Month: August 2018

Stranger! O Stranger! Did you not,
First land upon, the fenced highway
Of my heart, heavily guarded
By my vows to not drive astray?
But still I did, when you came by,
And my life became runaway!

Didn’t you touch my life with fingers
Of a sorceress casting her spells?
And didn’t you soothe my burning aches,
And send me mounting carousels?
Oh though were those fleeting moments…
The joy from them still deep here dwells!

When blissful joy some stranger gives,
Should then she be a stranger still?
Can she not be my journey-mate,
And ride with me o’er plain and hill?
And what travels those might have been,
Had we travelled as Jack and Jill!

Murphy’s law’s reigned right from the start,
But that ain’t reason why you can’t,
Take a chance on me and find out
If I could be the man you want.
And on the way we shall both learn
That you and I are strangers scant!

©Asiman Panda 2009

Wait fiery Sun, set no further,
Don’t you know that she would rather
Bask in your blaze than rest at night?
Can you not fathom her delight?
The glee she feels while you’re around,
The smile that makes the world go round,
The laughter this town talks about
When her face lights up sans a doubt.

Wait fiery Sun, do not rise yet,
For do you really want to regret?
Don’t you know, while you were away,
Late at night in her bed she lay,
Dreaming up ways to bring you back
Into the skies which the stars pack?
Now look at her all wrapped up
In bed, don’t you dare wake her up!

Wait fiery Sun, explain to me
How and what it’s that you and she
Share between you that others don’t-
Like darkness and night, ties you both.
I guess it’s the flame you both carry-
You grace the day, on the contrary,
In times when you forget to shine
She could light up lives, even mine.

©Asiman Panda 2008

Roses blush as you smell them,
Tulips bow to kiss your hand,
Your voice renders every poem
Sung by some heavenly band.

Blizzards close in on your house,
Seeking their calm at your door;
Glaring eyes of yours will douse
Raging fires on forest floors.

Winds stand still just so your hair
Can fly by at breakneck speed;
Clouds sail buoyed by your airs –
The airs of a Queen indeed!

Roses blush as they cling tight
To your mushy tender palm;
Wildest beasts with all their might
Around you relax, becalm.

Amongst themselves, cuckoos fight
To gain your sole attention;
The Sun, on you, bestows Light:
Soon will follow the Seasons.

The Moon, Stars, Nature and all-
Engaged in a madness, rush
To stand at your beck and call,
Say why won’t, the Roses blush?

©Asiman Panda 2008

Born was a baby, blessed with a boon
Bestowed ‘pon her by empyrean powers,
From birth tied alike to both sun and moon,
Her bed bestrewn with feathers and flowers;
Watched over by Time who chose to stand still,
Joined duly by the God of dreamless peace,
Thrives she further ‘pon the Pixies’ goodwill –
Who take all her cares and troubles on lease;
Any which being, divine or otherwise,
That dared disturbed her shall go asunder,
Needless to say, lies welfare of the wise
In steering clear of the dormant thunder;
Freed of time and dream, for lifetime to keep,
She’s got a boon – that of a baby’s sleep.

©Asiman Panda 2017

Far from the frenzied town are we here came-
A shrine with love in its each artery,
Me sat beside the most beautiful dame,
Feeling a man that’s won the lottery;
It’s true I am a man on a mountain,
And you the peerless peak I pine to reach,
If it means my blood shall form a fountain,
Gladly will it the ground between us leach;
I must be a man to the idea wed
Maybe far before its time hath come,
Yet, the dreams I see are that we both led
Years five and fifteen and fifty and some;
My vow’s been made, now’s left an unsaid line-
Mine ring finger is yours – can yours be mine?

©Asiman Panda 2017

‘Tween loving and wanting, I vacillate,
Wild as a pendulum, one merely drunk,
With rhythm and time am I now profligate,
Circling inside the clock’s restrictive trunk.
My moods are now seasons – all in one day,
The high tide and low, same and disparate;
While my sane mind may keep ill thoughts at bay
How long can my insane heart tolerate?
I might as well be fish out of water,
Free in the air, but still flailing about,
Caged or freed, seems to no longer matter-
The tug-o-war rages on bout aft’r bout;
For wanting you is to my ethics throw,
And loving you, then, is letting you go.

©Asiman Panda 2017

The king did send word o’er lands – high and flat
If there be men fit for your acquaintance;
Bedecked in braids of your beauty you sat-
O Princess, you of the South West highlands,
Have you the faintest idea of your charms?
The keys your mien strikes in the hearts of men?
Pour they in – princes, barons and gendarmes –
Who shall your Highness choose of all these then?
Bear in mind, your beauty is amplified
By focus of mind and high skill of hand-
Does the lore of personage so rarefied
Not the stamp of perpetuity demand?
Thence, quill in one hand, I submit a bard –
Your hand in my other be my reward.

©Asiman Panda 2017