I Am Not Your Last Refuge

                                                                                    

                                                               Empty words of silence

From an empty soul in peace

That’s all that left to greet you

When you come back for my love

 

You took me for granted, always

Came to me, when you needed me

You grinned past me many a time

When you found someone lustier

 

I saw the days of loneliness

When you were fooling around

And having fun, with no loose ends

Back then, you didn’t remember me

  

Now, why are you turning around?

Looking to reach out for my hand

When my heart has gone frozen

Without your smile for a long time

 

 You got me wrong,

 Every time I trusted you

You left me crying,

 Every time without mercy

 

I am not your last refuge

Where you could come and leave

Whenever you feel like

Cos, I don’t love you anymore

I wrote this poem in 2010. It was another failed attempt to write a song. I don't remember the context. Images were taken from Amy Tran in Unsplash and  Foundry in Pixabay. 

Dream Hunters

 

There used to be days of gloom

Hearts filled with ruthless agony

Heads used to drop down steeply

With the shame of being duds

 

This world is for the winners only

Those who fail are doomed out

Just like worthless coins on the street

Is it fair on your part, to act like this?

 

Here we come, Dream hunters,

We are the dream hunters!

We are out in this wild world,

To hunt down our crazy dreams!

 Here we come, Dream hunters,

We are the dream hunters!

We are out in this wild world,

To hunt down our crazy dreams!

Enough is enough we had enough

So, we started this hunting mission

To hunt down all those lost dreams

To show this world, that we aren’t duds

 

We wanna see all those who wrote us off

To have a rethink about what they said once

As for all their words, we now have answers

We changed our destiny with the power of anger

   

Here we come, Dream hunters,

We are the dream hunters!

We are out in this wild world

To hunt down our crazy dreams

 Here we come, Dream hunters,

We are the dream hunters!

We are out in this wild world,

To hunt down our crazy dreams!

We never gonna back down, never again

We never gonna be ashamed, never again

No matter what they say, we will walk on

Conquering all our dear dreams, every time 

This was another attempt to write lyrics back in 2009. There was agony in my mind due to the repeated failures in life at that point in time. That was channelized in these lyrics. The pictures are taken by Peter Fodgen   and    Artem Zhakarov , 

Isn’t This A Beautiful Silent Love?

 

We met for a purpose that we knew

From the moment we started talking  

We started a journey of friendship

Which we never hoped to have in real

 

Don’t even know how we got involved

Deeply In each other’s personal lives

Sharing those fun times and memories

That gave joy as well as immense pain

 

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

When I know I m in your heart

When you know you are in my heart

Even in dreams, we are together

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

 

We are trying to shrug off our emotions

Even though we like each other so much

As we know it is hard to be together in real

Yet, we wish to change the circumstances

 

We made each other stronger with care

We wiped out each other’s tears with hope

We gave affection without even realizing

We shared our love without uttering a word

 

 

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

When I know I m in your heart

When you know you are in my heart

Even in dreams, we are together

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

 

We are still wondering, what made us closer

Inner voices always made us be in touch

Giving all our goodwill, we changed our lives

Looking ahead with some prayers for unison

 

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

When I know I m in your heart

When you know you are in my heart

Even in dreams, we are together

Isn’t this a beautiful silent love?

 

This was an attempt to write a song back in 2008. My friend Thomas recorded some songs based on my lyrics during that period. We had a wish to start a band. It sounds funny now when I look back.  Pictures were taken by Nathan Dumlao and Fanny Gustaffson

A Reason To Live

Why should I live?

We face this question at some point in our lives 

As kids, we have ambitions to chase 

It drives the life forward 

After studies 

There are career ambitions that drive 

The life to its limits, burning all mental energy 

In between, there's a phase of love 

That is a mirage that overdrives the wish to live 

Save money to marry the girl you love 

It remains a dream for some 

Lucky ones marry their sweethearts 

Starts living for their kids and grandkids

Some have bucket lists to live for 

Do many things they cherish 

Before they leave this world 

There are unlucky people who have 

Only a few days or years to live  

They live life worthily and inspire others 

They leave memories as a reason for others to live 

Some people find making money a reason to live 

To enjoy all the luxuries this world offers 

Some others find fulfilling responsibilities important 

The pain of unrelenting failures, heartbreak, illnesses, debts, 

and depression offers  reasons for some people to quit life 

While struggling to meet the societal pressures

Friends leaving you behind with their success 

Loneliness, even when surrounded by people 

Without being able to share the fears and thoughts 

Even with all counseling and therapy 

Suicide may seem an escape route from miseries

It takes a lot of courage to quit life 

Those who quit life are not cowards 

I asked myself million times 

Why should I live in a world without my dad?

My heart told me then to live for my mother and brother

From the brink of giving up on life  

I kept finding reasons to live 

After every setback, ever since  

In search of new destinies!

This poem is an adaptation of prose, with the same title, I wrote a decade ago. The images are taken by Aziz Acharki and Danica Tanjutco. Thank you :) 

Summer Rain Romance

A balcony facing the paddy fields

Steaming black tea and fritters on the teapoy  

They were watching the summer rain 

Together like for the first time 

The rhythm of rain fall on

The paddy leaves and trees

The mosaic floor was cold 

The air had the fragrance 

of soil, Lillies, and Jasmines 

Their favorite flowers 

They leaned on to each other

Whispering the sweet nothings 

She blushed and her dimples bloomed

While the rain droplets dripped toward them

From their roof in the direction of the breeze 

They stood up and cuddled for that rainy breeze

Drenching with the excitement of new lovers 

Their summer vacation in a village homestay 

They saw more rain than the sun and the scenery

They remembered how they met on a rainy day 

Drenched and shivering in a tea shop sipping tea

Their eyes made contact and froze while the steam

Took them back to senses and they talked excitedly 

It seemed like they have gone back to that moment

They took their tea cups and walked towards their room

With desires from the past luring them for nostalgic romance

This poem is inspired by the extended rain sessions during the summer in Trivandrum. Images are taken by Dagmara Dombrovska and Miliju Varghese