Boxed in

I tell you

how I feel as if

I am trapped

inside a box,

and you say

that for you

it is a box

that neither

has a base

nor a lid;

you may be falling,

but at least

you are free.

©Aaysid

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

The Blues

A friend asks me to see her, saying she was feeling blue. We talk for a while, and I can tell she is tired. She is one of the most hardworking people I know. I look up to her.

As we say our goodbyes, she tells me never to let sadness find a home in me. She says that with such dolefulness in her eyes. I tell her that it’s alright. There is nothing wrong with being sad sometimes. It keeps you grounded.

She says that it does not work that way. Sadness arrives as a guest, but makes itself comfortable in no time. It stays.

I tell her that is what makes it beautiful. The sadness stays. Not many things do.

She laughs. We both laugh.

I leave her place thinking about a sad song I had been listening to the other day. I hope that she feels better soon.

Disoriented

Today has been a weird day. My to do list was insane, and I could not take out time to write something good to celebrate the World Poetry Day (wrote this little poem on the spot, shall polish it later).

I worked for a few hours,

and then did nothing for a while.

It has been a quiet day,

and I have been sleep deprived.

I wrote to those I know,

and I talked to those I like.

I am reading myself to sleep,

and I hope it rains tonight.

Anyway, I am grateful to have found such a comfortable writing space in this community, and to have met such great writers and poets through written word. This place is pretty much the best part of my day. May your words always find homes in the hearts of your readers, and may your pens never go dry. You guys are inspirational! Happy World Poetry Day!

©Aaysid

Stairs to Nowhere

I often find myself

On the middle of the staircase

For when I run upstairs,

I remember mid-way

What I have left downstairs,

And then it’s neither

Upstairs nor downstairs for me-

Just a gaping hole

Where my past used to be,

And a void that looks

Quite like the future;

I am moving

To a single-storey house!

©Aaysid

“It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”
Edgar Allan Poe

Photo by Jimmy Chan from Pexels

Flashbacks

A subtle tap on the shoulder,

And her world fragments,

And flips over,

Turning into a medley

Of defunct stories…

A bewitched, warm smile

Does not divulge the woes

Deftly kept inside.

©Aaysid

A Time Loop

The Facebook “Memories” feature is both awesome and awful. Not only it makes you nostalgic, but it also keeps reminding you (frequently) how witless you used to be in your less-wise years. Anyway, I found out just now that two years ago, on this day, I had been sick in bed, binge-watching Russian Doll and felt as detached from reality as my throbbing, clogged sinuses had allowed. I had found myself relating immensely to the protagonist’s plight even though I had not much in common with her. Things are different now.

It is that time of the year again, and the sinusitis did not forget to visit me this year and has now become that uninvited guest that overstays its unwelcome. Not only that, last year, at about this time, we had gone under lockdown and had switched to online teaching and learning, and now we are going back into lockdown for two weeks, and shall be taking classes online. Like many others around me, I have these huge lapses in the memory, where I keep forgetting about the events from the last year, even though every day feels the same. So, maybe I am stuck in a time loop, and I do have something in common with Russian Doll’s protagonist after all.

Sadly to this day, my obsession with Russian Doll remains unshared by any of my friends. If not the show itself, they are missing out on its brilliant soundtrack. 🙂

“If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets.”
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

The Real Ones

What do you say to those

Who do everything right,

But get hated anyway?

Who take a broken thing,

Not fix it, but love it anyway,

Who restore a damaged photo

All night long, but lose it anyway,

Who go looking for madness

In the quiet, but find it anyway?

I guess you don’t say anything.

©Aaysid

“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Photo by Philippe Donn from Pexels

Galaxies Apart

She borrowed

stray rays

of moonlight,

and used those

as a hair tie;

her head

and her heart

are galaxies apart.

©Aaysid

Photo by Vedad Colic from Pexels

Lovely/Unlovely

A sideways braid

Remains unfrazzled

Throughout the day,

A friendship bracelet

Does not break,

And contact lenses

Stay put through

All of it;

The literal pleasant

In the unpleasantness

Of everything else!

©Aaysid

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
Leo Tolstoy