Secrets

As I walk in wide-eyed wonder, I explore the soot-filled nooks
Unravelling the secrets of life through untold stories
And every fragment of what was brought together
Makes me wonder what brought me to life
The blossoming sexuality, the natural boisterousness
And unfulfilled desires of every human being I meet
On their quest for happiness

Amidst moments of hurt, hate, and heal
While preserving their traditions
Under the onslaught of modernism
Triggers my opinions on personalities and characters
And like shockwaves of panic in a dystopian drama,
I discover the meaning of human nature
Its novelistic details, the filtered perspectives
The strictures of patriarchy and the struggles of matriarchy
It's like a comedy laced with cruelty between rain-soaked epiphanies
The comforting words, ingenuity, the barbed jokes
And the truest opinions from the boldest of souls
Souls that fight to stay alive, that march to stand their ground
Souls that gives witty commentaries
On love and loyalty, money and social classes
On races and religions, dilemmas and conundrums
And on my occasional slip into the realm of melodrama
I realise that life, with its mishaps, is just a practical magic
A drunk night of fries and margaritas
A middle finger protest and feminist treatise
An epic journey alongside a broody convict
And at times, an opportunity to sink
Into the psyche of a single-minded survivor
A singular vision and an individual suicide
But how true are they - these secrets of life?
And how perceptive are we with one secret after another?

-PRK-

May We, The Women

See I have this impulse to idolise the dead, the strong
The uncompromised; you can see it in my eyes
The kind of respect I have,
I look up to the women with the strength I'm building to ratify

You can't stop the droplets from slipping in
You can't deny the power that we're bringing in
The tender moments, jokes, and anecdotes that we'll stop at nothing
And the loss we're lapsing into a fond reminiscent

Here's to the heroes that we're missing
To Cleopatra who defined independent strength
To Rosa Parks for the civil rights movement
And Josephine Baker with her rhythmic hands
Stood beside Martin Luther King, not for the fame

Even Malala's bravery was on point then
Who would have thought she could stop the rain
And she fought her pain to open a brand new lane to many stories worth to pen
And Frida Kahlo's agonised poetry on canvas inspired me

You see it's about time we paint our own reality
Like the lady with the lamp in 1853
Florence Nightingale took a stand in equality
And Marie Curie battled sexism entirely
Throughout her journey till 1903
The prize she won didn't mean anything really
But 1911 proved she's not just an accessory

Elizabeth the daughter of one of the most feared Kings
Over decades she was feared like fear was the in thing
Married to her kingdom, the longest serving monarch
The only mistress of half an island, power to the matriarch

But these are only a handful of ones I constantly thank
For knocking on my door of perceptions, never leaving me blank
Heroes in their own right, top of every rank
And Maya Angelou for the poetry bank

And here's to the women soon to be saluted
May the praiseworthy legacy never be polluted
The setbacks, the side paths, may they always be blessed
May we, the major component continue fighting for the rest

-PRK-

Eulogium

Tight as 9/11 - that's how shut my world was
Away from the abuses - verbal abuses as loud as the Krakatoa eruption
A destructive explosion enough to break every bone

Explode every blood vessels, and rip off every muscle from million miles away
"What's with the sporadic abuses?" I'd asked myself
Why so abrasive? Why so unkind?
Why am I scorned upon over the mistakes that were not mine?
Punished as I walk every Swedish mile; escaping from the remainder of my past
Until you make me fall in love with the defiance of anger
Spellbound by the thought of revenge, but it is not revengement that I delve for
It is a calumet of peace that I contrive - a contentment in life
Perhaps one day, having them read a poignant eulogy
Of a mutilated personage; shunned and left to trade zingers in solitary
The one who became noble and serene

Whose entries aren't about any pageant queen

A fiendish scream or a charlatan's scheme

-PRK-

Within The English Village

As I walk down the streets, wide and narrow streets, l often imagine them
Braving trashings, insults, death threats, batons, teargas, water cannons, the works
And with thousands of riot police trying to break up the protests and strikes
A force to be reckoned with, me, as part of them, hope to perhaps make history again
A history where behind the cloak of fear,  the gale of creative destruction would be unleashed
To be set free to put an end to the unrealistic demands, the catastrophic social implications and the political games of those from every sides of the divide

Of course in my mind, I'm very much controlled,
I'm very much prepared to rein in the masses against the authoritarian rules and religion
Ready for the straight journalistic report of the biting satire and classical literary themes
If not ever-ready to dance along to the euphoric political rallies 
But these are just my imaginations, my wish and hope to be the vanguard of change
And often I wonder, would it have meant a triumphant journey if I know what exactly am I defending, what exactly am I fighting for

Often I don't
Often I'm torn
Often all I see is a thin line instead of a silver lining
Often we all don't
Often we are still trying to comprehend what transpired the previous day's curiosity 
And often it's the biased ideologies
Within the English village
In which we are often bullied into submission, to keep mum
By the ruling elite and the flawed system

-PRK-

The Other End

They say trust his words
I doubt him always
I couldn't bring myself to trust his words and promises

They say trust his work
"What work?" I asked
It's not his but another
One that I will never understand its mechanism

They say trust his people
"His people? Which kind?" I said
The one who speaks or the one who listens?
Or the one who leave others with their belief

Well that is that
It's still a long way to go
And a lot more convincing to do

I'm on the other end, a different person
Not a thing like you

-PRK-

She Found Peace

They told her,

"Breathe, and get your mind off it.
Sleep under the star, don’t let your mind lose it.
Accept imperfection, practice mindfulness.
Don’t sweat the small stuff, and live with no regrets."

And so she remained cool, remained calm and let them drool
Acted fooled when they claimed she’s under-ruled
Such depression made her lend a barf
Turned her head around, whispered,

"That's enough."

And so she took a bath by the candlelight
She meditated by the neon light
She let her feet take her towards the pink strobe light
Smiled when she saw those idiots slipped by the mountainside

And she thought,

"Oh, they were right. Be present in the moment, leave the past aside."

And so she found the good in all situations and laid on the grass
Embraced her freedom and held her head up with class

-PRK-

Beholden, Need Not

I don't want to own you
A jaywalker, and if you're the fence, I just want to walk pass you
See you every day for a little while as I walk down the street
Sweeping you off my feet maybe; with my cuffs, if you're the ground that is
Maybe water you in the morning on my way to work if you're the flowerbed

I don't want to hang on to you
A bird, and you're a tree, I just want to drop by and perch for a while when it's too hot
Or when it rains, you'll be my shelter
Or maybe I'll lay down on your dried leaves on the ground if I'm being me
I'll pick a book and have a read

I don't want to cling to you
But if I'm a photographer I wouldn't mind a suspicious dollar bill to take your photos
Capturing your smile, your goofy self and your gaze
Even if you feel uncomfortable, not being yourself in the morning, I'll make you pose for fun
And bribe you for breakfast!

I won't try to possess you, convince you
But I'll fight you, make you say what you want to say
Make you say what you mean and mean what you say
I'll cut you till you bleed to make you feel alive
Make you realise that I'll be there if you need me around

Because we met to meet, met to love, met to care
Not necessarily to be with each other, be in love, be in each other's care
Because love is a mystery, love is poetic, love is an interesting phenomenon
Something that wanders in our imagination
An illumination in the darkness

And I won't have you beholden to me
Unless you want to
Unless you want me to
Unless the canvas of your life needs colour
Unless you want me around forever

-PRK-

Uncouth Clemency

Stop looking for droplets they say
There's an ocean and the waves are roaring
The droplets may have disrobed you
But the ocean washes away the filth
Oh, should I believe this, I asked
That the ocean is a herculean
That it resembles the God of Greece
That it will fight for me
That it won't also ravish me off my gravitas
As I would believe that no faith pardons a murderer
A murderer of faith most of all
And if the uncouth clemency shall have it its way
Then I shall arise too, to have faith and drive hopes

-PRK-

Moi, Blasé

This is a true subkingdom
Where we speak up along with rhythm
Some protests, some will speak of wisdom
Some will claim they've united kingdoms
Now I feel for the ones so fearsome
Can't nobody rebuff their freedom
It's an outlet for inspired serum
Beating tastefully for your eardrums
Look I'm not talking about pilgrims
Nor I'm here to condemn such prism
Yes, I do believe in your system
If the system bars elitism
Nothing valid now for the children
And on replay is barbarism
Guns and bombs are here for some reasons
Intoxicating feudalism
I'm not bought by your symbolism
All I see is such scepticism
Towards me and liberalism
What's the deal with such narcissism?

-PRK-