Red and white

The colourful leaves of the golden sun
Has just landed on the soil of dust ---
As the trees feel the flow of the wind beneath.

The fenced ceiling no longer binds the love
That carries along the soil and the dust!

Far into the horizon, a seed has taken flight
Into a destination, unknown, yet planted;
Where a new life springs and blossoms!

From this land to that soil, the seed germinates
Like a free spirit who needs no fence and no bars!

Somewhere in that land a mother cries for her child
Who lives beyond the borders to feed his home!
Somewhere in this land a brother waits for a Visa
To have his sister around him for sometime!

Somewhere here, moments are stolen through a wired call
Where emotions are expressed by the click of time,
Somewhere there, the notes flow to rhythms of love,
And a tribute to a bard on the beginning of his centenary!

But here and there, the walls adorn with pictures
Of the martyrs and the dead and a strange theory of hate!
Where poets write an epitaph on the grave
And a silent moment spent on their memory!

The seed that germinates, from soil to soil,
From land to land, through the wings of peace
Is now red; while the leaves long to shine in that
Golden sun again!

Rajdeep Pathak

December 17, 2012

Dwindling Faith

A little laughter that we shared,
Those small moments that we nursed,
The fingers that gave us the warmth,
Were now cold – dead!

Silence, I ne’er felt such like before,
In dreams and in thoughts alike!
Now those doors that always smiled,
Were shut – as they pushed me aloof!

I who knitted them with strings of love and care
And twined my hopes with a bond of faith –
All dwindled before my eyes, slowly, forcefully!

Several hours of music o’er glasses of wine
And those cookies that I baked for his friends and mine –
As if in dreams I walked and danced to those tunes
Making friends who burnt my soul!

I sit back at the same armchair where he rested his soul –
Desperate for a drink – not thirsty, yet gasping for a breath;
I painted in dreams of his and mine loved beings,
I knitted and travelled with those threads around,
Each step as he guided me through.

Now they were none to me and to him, who
No longer cared for their baked cookies;
And the music and the wine that never again flowed!

They were now strangers, who behaved
As if we never met before;
Their looks were deceptive run by rules
Tricking me, as they betrayed my love!!

Are they friends? Are they mates?
Or are they time-bound machines
Who run by systems alone?
Structured and planned to control
As they sketch and design their graph
On tables to record the list of files
Of people they roll in their catalog?

Rajdeep Pathak

December 4, 2012

(This poem is dedicated to those people who open the doors of their hearts and house for their near and dear ones. This is also to remind those who betray the love and faith of their loved ones when they need their help the most. Let us not betray the trust of those who love us. )