From The Quill

 Hold my hand and let's escape To where forever is not a myth  And love reigns true. Where your eyes meet mine  And my hands tighten around yours,  You look at me like I'm your world,  I smile at you like you are my universe,  And we are truly happy, being ourselves,  No faking, no impressing, no gifts or flaunting  No apologies or formalities, gestures or expressions  Just you, me, nature, and silence  Getting lost in the sunset. ~ Suranya

LOST MY WAY LOOKING FOR YOU. FOUND MYSELF INSTEAD. ~ SURANYA

 Starry sky, moonlight  Intoxicated, the tears flow free  Every night I feel you near me.  It is not the end yet,  Even if our paths are separate,  Hope of love still keeps me awake;  For what is meant to be,  Always finds its way. ~ Suranya

The smell of good food, and your laughter,  Fresh flowers, wind chimes and music.  Endless nights star gazing under a blanket  Sharing stories, everything and nothing.  The warm heater, pictures on the wall,  Grocery list on the fridge.  Fighting over the wet towels Your hair in the sink. Is this what home looks like? Perhaps it does... Every time I return to the cold apartment And turn my keys, realising you left, I miss belonging somewhere.  Lost. Helpless.  And once again, here I stand,  Homeless. ~ Suranya

Have you ever not been able to sleep  Even when your eyes were heavy? Did a voice ever scream in your head,  Every time you fell into a slumber? Did a dream turn into a nightmare,  And ache your heart leaving you in tears? Have you ever wished upon stars? Prayed for the impossible? Daydreamt of things never to be? Made others a priority and lost yourself? Seen people drift away Till you can't remember their faces? Or how their voices sounded? Craved for love? Craved to belong? To call someone home? ~ Suranya

 Standing on the cliff of dreams,  I fold my hand, as my eyes shine  As if your fingers are entwined in mine,  I whisper your name almost like a prayer.  My cheeks glow in a warm debonair;  I wish upon the falling stars,  Offering myself with all my scars;  That you be mine as I am yours,  See my world as it endures;  Believe the love that I can give,  Hold my hand, and happily live  Give me your flaws, and let love be,  Taking the leap of faith for me. ~ Suranya

He followed her around stealthily, Almost like chasing her shadow, Ignoring her warning glances; At last she smiled turning to him, His innocent eyes in joy, beamed. "Stay" she ordered, putting the plate down,  Thanking his hooman with a woof,  He savoured, wagging at his favourite food. ~ Suranya 

Standing at crossroads of choices often,  I forget the last time I didn't try  To make my truth a blatant lie.  And perhaps at other times,  To make my lies convincingly true,  To make liking me easier for you.  I have lost my veracity perhaps  Trapped in this world of desires;  Never regretting every white lie I used,  To manipulate my way back to you.  All of me you never knew,  And you never had a clue  You were just a pawn,  In my experiments with truth. ~ Suranya

 There she goes with a smile  Ready to face the world in style.  Her sparkling eyes oozing confidence,  Her words make so much sense.  The sun shines, heaping praises.  On how high on the ladder she rises.  But the moon knows her secrets well  Every night, when he meets her  Alone and away from the world,  Her mask is lifted off her face  And he finds her on the edge;  Another day done and dusted,  She has managed to survive with grace. ~ Suranya

It was a day like this,  You remember giving me  That bubble-wrapped gift? One of those showpieces,  A dancing girl, free-spirited and dreamy. You said she reminded you of me.  Strange, how you hate me now  For those exact same reasons.  Stranger, how a showpiece remained  In the most careless edge of my shelf  While you became a memory.  Perhaps because,  Emotions are more fragile  Than porcelain. ~ SURANYA

 When they crossed roads,  And stumbled upon love,  They thought nothing was left in them  To offer the other. Love smiled, gathering their leftovers.  And building a Home;  Putting together His broken pieces with hers,  Into one beautiful masterpiece. He had given his heart to the first, She had offered her body to the second, He laid down his soul to the third, She shared her mind with the fourth. © Suranya

 Life is a masquerade ball.  Of pretences, good and bad. Hidden behind those veils, our true selves  Somewhere deeply lost.  Dances of envy, ego and fate,  Of love and life, they pretended to be great.  Masks of images, ideals and emotions  Of defence, lies and deception  Removing them would cause your skin to rip  So comfortable are those charades so deep. But tired am I, weary of pretending;  "I don't care, I don't feel, I don't love deeply."  That I dared once, just for once, To remove the mask from my face.  The society mocked the freckles that showed.  The imperfect skin, the dark spots within.  Dejected by it all, the mask went back up again;  Never to come off the face, carefully hidden,  Never for you to read the real me.  Never even for once. ~ Suranya

 Happening life, write-ups and quotes  Travel pictures, cool places, social bloke,  Stories, posts, updates to keep them hooked,  Drowning in the compliments from every nook.  False pride, endless validation,  Messages and celebrations. But here is the truth behind the veil.  That falls off every night you go to bed,  When your pillows get wet, your body shudders,  Or the mascara is smudged, and words stutter.  When no one can hear your lonely sobs,  When you are away from social media mobs. What really is the value of this image? The one you put out to the world?  Where you lose a bit of yourself every day  Fear your flaws will scare them away.  Faking is almost an addiction.  A temporary doorway to happiness,  Never a permanent solution. ~ Suranya

 Words unsaid, apologies unheard,  The ego often tore a relationship apart  Love unrequited, lessons unlearned,  Beliefs upturned. "What if" "Should I..." Confidence low,  Doubts, hindering progress. And before you know  Life ends up in a mess.  Perhaps in the end  All you can do is regret,  For every breath you take  It is a countdown to death. ~ Suranya

Drunk in ecstasy, all dizzy, Roses and candles all cheesy, No commitment or promises, dreamy, Love today is indeed easy. ~ SURANYA 

 Shackles of reality,  Weighting down the soul. Bank balance, rent, groceries. Burden of responsibility  Running in the mind. Deadlines, promotions, dues. Tired body and unfulfilled desires,  Breathing yet dying every day. Artists, Dreamers, Poets, Painters. "Mercy Mercy Mercy!" Cries the Heart in silence. ~ Suranya

 Amidst the stacks in the wardrobe  Was a scarf I had kept away in hope,  Because it still smelled of you. You left in haste  Like a storm in zest,  Your locks slipped off my hands,  Almost like a haze. Yet your smell lingers,  On the tip of my fingers,  And on the darkest nights  Perhaps brings you closer to me.  Than you ever could be. ~ Suranya

 "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY" HE STARED AT THE PICTURE ON THE WALL. "YOU KNOW I WASN'T AT FAULT." UNTIL A YEAR BACK, THIS DAY WAS A BALL;  PROOF OF HER INFIDELITY  HAD LED TO A BRAWL  WHAT FOLLOWED WAS  A COLD BLOODED CHILLING ASSAULT,  HE HAD PUSHED HER  OFF THE ROOF OF THE MALL,  SMILED IN PLEASURE WATCHING HER FALL. ~ SURANYA

 Every time I read the letters  I had handwritten for you  Each line, each word  Almost praying for the impossible Hoping you would stay,  Wishing for a story to start before it ends; Now that you are gone,  A story is left half-finished; I leave them sealed,  Gathering dust like my leftover feelings.  I am glad they never reached your doorsteps. I am glad I never asked for your address. Some stories are better this way. © Suranya

BENEATH THE TONS OF MAKEUP  HIDES THE DARKER SKIN SPOTS  BLEMISHES AND FRECKLES  HIDDEN FROM THE OVER  JUDGEMENTAL SOCIETY  THAT DOESN'T EMBRACE IMPERFECTION.  BUT THEN,  WHAT ARE WE HUMANS IF NOT FLAWED? ~ Suranya

 Iced lollies, mischief and folly  Days jolly, in mangoes and art,  Gathering friends and playing darts. Teary eyes, heavy heart,  Heavier bags and a new start;  Leaving behind favourite cartoons,  Summer vacation is getting over so soon! ~ Suranya

Did you see that bird in the flock?  Flying across continents to survive. How the leafless tree blooms in spring  Waiting for his return? For the tree in love, trusts the bird,  And knows that no matter how far or apart,  After the season passes by,  He will always return Home.  © Suranya

 He woke in sweat, in the midnight, upset  Hollow heart filled with memories of regret. The dreams still bled of her smile and face. Trying hard to forget,  Through the puffs of cigarette  He realised wide awake in bed,  Her smell, her feel, words unsaid,  Had left his heart in a mess;  Absence was indeed her presence in grace. © Suranya

These red flowers are locally known as Krishnachura. A big tree of these red blooms stood before our small rented apartment back when I was a child. Every summer afternoon, during vacations, I used to sit on the balcony and play while with every gentle breeze that swayed its branches, the flowers used to paint the concrete road red. The same tree stood opposite my school, and in one of the classes, when my seat was just beside the window, I used to watch the tree blooming in fiery red. The flowers are of a gentle nature. They do not stay long if you pick them up. Neither are they used in worship. They just sway in the breeze and fall like a drizzle. The leaves, too, in autumn fall like a soft yellow drizzle, and more often than not, I used to stand beneath it and giggle in joy. Life was simple and full of joy from the little things. I noticed the nature changes with the seasons. The flowers were lost with childhood, while we moved places and schools. In the rat race, I had almost forgo...

 I traced out your name  On the sandy beach  Now that you are beyond my reach;  Watching the waves wash away your name I finally let you go,  Set myself free. Funny, how you never were mine. Yet I had promised you a lifetime. © Suranya

 My dreams have wings; the spirit soars high  Like an angel it wants to touch the sky. You hold on to me, calling it love,  Then why do I feel like a caged dove,  Shackles pulling me down to earth? Perhaps grasping too tightly at times,  Makes one's identity feel threatened. Perhaps not reading between the lines  Closes in the walls of regret. What do I want, You ask confused. I shake my head a little amused. I am meant to grow like a tree,  Can you be the water to my sea? I am meant to burn the old and fix,  Can you be the fire to my phoenix? Instead your hug, suffocates me to cry,  Why do you hold on so tight,  That letting go seems right;  Hold No matter how much we try! ~ Suranya

 Half of her, half of you  One half feels empty,  The other half, a fool. Half a life wasted in chasing  Half a life lived without reason.  Half a heart yearning for you,  Half a story long overdue.  Half the moon embraces half a cloud  Half the night spent thinking out loud. ~ Suranya

 यूं उलझ गयी ज़िन्दगी तेरे आने से,  सपने फिर देखेने लगे हम जो छुपे थे ज़माने से।  सच्चाई से टकराके दर्द यूं उतरा निगाहों में,  अब तू ही सुलझा दे इसे,  यूं ही किसी तरीके से।  एकबार आजा तू लबों पे मुस्कान बनके,  चाहे फिरसे वापस जाने के बहाने से। Suranya

 Stuck in a cubicle, between worksheets,  He dies every day, his heart bleeds.  The mind is weary, body tired,  Deadlines to be met, burying desires.  Must go on for the sake of the pay cheque  The bank balance is a reality check. One day, it so dawns on him  "It is not working out!" His heart says in a silent scream  Paper and pen, scribbles in vain,  At last, he smiles at the break of dawn,  Like a phoenix, a poet is born. ~ SURANYA

 Let not the world make you like them  Those who are desperate to blame  Yet they can't play fair in the game  All of them, quick to burn in the flame  Love is but a choice, not a claim. ~SURANYA

 Vaisakhi, 1919, Amritsar. "May you live a hundred years." The mother blessed her sixteen-year-old on his birthday. "I will be back soon." He ran out. "She is still waiting for me. I am sure." He saw the one who heard that laugh at his innocence. "I don't think she is, son. It's been too long." A hundred years later, a soul still roams the silent walls of the Jallianwala Bagh, waiting to go back home to his mother. ~ Suranya

 Where I wasn't me, and you weren't you  But you were I and I a bit of you;  Where the world was at times all blue, With shades of green, and a horse or two;  Sunshine and sunflowers,  Mountains and rivers,  I meet you there every day,  Dreamy and engrossed;  Our spirits free and afloat,  Hands entwined, smiles magical,  Where you will always be  My happy almost. © Suranya

Like a Phoenix, a poet is born,  From the ashes of being lovelorn,  Broken, wounded and scorned,  He mourns the death of his old self.  In words and verses, he is reincarnated,  In the path where he is actually fated,  To weave a magic through his pen,  Never to give up on life again. ~ SURANYA

 The Sun woke from a night-long slumber,  Went to meet the Mountain tops. "Oh, you melt my peaks, you monster,  Go away to the seas far off" The Sea cursed the heat, mumbling. The Desert grew red hot in anger,  The Sun travelled to people and places. None wished for him any longer. Sad and lonely, he was about to set.  When the Moon rose on the horizon  And at dusk, they met. The Moon shone brighter in his light,  Almost like a spotlight in the sky,  The Sun smiled at her in awe. As she glowed in his love. Last but not least in any sense.  The Sun had finally found a friend.  Every day from that day on,  He travelled across the sky, lovelorn,  To meet her at dusk and dawn. ~ Suranya

"She did love you, every time she laughed with you, learned from you, stared at you." "Is that all you call love nowadays? The good times? Is this why it fades away?" "Umm..Tell me, do you love her or are you in love with her?" "Pardon? What's the difference?" "There you go, you answered it yourself." "What are you trying to say?" "She loved you. She was never in love with you." "Huh? Isn't it how love is supposed to be?" "No, it is how love shouldn't be." ~ Suranya

I am drowning in the love I never felt I am hoping for the promises never made I am losing my grip on reality Why do you come to my dreams like this? Why do I see your face, your smile and your eyes Why do I try to hold on in vain? Why do I hurt watching you fade  Into the morning hues. ~ Suranya

 The Sky in a haste to impress his beloved Sea,  Made a crown of clouds above her head. All his dreams came pouring down  On the Sea and shores all around:  The desire to unite was so strong,  Nature to them seemed wrong. A storm surged from her calmest parts  Reaching his clouds high above  The cyclone raged havoc across the land;  That is when through the whirlpool of storm. The Sea surged to reach the Sky love lorn,  Trying in vain, she didn't give up her reform,  The Storm smiled in her wisdom at them,  Dancing in destruction, she didn't blame. Amused he asked in a jest,  "Have you lost your mind, O Sea?" Smiling she replied instead. "Oh Storm, just things you do for love, you see!" ~ Suranya

 You live inside those six inches screens,  Twenty four - seven, without a blink,  Denying your loneliness, seeking attention;  You make friends and start conversations. You run from app to app,  Addicted to pretence perhaps. Relationships are limited to ten second reply rules,  Attraction by emojis and stickers you choose;  Constant urges to stay in touch,  Even though you don't speak that much. And from a world only you can see, Those blue ticks drive you crazy! You withdraw and judge fast,  Your ego is fed by "Who Should Text First?" Conversation stops,  Strangers drift apart,  Every side has the same story once it's over, "We don't talk anymore." © Suranya

HOPE is a hindrance to HAPPINESS ~ Suranya

 Setting his hair up in zigzag spikes He was ready to meet his date His friend had mentioned staying over,  He had brushed up his skills till late. She came in a lovely fuchsia,  Complimented his purple shades,  They talked all night till the morning arrived He waited for the next. Tonight's was going to be the fiery red,  Oh, the secrets he had kept  No one would ask for his version,  But Toothbrush had its own story to tell. ~ Suranya

  Adhi Adhuri Ek Kahani Hoon Chaho Toh Padhke Pura Kar lo. Bhuli Bisri Ek Zubaani Hoon Humare Nazar Se Zara Zindagi Ka Kitaab Likhwa Lo. Suranya

 "Move away from dreams that hurt,  You had been so absurd. Move away from what brings pain,  Life won't be the same again." Repeated advice, practical words; The heart knew not how that works. Like a tree rooted to its soil,  The dreamer's ambition knew the toil  Against the world in all its gloom  A new flower was ready to bloom. ~ SURANYA

WRONGED, ASSAULTED AND MOCKED, HE STOOD AT THE EDGE OF PATIENCE. READY TO QUIT HIS STRUGGLE IN THE RACE, HIS MIND PUSHED HIM OFF THE EDGE. IT WAS THEN, IN THAT MOMENT, THE REASONS TO LIVE DAWNED BELATED. ~ SURANYA

 The silence of the darkest hour, The blinking stars and arc moon, All witness the poetry that flew,  Like a waterfall brushing against the rocks,  Sheets crumbled up everywhere,  A lamp flickering in the breeze;  The ticking clock and whirling fan,  Was the ink against the paper? Every day, a new love was found,  Every night, the solitude scribbled poetry. Every night was key to the lock  Of the day's dream of secret desires. And every night she wished for miracles,  For every day she lived. Eyes shining in hope and prayers,  She wished upon the universe  "For once, just for once,  Let me be a muse,  In someone else's poetry." © Suranya

The summer afternoon bliss The scorching sun and hot wind  On the rooftop, a bunch of us sat  Playing cards and flying kites. The nor'westers made us dash indoors,  But just at the threshold, I looked back. It so happened that a few houses away She stood arms stretched, hair undone  Welcoming the rain with open arms.  And the storm she surged in me that day Is yet to die down.  © Suranya

चल आज फिर एकबार वो बरसों पुरानी खेल खेलते है।  प्यार में हम दुनिया भूल लेते है।  तू रूठे में मनाऊ, तू माने तो में सताऊ,  बातों में तेरे यूं मुस्कुराऊ;  बेवज़ह एक धुन आज गुनगुनाऊँ।  आज तू फिर एक बार हाथ थाम ले,  में एक और बार निहार लू तुझे।  आज चल फिर इस दुनिया से दूर एक कहानी लिखते हैं।  उस जगह की और उन लोगो की,  जो हकीकत बनते बनते यूं ख्वाबो में खो गए। ~ Suranya

Hold your breath a little longer. The light is not far off. Don't lose hope over lost causes,  Your story is far from over. ~ Suranya