Autumn's Ballerina

twirling wind trumpets

golden leaves rustle in waltz

veiled autumn tiptoes

A traditional Japanese Haiku- It is a representation of poetry about nature with three lines using 5,7,5 syllables respectively. 

Latent Desires

A world of illusions procreates

blinking sustained delusions

existence shivering in probabilities

memories afloat in traces astray

If only I were a meteor 

I'd cross those barriers

to merge their essence for you

Surviving beliefs proclaim strengths

astounding errors of hurled conquests

a seed of faith cocoons itself

in hazy blue dreams

If only I were a blissful rainbow

I'd splash hopeful colours

melting through the breeze for you

Dark hallucinations evaporate

shrines of intuition exasperate

realities hinder imaginations

locking invisible worlds in mist

If only I were a feather in clouds

I'd wipe the dust of charades

sweeping showers of love for you

Mortal moments stride along

paranoia of wanderer remains

wondering if forever sustains

a light to caress tender heart

If only I were a pious rivulet

I'd wash away those scars in flow

gleaming reborn leaves for you

Superfluous battles of anxieties

pointing ancient spears of malady

shattering trust of naivety

masked crowds leading to agony

If only I were a lighthouse

I'd guide your fears in storms

projecting lucid emotions for you

Sometimes I wonder if I really belong

to a world lost in speculations

If only I were a nurtured moment

If only I were a frivolous feeling

If only I were an eternal story

I'd orchestrate a timeless journey

mesmerizing parallel universes for you

My love I am just a heart

striving to breathe in reality

scattered along my latent desires

all I am is a scintillating memory

tapping your silence in whispers

to hold you in my arms maybe

Let Me Be

Baffled by viscous thoughts of life
    you traverse a road with rocks in strife,
 a faint whisper echoes in your broken sleep
    through topaz waves dreams emerge to reap.
 A heart holding an innocent lucid streak
    hums simmering desires to reach their peak.

  If pain overflows tender souls in dark
    a voice cuddles their ember agony spark,
  incandescent memories calling you in glee
    a lullaby dissolving that flame...let me be.

  Death could be a passenger you'd meet someday
   approaching your ship on a taciturn bay,
 what if hurricanes engulf a stormy sea
   a lifeboat to rescue that ship...let me be.

 Words wrapped in paranoia wavering bleak
   failing to unlock scared doors that are weak,
 your shriveled wishes waiting to be free
   a key of soothing answers at dusk...let me be.

 A love that shimmers in dusky brown eyes
   amazed yet reluctant burning in draped guise,
 a tender melody to hold it forever I see
   a night that melts your heart...let me be.

  Darling, you've waged a valiant war for long
    warrior of veiled emotions, you are too strong,
  reveal unmasked layers of tenderness, they plea
    a healing zenith of pearly stars...let me be.

A Veteran's Journey

A bag full of medals and honors by his side,

he holds it cuddled to his uniform with pride-

legacy of those years.

Amnesia plays with his fading identity,

he wants an abode of lasting serenity-

struggling against his fears.

Ghosts of valiant shadows emerging from war drums,

his trembling nights still echo haunting gloomy strums-

deep scars of blazing spears.

Wars have destroyed his paradise in insane sparks,

he finds a tranquil home to remove raging marks-

hopes dance behind his tears.

Blissful mellows wrap his sizzling pain in starlight,

an old age home welcomes a lost glorious knight-

veteran with new peers.

*This poem has been written using Tail-Rhyme form which is a French poetry form that begins with either a couplet or a triplet of lines that consist of rhymed lines. This set of either a couplet or triplet is then followed by a "tail", which is the third or fourth line that does not rhyme with the couplet or triplet that preceded it. This tail line tends to be shorter in length than those lines within the couplet or triplet. This type of poetry can also be used with stanza, known as a tail-rhyme stanza, but in these pieces, all of the tail lines rhyme with each other. The use of tail rhymes in literature was often found in several different Middle English romance pieces. First there is a rhyming couplet then a third and shorter line. There is another couplet that rhymes with the first one and the sixth, shorter line that rhymes with the third line. This gives us a suggested pattern : aabccbddbeebffb*

Fragrant Old Memory

 My first visit to that old secluded town
    remains afresh in memories turning brown,
  from faded pages I breathe in the breeze
    aroma of moist maple in crevices to freeze.
  White ferns floating midair in pairs
    en route hilltop as I ascended the stairs.
  Through shades of birch trees sunlight peeped
     a distant rhapsody of echoing fog heaped,
  I remember mother's hand in my fingers
    amazement of her soothing caress still lingers.
  Ambrosial showers of mystic blue starlight
    she'd narrate to me ancient stories at night,
   it was then that she'd gifted me my muse
     when her beautiful lessons dripped to fuse.
  "Draped love pouring to melt aching hearts
    believe in something completely not in parts,
   for you can be whoever you choose to become
     your reality, your acts to others will hum,
   if you stumble and fall to depths too low
       you'll learn to rise beautifully and glow".
 The only visit to that place still springs
    my strongest memory that spreads white wings,
 to drench me in her uplifting mellow to heal
    my tattered spirit whenever too lost I feel,
  guiding me to rise with vapors of aurora 
    my heart still resides in her magenta aura.

She Will Rise

Her dreams entangled in twisted ropes

perturbed fate of banished desires

innocence shriveled in raging fires

they haven't known her bubbling hopes.

Her existence exhausted in spiral cobwebs

blazing her world in exploding scars

yet wounded faith reaches soothing stars

in her festering pain from tides to ebbs.

Her harmless thoughts chained in fears

seemingly offensive to societal norms

will find an abiding shore through storms

history screams the truth over her tears.

She immerses herself in fearful showers

hurtful memories drowning her rugged mind

beneath oceans of paranoia she will find

enclaves of scarlet heavenly augmented powers.

Her frozen blood begins bubbling her cries

simmered courage sprinkled in layered hues

crushed valour floats in mellows to fuse

beyond afflicted pain in freedom she will rise.

Divinity reflects through her crystal eyes

splashing colours of flaming crimson tune

perfumed kindness drenching sapphire dune

she smiles, with her wings she will rise.

Preserved Melody

On a smoky grey October dusk

ensnared by a timeless musk

my heart met those dulcet tides

mellows engulfing it in strides.

A frivolous soul I'd always been

a quarter of this world I'd seen

yet the universe felt strikingly adrift

my spirits looking for a stellar shift.

I stumbled upon an obsolete alley

the rhythms of an enchanted valley,

a vintage soul born in this world

my dreams in ancient pages curled.

Wavering anxieties in shivering breeze

a pair of eyes, my hands did freeze,

you found me, pondering over 'Hello'

a stranger on a bridge of humming cello.

"Bel Air" draping my notes these years

burning heart whispered trembling fears,

enticing glances through my soul anew

my dreams crystallized to pearly dew.

From "Hot summer nights" to "mid July"

tenderness and strength together did fly,

you strummed the chords of my chime

wandering in years emerging with time.

Bare dreams sliding out of a cage

your touch simmered stars on my stage.

"Electric soul" on "diamonds of the Sun"

heavenly velvet caressing me like none.

So I sprinkled a preserved old charm

I'd kept it for someone like you so warm,

I sang a scarlet song on a golden fern

you've calmed the storms of my silent yearn.

With a love so soft and strong as ours

I'd write ballads for you in lonely hours,

all I know in times that ever grow blue

my love remains "Young and Beautiful" for you.

I have been influenced by many artists and outgrown those influences in poetry over these years. A few remain close to my heart till now. I enjoy singing the songs by Adele, London Grammar, Agnes Obel and Lana Del Rey whenever I feel like. This is a tribute to one of the few songs that has remained with me since the October evening when I had first heard it. 'Young and Beautiful' was the song that introduced me to the extremely artistic contemporary poetess and singer 'Lana Del Rey'. Immediately making way to my heart, it made me realize that vintage touch to music and poetry is still nurtured by a few artists. Needless to say, her songs with deep metaphors and classic references have been my solace to travel to other frequencies. This particular song has been special because I'd preserved it for someone who'd melt my heart. This is also the song I've sung the maximum number of times when asked to perform.