a bird's word

Rare stakes
endangered passions
buffered zones.
the heat is up
there's eider down.
Glasses clink.
Peers
through chinks
and raises
to dispel the masses....
(Tickled by some pickled wits
exotic strays lose charming ways
-now turned to wolves
and generate loathing.)

non-conventional energy

Today
makes it.
Enrolment
w.e.f.
ten years ago.
First, at the bar
Racing, pacing
Supreme theme.
Precedents, collars
coats, then dollars.
Subsequently,
Crafting, drafting- ejusdem generis.
Appearances.
AIRS and cases,
glorified sharks- Noscitur a sociis
Cut to
the wilderness
-sanctuaries,
parks.
People's voices
the choice is
pre-meditated- ut res magis valeat quam pereat.
Chamber-practice-analyst-teacher-
Which is the undefining feature
-can't be serious
about
expressio unius est exclusio alterius.
Lawyers all,
bound to hammer out some lines
to mark the passage of such times.
Assurances
a decade
not decayed
m' lads and lassies
leave ye all
to pontificate
about
Contemporanea expositio est fortissima in lege.

stick flick

Taps into
pools
of wishful thinking
of the collective consciousness.
Fresh as groundwater
(-waves of cyanide, fluoride and other activity
recede in this bubble).
Seamless weaving of textures
fabricates a vision.
Some sold out...
we watch from the ground
-chhabees rupaiyah, tax deducted
packed.
Evolving strategies
Registering a swansong
of a Chanakya.

circulars in motion

The starkness visible
-luminaries
on one, two, three
and other Hidden Acts.
-see how they run
straight into the finishing line
chasing after unclear crumbs
-their tales chopped off
with the eagle's splice.
Except
there's a nation behind.
Changing track...
From nursery prints
to finer print
From iambic
to vent-a-meter
Pent up and gone
Or step-by-step.
Lunar eclipses
herald rebirth
-A sickle-moon
rising.

AGOG: The Week

sponge-soft idlis,
dosas flipped up, flying from the pan,
crisp as red lace
and other idylls.

keep up with the weights
from gym to Gym
heavy, light or feather
with garb to get trim.

Venuses in transit:
from the world of hospitality,
after an extended gap
-updated files: of rolled chapattis and talking styles.
then a siren
from a glossy world
-the schedule a mystery, the day, a whirl.
and finally, an alternative fox
some preoccupations: jackals, monkeys
-edged away from the box.

meantime,
another toast
to a gang of girls
is raised as a flag unfurls.

snatches

22nd July, 07
Rainbow
-the quintessential arch
notions of hidden gold
buried deep
in the seeds of a storm

Waterfall
Clearing, clambering
boulders
tangled shade
brooks some moss
-diversity.
Intrepid it would sound
or to the disbelieving, fabricated.

Foothills
Hill-brooms, womens’ craft
Hairstyles, pineapples,
Fashion statements
Value added
Vroom
Through fields and ponds
To pots of water
buried in the ground
A form of drip irrigation
Challenges the imagination

Ascent
To the cloudy range
Home-like.
-Connection.
Testers, feelers, plus-points, thoughts
On that day of the invincible Juggernaut.


























.

Off-shore

Cross currents pull swimmers down
The lighthouse waves
-beaming, lets them go

A depression over the bay
A cyclone over the shore
Victory at sea

-Rainbows from oil slicks
-Mined, the sand.
Quaint, the myth

A monkey’s burning tail
sizzled in these waters,
turned the shore murky.

In another aftermath,
’roaches roamed
-From baygone
to survivors of the bygone

(the epitaph to which read:
they took the bait
hook, line and aye aye mate)

6th July, '07

heat wave

Degrees
Of affinity, movement
On paper, in ether
and on board
Measure for measure
-text to some
elsewhere, a peg, an inch
and sometimes
a corporator.
Dealt out, nuanced
And the heat is on
Non-egalitarian,
it sifts and burns.
Banished rays
Conditioners
Planets transit
-the world's astray
Variant degrees
pull it away

the village rises

Circuits
Light up paths
House-fulls
of guests.
The Gramadevata's summerfest.
Nine urns for the twists and turns
of the lanes that wind through the foothills
A unique spirit binds us all
-from the swords of power to the plough that tills.
Current institutions, contemporary culture
Justified manifestations
-the Past the filter.
From each according to their capacity
-their mite.
Legends, mediums, beats of drums
Not to be dispossessed
The Cosmos is
this osmosis.

perceptions

From fine print
and words on Tao
back
to fiction.
Trod the Red Carpet
to southern lore
-liked-
the style, selection of themes
and the cultural stance of the narrator.
Would read more.
Had stowed away Nadine
-went through the palette
of her masterpiece
marvelled at the subtle shifts of narrative
-raced on, tanned by late hours, maybe fading light
captured by the sunbathers of Tamarisk bay!
And then a book with thick pages, hard-bound
nice colours, large font
never heard of it
but tossed it into the basket at an annual sale
Turned out to be interesting
-a tale of immigrant farmers who also work in mines;
the little girl wants to be a teacher;
ends up being a mill-worker;
life, with the usual phenomenon of unlikely
or at least inconspicuous
scenes
remaining etched
in memory
-the book as the viewer recalls it....

April's Frills or An Interlude

Landed well before 'twas dark
And rushed off for a walk to the park
Then hurried to dress up for a family function
Where the ancient and modern might be in conjunction
Methinks the contrast was strikingly stark

Another day was a tossed-up mix
Of shopping, mourning and salad tricks.
Marvelled at the gracious mourners
Later, raised a toast to worldly sojourners
-Talked of veils and worship, of what crashes, what clicks

Dragged resident spooks to the thespians' ground
Djinns, nostalgia, riots, music did abound
Alas, i'd bought tickets to the farthest benches
Three hours or more, watched from the trenches
Just as well that it was ear-shattering sound

Hurtling past, a global village stops
Flying by a flyway, lots of shops
Reminiscent of the enchanted woods
Folk from faraway lands with goods
Except that it's by a river-bank with crops.

Forest ladies walk this town
Some wave the quill, some wear the gown
In solidarity with their counterparts
Seeking remedies, toppling applecarts
Causing some to cheer and others to frown

UP IN THE AIR or HUNG ASSEMBLY

Infusions.
In the air
or in kettles
Shoals to the bait
-Whiffs
-Whips
and diffusions.
Sprays of mist
and tales that twist
to a brand new line
-Ensemble de Confusion

loadshedding

Boiling points
power cuts
turkey, turnkey
melt.
Sweltering
crucible
smattering of tongues
words bubble to the brim.
Posted, roasted, grilled, toasted.
Static crackles
cutting edge through sizzlers in the air.

cricket today

baleful
wicketless
over and out.
no cup.

no knowing what's shielded
as questions are fielded
on the other side of the boundary.

and the squad of trumps
down in the dumps
in the wake of hype
and designer yarns

technically in
but otherwise gone....
unless... bermuda's shots
and just one slip
between the cup and the homeward ship

applique

patchwork
trendy worlds
stitch by stitch
counterpane
fibrous mix
the roughage
the adage
the check-in cabbage.

races with a finish line
ribbons with a cutting edge
zigzag by these highways.

other vacuums:
reined-in strays
seek desperate validation
of present ways.

Surround Sound

voyage
into the unknown
007.
-scapes:
land and liquid
airborne, ether.
inbound, outbound
neutron dance.
scrutinize microbes
telescope stars.
prevail, unveil
emit.