Poem on Friendship

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end;

Yet days go by, and weeks rush on

And before I know it a year is gone

And I never see my old friends face

For Life is a swift and terrible race

He knows I like him just as well

As in the days when I rang his bell

And he rang mine . We were younger then ,

And now we are busy , tired men;

Tired with playing a foolish game

Tired of trying to make a name

“Tomorrow “ I say,” I will call on Jim ,

Just to show that I’m thinking of him “

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And the distance between us grows and grows

Around the corner – yet miles away …….

“Here’s a telegram, Sir …….”

“Jim died today “

And that’s what we get and deserve in the end ;

Around the corner a vanished friend

Charles Hanson Towne

The Need of the Hour

The Need of the Hour

“God give us men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands,

Men whom the lust of office does not kill,

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honour and will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;

Tall men, sun crowned who live above the fog

In public duty and in private thinking;

For while the rabble with their thumb worn creeds,

Their large professions and their little deeds

Mingle in selfish strife, lo ! freedom weeps,

Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps “

Josiah G Holland

What‘s Next? (In Life)

Wonder what’s in store for me

Beyond Life’s present horizon

Happiness or is it misery

I wish I had the vision

Will I get what I want

Or will my prayers fail

My efforts these queries daunt

Life is pictured in colours pale

Speedily I travel the road

Not a spot where I can stop

As I go on I increase my load

Time hasn’t come to harvest my crop

I want to slow down

And take some sleep

But if I let them down

They will surely weep

So on I must press, to

Where my dreams I’ll realise

May God give me strength

To obtain that high prize

' Vikaas Nafde ' Emoticons of a Rambling Life ' 

TIME SPEAKS

In the enveloping darkness

Comfortable without artificiality

I met a man, dressed

In a flowing garb of Eternal white

And recognised Him to be that

With no Beginning, no end

Going on and on

Waiting for no man

FATHER TIME

“You look sad my son, why? “

He asked me

And I spoke my mind

“On this sea of life

In the Ocean of Time

I am making neither

Ripples nor waves

Nor leaving a wake

For others to notice and

Come near

Drifting I am

Alone and useless as

A piece of driftwood

Or maybe more

You who have seen

Everything and known everything

Tell me

What should I do? “

He smiled his smile

Sweetened by antiquity

No – Time never ages

Anyone on whom

Time has smiled will

Know its sweetness and

The value of a smile

He said

“Only a sinking stone

Causes ripples, and waves

Push others away, so

Do not aspire for either

In this voyage of life

Many storms shall hit you

And the monsters of Society

Morality, Opinion, Criticism,

Hate, Temptation, Jealousy

Lurking below, will

Try and Pull you down

But you can weather

The storms of change and Trouble

Leaving the Monsters undisturbed

Make your Conscience your Tiller

Your Self your Guiding star

Unharmed and soon

You shall reach

The Ports of your Desire

Vikaas Nafde  ' Emoticons of a Rambling Life '

RUFUS THE DOG

Rufus greets with a bark and a jump

And lies down on his back

He is a loving playing dog

Till the door opens a crack

For when he a slim exit spots

He’s down the stairs in a bound

And out the front gate too is he

This fast and clever hound

You follow him in hot pursuit

Shouting “Come Back “or “Stop “

You may run as fast as you want

He’s ahead of you one hop

It’s hide and seek and Cops and Robbers

All games you may think of

When you go this way he goes that

Till your head almost comes off

With many a strain on heart and lung

He flits forth like a bat

Now he’s seen and then unseen

You’re lucky he isn’t a cat

Then you sit down to catch your breath

And lip curses you have never said

You give up and go upstairs

He promptly follows  jumping on to the bed !

Truth and Fiction

Along with the beams of moonlight

Come the soft dreams of a better tomorrow

Only to be dissipated by the harsh glare

Of sunlight and Reality

Triumph of Truth over Fiction ??

Truth written not only by ones acts

But also the peripheral deeds

Often uncontrollable – of others

While things go well

Trust and Goodwill pervade the scene

But when they sour

Suspicion and distrust mar the view

Creating more phantoms to battle which

Are shot down by bullets of confidence

Found in the isolation of the mind

Only to bob up again like

Dummies at the shooting gallery

Who is right and who is wrong ?

Who is deserving , who is strong?

The answer lies in the synthesis

In the aftermath of the battle in the mind

Between Truth and Fiction

Vikaas Nafde ' Emoticons of a Rambling Life '

YEARNING - A PRAYER

Like a man on a raft

Drifting on a windless sea

Stares ino the distance

For a ship to enter his vision

With that intensity of longing

Do I yearn to be with you

Like one lost in the desert

Pricks up his ears for a sound

Above the whistling through the dunes

To give him hope to be found

With that intensity of longing

Do I yearn to be with you

Every breath painfully drawn

Makes me feel the time I’ve lost

Then I convince myself that I’m

Actually a breath nearer to you

My yearning tears the firmament

With its shrieks through the ether

And rends asunder all obstacles

(Which are) keeping us apart

“How can you stop me?” it asks

Growing sharper and sharper

And the very throb it creates intensely

Clears my way to be with You

I yearn to be with You, I yearn

Steadfastly creating the route

From Here to There.

Vikaas Nafde ' Emoticons of a Rambling Life ' 

DROPS (in our life)

Dew Drop

Tear drop

Sometimes real

Sometimes prop

Drop of whisky

Drop of oil

Burns the wick

And makes you toil

Drop of fortune

Drop of Sweat

Both of which

Make you fret

Eye drop

Cough drop

Medicines

To feel on top

Drop your mien

Drop your guard

Expect the puch

To be hard

Drop of brandy

Drop of rain

Give you heat

Take out pain

Drop of water

Drop of wine

Quench this awful

Thirst of mine

Drop of petrol

Drop a brick

Either way you’ll

Move out quick

How the drops

Upon me creep

Drop me off an

Drop to sleep

Silence – Pin Drop !

NEED OF A MUSE

My creativity has become

An act of leisure

If I practice it at all

Its only for your pleasure

That you be impressed

By poems I to you send

Is the veritable cause

And not a selfish end

When you acknowledge receipt

The Poet in me thrives

It does not really matter

If you praise or criticise

Right now the aridity is setting

The fount is drying up

Send me a few drops of liquid

Just to prime the pump

The Poet sits silent

Hanging down his head

Make the fountains gush again

Bring forth what must be said

Let not ideas hibernating

Sleep this age away

Let not phrases and words

Be bubbles flown away

Help me turn those nebulous thoughts

To concrete forms of vision

Create, write and invent

New forms of expression

Forms that may delight many

Or even one or two

As I said it doesn’t matter

As long as it reaches you

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

In the garden is a sign

“Do not Pluck the Blossoms “

But the Wind it cannot read

Old Japanese saying 

Breeze or wind

Storm or hurricane or even

Twisting tornados in varying degrees

They rush through our lives

Emotions

Blind to their effects

Plucking flowers of Nature

Which is always good

Blinded by distant lightning

Deafened by roaring thunder

We fail to heed the gentle patter

Of those little drops

Incessantly tapping on

The panes of our conscious

Seeking moments of refuge

In the warmth of our reason

If taken in, they will irrigate

Our Inherent nature

To bring forth                                                 

Flowers of well being

In the aftermath

Heightened feelings recede

Leaving numbness and dread

Of the consequences

Actions dictated by emotion

Not watered down with reason

Forcing us to wander wondering

Seeking to answer the question

WHERE ARE MY BLOSSOMS ?

We have the right to ask

We have the duty to seek

The answer is not around

It is within

Heed not the elements

The breath taking son-et-lumiere

Natures distractions, but

Look within – the answer is there

Vikaas Nafde “ Emoticons of a Rambling Life “

The Stage of Life

In the amphitheatre of my Being

I stand mouthing Soliloquies

More to keep away the Dismal Darkness

Than to make dramatic sense

The pillars holding up the tiers

All built from bricks of my Deeds

While Thoughts fill the seats

A Silent and Pensive audience

It’s the dark side of the moon

Enveloping darkness with a hint of starlight

Throwing up in relief the

Crumbling walls of stacked columns

Sensing the restiveness of the stalls

I keep up the delivery of Harangue

Just to keep away the silence and shore up

The structure from collapsing inwards

Suddenly, the clever Director

Brings on the Roving Spotlight

Whose beam breaks the darkness

Into snakes slithering away rapidly

The props are now clear

There’s no place for Fear

The audience begins to cheer

Happy endings seem near

Rhyme and Rhythm are back

Of good cheer there’s no lack

The Play of Life is back on track

Three Cheers the Author’s not a Hack .

Vikaas Nafde " Emoticons of a Rambling Life " 

Grown up Lies

When we were children – and still listened –

Our Parents said
“Don’t tell lies and don’t cheat
Don’t steal or covet another’s meat
(Don’t ASK – you will be offered)
Be content to have what you can
Strive to achieve what best you can”

Our teachers taught us much the same

“The best man always wins the game
Be always fair at work and play
Contentment will surely come your way
The Truth shall set you free”

The clergy also had their say

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Sow flowers where others sow thorns
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that …and
Lead us not into temptation “
This is what they taught us to say and believe\
Till it has become second nature

When due to circumstance I catch
Myself looking at someone’s hand and board
I quickly look away in guilt of having looked
And thought the way I did

I now understand the many actions of

The many acts of those condemned by human law
Striving to retain the garb of respectability
While surreptitiously looking for charity

Its difficult to answer the child’s question

“Why don’t we have what others do?”

And the lies go on ……………………..

Vikaas Nafde ‘ Emoticons of a Rambling Life ‘

THE ACTOR

Each night and every morning

I go diligently through

My lines and actions

For the day’s performance

My face prepared

My costume donned

I step out of the wings

CENTRE STAGE!

Some days it’s smooth

The Playwrights nuances

Coming through the

Matrix of the players work

Sometimes we miff our lines

(We were too busy to prepare)

Sometimes we are confused

By others wrong entry and cues

(Our misjudgement)

Sometimes we are deafened, by

The clamour and the din

Imagined applause

The orchestra too loud

Those many oversights

Which deafen us to

The Prompter

In the wings

Vikaas Nafde ' Emoticons of a Rambling Life "