Ruse

There is that

A dream asleep

Flaming eyes

Crooked whim

Rouse the intrigue

Wrong, then real

Awake yet?

[Oct 6, 2013]

Toolbox

Gash cable. Vein-opener

Skin glider. Paperknife

Stone scissors. Glue lies

Word emulsifier. Deceit brush

Stamped faith. Sealed eyes

Wrangled wedges. Memory dust

And a branded truth tape

[July 19, 2014]

Trial

Shining hour | Routine high

A chair of lies | Holds fort

Indolent chatter | Canopies of pride

The jury confers | Curious ears

As the air fills | With snug delight

Farces huddle | In rugged bonhomie

Ringing lights | Clinking notes

The key witness | Honourable deceit

Under oath | Unwavering

Accused |

Wronged, it waits | Crushing faith

As the hapless clock | Grim, ticks

Verdict then | Drowning din

Truth is tied | In second place.

[Dec 18, 2013]

Script

Stage these words

They knock unexpected

Cobalt afternoons

To play and run away

A dream ice-cream cone

Caught in glittering eyes

On a rainy day

Out of breath, dripping wet

Stage these words

They hide in green rooms

As the cyclorama shimmers

Light and wind lashing

That golden sheen

On a brazen screen

They never truly show

Cast only a hint

Distant hazy, warm dewy

Shadows of the roles you play

Stage these words

They watch you rehearse

Behind the blinding white

Against limelight

Bared before all

Yet nobody will see

They filch your shoe

Just before curtains rise

Step along the wings

Fiddle with your mirrors

Stuffed suitcases

Rummage, fling, all over

Sword and scarf

Only to find, lay them back

Nimble, softly, one at a time

A lone checkered pocket

  

Stage these words

They spin to the tune

Out of step and frantic

Whistling as they go

In irreverent melody

Like the top swirls red

On the familiar terrace

When a door is left ajar

In the glistening streets

Edgy, drenched

Soon dusty, sunlit

Meet the bicycle bell

Stage these words

They confound actors

Prompt false lines, overwrite

Bioscope wordplay

Tell tales of fire

Still, rage, desire

Distract, deflect, inkblot shapes

Across the rustic fence

A crossroad faraway

Walk through the wild grass

When you turn back

Lock in intractable gaze

Stage these words

They block your way

Bystanders, passersby

Stun striding stilts, wanderers at will

Conjure train sets, break into song

Rough pitch, off-key

Watch a tepid sea dark

Crash more than once

Rocks and breeze

They fuse lyrics, old favourites

Waylay you, by the stairs

Dot, square, deal

Unscript what was to be

Strictly to script

Rafted

Raft ashore
Stumbles once
A dream rolled
Into a thin paper pipe
A blue bottle
Of liquid memory
In what is unsaid
Alive calls

Route-22

That windscreen 
Blinked as he left
A distant second
Dishevelled, disarrayed
Bleary-eyed, stared
Tinted rain
In roads unseen
Waited, darkly met

Stranger storm
Called to say
This unknown pace
Brought blazing winds
Hoary lightning
Can't only be
Some different way

Milestones walk
With memories
Proud, they watch
Race petrol vapour
Trailing dust
Fading smoke
It’s Route-22
Cast away
Roadblock orange
Won't the highway
Ever slow down
Breathless stop
At the caution board
And wave

This hypnotic dashboard
Sings awhile
When gears and tyres
Confused, unwarned
Roll and gather sheen
And no one tells him
That he's been shadowed
Once before
That a dream cascade
Has been there since time
Under construction

One Hundred

It was to be. A dizzying whiff of words. Mixed in the air. Like a blue vein had cut through pale skin. Remembered. That golden, audacious sight melted every wall. Diffused the ink, brewed cold ash. The acidic cacophony of colour. Left a gash. Wrapped amid rising grass. As a withering yellow rustle trailed behind. Crept, knelt, and breathed low. A touch of a song rose from somewhere. Nebulous, hovering, falling. Drowned everything. Then that haunting ripple. Entered his fearful heart. Pulse pouncing. Impish, smiling, caught in an afternoon getaway.

Like the din of an evening's laugh. Ringing breeze. Hiding in a light-less, crowded corner. In confused rain, familiar banter, and a damning conspiracy. It was to be.