The Train

As the night train whistled, my heart paused again
Next to my seat, a face emerged from the old lane
Although these eyes were fixed on that glass pane
They were searching for the reflection of your face

It doesn’t appear the same as hidden in this heart
Eons passed but you still exude the same charm
Would you ignore my presence or give me a smile
How would I react when my eyes meet your eyes

This face masquerades well but my heart is naive
It would dash to smithereens if you cast your spell
I deliberately hid the tears welling up in these eyes
Reminiscing how I madly loved the way you smile

The train jerked, and you promptly held my hands
This heart sank a thousand times with your glance
Shuddering out of the guilt, I soon turned my face
As the running train, I wished to be blown far away

To the lavender dales, beneath the vast vanilla sky
Where dreams don’t age the heart remains juvenile
There’s your image with which my heart is entwined
That is where the tears and smiles of my life reside

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Those Happiness

Seen enough of this world and its camouflage
Nothing propels the heart to seek any mirage
I know the destiny of these burgeoning desires
My soul has seen their umpteen burning pyres.

A pattern to introspect and search faults within
And to give my soul’s tormentors, a clean chit
Those happiness that these eyes got from you
Instilled in me, confidence to change my view.

As the realm of mine is confined to tiny aurora
I couldn’t confront them, I punish my own aura.
And when you arrived as my harbinger of hope
I dared to see the vast horizon and its beyond.

My mind oft wonders, “From where you came?”
As ages passed, no one like you I’ve ever met.
One who helped me to collect my smithereens
Try to rise again from the ashes as a phoenix.

Yes, I know that you never existed in this world
But you have been my solitary source of mirth
Those happiness that these eyes got from you
Ushers me to a new path beneath the sky blue.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

That Glance

I often dream of the one glance that you threw at me.
And I cherish it as a token of affinity bestowed on me.
A cursory look might be trivial, but for me is a big deal
It wasn’t just a glance but an acceptance of what I feel.

Because in the throng where umpteen jostled my soul
It was your glance that lent me some glimmer of hope
Often, while wandering in a parched desert of solitude
In those miles of despair, one glance stealthily intrudes.

And, drizzles the blooms of glee, that assuage my pain
In that single glance, I strode miles and relished the rain
The loneliness no longer haunts me and I feel complete
Dreaming that solitary glance I weave the sonnet sweet.

Length of time does not matter, but its profound impact
For the drowning soul often, in the straw a hope reflects
A hope, never to renounce the dreams confined in eyes
Often birds behind the cages, one-day fly to kiss the sky.

A prized possession that you gave I snuggle in dreams
In the flight of your imaginations, no more words I need
I urge that glance to let me awake till the end of the night
And spread its resplendence with a glimpse of your smile.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Trellis of Hope

I close my eyes to envision the trellis of hope
And the purple blooms dangling on its ropes
Among them, I glance at my mauve dreams
They aren’t as vibrant as often they seemed.

As if in a long odyssey they lost their sheen
Yet it soothes my soul with a solace unseen
Seems this life in monochrome craves hues
It‘s you who rejuvenates me when I feel blue.

Though I aspire to its culmination into reality
Some dreams are meant to be just a fantasy
Caged forever in the heart’s dark chambers
Occasionally sparkling when I go to slumber.

Here I relish the life that I had dreamed often
Hidden from all, here my frozen soul softens
Because I‘ve gauged the miles, yet to cover
My soul seeks joy before the journey is over.

In a world where I was a misfit yet I survived
And in an illusory cell, my soul was confined
To breathe, it lingers around a trellis of hope,
And the purple blooms dangling on its ropes.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Unshackled

Unshackling my this soul from the excruciating pain
That you gave me, I stepped out in the drizzling rain
I endured loads of abuse hitting me for the last time
Years of torment had ended today with a silent reply.

I behold the life waiting to embrace me the way I am
To all your taunts, insults, and disdain, I give a damn
Because you do not exist for me from now onwards
I see some happy souls with whom I’ll move forward.

In this drizzling rain, in the jovial company of friends
My eyes will relish vibrant hues of mirth once again
No more endeavors to prove my worth to the world
No more desire to display me to those eyes blurred.

Far from the interrogating eyes, and frowning face
Today I’ve surrendered myself to the unknown fate
These moments of happiness and my carefree walk
Rejuvenates my eyes to see beyond the life in dark.

Though I wished to look at your cage for a last time
The mind declined as it is keener to see a new life
A life that I will embellish with the hues that I adore
With all my dear ones who matter to me even more.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Prayer

My eyes accepted whatever you inked in my destiny
No complaints or regrets and any trace of the agony
In life’s all crests and troughs, you accompanied me.
I oft thank you for being a confidante in this journey

All the ferocious hailstorms that I endured in my life
Was all because of your divine blessing on my eyes
Though the soul often ached to see the vast gloom
It was only you, who propelled me to vie for blooms.

From the crevices in the dark cloud, I found one ray
Holding that string of hope I saw the light of the day
When my bereaved soul was seeking slight solace
You lend your hand and ushered me to a new path.

How can I forget all bounties, you bestowed on me
In this world of millions of denizens, you chose me
Beyond temporal pleasures, in the profound trance
My eyes envision glimpses of your celestial charm.

Even in storms, you did not let my hope extinguish
For this my mind and soul always express gratitude
I wish to relish the journey beyond life in your realm
Keep me in your shadow, I don’t want to return again.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Adieu

When waves retreat, I will not find your footprints
Your last trace, before you embarked on that ship
Staring at your vestiges now drifted away from me
I swallowed my tears before they fell into this sea.

Because the tears may cross the sea to meet you
To disclose my pain when I had bidden you adieu
No, I won’t let my this misery, dampen your spirits
It’s your deep charm that stuns and enamors me.

Fortifying my heart though a pain simmers within
I sighed, a new ordeal was on the verge to begin
The tangerine sky and this sea silently watch me
My eyes pretend, I hope, my pain they didn’t see.

And I felt as if the breeze crooned a familiar name
I tried to listen but no voice from the yonder came.
I knew while sitting alone on the shore of the sea
Some emotions were causing a commotion in me.

Whether the sea waves console, frown, or blame
From tomorrow, this life will not remain the same
Staring at your vestiges that drifted away from me
I bid adieu to your last glimpse waving in the sea.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Let Your Soul Be Your Confidante

When dejection creeps into your fatigued eyes
Muster up your courage, this is the time to fight
If your spirits surrender before life’s adversities
You can’t come out of the maze of uncertainties.

Life isn’t as complex as the weary mind portrays
I have seen thundershowers after the fiery blaze
Embrace life with open arms as your companion
Then mind, body, and spirit would work in unison.

Value yourself, don’t give the world explanations
Your journey matters more than the destinations
The beauty of life is, it molds itself as we view it
It is not too late, change the way you perceive it.

Happy souls neither flaunt nor seek any attention
They relish every moment that brings satisfaction
A chain of crest and trough will be in a continuum
Beyond this life lies nothing, just a sheer vacuum.

Let your soul be your confidante, it cares for you
Unlike this world in a mad rush, it stays with you
It knows you so well, always pay heed to its words
Your mentor lives in you; don’t seek it in the world.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

The Tempest

My eyes are waiting for a tempest to sweep me
It has been eons; this soul has not traveled free
Though the storms distract me, I behold the path
To the unnamed destination that this soul wants.

The eyes oft implore me to stop digging for faults
Let them lead a life that the world says is flawed
Sermons falling into ears appear as molten glass
Oblivion to all I yearn to slither through the grass.

In the mists of gloom when all find themselves lost
The trail appears as a serpentine waiting to crawl.
I wade through the miry road that ushers my soul
And my spirits soar then, it hates the worldly roles.

No more pain disguised as smiles, taunt my eyes
Those tangles seem so trivial when I look behind
When my body and soul huddle in the dark shroud
I envision, from my festering sore pains oozing out.

The journey beyond that tempest often entices me
To relish dreams buried that eyes had often seen
The priggish world frowns but let my soul drift out
From the choking fetters to the boundless clouds.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan

Sati

I tremble while counting the eons that passed
Even now my soul is imprisoned in your charm
Once you had filled roseate dreams in my eyes
Still your divine smile hallucinates me at night.

All my smithereens are scattered over the earth
As the body I immolated, was not of any worth.
Why has humankind enshrined my fallen parts
When there is a fierce blaze deep in my heart?

Lost in the gloom, I see the moon beckons me
My soul feels from yonder as if, you called me.
Reminiscing about you and our days of ecstasy
My soul has been wandering in the vast galaxy.

Might be a hundred, thousand, perhaps millions
Years passed but this soul didn’t meet you once
When ruthless destiny has ravaged all my paths
What to do of a mortal world facing your wrath?

With your cosmic dance, you exuded your rage
Trapped in bygones, my soul is sobbing for ages.
Nobody in the universe can give my soul refuge
Dreaming of Shiva, Sati seeks solace in recluse.

copyright@Manoj Krishnan