Blank Verse…

Wide open into the arena
She leapt like a tigress
Her claws firm into the ground
The sand moved, shook the earth beneath!

Her frightful eyes flickered
As her arms trembled under
The torso of her dry image!

The drop of blood from her lips
Traced in the sand, making signs,
As her exhausted tongue rubbed
Those few thickening spots…

The crowd waited for the dawn to break
After the long chained nights;
Her torso, still moved to and fro
As her eyes glistened in the frightful night!

“Ominous” some cried, while others called it “fury”!
The mothers held their child, and men caught their arms…
As she stood trembling,
Her claws still holding the ground!

She sniffed; she scuttled to pick a loaf of bread,
Chained and hungry, yet her arms never begged!
She lived in the glory, and battled each might,
Her tears no longer flew, as she wears her flight!

To freedom, to laughter, to boundless grace,

Her dry image relishes the final taste.

Living through despair, living through pain,
She savours the sweetness of the Divine Grace…

                                                                          Rajdeep Pathak
                                                                          August 27, 2011

The beginning

The steps encircle like one big hollow
As each road takes a new turn
Some closer, some at a distance
As we walk past taking another turn.

New faces, new talks, new walks and new destination!

Wait a minute and ponder a moment

The heart seems to ask something…

Are these those untrodden paths,
That only lovers knew?
Or were there no enthusiast aficionados?

The narrow lanes and by-lanes
The sharp shallow edges –
The smell of rich cuisine and
The fair play of the market…

What could have prevented men to travel?
Or was it all men and their folks
Sprawling, encircling, and idolizing
Their pride, their wealth, their freedom, and
Their rich and vast heritage?

Glistening under the sun and rain
They remind us of endurance and pain
Their grit and strength tell great tales
As the stones time and again wink!

I hear the roar of kings;
I hear the galloping of the horses;
I hear the noise of steel blades;
I hear the bugle, once again!

Not in dreams, not away,
These noises of folks and blades
Come alive from the stones that still wink
And the path that takes us on
A journey – an old, yet new destination…

Into another world of time and distance,
Into an ever-widening space
Of knowledge and belief!

Travelled, yet unnoticed and unfulfilled

The journey begins again…

                                                            Rajdeep Pathak

                                                           August 19, 2011

Note: A poem on making an attempt to understand our heritage.

To You…

Give me the love, give me the smile
Give me the power to stand a while
In rain and in sunshine, let me burn bright
I need You to keep my faith upright!

Strength is a virtue and friend for care;

Give me the chance to lend a hand!
That I could make my day bright
To see them merrily and light!

They with whom You stand strong
Ne’er will they yield before any wrong…
Thy strength and power shines bright
Through the dark hours of morn and night!

And when Your fire kindles the mind
My heart burns with a desire to fight …
May I stand strong with the rope You hold
To cross the bridge with that only Hope!

Where Truth and Lie clings to a chain
Where Death smiles at every pain
Where Mourners join beating their breasts
When Life moans a cold note…

To You my fervent prayer, You whom I adore…
May Your guiding star brighten each face
May Life buzz with shimmering rays,
May each flower send Your sweet fragrance
May each music play Your harmonious notes…

As Death smile to embrace a new Life...!

                                                      Rajdeep Pathak
                                                     August 16, 2011