Like her footsteps on the sand
See, but do not linger
Like the wind, that kis'd her hand

Hush, beat softer
Or you'll drown her tinkling laugh
The lucky wind Oh! he sways her hips
As she walks along the wharf

Hush, beat softer
Oh! don't make me sigh
Or she'll know i'm just an island
Under a lone, dark sky

Hush, beat softer
She's just passed me by
I feel like the moment after
An unsaid goodbye

Hush, beat softer
There like a whisper she stands
I see her shoulders heaving
And the breeze at play with her strands

Hush, beat softer
She turns with a tear and a smile!
The smile that tugs me closer
A tear for each lost mile

Hush, beat softer
My love is in my arms
The clouds have kissed the ocean
And the sky is blue and calm

New Year's Day

Three hundred days have gone past
Pulling 65 days along
All to ring in this day
That, I think, deserves a song

'What's so special about new year's day
Why the hallabaloo?
It looks the same to me', you may say
'And is colder by a centigrade or two!'

There's the feeling you see, of time that's passed
Into silent ignominy
And things that you did, that you touched and held
Are now memories in a silent sea

And there's the spirit, you know, of something new
something, that's just come alive
Like dawn or a shining drop of dew
Or a thought that's out in the sky

'Tis on New year's day that these two meet,
Past tense and a future new
Like dusk, on an olden hill, that holds
More hope and a tear or two

So bring in the champagne, and have some cake
Fill the air with laughter and song!
Say farewell with a smile and a wink and a toast
And welcome a year that can't go wrong!