Where Goes The Shadow?

The tired earth tosses slowly her sides
Inching closer to slumber with measured strides
The black city-ghosts grow taller, but weak
The birds all fly west, with spirited shrieks

The body goes to rest, the mind, to squander,
The weary go home, the homeless go wander
The fallen go back, the hopeful go on
But 'tis only a soft-glow, what once brightly shone

The long fingers of the Sun are done caressing the shore
The day of Life is done asking for more
Its quiver now empty, where goes the arrow?
The flame now goes out, where goes the shadow?

-Amit

The Closet

You were away that night.

I tip-toed into your room
and opened your closet
rummaging through this and that

I found him hiding
behind some old knick-knacks
on the third shelf on the right.

Afraid to speak,
looking scared
in spite of the perpetual grin on his face;
I offered him some courage from the bottle in my pocket
He drank it all up as I stared into his empty sockets
And then he spoke.
We spoke.
About this and that
and we laughed
till I innocently slipped in the Question
and he slipped, replied.
Then stopped.

You were away that night.
You, who will never return.

-Amit

Pause;

Pause;

rewind;
walking back, backwards, behind
the gate, up the steps,
rushing backward frame by frame
yellow leaves floating up,
attaching to whence they came
breathing out, and then in
unlike how it should have been
up the passage, through the door
till i'm back face-to-face
with your
mesmerizing eyes;
I was...

Pause;

The Last Waltz

The spotlight's on,
we're figure-skating to a song,
the thrill of the ride's just coming on
as we ease into a gentle bend
wind in my face, hair stands on end
i get a feeling something's wrong
and my mind is screaming
hold on
hold on to this
but u let go
and i let go

and we move on to other things
a graceful turn, we're still afloat
as we glide across this big ring
but did you notice too, on different boats
did time just drag us with its flow
or did i miss a trick you seemed to know

and as i twirl
and as you twirl
and just as we are waltzing by
a turn of fate, i catch your eye
and in that moment i ask you why
a thousand beats my heart it skips
and time slows down as you reply
"Dude, i'm sorry! My hand just slipped"

The Flight

At least nine feet above the tallest man
he lords over the crowd from where he stands
watching waiters criss-crossing the room
ladies clinking glasses and men blowing fumes
his sharp eye catches the one to impress
(kohl-lined eyes, in the black dress)
He squares his shoulders and adjusts his bow
settles his hair and gets to ready to go
step by step down the flight of stairs
gradually losing his height and airs
finally standing at the foot of the flight
the crowd now stares down at his brief height
the scared little boy adjusts his shorts and specs
suddenly wary of strange aunts' pecks
he skips down the hall to find his dad
and ice cream and soda and fun to-be-had

Red Light!

Are you me, beggar-man
Are you me, homeless child,
walking the road
with a different plan
Is that me, with a limp
and no place to call home
There, is that me,
with a different chromosome
Is that me, selling toys
at the corner, selling joys
without a roof on my head,
and the streets for a bed
Is that me, with a whip and a painted zeal
cracking it up for a decent meal
Does the hand with the bowl belong to me
Is that me at the crossing fast asleep
Is the teary eye mine
that's staging a play
to somehow get by another day

As I roll up my window
and the lights turn green
I notice the old man who has been
standing around
with eyes so gray and hair so brown
animatedly pointing to what i half-ate
with a smile that hides an unkind fate
Is that me, is that me
with my luck turned down
Is that me, is that me
I ruminate

Love Story

All my waking hours spent
i see you 'fore whatever fate it sends
to fill my day
day-dreaming never about you
but yet you're there with every blink i take
and all the falls i stake
you bleed for me
just as i have cried
each time you tried and fought to be with me
this is complicated
don't ever think you're underrated
but you, you will never see
it's just a state of me
that i accept
except, this isn't love, and i dare not dig you,
don't ever think we're free
or if we'll ever be
the fact remains that you and i
will swing together, see the world together
and sense and sensibility
will be pervaded and captivated
like it always used to be
each time i snuck away with you
to the million places you led me secretly
cos our attachment goes far beyond
than love and all its chronic bonds
and everybody knows,
you're mine, i take you with me
where'r the road it goes
and die to feel you breathe with me,
my long nose

-Amit