Am I?

Eyes, mere sense organs, no depth, no charm
eyes, that call me a failure at large
All reflections that you see, meaningless to the core
Am I a mere manifestation of what's written on the walls of your room?

Come, talk to me as I lose my voice to this hue and cry
Come, stand up for me, as I throw away my crutches and fly 
You say I am the naivest of all you've ever met
Am I what you say is the attribute, most worthless of all?

My days in exile pass by, amidst the words that cut like swords
Come see the wounds that never heal, come witness what you've gifted me with, at large!
As my sense of guilt surpasses the physicality of your senses,
Am I all that you can perceive, am I all that it takes to walk across a narrow lane?
Your eyes, truthful, they say they are, that call me a failure at large!
Am I what it takes to see the other side of the coin?

Diwali-2

The city feels like a bride today
Lost in apprehensions and unknown fears
Today was a long day
Tonight is going to be a long night
Everyone saw her walking in the streets, 
dim hapless eyes piercing the layers of light 
Light from the bakery in the market,
light from the candles with flickering flames
light tracing its roots back to the ground
light soaring high in the sky
Lights all beautiful, lights all in vain
Obscurity rising thanks to the smoke around
Her silence silencing the outspoken crackers
Heights all charming, heights all in vain
She has got no wings
Her dim eyes laughing at the insane brightness 
She knows what it takes for the smoke to please
the innocent eyes she has seen getting blurred day by day
Dim eyes can't pierce the bright lights,
The hapless can't laugh at the privileged
The silent can't silence the outspoken
No-one saw her walking barefoot, 
no-one spared a moment for her
With no wings, no vision, no dreams
and a candle stolen from the factory owners's table
She feels like an orphan today
Lost in the darkness that contains it all,
Today was a long day
Tonight is going to be a long night.

Diwali-1

Cleaning the house a week before Diwali,
Grandma found in a dark corner of her daughter’s room
flakes of sunlight entangled in a dense cobweb
with tear drops vaporized for long, the fog filled the empty corner 
She broke the mesh apart and all of them were set free
The old lantern hung on the patched wall like it always did
The smell of kerosene never left the room though 
The evening sun lit up the hue of Henna, 
palm prints came alive bit by bit,
A smile talked to another in the silent milieu.