Ballerina

 

 

Pirouetting,

Dancing,

Twirling on her toes –

The little girl,

Eyes closed,

Sways to the notes.

Innocent,

Unadulterated,

Incandescent happiness –

Swirling,

Whirling,

A passionate giddiness.

Floating,

Glowing,

Her pure, angelic charm –

Playful,

Graceful,

In her outstretched arm.

~Diksha

Threads

 

Gentle to the touch,

Practically invisible,

They strung us,

You and I, strangely –

In unspeakable bonds,

Created by knots –

A match that was heavenly.

They tangled together

Our shaky fingers,

Tripped us on our

Unsteady toes suddenly

And then as we laughed,

At the coincidence of it all,

Drew us to each other effortlessly.

Like secret strands,

That bound us at birth,

Guiding us down similar paths,

They brought me to you subtly,

And I watched in my wonder

How they made you fall for me

While I fell in love with you slowly.

~Diksha

A Long Day

 

Like clockwork,

I wake at four each night

And lay there, gasping,

Waiting

For that first ray of sunlight.

 

Tired, fatigued,

I slowly rise

To look in the mirror

And tell myself,

It’s going to be all right.

 

I labour through

Another day;

Try harder

And harder still,

Determined, obstinate,

Full of spite,

Refusing to give up

Without a fight.

 

As the evening

Grows darker

And my limbs

Grow weaker

And my heart drowns again

Under waves of fright,

The chances

Grow slimmer

Of even a brief respite.

 

For the day is drawing

To another close

And the moon is rising

To another height

And my hopes of escaping

The darkness in my soul

Are slowly becoming

More and more slight.

 

Now, once again,

I must return to my bed;

Now, once again,

I must face my nightmares;

Now, once again,

I must hope that I win

And be freed

From this eternal plight.

~Diksha

About You

 

One thousand,

Three hundred and

Eighty six times

She thinks of you

In a single day.

Tapping her foot,

Chin in hand, biting the end

Of her favourite pen,

She wonders and wonders

And wonders about you.

From hate to love, exasperation

To adoration, every turn

Of her heart dances –

Dances and dances and dances –

Entangled and caught up in you.

And yet

When it comes to words –

Words to explain…

To confess, to profess –

Words it is that fail her.

For how to string together

Sentences, how to choose symphonies

Sweet enough to confess,

To express, to address

That which she cannot say?

Which poem, which letter,

Which book can she write;

Which lyric, which ballad,

Which song can she sing

In which words does her love’s truth lay?

And her pen that spewed letters –

Millions and millions and millions of letters –

Can recreate anything,

Anything but

How she feels for you.

And damn you,

You oblivious, silly little human

For failing to hear that

Which was never spoken,

Never hinted, never expected.

Damn you

For never suspecting that

Which was always expertly

Concealed, always veiled,

Always disguised and always hidden.

Perhaps, one day

She’ll write you a song,

A poem, a ballad,

A letter

Or a sonnet.

But until then she’ll sit,

Tapping her foot,

Chin in hand,

Wondering and wondering

And wondering about you.

~Diksha

Orbiting Memories

 

Does time go round and round?

Or exist like stars,

A moment, a single breath,

Existing like a point of brilliance

In the vast darkness

Of space and the universe?

Are memories,

Yours and mine,

Like comets that shoot

Through the confusion

Of the void

To those dreamy stars

Where time stands still,

And there we’re taking that same

Intake of breath again and again

That, in reality, we took only once before

So many years ago?

Do the darker moments

Of our lives

The tears, the heartbreak,

The downs, the misery

Exist as black holes,

Which, if returned to,

Leave us trapped and

Suspended

In a single spark of doom

Until, by some miracle,

We see a speck of light

From the brighter stars

Of happier days

And float towards them

In a cloudy daze

Through the void?

Where there is no gravity,

Where there is no present,

Where nothing was,

Where nothing will be…

Is that where it all rests?

Is that where time

Resides?

~Diksha