Western Railway

Found this weathered piece of pulp with this poem I had written during University days. Here goes--

Mahim...Bandra...Khar...S'Cruz
Jug-djug-jug-djug
Burnt iron the quivering rails
A spark or two cracking above
Resistance--
It can hardly break down;
I shall not budge.
Wind!
I no care
I feel like a god
Hanging at the pole on the footboard
At my feet, a lady's offering onion peels.
Viva Mumbai!!!

an urban pastoral gone awry

here's a chain of uneditor-like run-on sentence fragments in my attempt to capture the perfectness i felt in the moment...so here goes.

PS. this is not a poem...it's blank verse.

a quarter to six mine eyes ope' fresh
the alarm's still asleep;
i stretch out to the morning grey
'tis cloudy today; the rain's set in
there's a smile on my face--guess it's the rain
fresh ground coffee... now that's my tonic
the exquisite smell lazily strolls peeking in every room
while i sit by my window looking at the world

a rickshaw sputters it's cranky way
now here now gone away
trailing behind the spattering drops
bolstered by crowing and chirps.

i can't figure out how many wing'd dreams
have woken to actually see the day
hidden 'midst leaves of infrequent trees
singing songs for the heck of it :)
a myriad of euphony; a crow's cacophony
the crowing rooster fluffing his breast.

a flurry of rush on the coconut tree
i turn my head and --Jesus!
it's a kingfisher!
I love kingfishers!!
a shock of blue, a dull red, when last did i see one?

i'm back home far away from here
sitting on an eccentric coconut tree trunk
which forgot which way to grow.
hmmmmm....oh fish!
where's it gone?
damn! why do i write! it's gone!
Come back, kingfisher...damn!

why do i write!

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

Summertime it rocks! Summertime it rohhhhhhhlz!
Listening to this while I stare at the cover of Tao of Physics. I wonder when I'm going to finish reading it. Pretty interesting read, though! Pity time doesn't want to stretch itself for my reading! Thank God for travel time--the only time I get for books.
BTW,
the book is not as scary as I thought it would be, what with physics and mysticism holding hands. Capra has spent a few precious pages assuring me that Aaaal is Welll!
The first few chapters are on the branches of eastern religion interspersed with the wisdom of sages and scientist-philosophers.
Good going so far.

That which hurts, instructs...or festers.
Which one do you prefer?

[Ben Franklin and I]

Just a Stray...

Compromise with your dreams, you combust.
You're lucky if embers remain;
Luckier if a light breeze passes;
Luckiest if the flames spring up;
Burn your entire being to be real.

Ooort clouds and Lord Ganesh

Ironic--I work in language services and the only time I get to read a book is in the train, bus or rickshaw. It's a torture, getting to read only a page or half a page a day. Nevertheless, I'm reading. Picked up Gods of War by Ashok Banker the other day...sorry daayyyyzzzz ago and am not even halfway through. I was browsing the sci-fi section at Crossword and came across this one. Let's try an Indian author. Looks like I may have made the wrong choice in author. However, I'll still give it a chance.

The book cover does convey a celestial sense with its glossy blue hues punctuated by concentrated yellow bursts. The assortment of characters till now is mysterious because I haven't reached that part of the book yet--the part where the secrets start peeling away. What I did not like was the political comment by Banker in the Author's Note. I don't know whether it is important to the story. I have decided to read it only after I have read the story. I get suspicious when such comments appear before a work of fiction. Colours the mind and hampers independent imagination.

This is going to take some time to finish. Till then...Cheers!