from blazing heat
to ice cold
all in a few minutes
and you wonder
what is happening
and doff
your sweater
unbelievable things
are going on
that you’ve
never seen
heard or felt
and people
are the strangest
of them all
one moment
they appear happy
and the next sad
now you expect
anything
and look up
at the sky
and it is stacked
with faces
you can’t read
and everybody
realises we have
no choice
that all this
will take us to
where ever it
may lead.
and so I can’t think
and I find that this
is exactly what
I need today
my brain gets
overused
and becomes
exhausted
and requires
this rest
the firmament
absorbs all
my thoughts
and then
releases me
and now I
return back
to Earth
refreshed
and happy.
first the thick mist
and heavy winds
and now the sun
has won my heart
it’s election time
and jeeps are
going about
announcing
their candidates
what they will do
if you vote for them
and there are
big posters
everywhere
it’s exciting
but some say
it makes
no difference
who wins or loses
no one
really works
I think there
are good people
in the fray
living in a small town
felt special today
a rickshaw driver
recognised me
and smiling
brought me home
this happens
from time to time
and it is nice
I am happy.
without daydreaming
we all fantasise
about ourselves
doing this and that
being this and that
achieving this and that
this is our built in
defence mechanism
without which
we will go mad and die
so let these visions be
I’m covinced now
for a happy life
this is key.
in our lives
and so we
feel differently
it is difficult
to stay happy
life simply
won’t let you
you own body
won’t let you
your own mind
won’t let you
that is how
they work
and we keep
chasing
happiness
some of us
so tired now
we fall by
the wayside
and die.
rolling down my street
I’m so tired
my eyes are falling out
of their sockets
my body
is a heavy bag
I want to throw away
but life is
pushing me with
all its anger its hate
and I scream
stop it bastard
my weak arms flailing
I try to hold on
to the road
but I keep slipping
being kicked in the back
by existence
and now day and night
darkness and light
become one
until I’m thrust into
the roaring jaws
of death
and for the first time
I feel happy.
into my eyes
and I feel my face
and neck
and feel good
and there is
drumming
somewhere
in the
neighbourhood
and I am
transported back
hundreds of years
and become
a banyan tree
a stone lion
golden eagles
flying free
and there is
this sensation
in my body
making me
feel like water
like a baby
being born
torn from
the womb
of mother Earth
and at her breasts
I soon suckle
the nectar of life
so sweet
while she rocks me
in her arms
and when our
eyes meet
I see the universe
blow me a kiss
and I laugh
for the first time
happy and in rhyme.
thinking of things
life is good
slow mountain
existence
memories like cattle
grazing on the pasture
like the trees in the forest
and my mind clear
like raindrops
dripping one by one
how beautiful they are
as they fall
how endless
this delight
this sky full of light
where the sun arrrives
presently and seeing
the world happy
suddenly bursts into
loud laughter
and we wish it
is always like this
hereafter.
and I soon realised
I could be
nobody cares
if you live or die
I found
but I grew miserable
and diseased
and the world
around me
didn’t give a damn
then I was slowly
able to revive
I grew and grew
happy
my nights dazzling
in silver revelry
my days blazing
under the golden sun
I was one
with the universe
in her arms I slept
after drinking
her milk
and now the Earth
is my home
anywhere I roam.
fluttering in your heart
it is serenity in your eyes
and the sky
it is the green pasture
that enters your mind
just before the mountains
and trees
and people are happy
the children playing cricket
running in delight
last evening they
opened my gate
in wild excitement
sprinting in glee
and I was taken back
40-45 years under
the night sky glowing
with the moon and stars
I run home with my friends
I remember the buildings
but I know they don’t
remember us
these kids will also
grow up one day
and realise these places
have forgotten them
to myself I say
and everything becomes
fonder to me then
the Earth rises into my arms
and pats me like a mother.
Dominic Alapat 