LIQUID  WONDERS

Stars in your eyes  drink deep in the river of my soul

awakening strange ripples ,

inviting past images to fall before dissipating

to the bank  where I sit as a cool spectator;

the shadow of my body lost into the smiley waters

as I try to watch the miracle of  merger and catch it

on my cam that with some cool thought shivers

perhaps at the discovery of life’s big secret spelt

as to how hearts are supposed  to melt—

 by each ripplet nestling inside 

the folds of  mother ripples

awoken to  liquid wonders on river’s dimples

that promise a big sea for my union with eternity

now at this moment of my truth and integrity

when I ‘m with myself in one simple entity

in search of my real identity .

@copy right : saroj k. padhi ---01/02/15

EARLY SPRING

Why does this early Spring tantalize me

with its light ooze from mango buds

that does not sink deep down my nose

to our familiar garden for the cuckoo in me to sing ?

Why are these buds caught in a dilemma

between the fog and an aging Sun’s first flickers

when the flaming Palasas’ cores are caught

in the grips of beaks of some thirsty birds

that suck nectar from half-lit lips of petals

who are all very willing to fall with abandon

at the slightest flick from cool morning breeze ?

Why is the cat on my quietly warming roof,

who curls up to winks,  touched again and again

by  grey leaves that fall on her furs to elicit secret purrs ?

Why does the river so frequently delete

rhymes written on her body’s  rippling Timeline

by a wind amorous and insistent

but wavering  so often without taking a beeline ?

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi. 31/01/15

NAVEL

Wind, a little cool, across the trees

gently calls me ,

leaves fall to call ,

beams stroll along my street

calling me ,

from books to balcony,

to night’s scented ebony

where I meet myself

over a drink of breeze

and talk to self with ease -

about thousand questions that

sought me to reflect

which during day I could not relate.

But now I look within

with beams peeping in

to find metaphors

melting

into my navel

that overflows with honey

in each secret pore

inspiring hues of rainbows galore…

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi. 30/01/15

CLOSE  IN

                     ( Published in ‘The Phoenix’ in Summer ,1999)

Between you and me there falls

the shadow of a fractured  remembrance ;

between then and now the silhouette

of a frightened embrace.

Here in this mind there reigns

a century of chill and disgust

smokes from brackish blood

feed ghosts of dead lust .

Isn’t it a pity that fingers  so creative

try to catch ecstasy at the dead end

lips utter but indistinct words of love

at  the river’s  dark bend !

‘Betrayal ‘ is a vague word

In the corridors of heart

now  I have to move from stalemate

for a new  life to restart .

@copy right : saroj k. padhi . 31/01/15

MIRAGE !

Why do the hands of wind intervene
in affairs of my heart
like scribbling a dash of your name across 
the thin layer of dust
on glass of my car at the bust
inspiring a silent love lyric in my car’s heart
leaving it unmindful after the unwilling start
and scripting an epic of poetry in my mind ?

I look into its mirror to find your image
and the mirror blushes in humour
at such a funny imaginative encounter
between nuances of feelings merging 
into a subconscious self’s romantic other !

Looking still deeper into your eyes
I see how I’m caught in the storm of the sighs
that raise the sea of my wavy emotions to swells
at the centre of which perhaps true love dwells.

@ copy right: saroj k. padhi. 29/01/15

SANDS

Ecstasy of sands that sang under your feet

as we trudged those sunny miles on the shore,

travels right to my core

transporting noises of waves , storms in the heart

and the unspeakable agony of dead cells

spelt by wind across tall Casuarina trees

into a strange silence in my soul ;

transforming pebbles into pearls,

common waters into cascading falls,

tears of rivers into curls of smiles of red Palasa in ooze

waking up fishermen from  their old, habitual snooze

on the marine drive of our meet where we like two fishes

nestled long in the net of our redeeming wishes .

Now sands applause still louder to cheers of wind

When intimations dawn from a radiant sky

devouring  all  pestering  ‘why’

to land us in body of some secret glory

lying awake on fins of fishes  in unusual flurry

at the sea’s secret floor

opening souls’ closed door ;

flowers lovingly kiss dust in the air

for petals to fly in riots of colours new

to cheers of only a perceptive few ,

consuming  lumps of flesh and bunches of bones

in fires that end in a still white flame

at the centre of the sanctorum that begins our new game !

@copy right : saroj k. padhi. 30/01/15

IN THE EYES OF THE RIVER

Shadows of trees ask the river of the morning

about stains of  tears  in her  half closed  eye

to which calmly and sweetly  does she reply,

‘Look here a little deeper into my dark floor

wherein sits the image of my lover in prayer

with determination to reach the sea quite far

from here, when I have stumbled into a trickle

with my hesitant flow’s  continuous tumble !

How can I fulfill his dark image with such love

that the sea can give to a seeker of salvation

when I myself am caught in deprivation ?

But as you know he won’t go leaving my flow

Into which he has dropped his silent tears,

feelings of rejection and unwarranted fears

his hopes , dreams , pains and cool pleasures. ‘ 

‘Tell me dear shadows how can I fulfill this guy

when I myself am wandering like a shadow shy

unable to fulfill myself in absence of lover rain ,

burning inside this transparent plasma of pain,

how can I stop his obstinate tears’ flow into marrows

of my bones with their effects in my eyes’ dark hollows ?’

@ COPY RIGHT : SAROJ K. PADHI. 29/01/15

HOLLOW MEETS

No wonder meetings with you are very rare these days ,

and even if we meet in the back of our familiar garden

with our souls caught in a wild maze unable to awaken;

we meet with our minds lost in some twilight thoughts ,

we talk but in empty , endless chatters inside unlit slots

with tongues hurling pearls of construed  stray metaphors

at the broken doors ;

when meanings fall  to crawl on some slippery floors

even without the shadow of mythical fire being there

to assuage hearts infected with time inflicted sores !

Where is meaning gone from the word

 caught by misery at the core ?

Where is love lost in the labyrinth of arguments

that our wits simply bore ?

What are we now in this concrete jungle ?

Are we specs of meaningless dust on window panes

to be swept by random gusts to end  hollow pains ?

Are we just  tattoos pasted to hands of wind ?

Where else should I search

for each other to find ? For each other to find ??

@copy right : saroj k. padhi. 29/01/15

SLEEPING ROSE

My Rose sleeps there near a fresh rose from the garden

with no thorns of secret pride in her white twigs to unburden.

Petals of her cheeks dazzle  in the mirror of the  full moon

peeping with intense midnight beams , her face to brighten ;

nuances of smiles lurk on her lips, suffused with  pink dreams

when she moves leaves of her hands slowly towards heaven .

You don’t  know how much the rose in repose on the  pillow

envies you  but to slowly fade into its own hate-burns below ;

and  as the lilies of your smiles unfold  into full –night- bloom

to shredded petals of vague fears, the other withers in gloom .

Crushed  under foot of an unseen time it dies in just a little while

and  lies crumpled under weight of shadows of your radiant smile ;

when your dreams stretch out to infinity to catch bliss from eternity

after moon has cleared its way out of ephemeral clouds of anxiety .

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 28/01/15

LOVE IN JANUARY

Seasons change here rapidly

with changing weather of your eyes

one complete day ,

four seasons invites :

The sleepy cold Winter under the lids

of your dreamy night brow hides ,

before night grows still deeper

to hug lovers surfing in warm tides.

Spring is mad in the morning to kiss

the sun of desires awake

in their cloudy moist corners ,

unfolding rainbows of soft fires

and streaming love’s wings .

Summer sets in the day

as waters evaporate

from rivers of sadness

to cool down

under the boughs of your eyes

where hearts of  birds  build nests

with  dry leaves tucked to their breasts.

Autumn takes its colours

from the afternoon sky of your eyes

under whose serene brood

paints of different nature

take their own signifying dyes.

@copy right : saroj .k padhi

27/01/15

SPRING SETTING IN !

Leaves of all hues trapped in an unknown ecstasy

Kiss a passionate wind with love that softly arouses

buds from  Winter’s deep sleep to a new hue and cry

that informs cuckoos to descend from far distant sky

to come to sing , and mango-buds to boughs, to  bring

with echoes of Nature’s new pageantry in ears to ring ;                                                                     

when news of a possible terror attack at joints near

startle breaths of morning flowers with a strange fear

tucked into their petals that fumble before they open

when others allay in their efforts such fears to soften

and slowly morning with lovely images does brighten;

 with peace drizzling from flags saffron, white and green

and on faces of all, freedom shines in bright new sheen:

breezes wear anklets to dance many classical beats

fountains move still higher to fall from great heights ;

birds paint their plumes with many sweet soothing dyes

clouds  stare at all this glory with wonder in their eyes,

crows laugh louder at jokes from sparrows’ little beaks

in much an enchanted spirit this lovely morning speaks .

@copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 26. 01.15

REUNION

Moments from past erupt from under my ruffled skin

to kiss the sleeping present and lie brooding therein ,

when like dry leaves of Autumn from trees around

your shadows all  real, my thoughts softly surround ,

I can listen to words craving to sit on soul’s lips

before they whisper a secret to my finger tips ;

words spreading to the full, those half-smiles,

unspoken  dreams, screams, fears and wishes

making this life more real perhaps with kisses

from hearts glowing in realization of that truth

that never ever in history of life true love loses .

Now I know you are proud of so many fetishes

when this wind weaves love for us in new verses;

there leaves scribble elegies on Earth’s wet skin

flowers write lyrics on branches’ cheeks and chin,

all rivers of passion flow into navels of realization

honeycombs crack into depths of imagined union

sky rebuilds billion images of our sweet reunion,

 and into ears of flowers  grass sings of salvation.

@copy right : saroj k. padhi/25/01/15

ROAMING RIPPLES

Alone as I listen to her heaving bosoms,

the ripples of the morning river begin

to knuckle under wind’s passionate blow ;

but there is a short ebb in my blood stream

before its tides take a turn in their flow

to give meaning to all of Nature’s blooms

resplendent in their first morning glow .

Birds from afar fly in for long hours’ stay ,

to dip, drink, drench, dance, sing and play ,

their nests dancing in tune with waters ,

with the sun awoken to plumes’ flutters ;

and the river endlessly whispering secrets

of love, lust, passion, compassion  to ears

that care to listen to her with true cheers  .

Now my boat comes in to be caressed

by the ripples clad in a light blue ecstasy

with reflections in swims  of wild fantasy ;

flows  everywhere melting moss of grief--

in blood , inside boat and in waters as well,

transport time to heights of love’s new spell .

@copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 25.01/15

IN LOVE AGAIN !

OUT of the Night’s  dumb, dark womb

to a fine, new dawn was I slowly born,

fed with milk of dew on sunny grass

I lay on Love’s new, green wet  lawn--

in new dawn after first love had gone;

when my charmed body was touched

by magic of rays from a beaming Sun--

with thousand colors of rainbow basking

my mimosa body in drops of cosmic fun !

Wind started scribbling new verses

on shiny pages of my  healing mind to soothe--

an agonized soul, crushed to ooze and roll

like a jasmine under the Night’s heavy sole.

Soon there came some stars rushing in

to relish love drizzling from the sky’s brim

tucked to a  wounded heart in wake of a turn

with only a single desire for the soul to burn ;

where rustles of leaves sang songs of joy

sands  kissed my face with a lover’s ploy ;

dust smeared my soul with musk of wood sandal

quenching parched throat with dew’s wherewithal

and I rose back to live again a life of my new love

with showers of mystical delight from the above;

telling me to go back to threshold of that old door

with my windows open to light from heaven’s floor

for, after all I live on the bank of blood’s stream

with ever renewing cells of flesh in warm dream.

@copy right :  saroj k. padhi ,24/01/15

FALLING OUT OF LOVE

Don’t know why I fell out of love,

but I remember how painful it was

to listen to thunder of her big ‘No’

after which  the blow lost its edge

soon to merge into life’s daily flow…

Reasons advanced like seasons were different :

Night said I was not potent and had not learnt

how to meet moments of climax at the horizon

being caught in vague philosophical confusion ;

Day said my dreams did not match so very well

with desires of  Sun that turned complete pale ,

in wake of a  Spring that to bouts of failure fell .

Moon said I hadn’t courage to fill her with beams;

Stars said I stretched talks of love to extremes ;

Trees said I hadn’t taken her to their warm shades

to show how in absence of gloss love simply fades .

Rain said I was not with her when it showered

Buds said I did not notice when they flowered…

Like this one day love had slipped out of my fingers

Leaving them all crossed to face Love-God’s angers .

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi –24/01/15

THREE SIMPLE WORDS

You may be wondering why all these metaphors?

Why so many pauses, excuses, pains and tremors?

Why commas, colons , bufferings and exclamations

rehearsals, monologues, solitude and  reflections

before making a simple, sincere declaration of love

that resounds in the entire being with vibrations ?

Why does one churn a sea of thoughts,  fantasies and fears ;

burn all energy enervating time with strange anticipations !

Why does it cut with convention’s shears, distancing the dears !

Why this trauma of youth and drama of dreams in interiors !

Is it an eternal symptom of youth or a syndrome of the age ?

Whatever be the ways,means, causes or  the consequences ,

unaware it strikes each us in life at some mysterious stage !

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 23.01.15

IN LOVE

I know you’re smiling at me in a new mirror
in that very cute smile of those sunflowers
from whose shiny petals the Sun gets born
in a flash out of their wide dreaming eyes
every morn, as their thoughts to you turn ;

miracles melt into simple everyday belief
bringing an end to all ordinary, worldly grief
as clouds of ‘kajal’ shortly darken the sky
of the world under the lids of your deep eye
offering a sunny drizzle of love from above ;
with what an end to my soft, silent sigh
for always in your sweet thoughts to lie !

It seems there is no end to your rising dreams
as the wind weaves sands of mosaic desires
into arts of vibrant love, on the growing shores
of our love’s singing seas, opening secret doors-

deep into the fathomless bottom of a strange quiet
where moments of eternity are in a primordial wait .

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 23.01.15

WISH

Let me drown into depths of soulful music

of the enchanted night wind blowing here

perfumed  by your presence somewhere ,

let me lose myself into neon lights in flood

fusing thousand darker images in the air

for I know you are there, but elusive as air;

for  I no more want to stay as the sad sea

with new hurts sinking into the coral hills ,

its dark surfing surface terrifying the stars

to  jump off their old cosmic spaces of love

and hide in  jungle  behind tall tree- bars .

Stretch out your warm arms, dear night

eat me, engulf me but end all my fright

fill me with dreams in every  little pore

letting me fully lose myself before I soar.

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 22.01.15

BONFIRE

Leaves and twigs dry like our selfsame bodies

burn in the morning  bonfire of hearts in hills

awakening  dormant glimmer of our lost game ,

of our fight for right to the jungle’s old name ;

defeated, now we are in the outskirts of woods

burning in bouts of jungle fire  here and there,

with miles of uncontrolled flame and its rough ire,

across mountains, that tried to ignite greater  fire …

as we sit in front of our huts open to bites from cold

poverty staring at us thro’ our tattered blanket holes

perhaps waiting for another Mahatma to be soon born

to redeem our minds tired after  heat of battles torn

to give relief to outlandish, rusted Mao- guns outworn

as morning Sun mixes fog with  smokes from bonfire,

to point to trails of a new  hope in the distant horizon .

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi/ 22. 01.15

LIPS

Lips of leaves awakened
to speak
in words of a lover- sun,
towards light take a turn ;
with smiles on cheeks
traversing miles
in all possible direction;
with a secret wish
see how eagerly, silently
do they burn !

With kisses of a slow breeze
arousing memories to churn
moments of delight all sweet
in not too distant a past,
when young leaves nestled
around your cheeks ;
wet with desire to speak
about feelings in my heart
bursting into waves of ecstasy ;
when speechless I listened
dumb like the petals
of a nearby pansy
as if stricken with a lunacy .

Leaves today announce your presence
to this mad wind with their tips
tickling my mind ,
and in these leaves
my love in hue of green do I find .

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi. 21/01/15

SAINT ARAKSHITA DAS

Today the Om shaped old Olasuni hill 
vibrates with chant of your holy name 
and river Gobari is in her annual thrill
despite January’s usual morning chill ;

this memorial day of your salvation
does this holy shrine with joy illumine
with devotees galore enjoying rice cakes 
and dry fishes for which they dearly pine ;

a few remember your love of truth divine
that turned you from a prince 
to a mendicant in the shades of wild vine
in search of perpetual bliss

that led you from royal comforts to crises,
a disguised life of meditation in caves
where the human soul only for God’s love craves .

We are but now a generation of religious tourists
with little understanding 
of lines from your ‘Mahimandal Geeta’
we’re rather lovers of a new living
as prescribed by a consumerism ‘Geeta’.

@ copy right : saroj k. padhi 20/01/15

WHY TAKE TENSION ?

Why do I take tension so often ?
When yellow leaves quietly slip off
the golden boughs of a lazy afternoon
to find themselves cuddled 
by an eager loving brown earth 
ready to gulp them down all so soon ;
I awake and wonder
gripped by tremors of an unknown fear
to find the leaves of my body
falling off into shadow spaces 
beneath fallen leaves all so very dear !

Why do I take tension
when multi-coloured petals silently fade
wounded subtly by a scorching sun ,
as flowers change hues
in tune with rhythms of a breeze
whizzing past my fingers crossed
as I wait for Spring behind the shrunken trees ?

Why do I take tension?
Tell me why 
when fields look less green
and crops ripen to assume colours of bright gold ,
and drops transpire into a plenitude 
of a too distant rain beyond time’s near hold !

Is tension my second nature ?
Or the culture of my mind ?
Is Nature my sole love 
which everywhere I do find !

@copy right: saroj k. padhi/ 19/01/15