Shades of life

Eerily empty,
places all around, forsaken.
No scampering feet,
no jostling crowds,
no haggling customers,
no springtime frolicking.
Nothing.
The fountain sings alone,
old coins rusting at its base.
No hushed secrets,
no whispered confessions,
no more a witness
to furtive kisses.
Everywhere, all around,
a ghostly silence,
thick grey shroud,
beneath which,
the questions lurk,
the whats, whos, wheres,
their answers eluding,
confounding.
Deep inside the caves,
there is science and reason,
the protections, the preventions.
Out in the garden,
the flowers are blooming,
red and yellow and white
and the birds are chirping
and cat, basking in sunshine.

Linking with Friday Fictioneers

The picture prompt for this week is

PHOTO PROMPT © Ceayr

Rest in peace

A blessed soul of the community departed. He was a saintly spirit and Lord Almighty had graced him with the gift of music. Even though he could not see, yet he was so good at his craft that he was revered. I remember the sheer excitement which ran through my folks when he visited the town. They made that extra effort not to miss the time allotted to him in the Kirtan Darbar. With every breath he thanked Lord for the blessings He had bestowed upon him and it so seemed that every timehhe sounded more blessed in his craft. Unwavering in his faith till his last breath, he became a legend for the community. I, though not a very committed member of community, do cherish the times I heard him sing Gurbani and Shabad. And I don't know why, today, I feel that void in me, a bit of hollowness like I lost a distant relation, some faraway family member. My 100 words for his Faith...

‘Tis faith that inspired,
instilled the spirit,
to fly, even with broken wings.
And it is with faith alone,
that the fluttering whizzing,
was steadied.
Faith, that guided his hands
so that he strummed
those melodious hymns
that sang Thy praises.
Faith that granted vision to his heart,
to see Thy generous face
in the rising and falling octaves.
And it is with faith in Thee,
that he walks today,
through the Golden Gates of heaven,
leaving behind vacuity and silence.
Angels weep out of jealousy,
as they meet Thy Chosen Child.
Forever Yours,
he is now, forever with Thee.

Linking with Thin Spiral Notebook : 100 words 

Picstories

Pictures,

in black, white, grey

and beautiful colors of the pallet,

unstained

with the insistence of being liked,

unedited memoirs,

undisputed testimonies

of being joyously alive.

Such pictures that tell

our stories,

that echo the sweet times.

Digital albums,

suddenly bereft of

such pictorial verses.

Linking with Friday Fictioneers

PHOTO PROMPT COURTESY TED STRUTZ

Light our paths

You show us the light, 

when we wander in dark lanes, 

guide our wobbly steps. 

Jai Ma. Jai Jai Ma. 

Beacon

I detest the dark,
do not favor the umbra,
that somber mystique.
The rays of light beckon me,
I breathe the morning splendor.

Linking with RonovanWrites #Weekly#Haiku #poetry prompt #Challenge #258

Perspective

Eventide.
The waves crashing at shores.
The roar of hungry ocean,
consuming the remains of the day greedily.
The ferries anchored,
owners back to their nests.
Just like the sea-gulls
huddling in colonies.
The air-balloon descending,
hysteria lowering each minute.
You pull me close and hug me tight.
Melancholically.
Cockcrow.
The ocean exhales energy.
Cold waves wash everything afresh,
dissolving the litter of yesterday.
Sea-gulls squawk in distance
readying for the flight.
Ferries rock gently,
setting momentum for the day.
A hot air-balloon rises,
hysteria growing each minute.
You hug me tight
as you leave for work.
A buoyant hug.

Linking with Thin Spiral Notebook : 100 word challenge : wash

Linking with Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers - 183rd

The framework

Some bare and stripped bones,
striking similarities,
till the hollow core
is draped in thin skin stretched taut
and replications are dressed.

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge

Reverence

Warm soothing flame burns,
Licking away the dark night,
Deity or plea?


Image courtesy of Tallia22 of www.freeimages.com

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge: A spark

Bowl of walnuts

Flames crackles in hearth,
Bowl of unshelled walnuts wait,
Warmth in deep recess.


Image from Wiki Commons, taken by H Zell and used under the Creative Commons Agreement : Courtesy Light and Shade Challenge

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge

Speaking of shadows

Tricks of light,
Stalking the corners of dreams,
Like a haunting phantasma.
Slivers of life linger in
A pocketfull of sunshine.
The dancing flames grow,
And the shadow slips by,
Consigned to Cimmerian dooms.

Image by T. Al. Nakib on www.freeimages.com

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge

Masquerade

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge

Peeping past

The sidewalks littered
With innocent footsteps
Outrunning each other
To find the best hiding place.
The IT counting till hundred
Occasionally peeping across
And seeing the silhouettes
Sliding behind the cobwebbed niches.
The pretence of
Making the search
Calling out,
Winning, loosing,
Playing and replaying
The childhood laughing
And celebrating
The festival of life,
Thoroughly.
The spectres of
Good old days
Peeping now and then
Only to find
The ruckus of tiddlers
Silenced
By shadows of youth
Wandering through this labyrinth
Confounded,
Blinded by dimes and dollars.
Fractured bodies
Supplanted by
Fractured souls.
Life left behind
In
Unfrequented dusty alleys.

Image by Bill Brandt, 1934

Linking with Light and Shade Challenge