Whispers of Jasmine

Tiny stars in shades of white,

Blooming softly with the night.

Fragrant whispers fill the air,

A gentle beauty, pure and rare.

Woven into braids and dreams,

Glowing under moonlit beams.

Though delicate, they quietly stay,

Spreading sweetness on their way.

Like jasmine flowers, may we learn

To softly glow, not fiercely burn.

To share our grace, our love, our light,

And make the world a little bright.

'Twas a Summer Love

 ‘Twas a summer love,
Soft as the dusk on skin,
A season stitched with golden light
And laughter carried by the wind.

We spoke in stolen afternoons,

In sunsets melting slow,

With barefoot dreams upon the shore

And nowhere else to go.

Your eyes held July thunderstorms,

Wild, restless, warm, and bright,

And every touch became a spark

That lingered through the night.

The fireflies knew all our secrets,

The moon became our guide,

While hearts too young to fear the fall

Still loved with reckless pride.

But summers fade like painted skies,

And tides forget the sand,

Yet somewhere in the quiet dark

I still reach for your hand.

For though the years have carried on

And changed what once was true,

Each summer breeze still whispers low—

I once belonged to you.

Leaving, Like the Land Does

She loved him

the way the earth loves rain—

open, patient,

never counting how much it gave.

But some clouds pass

without breaking.

Some skies hold everything back.

So she learned

how fields do it—

how they rest

when nothing comes,

how they do not beg the season

to change.

She did not leave in a storm.

She left like dusk—

slow, certain,

with the light still warm

on her back.

What she carried with her

was not loss,

but knowing:

even the soil

must sometimes lie fallow

to remain alive.

And one day,

something would grow

without being asked.

---

Where Shadows Hold the Heart

 

You tell me you love me,

yet your eyes look past my face,

searching for someone

who lives only in the silence of memory.

Your arms are warm,

but your heart is an echo chamber,

still ringing with the laughter

of a love long gone.

I stand here, alive,

offering touch, offering today,

but you kneel at the altar of yesterday,

faithful to shadows I cannot chase away.

Is it love,

if your vows belong to a ghost?

Or am I only a visitor

at the graveside of your longing?

You say the words,

but I hear the distance,

a man chained to remembrance,

too loyal to the past to walk into the present.

And I,

left holding the ache of almost,

learn that sometimes love

is not enough

to resurrect the living from the dead.

Love Beneath the August Sky

August came with golden skies,
And love was glowing in your eyes.
The world slowed down, the sun sank low,
And all I needed was your soul's soft glow.

We met beneath the twilight air,
With tangled hands and hearts laid bare.
Each whisper danced on lips so near,
Your voice, my favorite thing to hear.

You held me close - no words, just us,
The warmth of trust, the quiet hush.
With every breeze, your touch grew deep,
Like secrets lovers vow to keep.

Your hugs were home - safe, pure, complete,
Like summer rain on thirsty feet.
And kisses? Oh, they wrote a song
That lingered on my skin so long.

August nights, with stars above,
Became the language of our love.
No promises, no planned tomorrows—
Just here and now, with joy and sorrows.

So hold me still, in memory’s light,
When summer fades into the night.
In every hug and every kiss,
August will stay - forever bliss!

I Am My Own

You are not made of mirrors,

Nor echoes that fade with the crowd.

Your worth is not a whisper,

It does not shrink or shout aloud.

Not in the praise that lifts you,

Nor in the silence that forgets,

Your value isn't borrowed,

It isn’t weighed by one regret.

You are the breath behind the name,

The stillness when the world moves fast,

The ember glowing in the flame,

The roots that hold when storms have passed.

You don’t have to earn your place.

You are enough in still and strife,

A quiet force, a steady grace,

A soul that sings its own true life.

So, stand without apology,

Don’t bend to fit what others see.

Self-worth grows when we believe:

I am my own, and I am free.

Here I Love You

By Pablo Neruda 

In the dark pines the wind disentangles itself. 
The moon glows like phosphorous on the vagrant waters.
Days, all one kind, go chasing each other.

The snow unfurls in dancing figures. 
A silver gull slips down from the west.
Sometimes a sail. High, high stars.
Oh the black cross of a ship.
Alone.

Sometimes I get up early and even my soul is wet.

Far away the sea sounds and resounds.
This is a port.

Here I love you.
Here I love you and the horizon hides you in vain.
I love you still among these cold things.
Sometimes my kisses go on those heavy vessels
that cross the sea towards no arrival.
I see myself forgotten like those old anchors.

The piers sadden when the afternoon moors there.
My life grows tired, hungry to no purpose.
I love what I do not have. You are so far.
My loathing wrestles with the slow twilights.
But night comes and starts to sing to me.

The moon turns its clockwork dream.
The biggest stars look at me with your eyes.
And as I love you, the pines in the wind
want to sing your name with their leaves of wire.

Hum jaisa pyaar

Koi hum se hum jaisa pyaar kare

Na koi gila, na koi shikwa kare,

Ae dost, koi hum se hum jaisa pyaar kare!

Truant Thy Love

 She looked for it everywhere.

A mirage appeared wherever she went.

Each lane, each corner had love stamped on it.

“Where art thou, love”, she wondered.

But love played truant.

Love’s many forms, she was unable to see.

There was only one for her: 

her lost love.

Love played games with her,

Cupid was no less.

Both truant!

Tired, she stopped walking,

Sitting under a tree, she spots a mirror. 

An image she did not recognize:

worn-out clothes, disheveled hair, dark circles under her eyes,

cracked toenails, chipped fingernails.

Unrecognizable, she was distraught.

Who am I? Where did I come from?

Questions haunted her like a tyrant spirit.

She got up, walked on.

A tiny path to a house, a cobblestone road,

A small brook, birds chirping in the woods,

Familiar smells of a time gone by,

Memories enveloped her in a warm embrace.

An old photograph, a diary, few clothes, cluttered stationery,

Bits of paper, yellowing books, old letters, doodles and scribbles,

Remnants of her past in a box.

Crouched on her haunches, 

Aroma from an opened box filled her senses.

She turned the pages of her diary,

Each word spoke to her,

Told tales of the yore.

Grainy photographs had tons to tell,

Familiar old faces, moments captured random, 

Tingling sensations of butterflies in her tummy,

Memories of an old crush, first love lingered.

With a teardrop glistening in her eyes, she smiled!

Musings of a Lover

Time stands still for some,
Frames freeze over,
Moments flood for some,

Hearts warm up, 

The thudding goes faster.
Old memories bounce in full force,
Soul gets drenched in the memory storm.

Emotions overwhelm the soul.
Tears flow down unabated, 

The heart is in standby mode.

Thumping heartbeats remind of the past, 
A face flashes past the eyes.

The first time we met, 
The first time we touched,
The first time we kissed,
The first time we walked hand in hand.
Sweet nothings we whispered,
Secret smiles shared!

Ah! Those memories drench me in sweat.

Sweaty palms seeing the one you love,
Separated by timelines, borders,
Secretly wishing those times back.

Times move on, moments and us too.

Never say never, told my friend!

Let love knock on your door once more!

Kuchh ankahe raaz

 

Dil ke alfaaz

 

Ishq ki Dor

रिश्ते यूं ही बन जाते हैं पल में,

हर पल में हैं लम्हे बांटते।

लम्हों के ताने बाने में है उलझे,

इश्क के वो धागे.

तानो बानो में उलझे वो,

रिश्तों के वो नाज़ुक धागे.

इश्क ने बांधी ऐसी डोरी,

जो कभी ना टूटी, कभी ना बिखरी!

Chand

चांदनी का असर हुआ,

भीगी लबों पे एक किस्सा आया।

एक मीठी सी याद में दिल खोया,

एक खोया प्यार लौट आया.

वो रात याद आयी.

दिल की गहराईयों में डूबे हुए एक चाँद की फिर से याद आयी!

Chai aur Yaadein

Aaj phir tum mujhe yaad aaye,
Tumhari hasi,
Wo haathon mein haath lena,
Wo kandhon pe haath rakhna,
Wo sab yaad aaya aaj!

Tumhara wo daantna,

Naraaz hona, 

Hanskar fir se gale lagana,

Wo sab yaad aaya aaj!

Baadalon ka garajna,

Baarish ho rahi hai, aao chai piye, kehkar bulana,
Tapri par geele hokar garam chai peena,

Aaj phir tum mujhe yaad aaye!

Mausam badle, rituen badli,

Tum nahi badle,

Wahi muskurahat wahi chai,
wahi tapri aur Tum!!

Dil ki baatein...kuchh alfaaz (Couplets)

Tha wo anjaan nahi, 

Tha wo dost bhi nahi,
Fir bhi ek kashish thi jo kheench leti uski taraf!

Khushboo zehan se na gayi,
Reh gayi uski muskurahat,
Khilkhilata hua chehra,
Jo dil mein reh gaya!

Duaon mein hamne tumhe yaad kiya,
Khush raho, yahi dua denge tumhe, 
Raaste hamare na takraaye bas yahi dua karna
Nahi toh 206 haddiyan hai, 
Kahi wo bhi gum na ho jaayein!

Pooch hi lete wo sawaal,
Aisa bhi kya sharmaana,
Ya toh haami hoti ya toh inkaar!

Shukriya karte karte, wo nikal gayi,
Bas reh gaye wo lafz, jo dil ko chhu gaye
Khayaal unka aya, yaadein bhi hui taaza,
Bas zubaan pe unka naam na aaya!

Kuch apna gham, kuch zamaane ne diye gham,
Bas kalam se lafz nikle, 
Aur kuchh dil ki awaaz nikli!

Aaj mehfil jami hai doston ki,
Arsa hua ki dil ki baatein hui,
Kuchh keh kahe aur kuchh kisse nirale,
Kuch thahakon mein mehfil jam gayi!

Aao dil ki baatein karein,
Haal-e-dil bayaan karein,
Aise hi mehfil jami rahein!

Khoobsurat ye lafz aapke,
Fida ho jaaye koi aap pe
Nazron ki kya zarurat,
Aapke lafz hi dil chura le!

Gulaab par pair toh rakho,
Kannte khud ba khud bikhar jayengi
Bas pair rakhne ki der hai!

Izzat dena koi aapse seekhe,
Maano itr gire ho labon se
aur gulaabon ki barsaat hui ho!

Dil ki ye tamanna hai 
Aaj koi dil ka izhar kare
Ek haath mein ho gulaab,
Aur sanitizer dusre haath mein!

Aaj kisi ko propose karne ka man ho raha hai...
Par Corona ne bola: aaj Karo na🤪

Afsaana

Afsaana thi ya koi bala,

Ishq ho gaya hamein usse,

Chahat ban gayi thi woh.

Khoobsoorat the nain-naksh,

Dil par chhap gayi thi woh

Bas ek khata hui dil-e-nadaan se,

Aur ishq na kar saki woh

Deewana

Gar koi hasaaye tumhe,

Gar koi rulaaye tumhe,

Sambhal jao, dil thaam lo,

Yahi wo deewana hai jiski talaash thi tumhe...

Dil ki kashmakash 
ko mita kar,

Haath thaam lo deewane ka!

It's home finally!

Crosscurrents

So many thoughts engulf me,

Scare me, put my wits on edge.

Fears of the unknown plague a wounded soul,

Hungry, wild thoughts gnaw, threaten to break the mind's equilibrium.

Breathing raggedly, the heart thumps wildly at the doors,

Wet palms, trembling fingers shake a glass of water,

Setting in motion the vibrations at the surface.

Bubbling from within, crosscurrents of feelings

Raising goosebumps,

Frayed nerves reach a boiling point,

Convection currents cause the uppermost calm to sink,

Innermost turmoil bubbles over, spills, scalds the thin skin of emotions

Scarring mind, body and soul!

Years pass by, 

Scars darkened by the volcanic lava of emotional outbursts, turn numb

Dead skin gives way to new skin cells

Ugly, old scars buried.

Happiness resonates in a love-starved soul.

Wind chimes ringing in the chambers of the heart

Soulful music ensconces, encompasses, engulfs the body,

Sweet melody whispers in the ear, 

Passing by like a flutter in the wind, 

A breeze laced with the fragrance of nectar, 

drugs me into a soulless sleep.