The silent man screamed the shit out of people

When a mute (vocally impaired) person tries to speak,

people with voices become more quiet.

By more quiet I mean dead shut up.

As their voices take refuge

behind their teeth.

Their guts go hide behind their guts.  

When a mute (vocally impaired) person barters words

People with voices go deep underwater.

They get nothing to exchange or offer.

Not even a seat. Or a corner.

In the whole new fancy office 

they can't stop bragging about.

And we (the people with voice) become dumb.

This is why it hurts the way it hurts.

I get two colours

I forget which of them I dream in.

Terrorism is in fashion

1)      From Bangladesh to Brussels

         From Paris to Germany

         It’s #EOSS (End of season sale).

         A wide variety of Kalashnikovs,

         Rifles, bombs and what not

         are a real steal!

               

            

 2)      You know well,

         Guns don’t kill people

         People kill people

         And people marinated

         In terror activities

         Seldom have a face

         But a style, a trend

         Which know no border

         No boundary.

3)      Every time a place is attacked,

         The world gets fractured.

         Every morning people wake up

         Desperate to know

         Whether they’re still alive.

 

4)      In the end, all trends die.

         All fashion become passé.

         Everything is overcome

         And life is lived.

         Tell me if Peace is

         The absence of this ugly fashion.

5)      "The show must go on!"

          is a lot more than

         a kitsch pop battle cry.

More than words can say

Sometimes you make me teary

with love

and dreams

and care

and importance

and love

and love.

Sometimes you make me want

to hold you by your collars

and pin you against the wall

and kiss the fuck out of you

because what you do

is really fucking hard to do.

XOXO

Play it up

I like the way we do not fight.

Fast forward to when we do 

and then hours of not talking and then laughing it out. 

Let’s rewind to when our eyes met and we didn’t know they were whispering “sweet nothings”.

Let’s rewind to when we held hostages under our tongues. 

But an internal soundtrack started pulsing.

Let’s rewind to the raindrops that hung at the edge of the clouds. Only living to fall.

Let’s pause here. This is what I felt like.

Press play.

 I kiss you and you tell me how glad you are this happened. 

  

Pause this. 

Let’s go back to when I first met you; the way you stole looks thinking I didn’t notice.

Press play

The way you rolled your eyes and the way you smiled, I wish you had kissed me.

Let’s pause here.

This moment. I want it to last forever. This is the love all the love songs are about.

Fast forward to when you don’t leave, you don’t give up on me when I get difficult.

Fast forward to when I warn you about my dark, but you stay and stay and eat up all the shadows.

You stay, forever.

Let’s pause here. 

Press play.

    

hope notes

1.       Going on your first date, second and third that eventually turn into a wedding, aren’t you?

2.       Celebrating your first anniversaries, second anniversaries, fiftieth anniversaries aren’t you?

3.       Having children?

4.       And then grandchildren?

5.       Watching sunsets that never seem to end?

6.       Holding hands with someone?

7.       Watching your kids grow up from the size of a cauliflower?

8.       Watching your parents grow wrinkles and grey hair and curl with age?

9.       Wandering places to find something or the other?

10.   Being a superhuman to someone, aren’t you?

      

Because I hope so

#LeapOn

An extra day

Upon minutes

Upon seconds.

Finally an Oscar

Upon Leo

Upon The Revenant.

An extraordinary day

Upon you

As you go from gojavas.

An extra tax

Upon public

Disguised as welfare.

The world is moving too fast

And spinning too much.

A lot many people are here

Crossing their hearts,

Taking a leap of faith.

I just feel dizzy. 

Everything between hope and less

Nine months

is enough time to be prepared.

But not sure

if it is enough to get ready.

Dangerous woman

Security can never find it.

Scanners will never recognize it.

I keep my weapons hidden.

You called me a dangerous woman.

And you were right.

Speak to me heart to heart

And never will the gun in my head click.

It's the thing about highways

You came like a Ferari

On the highway.

Zip-zap-zoom.

My heart felt

Like an ambulance

Stuck in traffic.

Between us,

There will always be

Loud silences

           And

                     fleeting

          distances.

Beginning of forever

You’ve been

the flavor of the month.

Even my chums smell like you.

Okay I don’t mind sitting

Next to you

With butterflies in my stomach,
A zoo in my chest

And my heart in my mouth

Wearing a rock on my finger

and plastic smile.

Simply because

I want you

To be the flavor

Of my life.  

September

It punched August

In the stomach and

Came right in front of you.

The sun is also confused

Whether to burn brighter

And cuddle you in its arms

Or to kiss you all over your face

And leave your skin wet.

Finally, here it comes to you

Like a baby comes to the mother,

After 9 long months only to tell you

it loves you.

But you don’t know what that means.  

Maybe because you've decided 

to wake up when September ends.

Adult

Call me an adult. But not an adult as enough adult.

I. For I say a prayer and let the evil times roll in. Because God never advertised his 30 minute show up policy.

II. For living like a tide. And there are days when the moon is full and has an uncontrollable pull.

III. For I wait and then wait more for the right time. And then watch it passes by, elegantly, without my consent.

IV. For breathing life into monsters. And then complaining why he destroyed everything once again.

V.  For changing the world. But not as much as the world changing me as an adult.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

No

Keep your daughter’s name.

When she is growing up

Call her name, shout it or screech it

Till iron starts to run in her veins.

No

Keep your daughter’s name.

When she’ll be a grown up

She’ll be like a wolf so strong

That no lion can tame.

Kill honour

How easy it was

for them to force

the honour

like stainless steel knife

into her mouth.

And how her throat 

was full of just love

when the first time

she called them

‘mamma’

and 'baba’.

Brunt

And the day after all the

Breaking,

Mother takes God

Off the shelf,

Shakes the dirt from

His shoulders.

After all  the damage

Her heart is still big.

But He’s smaller than

He once was.

Stuck

Life is moving fast and all.

The difference is in the waiting

for you.

My heart feels like an ambulance.

And there is traffic

Everywhere.

Station

Even when we stand still

the earth is moving.

As if travelling perpetually in a train.

Excuse me, could you please

stop it for a second.

I wanna get off. 

Stillness

All you know is how to spill

and make a mess of yourself

in this beautiful world.

Usually, people give a stare

after another,

call it art

and keep moving.

You can leave the house.

Anyway, it’s not where the heart is.

But where the hard edges are.

It is where there are the bills

The damped walls, the mice

And that comfort feeling

you grow up wanting to leave.

You can leave the city.

Most days, it makes you feel

like a sponge.

And gives you only dust

to soak in your mouth

in your lungs

in your life.

You can leave the face of the earth any time.

But this small voice that muffles

‘This is not a test, but you are

doing splendidly’.

You listen to it,

feel like you might be.

You’re so good at being bad.

One afternoon nap

On a summer day like this, the most involuntary thing is the afternoon nap for me.

By me, I mean this shell of a human and this set of bones packed in memories and dreams, and this ventricle chamber filled with storms and chaos. 

I lie down and pull the curtains over my eyes, this hot afternoon has some sounds in the distance. By sound I mean like some divine rhythm to which someone realizes some things sometimes.

It tells me how people wake up each morning with same slumber and can't decide if they want to save the world, or destroy it. Nothing is wrong with this world but something is definitely wrong with the people of this world. Starting from me.