A Midnight Story

Tender nights and stormy skies
A quiet breath, so soft a sigh
Tales unknown, lures the mind
But heavy lids refuse to pry.

One of a distant memory
Another, a forbidden dream
Somewhere, a few foggy faces
Lucid eyes and voices honeyed.

Rain tickles the air lightly
Weaving my thoughts into sweet agony
Webbed and fuzzy, muffled and messy
Losing their warmth, the sheets around me.

A cool void laces my fingers
As familiar as a time worn lover
Tracing the curves of moonlit smiles
Are the iris depths of our gentle eyes.

I can feel the stirrings
Of a timeless yearning, when
That loyal shift of my well-versed heart
Draws me in as an artist to his art.

We play this game often enough
The dark our witness, silence its charm
Until a flash mars the scene
With thunder rising to its feet.

"I thought you wouldn't come tonight,"
We talk in whispers, thunder and I,
That I waited, it rumbles in delight
I shush it gently, caressing its might.

Outside the window, a torrent rages
The chill's gone, nestled in an embrace
Soon they come, so quietly uttered,
I smile when I hear my favorite words-

"Will you play tonight?" Thunder sighs
Coaxing me from bed, the request in disguise
I look over my shoulder, willing it to stay
And with the purest love, I begin to play.


(Images are my own)

A Dusky Dream

It was dusk before I knew it,
Fading lights and scenes around me
A crick in the neck brought me back
To earth from the sky well above me.

I had only gone to the terrace
To be soothed by the afternoon caress
Of mellowed sunlight and balmy breeze
When the swing gently swayed, the lure of a knowing tease.

The sky beckoned next
Or was it the whisper of the trees?
Could’ve been the birds singing overhead
Or the clouds that were turning pink.

I knew not where to look
It was everywhere my eyes wanted to be,
Thought it wiser to fall into a dream
Where my mind could see all as it ran free.

The lull didn’t last long, for my heart woke me up
“Watch,” I was told, “It’s the moon”, for it had also woken up.
One half of silvery beauty, other still asleep
Never has it been so radiant, with the sun still vivid.

The luminescence haunted me
As did the bottomless vault it lit
I couldn’t fathom the reverence it educed
Yet I was snug in the comfort of it.

Tomorrow I shall bring my brushes and paint
My canvas with the canvas of nature as my muse
Brilliant greens kindling a changing sky
While I wait on the swing for the stars to arrive.

(Photograph captured in Leh, Ladakh, India, a place abound with surreal landscapes.)

Wildflowers

A medley of colours caressed my back
Blooming into an embrace, lush and wet
As I lowered myself gently on a field of green
Wispy touches teasing my skin.

Violets and pinks and whites and yellows
Sung to my mind, the heart mellowed
Breezing me through sweet memories
Painting my palette of whispered dreams.

I opened my eyes to a canvas of blue
Cottony clouds, they were wispy too
Shaped into my thoughts, they teased me so
Wish I could hold them, and let them know.

That I had travelled to a time
A land of sunshine
Where songs and smiles
And kisses filled our lives
A place so warm, so happy and bright
Like the colours behind my lids, when I close my eyes.

A content sigh, I turn to my side
Soaking in the wonder of the smells and sights
What is it really, shed me some light
A carpet of wildflowers, or an Arabian Night?

(Photograph captured in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka)