Poem #286 Mirrored Truths…

  
Masks, where mirrors should have been,
Lies, where authenticity should have been.

Facade, where frank should have been,
Fear, where brevity should have been.

Performing, where genuine should have been,
Pretense, where pure should have been.

Fake, where real should have been,
Affected, where natural should have been.

Act, where earnest should have been,
Deceit, where sincere should have been.

Greed, where loyal should have been,
Lust, where love should have been.

Silence, where compassion should have been,
Indifference, where care should have been.

Emptiness, where kindness should have been,
Ego, where empathy should have been.

Fantasy, where reality should have been,
Void, where life should have been!

Poem #285 As I mourn…

  

Written as I was mourning the loss of my uncle on Oct 08, 2025…

Poem #284 Time…

 

I am not seeking eternity, 

For it’s but a moment in time;

I don’t seek forever,

For it’s not the end of time.

I don’t seek perpetuity,

For it implies there is an end to time;

I don’t seek infinity,

For it’s but a loop upon a line. 

Time with you is when, for me, it ticks, 

Every second, every breath to count;

The rest of my life easy to predict,

 It is only what remains of yours to count.

Poem #283 How can I fault you…

 

How can I fault you for lying to me,

When you’ve been lying to yourself?

How can I fault you for hurting me,

When you are already hurting yourself?

How can I fault your treating me like a fantasy,

When you are living in one yourself?

How can I fault you for not loving me,

When you don’t yet know to love yourself?

How can I fault you for losing me,

When you are already lost yourself?

How can I fault you for not being mine,

When you are not yourself?

Poem #282 Win-Win

You were happy being the best,

You declared you were a success,

“You” had won the game without a fuss.

You executed your strategy with a grin,

Rejoicing my losses and your wins,

Unaware that I aimed for a win-win.

You masterfully played each strike,

Gleeful at the thought of your might,

Ignorant that our goals had different sights.

You were happy being the best,

Your bliss was my goal for success,

“We” had won the game without a fuss.

Poem #281 Ode to Sooraj

I don't know quite where to begin,
Or how to end.
But what I do know, deep within,
Is you were truly a faithful friend.

Always ready with a helping hand,
Lifting me up when I couldn’t stand.
Empathetic, loyal, gentle, and kind —
A rare and beautiful soul to find.

You stood by others in their need,
Quietly, without asking for a deed.
Even when your world was shaken too,
You bore the weight with quiet grace through and through.

You loved to travel, dance, and explore,
With a lens in hand, you captured life’s lore.
And all who crossed your vibrant way
Still feel your light to this very day.

Now you’re with God, in peace and rest,
In a place where only love is blessed.
You left behind a silent space,
A void time will never fully replace.

But we hold on to memories shared,
To every moment you truly cared.
Though your time here was far too brief,
Your life was rich beyond belief.

We pray for strength for those you loved,
And feel your presence from above.
Your story lives on, your soul still near —
Forever cherished, forever dear.

We will miss you Sooraj!

Poem # 280 Life goes on…

 

Awake in the am, per habit,

You text her your daily hi,

Unanswered, you wait a few hours,

Then text back “All well?…”

Your day goes on,

Busy in life's monotony,

You easily forget that,

You were waiting for her response.

At night, it crosses your mind,

Why was there no answer?

Is she willfully ignoring me?

Should I try once more?

Your ego wins over…

“If she is too busy for me,

I am not desperate to chat!

It’s her turn to text…

Stalking her torpid social media, 

Minutes turn into hours,

Hours to long days

Days go on… one, two…

The third morning,

You wake up to incessant beeps,

To read about her,

In your friend groups…

“Too young to pass…

 It was so sudden… “

You will be shocked!

Feel a sudden void…

You will go back to read,

Your private conversations…

A few tears shed,

For words left unsaid…

You knew her best,

Her soul all yours.

Yet you never

Gave her, her due…

Was it worth it?

Protecting the life you built,

Over the ashes of 

Her unconditional love…

 

“She knew I couldn’t,

No point dwelling”,

Quickly your head rules over your heart

The life you live for others goes on…

Poem #279 Restless…

Tossing and turning, in my bed through the night,
The moon shining in the sky, full and bright,
Not a single star, shining in plain sight,

As the queen of the night, takes stage without fright!

Random thoughts of you, fog my memory,

Probably that's why the sky is clear, no clouds to see,

Without you, I am destined for a lifelong penitentiary,

As every second morphs, into a protracted century!

Finally, I slip into a disturbed slumber askew, 

Dreams of you, thankfully come to my rescue,

I give up all reason, when the topic is you,

As my life waxes and wanes, on your whims and cues!

Poem #278 Remember your roots…

They say,

Remember your roots

What should I remember?

The feeling of being abandoned,

Or that of, finding my own way;

The feeling of being unwanted,

Or that where, I grew kind and loving;

The feeling of never belonging,

Or that of planting roots, each time I was uprooted;

The feeling of being looked down upon,

Or that of building, strong unbreakable protective walls;

The feeling of being proclaimed the problem,

Or that of singly, trying to solve all of them;

The feeling of over flooding tear ducts,

Or that of a smile, that fought to conquer them;

The feeling of having no one to lean on,

Or that of getting myself back up, after each fall;

The feeling of being all alone,

Or that of, making this world my own…

They say,

Remember your roots

What should I remember?

I say, each of them,

Is a proud victory, or a survivors’ scar,

So forget nothing, remember them all…

Poem # 277 Empath

 

Being an empath,

Is a silent curse to bear;

You see everyone’s side of the story,

Feel their truths & reasons for their fear.

Nothing for you is pre-defined,

The worlds’ construes, no matter how refined;

For you perceive the reason, for each persons tread,

Based on the life of woe they have lead.

While the society may preach its so called song,

Defining black and white, what’s right and wrong;

You see one man’s wrong, as another’s right,

For you choose, to also see the others’ story in sight.

You never judge people, for their life’s choices,

Knowing the why behind, everyone’s inner voices;

You do not hold a grudge, when someone treats you wrong,

Coz you manage to give reason, to their out of tune song.

You see everyone’s side of the story,

Feel their truths & reasons for their fear 

Being an empath

Is a silent curse to bear…

Poem #276 Happy Birthday Manish!

 

As my clock strikes midnight,

May my starry wishes come in sight;

You know me better, than I know my mind,

Friends like you, are truly a rare find!

Little selfless acts, of kindness that you do,

Letting me partake, in your little ones’ world too;

When you first helped me, jump over your hostels’ wall,

Little did I know, our friendship would ignore

our little faults.

Over these years, you have stood staunch as my kin,

Steadfast, through all of our life’s thick and thin;

A soundboard, whenever I need one most,

Munchie, you truly are the best!!!!

Happy birthday dearest Munchie! Love you a lot(but not as much as I love Neel😇😇😉😉😍😍)  and wish you the best of everything that life has to offer!

Poem #275 A blessing in disguise

My mother left me, when I was three,

I took it as, a blessing in disguise;

Taught me that, nothing in this world was free,

To survive, i learned to be resilient.

I left my dad, when I was eight,

I took it as, a blessing in disguise

He would have, definitely doomed my fate,

To survive, I learned to be confident.

My best friend left me, when in high school, 

I took it as, a blessing in disguise

Got me into poetry, my angst release tool,

To survive, I learned to be a wordsmith.

My sister left me, to pursue college,

I took it as, a blessing in disguise;

Without her to lean on, and to lead,

To survive, I learned to be independent.

My crush left me, for another in college, 

I took it as, a blessing in disguise;

Focused, to quench my thirst for knowledge,

To survive, I learned to be kind and love all.

My company left me, jobless,

I took it as, a blessing in disguise

All my hard work, was not unrewarded,

To survive it, I now had built some staunch mentors.

When all these were blessings, to help me mature,

When you left me, why does it not feel so;

I know one day, in the not too distant future,

You will live to say, “You are my blessing in disguise, now I know”…

Poems #274 A Collection of short poems