irony

i need a night to stay awake
i need colours to get lost in an illusion
i need a polarized world to formulate an answer
that is what is expected out of me,
to represent a dichotomy
an aberration
a curiosity
that finally establishes a tomb
and an altar of life
that wants me dead. 

the sum

did you know happiness is a summation

a progression,

a distraction,

an obstruction,

an escape,

did you know that happiness is always at risk

but it still is an exercise, a vocation?

of asserting your own existence to your being,

the one who is lost in a quagmire of possibilities

you can't express happiness in a piece of paper

but it is tangible

seen in your actions

and the exhaustion that follows.

did you know about happiness secretly?

a secret you wouldn't let go of,

you will rather deny all knowledge,

gently laugh over the prospect

of being called a cynic

than admitting that you

have been happy

all this while.

Exposed

We still are not sure who declared the war on our nation in this Age of peace. But all of this came as a big shock for many of us. Someone even compared it to a neutron bomb, in which all the structures, inanimate objects stay intact but all life slowly disappears. On that evening we saw millions of stars, which kept getting bigger by the minute. It took a while for the Guardians of the Ether to realize that these were humanoids, all photographers, who had been para-dropped from giant skyships, 20 kilometers above the surface. After floating in the upper atmosphere for an hour or so, these capsules started descending over our cities. I have been told that these capsules have the capacity to align with Earth’s rotation, fall exactly at a designated place, much like those laser-guided bombs from our savage days.

These humanoids did not spare anyone, took pictures of all the clandestine deals and embarrassing moments of the high and mighty and poorest of the foot-soldiers that held on to the idea of this state. These pictures had all the fodder to make one gigantic satirical film of our time -- from the most embarrassing pictures of politicians having an illicit affair, President of a Corporation a

nd his hidden wealth to thousands of pictures of bureaucrats happily sleeping during their working hours. One of my friends was captured in urinating inside a neighbor’s garden. They immediately relayed these pictures to the rival nation’s broadcast channels. Everyone mocked this nation and its people who were somewhat complicit in its failure as a state. We tried a similar maneuver but by that time an asteroid was at our doorstep, and everyone panicked, including us thinking that we were going to be obliterated. Now there is no shaming, no nation, no control … absolute savagery and it is beautiful.  

Satellite

When you built an altar in the sky
you built a moon,
you extracted it like a tooth,
and it floated in front of my eyes
for a brief lifetime
and now you send your minions 
to fetch rocks from her.

flame versus sun

your sun may come,
but we wont stop bumming
around the flame
that casts a shadow
over the valley
on the darkest night

Horror and humour

For those who experienced teleportation, they have not been able to explain that moment -- when they were disintegrated and then reintegrated. Some described that moment as the most primeval, peaceful and perhaps, a state of non-movement. One said, "After reintegrating, I drew energy from that primeval state. even if it was for that moment." He has immediately dismissed as a follower of a cult. Another felt that he was inside running through the forest of his own hair, then he slipped and soon he found himself hanging on the edge of his toe nail. Someone listening to his experience, shouted from the back saying he was high during teleportation.

There was a nine year-old boy too. He carried an illustrated book version of a 400 year-old cinematic curiosity, The Fly. The boy just wanted to experience the disintegration of a story about teleportation as it was understood in the 20th century, while the machine disintegrated him too. Before he went inside the chamber he smiled and told his mother: "Yesterday's horror will be today's joke".

Memory in an image

I walked all over time,

prayed that it must not stop,

until I am filled with memories

like those new cameras

storing everything

in its mythical pixels,

negotiating the presence 

of light for every small detail

that entered through the diaphragm 

of my soul. 

Longing

the sea is a lot calmer today, she said
the slow surf over the long beach
drew her even more swiftly
and after a while,
when suddenly she stopped
a big circle of water swallowed her feet

listickler

today has been declared as the field day for making listicles
whaa! what are listicles? Are they hanging low? 
nooooo! they fall on your head. whatever you're reading turns into an event.
here's to all the listicles.