Baby Kate

Large pools of innocence

Her eyes are full of wonder

Her gaze contains a million questions

Tempting me to indulge her a bit longer

She waddles to her book shelf

The budding bibliophile!

Bringing back an impressive cargo

With great gusto and some guile

We take wondrous journeys

To the animal kingdom and magical lands

She learning to make animal sounds

Me learning to entertain her the best I can

I leaf through pages for Her Cuteness!

As she reviews the colorful cartoons

She blabbers fervently to make a point

A premature page-turn earning me a look of admonition

Seeing her favorite yogurt

Has her leap down my lap

The next twenty minutes

Has her stuck in an amusing grub trap!

She brandishes her spoon with flourish

Delighted as the adults concur

Left to her own device

Has her looking like a yummy platter!

She plays the role of elder sister

Having spent only two years in this world

Striving to pass on her sagacity

Secrets to win kisses so painstakingly learnt

I am amazed at the spectacle

Of her talents galore

Hearing the latest tune on the radio

Has her bopping across the dance floor

My strawberry smelling baby

As adorable as can be

I will always remember you

Strutting about in your fashionable onesie

I know you’ll grow up in a blink

But you’ll always be a baby to me

Wish you the moon, magic and miracles

A million kisses to you, my little jellybean 

Hard To Be Humane?

We treat others differently

When we are a privileged few

 Is it hard to do unto others

As you would want done to you?

Are we so color blind

That we see only black and white?

Does our easel have no space for grey?

That we see only wrong or right

Are we so mistrusting to lock

The doors of our heart and mind?

Let cobwebs draw blinds on our eyes

No wonder friendship is so hard to find

Fortune favors the bold

But Fortune is in love with the rich

Can we be so bold to include

Those that are less fortunate?

We once held their finger

To walk the big wide world

Does it not ache us then

To visit them at an old age home?

What a luxury

To switch from one cell-phone to another

Is it not easier to choose comfort over luxury?

To walk across, ring the bell and say hello!

When did life get so complicated?

We gave up sugar only to dream of doughnut

Why not just let loose and not worry

Pop a doughnut and loose the fuss!

Why fight and quibble

When life is so short

Why let bad blood flow

Only to spend years apart?

Let a kind word

A soothing touch

An effortless smile

Soothe a burning grudge

We have but one life

Unless you’re a cat with nine!

Why not try and share this precious life

Instead of fighting over what is yours and what is mine. 

Boozie's Ruse

I can lift you up

I can drop you down

We can take a trip to Drunken Town

You can start off fast

Or take it slow

No one to harsh the mellow

You’ll want one

Then you’ll need four

You’ll be downing more than you know

I come cheap

Or can cost you a lot

But can you do the math as you take a draught?

I can be pleasantly sweet

Or oh so bitter!

(Whatever works to rid your jitters)

When you want to celebrate

And click glasses to raise a toast 

I’m the one you’ll want the most

If you’ve had a bad day

And you’re feeling grey and gloomy

I promise I’ll keep you company

When your self-esteem needs a boost

Or you need loosening up

Keep me close and you won’t want to shut up!

When your legs turn jelly

And you start blubbering to her

Worry not! I’m Dr.Cupid’s prescribed elixir

Psychiatrists write me off

As disease inducing

But I bet you can’t keep away from this yummy poison

Some of my mates have gone astray

To join some silly club called the AA

But will they ever live to tell their tale another day?

I’m as holy as can ever be

I earned an invite to the first ever party

When the host broke bread with his disciples and me

Is your vision blurring

Or your stomach churning?

Keep at it and you’ll end up learning

So let me out and let me pour

As you hold me up and hold me close

And I’ll be yours till forever and ever more 

Winter

The blistering winds

The bare branches

The cold that seeps into your bones

The relentless winter

Is upon us

Can you hear its hushed tones?

You know it is true

When they say

That nothing burns like the cold!

Merciful are the fires

Huddled around which

Are both the young and old 

Treasured are those

First rays of sun

When people forget their troubles and woes

The old stretch their legs out

And children come out to play

Warmth is a luxury even the poor can afford!

Summer is the seductress

Bountiful as ever

While Winter is a teacher – patient and wise

A hard way indeed

To educate us on the virtues

Of Perseverance and Sacrifice

What good

Is the warmth of summer?

Without the cold of winter to give it sweetness

The wise one teaches us

To survive another day

So we welcome next Winter with begrudging fondness

You and Me

You make me look inside

And love what I see

Holding hands as we went through life

Sharing sacred secrets - you and me.

Music chords in hazy hours

Sent us high and set us free

To many more sunny beaches and waves

Soul sisters we will always be

We bonded over sarcastic humor

Lovingly adopted by the Rao’s as child no. 3

We will always pick up where we left off

Crazy you and crazy me

My drama queen and dancing diva

A spirit so brave and free

Philosophical discussions and meaningless gossip

Brought you closer to me

We’re as different as chalk and cheese!

But I love you and you love me

A soul so benign that Bambi would cry

Friends for this and the afterlife – it’ll forever be you and me

The Dancer

A blur of colors.

And smiling faces.

Flashlights so bright

She experienced a moment  

That plunged into psychedelic

She spun and spun

As her feet lifted off the ground

And the spectators grew emphatic

Purity of rapture.

And spirit unfettered.

A swish of silk

Against her skin

She felt the lines of the body

Amalgamate effortlessly

To an exquisite performance

Unadulterated magic embodied

Their faces enchanted.

And whispers of infatuation.

She graciously accepted

Hearts that were smitten

Soaked in their begrudging adoration

But all she lived for was that moment

She danced to set free  

So bliss could take conception

Admirers and aficionados.

Bewitched with excitement.

She sparkled and shone

As she performed her last piece

Setting the stage alight

The crescendo rose

As she landed gracefully on her toes

Their darling, the star of the night                  

Eons ago.

A flash of memories.

She averts her eyes

And shuts them out for escape

From despairing glances and pitiful stares

Seeking comfort in the cocoon of her memories

She lifelessly wheels her chair away

Autobiography of a Baby

They pull my cheeks

And pinch my nose

They make funny faces

And tickle my toes

They baby talk

When they can speak!

I want to hide my face

When walked down the street

'Goo goo', 'Ga Ga' is all I know

Still I'm expected to put on a show

Where is your nose? And where are your ears?

I can't take this silliness anymore

I think up of ridiculously simple ways to repel

I fart, burp, throw up and poop

I give my best to stink up the joint

This should put an end to all the 'coochie coo'

Some days are bad

While some are worse

Itchiness, anger, sleep deprivation

Makes me want to let loose

I know I'm adorable

That's stating the obvious

Still doesn't make it okay

To create a mighty stupid fuss

I know it's my birthday

And I will turn one

But stuffing me in velvet and lace

Is not my idea of fun

It's bad enough you committed a fashion faux passé

Now I'm passed from hand to hand

Trust me when I tell you

Babyhood is not all that grand!

I would be a billionaire if I was paid

Every time someone said

'Show me where your feet are

And where is your head'

What do you know?

It's a lot of work to look this darn cute

I put up with oily massages and hot baths

And rigorous powdering and fluffing up too

But I'll let you in on a secret

This one is no lie

Though I hate being a baby

I love being the apple of your eye!

Shards of Brilliance

His dreams are dreams of distress 

The agony that alights from anguish

The grief that accompanies his every waking hour

Stillness of the ache to be cherished  

The sorrow that descends his soul

Glorious peace that has seeped through cracks of melancholy 

Where will one find a state of greater numbness? 

Tranquility levitates lolling in the muck of despondency 

The trepidation that bedfellows evade 

Seduces him into its silent waters 

Icy fingers caresses his already frozen spirit

Suffocating him as he sinks under 

Striking are the icicles of unfeeling pain

Sadistic is the song of this simpering sadness

How then is he so obsessed?

Obsessed with this strange kind of madness

The ecstasy that he awaits in anticipation  

The hope of anonymous allure 

The knowing of what is to come 

Throws him into throes of something delightfully obscure 

His best creation awaits revealing 

Unearth it he shall 

Now he’s experienced the soreness of misery 

Effervescence of genius creeps a cunning crawl 

The world beholds with bated breath 

Greatness conceived in excruciating alliance 

Beauty that glints through the broken shards

Beautiful are the shards. The Shards of brilliance.

Freedom: a mirage

It shines and ripples

Like a pool of water

It seems so close

And yet so far

He waits and waits

Watching it through prison bars

It belonged to him

Once upon a time

It seemed so cheap

But now he knows its price

He waits and waits

For time that doesn't pass by

He has happy dreams

Of doing what he pleases 

What seemed like a waste of time

Were life's precious moments 

He waits and waits

For a second chance and a second life 

Like a parched traveller

Lost in a vast  desert

The pool of pristine water

Beckons to him from afar

He waits and waits

As he conjures up his happy mirage

Oh! What will he not give 

For his mirage to come alive?

To run wild and free

To come alive just for one more day

He waits and waits

For freedom that will never be his again