The Monk

I'm getting old said the monk

Looking at his reflection in the water

He took a palm-full of water in his hand

And as it slipped through the crevices of his fingers

He said this is how time slips

You can hold it for a bit but not for long

In the eyes of his disciple

Reflected the image of a frail old man

Wrinkled skin and spots on his face

These green meadows

I've walked on it and many others before me

And I know more would step after me

In my youth, I tried to possess this land

Yet, when I saw it began to possess me

I had to leave it for others to enjoy

Far too many things happen in your life

For you to cry on 

Too many things that will make you sad

Yet there's a morning that breaks out with gladness

Greatness is not great

You're nothing more than a name and a memory

As you step outside of this realm

Memories rarely outlive a generation

Consider this water

It keeps flowing despite rocks and falls

So be your life. 

Vinal 

29/01/24

A night to remember

Lights begin to flicker as the sun dips into the horizon

In my eyes you rise like a full moon

The night is not as dark as it used to be

Embers rise from the fire inside your heart

Floating around us like fireflies

The night is made spectacular

When you breathe life into it

Your skin daubed in rose

The breeze around you

Lifts me to an unknown place

In those delicate hands

I would like to rest my head

Close to your heart

To listen to every beat of your heart

Your eyes have captured me

Put my heart in its prison

A prison that I never want to come off

Fragrance of your memory

A gentle wind carried
On its shoulders
The fragrance of your memory

When you walked close by me
the faint touch of your hand on mine
It still lingers

Like the pages of a uninspiring book
My mind flips your memory

I had loved you
Your smile still remains
Etched on the rocks of my memory
I tried to rub it off but never went

Tonight, i wish, i had not met you
Wish that days were buried
Under the rocks of oblivion

Then, again, we move with the wind that we catch
You caught yours and i, mine
We are in the same sea
But in different boats

I'm giving you tonight
Into the hands of our maker
Let Him carry this burden of mine
The memory that you left behind

I hope you're not like me
Carrying this burden

I'm like a mad poet
Calling out what's hidden in the depth
Giving it life
A shape

Tonight I'm stepping out
off the freight train of memories
Let's meet on the other side of the shore
Like the pilgrims after the journey

Vinal Raj R
20/09/16

Mad man, Mad man

He was a mystic from the east.
A band on his head covered his nakedness
He hurled imaginary words on the passer
As he limped on that stony road
When the heavens took the lights away
He sat under the night sky
And he called that his home
like a wolf in the night he cried out
"Truth and untruth lies together
I saw a white sage
with torn clothes on his right shoulder
and a purple cloth befitting the king
on his left
He was riding a horse
and when he passed by me he was on a donkey
Its is the truth he cried out
I haven't seen a creature like that before
who could create it, the Divine?
Or the vileness beneath the ground?"
"mad man, mad man
Look at the sky, is it empty?
Then what is cloud?
Does it not hold water like the women with a child in her womb?
Mad man mad man
Where do you come from?
From emptiness?
Who made you like you are?
I saw a woman giving birth to a human
When I see you I see the creature that the white sage drove.
Mad man, mad man,
your words are swift like horse
your thoughts lethargic like donkey
Mad man, mad man
You make yourself the scum
you blabber eloquent words
assuming yourself to be the king of all knowledge
you say you have the wealth, you say you know it all
You posses the mind of the king
Yet you find the ant on your leg when it bites
You say you are powerful than the Divine
But play with words when you are asked
"what about tomorrow?"
Mad man, mad man
life comes from the life giver
And a book ends when the author decides
soon the Divine will cease from writing
Smoke will rise, fire will fall

A cold wind from nowhere covered the mystic
his shouts became feeble like a child's whisper

the bell.

i rang the bell on the hill

by the side of that church

that was built long ago by a forgotten pilgrim

it stood against the gale,

the punishments of nature

the wrath of men

it stood alone

in the coldest night

 

nothing arose

by its sound

it was alone as it used to be

 

i walked down the hill

down the slippery pathway

on the stones captured by moss

 

and when i reached down

i heard the bell ring again

i did not look back

nor did i turn my feet

i kept on walking

but the bell still rings, inside my heart!

written by Vinal Raj R.

30/06/13

the solution

you look around and don't like what you see
you look upwards and say "why is this like this?"
you look inside yourself and see that something is not right
you say "yea I'm the reason! Can i be the nicer being that i want to be?"
a voice whispers from the heaven "come to Me"

glimpse of heaven

There is an enchanted land that they call the heaven

A land that doesn’t go dark

Its pavements in gold

Filled with the repertoire of angels

This is the place where I have to be, said my mother

She taught me the way to get there

It is a long ride said she

It is for the courageous and not for the faint hearted

Take this with you

She placed a black book on my hand

I didn’t know how this would help me

But I decided to walk as the booked asked me to

It was not long before I started that I fell off the path

The book said “keep on walking”

I saw the wound that came from the fall

It was bleeding

 

I looked before me

A long and winding road

It was dark and murky

The movements in the bushes made me afraid

The book said “do not fear, keep walking”

I walked through the scariest places that I have ever seen

I wished to run through the path and finish it quickly

My heart pounded inside my chest as if it wanted to escape the confinement of my ribs

The darkness around me allowed me to walk slowly and carefully

I wished for the light to pierce the darkness that hovered like monstrous carpet over me

My prayers answered, I saw the light, what joy that filled my heart!

I knew I was getting closer to the place that my mother said

I saw the gold scattered on the green meadows

A dollop of cloud passed by me

Blinding me from the huge mansion that was before me

A gush of wind from the east carried the clouds away

The mansion, once hidden, was before my eyes

I saw creatures flying over it

Dressed in white

Flying in unison

Playing the instrument that I’ve never seen

Its sound so clear and perfect

Swam from a distance to my ears

Flooding my senses with the sweetness so indescribable

I couldn’t contain the joy within me

It is the land that befits the description in my black book

I wish I had the wings to fly over there to join the merriment

I opened the book to find an easy way out, but it had none

I was sad but determined to reach this splendid land before me

I didn’t want to give it up for anything

I knew my pleasure was there

I knew the joy was unlimited there

The pain that was here won’t last, I knew!

Oh, how beautiful are you

The city of the saints

You are greater than all the cities of this world!

If only, our mortal eyes were open to your beauty

My spirit overjoyed and sang songs of gladness

At the sight of you!

If only mortal ears could hear the sweet music that flows from you

I’m in love with you the great city

I see the creator dressed in glory

His angels singing songs of gladness

I have to keep on walking to reach there

I mustered the courage in me

To walk fixing my eyes on this great city

My home, my heaven, my paradise

(wrote on 16.05.2012. by vinal raj R)