Pens and Pages

From the last two days I've seen no night, No darkness, no dusk, no rains, no blight. My orchard's flowers seem to shine bright. Birds chirp around and butterflies alight. Grandmother's woven the sweater, at last, of Brother's embroidered shirt's size. From the last two days I can hardly count The days of happiness I've lived in disguise. Summer ain't so hot nor have I seen Winter's chill. From the last two days, life doesn't seem so hard. No, don't bring me the stars from the sky, I'm planting sunshine in my backyard.

Like the vastness of an ocean; As strong as a woman can be, As weak as the sign of first love; Like two lovers meet for the first time, Like death separating a couple, divine; As difficult as life can turn out to be, Like the mystery the Universe's end holds; Like the little girl who wants a balloon, Like Cindrella's prince in the ballroom; Like a mother giving birth to her first child, Like a baby holding your fingers tight; As leaves change yet the root does not, Like the same old house on the same old plot; Like happiness, yet,like a profound sigh, My love thrives as I say I'm thine.

Of years of solitude And a final downpour, Of dreams broken And all the pieces ashore, I wondered where went that river Of all the possibilities. The pen was lying dead On a blank paper; The ink overflown Drenched my soul; I wondered if I could ever make right The massacre I left behind. I wondered if I could Ever do what's right. They told me I was a writer And that made my life.

From ages, beaten, rotten, He rises from his own ashes. He touches the skin, venomous, Of the one who had breathed the fire. He burns bright, with envy, With all the hatred within. The skin bleeds and wails On the mummified corpse Of its own sins- Its past deeds. The past rises high And swallows the dead eyes first. The skin, once venomous, Lies at the mercy of its own reflection. Justice, they say, Takes a long time to act... But, they can only heave a sigh When they finally see The Time isn't as far As it seemed to be...

I think of the words I would like to say Of love, of separation and your brief stay. I think of you as I walk the town On lonely evenings on the nearby lawn. You quietly follow me on a gentle morning, I turn around and you're no longer near. I write the words on a piece of paper. I write a poem; I write you a letter. You touch my hand and I cease to write, I turn around and I see you fade away. I think you're gone and I need to move on. I swallow the words, I bury it all. I tear the paper; I let you go While you stand there, mutely watching it all.

First published on Springtide on 12th December 2014 Perhaps it is not the right time to share what I faced in Delhi, not after “the Uber incident”. But then, there’s never a right time. And no matter what hour it is, reality is always the invincible truth. I’ve been staying in Mumbai from the past one year. I’ve been to Delhi before, but from Mumbai my first visit would be only last week. It was at around 4:45pm when I took a train from INA metro station to Kashmere Gate. I had to transport my luggage from my friend’s place at Yamuna Vihar to another friend’s place at Katwaria Sarai. It was my first evening there in Delhi and I did a quick imprecise calculation and assumed that I’d reach Katwaria Sarai after picking my luggage, at around 7:00pm. I assumed that dusk would fall at around 7:00pm like it is the case in Mumbai. I was a little disappointed to realize that by the time I reached Kashmere Gate it was almost dark although it was only around 5:30pm. ...

First Published in   Springtide - Inspiring Youth Igniting Minds   on 11th December 2014 Author: Bhavya Kaushik Published by: Petals Publishers First Edition: December 2014 Number of Pages: 200 Language: English After hurriedly reading the blurb on the back of The Infinite Equinox (TIE) first, my inattentive mind assumed that it is the journey of a girl from the streets of India to a well-settled life in Seattle. Only after I reached mid-way of the journey of TIE did I realize that it is not just a single journey – there are two. The first being the escape of the protagonist from the cruel begging rackets prevalent in the country and the second being the quest of the protagonist to find her origins not only for mental peace but also to be able to survive. It is essential for Tamanna, the protagonist to find her parents or siblings in order to survive the cancer she was detected with – Leukemia. Being abducted at an early age, Tamanna has ...