Untailor

Stitched of a false mask,

buttoned with colourful threads-

I'm needled to last.

Hold me not liable if I don't live up to the label.

An honourable suit weighs much.

Tough to iron out wrinkled ends.

Leave me untaiolred,untouched.

Rolling Marbles

On a quiet street corner, boys roll marbles.

Nor heat nor dust can pause those sweet thuds

which resonate off the wall

till the shadows stretch long.

Cleaving

Err not these inks ere they vaporize.

My quill has raised the spirits that once were razed.

I write to be wise but you think me otherwise.

Eyes aged with rum, burn every page-

wonder what's stronger when this heart of mine bleeds.

Love that pours from your jar, seldom ajar

or tears that needle when you leave me in needs.

A Question

With a heavy load he trots to school.

Bulging knowledge but shoulders droop.

Here it ends, here it begins-

yet another day of battle with books.

How this chore that once brought amuse

when thrill aroused just by peruse-

has now become a substance to gauge,

and joy remains only in muse.

Devil exam creeps in the slumber,

keeps eyes open to chase some numbers.

A cruel race without a finish line.

One not learns but just remembers.

Little spider is caught in it's own web-

needs an hour-glass that is sand-less.

Fox (Tanka)

A pair of green eyes

hounds its prey deep in jungle

shadows every move

till the hunt appears close

camouflages the intent.

Ebb And Flow

I ask the sea to reveal her secrets,

but hear not the music when she sings.

I see the ripple that every wave creates,

and sight not the offer that each tide brings.

Tasteless is life in absence of mystery,

and lonely is a pebble without a shore.

Why be empty of love and humour?

sea remains unchanged as waters ebb and flow.

The Falcon

High atop a snowy mountain,

air filled with hunter's silence,

alert to it's foxy prey-

the royal falcon waits.

A serpent wriggles unaware

of the danger that circles above-

senses the shadow a wee bit late,

becomes the food in jungle's bowl.

The falcon dives at a matchless speed,

talons drawn for fiery need.

Pounces on the slippery snake-

how so venomous, now so pale.

Beware of the flight of the falcon-

swift, fierce and eager to kill.