Plea

He lies grunting,
smeared with blood and dust,
on the battlefield.

You two stare at each other.
Your eyes— dilated, smoky,
And fiercely red; his— defeated, dull, depleted

And full of plea,
as even death refuses
to grant him refuge
from your wrath.

How dreadful one must be
to have even death shudder
at the thought of embracing him.

He is watching you thirstily
as you clench your teeth,
and clasp your fists around the trident,

and is waiting for you to lunge it
in his once ego-swollen, now pain-crushed chest.

He shivers and rolls at your feet,
as you draw the trident back,
fearing that you may change your mind
and let him live.

You laugh,
violently, boisterously, throatily,
nostrils flaring, nose-ring swaying,
unwilling to grant him his
most willed will at this moment: end!

With a wounded ego,
a maligned soul,
a motionless body
and exhausted eyes
he is looking at you longingly
to salve him from this indignity, this humiliation.

O Ma! Relieve him now! Be merciful, O Durga! 

 

~ aviD

How do I thank you?

How do I thank you
for making me a
hot cup of coffee in
middle of this autumn-flavoured night?

For grazing my legs
with your foot as we sit
on opposite chairs on the verandah with my earphones plugged in and
Gulzar's lyrics tugging at my heart?
For gazing at me from the opposite
chair as though there's been nothing
more important to you than gazing at me thus?
Ever!


For continuing to gaze at me
when I avert my eyes from you and close them,
conscious and shy,
from all your gazing, and pretend to concentrate on the lyrics?

For leaning forward to kiss me;
but then tousling my hair
pulling my right cheek instead?

For then, as the watchman beats
 his stick on the ground somewhere
in the distant background and as the
trees murmur in the light breeze,
wrapping your arms around me
and nuzzling at the cleft between my neck and my shoulder?

For taking one earpiece and humming
along with me as we spoon
under the half-bitten moon?

For being so tender, so thoughtful, so perfect?
How do I thank you--most importantly-- for not being?
~ aviD


"कोई आता है पलकों पे चलता हुआ, इक आंसू सुनहरी सा जलता हुआ
ख्वाब बुझ जाएंगे... राख रह जायेगी
रात ये भी गुज़र जायेगी ...."
~ गुलज़ार