Dreams in Orange

In the orchard dreaming;
of crimson fruit,
Lay I,by the river gleaming
on that unswept route.
The wind brushed soft,
careful not to stir
reveries of a longing expressed oft--
waking in deep slumber.
The sun golden without blaze
shone down on the fall.
Me,on the maples,sprawling in daze,
My little form, my feet bare and small
--prostrate on my pretty bed.
No sound to my ears--
Deft I was led;
with eyes bereft of tears.
Yet I could feel,
Yet I could see,
My cuts so heal,
How deep they be.
My Heart heard far away--
that lovely orchard weeping;
and leaves to each other say:
"Nothing is for the keeping."
And so,to my half-sense.
loss turned sharp;
To rouse from somnolence dense
Unto waking life's harp.
But I dare not budge
from my secret muse--
To the world which held a grudge;
against these falser hues.
And so pass my days--
in the gently wasting sun
at that melancholy place
until life was done.
When sudden,I hear,my lost love
And so,I wake,
I run to the meadow above
To see by the sad lake--
the light of my eyes,
And sobbing, it I hold
Then I realise--
My hands empty, and cold.
"Ah! a dream! Bitter and sweet!"
Say I, laughing loud;
And walk my bruised feet
back to the autumnal crowd.

Late reflections

They Leave us, those charms of life

What stays behind, is a ceaseless strife

Between memories unforgotten, and oblivious despair

Still we breathe in its tepid air –

Life is all about forgetting that which passed, they say…

Hence we move on, and to our dismay –

We wonder where to Life is getting..

Whether its worth the obliteration, the forgiving, the forgetting.

There

There! I saw you there last night!
Inward, where my angels I keep;
You weren’t changed a bit, only a difference slight—
Once there, each morning I awoke - Now there, in sleep.

Why! you looked just the same,
Why couldn’t I tell it was you?
Dear, So ill of me! So lame!
I could see nothing but the blue.

And hushed, you passed by me,
Echoless, you slipped away,
Never could I hear, Never could I see;
How overlooked in my way-
My beating heart, as crushed it lay.

Tell me, oh lost one;
Whence did you stray?
What came upon you to abandon?
Why, my dear, could you not stay?

I ask the skies each night
To confess their secrets, kept pristine;
Sweet or sad, wrong or right.
Hoping there would be some light, in oblivion passed unseen.

Some light that could lead me—
To where you now dwell
Some light in which I could see;
If everything with you is well.

--As well as it used to be,
Back when dreams were dreams;
Back when I had you with me.
Back when I did not long to drift, along those drifting streams.

And I was mundane, and you were too.
And to our pains, we lent little heed
When we could forget, and start anew
Back when I could laugh, and happily so to death bleed.

Homecoming

Night, this night, how pleasant and sweet!

There stand in the vase pristine and neat—

The roses, giddy, with fragrances their own

No flower stands withered, no leaf alone.

The hours, they glide with sanguine bliss

As enamored, as love, as quick as a kiss!

The firelight makes merry, joyous and warm.

And the darkness comforts, so unusual it’s form!

The furniture lies bare, smiling, content.

The moments in gladdening apprehensions are spent.

The mind stays engrossed, in thoughts good and fair.

And the heart finds peace, ah! such delighted air!

Night,this night,something lovely about this night.

All nights are dark – this one, bright!

Let, dear god, let this night be

Let me be here, away from me.

And from all that I love, and owe my life to.

From all the happiness I had, and the pains I went through;

When I loved them and lost; god, for the tired heart’s sake

Let this night stay, for I love nothing about it, it will not ache.

Of an unfinished Dream

And so I dreamt by the edge sweet
of a brook so blue--
A dream that was incomplete;
and incomplete it came true.

What I saw, I could not tell
t'was lovely, t'was pleasing
And I felt my heart compel
And my heartbeats ceasing

I saw the days untired
And the nights young
Little things I desired;
To pretty branches strung.

That dream, I say, t'was incomplete
and incomplete it came true
Until I woke up to the morning heat;
To the morning heat, and saw you.

Dear...

Dear, you must learn---
To not so much at heart burn,
To not so ache, and cry not so
To love and live, and then forego.

Dear, you must see---
That this world, and you and me,
are but hearts, that cease to beat
That all will end, all bitter and sweet.

Dear, you must understand---
That the sky, and the land,
breathe in changing airs, stay in constant unrest
To keep what is theirs, yet as they try their best
-- To save what they have from waning and dying
Hence lessens not their pain, nor their trying--
To let change not change, to let things as they be
And then comes the knowing, so quick after the reverie--
That what they love is their own, and will stay.
Then left alone, they weep in utter, profound dismay.

Dear, do not look at me so--
Dear, my dear, don't you know?
That what I say, I myself do not keep to...
Dear, I Love and lose, like you, I weep too.

Conclusion

T'was delicate and little
Livid, painful to see
balmy to touch, and brittle
A soul to be set free.

I brought it home to love
It did still waste away
So to the heavens above--
I my head turned to pray.

All it needed was care and aid,
So my heart knew, and I kept trying;
To keep its pulse, but it did fade,
Lord! it kept on dying!

On my lap it rested...
With labored breath, and a broken whine
Death, the air it had infested.
It fixed its gaze upon me, and I struggled for their shine.

The seraphic look it bore,
And its golden eye
Like the days of yore:
They closed without a sigh.

The little chest ceased heaving,
So sudden it did!
I should’ve known it was leaving...
But Reason from me, and I from reason hid.

My fingers, they felt the body so cold
Stone it was, that angelic face!
And like the swift awakening of some terror old;
I, scattered on the ground, horror around me in embrace.

And then I wished to see it no more
That child, that form, so pure, so frail!
Lord! How greatly it battled to stay ashore!
Lord! How greatly it did fail!

How it stormed that night...
Trees sprawled uprooted.
And the earth was wet and just right
For a burial so suited!

And there it was laid,
Wrapped in possessions sad
Resigned to its repose, to degrade--
Into the loam that clad.

Lord, they tell me so much;
Of your deeds, noble and high,
Lord, They speak of your existence, and things such
Lord! How wretchedly they lie!