Wait 'n watch

There are such mornings,
when on waking up you're confused
if the sun will rise, or night will set in.
Life throws you in such situations,
when you're as ignorant and unsure
as a recalcitrant child, lost in a fair.

Ignorance is not bliss, oblivion is.
Just go, sleep in the paper boat
flung in the river of time,
flowing nonchalantly with the tide,
and wait, but wait until what ?
Don't know. Just wait 'n watch.

बसंती हवा

हवा हूँ, हवा मैं
बसंती हवा हूँ !

सुनो बात मेरी -
अनोखी हवा हूँ !
बड़ी बावली हूँ
बड़ी मस्तमौला !
नहीं कुछ फिकर है
बड़ी ही निडर हूँ
जिधर चाहती हूँ,
उधर घूमती हूँ,
मुसाफिर अजब हूँ !

न घर-बार मेरा,
न उद्येश्य मेरा,
न इक्छा किसी की
न आशा किसी की
न प्रेमी न दुश्मन,
जिधर चाहती हूँ,
उधर घूमती हूँ,
हवा हूँ, हवा मैं
बसंती हवा हूँ !

जहां से चली मैं,
जहां को गयी मैं -
शहर, गाँव, बस्ती,
नदी, रेत, निर्जन,
हरे खेत, पोखर,
झुलाती चली मैं !
झुमाती चली मैं !

चढ़ी पेड़ महुआ,
थपाथप मचाया,
गिरी धम्म से फिर,
चढ़ी आम ऊपर,
उसे भी झकोरा,
किया कान में 'कूँ'
उतारकर भागी मैं,
हरे खेत पहुंची -
वहाँ गेहुओं में
लहर खूब मारी !

पहर दो पहर क्या,
अनेकों पहर तक
इसी में रही मैं !
कड़ी देख अलसी
लिए शीश कलसी,
मुझे खूब सूझी -
हिलाया- झुलाया
गिरी पर न कलसी !
इसी हार को पा,
हिलाई न सरसों,
झुलाई न सरसों,

मुझे देखते ही
अरहरी लजाई,
मनाया-बनाया,
न मानी, न मानी;
उसे भी न छोड़ा -
पथिक आ रहा था,
उसी पर धकेला !
हंसी जोर से मैं,
हंसी सब दिशाएं,
हसें लहलहाते
हरे खेत सारे,
हंसी चमचमाती
भरी धूप प्यारी;
बसंती हवा में
हंसी सृष्टि सारी !

हवा हूँ, हवा मैं
बसंती हवा हूँ !


---- केदारनाथ अग्रवाल

Chh..Chhh...!!

"Old man dies....
Who dug and sold soil,
Ten bucks for ten hours.
Perhaps couldn't toil,
lift and walk any more."
I heard her say
"Chh..Chhh...!!"

"Street urchin trampled...
Who sold paint brushes
in the scorching sun,
came under the wheels,
painting them crimson "
I heard her say
Chh..Chhh...!!

"Slums caught fire....
Where sleeping dwellers slept,
not one left, so no one wept,
Appears to be a short-circuit
in an otherwise dead wire."
I heard her say
Chh..Chhh...!!

"Two siblings succumb....
Survived by a sick mother,
School closing was an ordeal.
Thanks to Telangana protests,
they lost their mid-day meal."
I heard her say
Chh..Chhh...!!

Mom had warned,
as mothers often do,
" I told you, didn't I ?
Don't step out. It rained.
You slipped ?"
I heard her say again
Chh..Chhh...!!

"The same expression !"
So easily blurted.
Just feel, utter and forget
What compunction !
Chh..Chhh...!!

The Day Is Done

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

 ----  Henry W Longfellow