MOTHER

“When will you

Stop spoiling your sleep

To mend the cracks of

My life?”

Mother!

Every time I ask you,

You hide my question

Behind a veil of

Dense, disarming smiles

Today, 
I will ask you nothing,
But go out and get you 
The best pair of eyes,
Ignoring 

Your apprehension
That this may 
Open a new hole
In our shattered 
Domestic economy 

(© DEEPAK DARSHAK)

TODAY...

Today,

I left home

Without my checkered knapsack

Containing palpable threads of

My destiny

That connect me to myself

Without my pen

That writes down

Tiny letters of hope

On sundry sheets of

My papyrus present

Without my specs

That spare me

Blurred stumbles through

The labyrinthine paths of life

Without pen drive and cell phone

That make me

Feel empowered

Within my tiny territory,

lending it

A technological countenance

Today,

I left home

Carrying nothing

Save a bunch of

Pedestrian abstractions:

Some worries,

Some anxiety,

Some passion,

Some excitement,

Some eagerness,

Some resentment…..

And all

I could have,

Without feeling seized

By a noose of smugness,

Popping out of

A long nightmare

Today,

While trying to

Recall the forlorn

Tunes of

A cheerful yore,

I avoided mixing with

The crowd, hoping to meet

Freedom which I felt

Would recognize me

Rather easily without

The burden of

Dependables I had valued

So much

So far

 © DEEPAK DARSHAK : MAVERICK MONOLOGUES  

WORLD POETRY DAY 2016

Sometimes appreciated for their beauty, depth and paronomastic guile,

Sometimes lambasted for their abstruseness and rhetorical flamboyance,

Sometimes idolised for their dauntless experimentalism, finesse and brilliance of style,  

Our bubbles of fantasy,

The slices of our unbridled fancy,

Have a say in building an everlasting creative legacy,  

And a definite role to play  

We the bards,

We the rhymesters,

We the versifiers,

We the balladeers and minstrels,

We the weavers of dreams,

Keep searching through umpteen wilds

For the best clay and

And the finest reeds  

To build our tiny huts with,

Remaining largely forgetful of our

Own significance,

Till a day comes every year in March,

Which our fraternity celebrates as

The World Poetry Day

© DEEPAK DARSHAK  

The Hope Beyond...

The phone perishes…

Voices live on

In the air,

Hanging somewhere,

Hoping to access  

New stretches of

Connection  

CANOES

We are canoes,

Locked into

An indecisive race,

Each trying to

Reach the shores 

Before others

In our imagination,

We create our

Spectators, feeling

Their loud, rollicking

Presence,

Though, in reality,

They always remain invisible!

(© DEEPAK DARSHAK: MAVERICK MONOLOGUES) 

MARCH ON, ULYSSES!

March on, Ulysses!

March on

Ithaca is already yours,
But you have got to

Conquer the vast world beyond
With your genius

And your tireless will to

Realise your quest

March on,
For you have to go

Countless miles,
You have to

Leave your winning stamp
On the large continents of literati,
You have to undertake

Voyages tough and challenging
As you have done

So many times before

March on, Ulysses!
The road never ends,
The paths trodden by you

Umpteen times,
Still look untrodden, fresh,

Starving for your footfalls,

Willing to have fresh milestones,
And then, there are new ones, too,
Emerging and waiting

For your trumpet calls
To strike their turf and

Awaken them with the strides of

Glory and pride

March on, Ulysses!
O the idol of

A million flowering promises!
March on,
And you will always find me

Accompanying you
With the curiosity and

Zeal of a true admirer,
As a well-wishing phantom
In all your campaigns,
Waving hands in joyous ecstasy,
Smiling, cheering up and

Greeting you as a part of

The roaring crowd
On your journey back home
After every outstanding feat

March on, Ulysses!
March on

(© DEEPAK DARSHAK: MAVERICK MONOLOGUES)

SUN-FEAST

The rivulet 
Prepares to sink into 
The Sun’s 
Vermilion belly

 
Soon,
Its wide tail 

Will be left behind
To capture
New footprints 
Emerging 
On its 
Silicon expanse 
© DEEPAK DARSHAK

PIGEON HOLE

Pigeons! 

Forgive me

My purse has 
A hole 
(which I failed to notice earlier)

And I am left with 
No extra pennies 
To buy feed 
For you
Today
© DEEPAK DARSHAK: MAVERICK MONOLOGUES)