My Favorite Book

Many books fill my cupboard –
Each one, a portal to another world –
Books of stories and fairy tales
And books of verse to brighten the day.

But the one whose pages I adore,
The book I love forevermore
Was a gift by my grandmother –
A cookbook that she’d put together.

This book is my true blue friend –
My soul and tummy medicine.
Its pages are full of ingredients
And the methods of cooking them.

It doesn’t matter how my day has been,
If I’m over the moon or feeling sullen,
The food I make is fingerlickin’,
For there’s a recipe for every occasion.

This is a book I treasure the most.
The more I read, the more I explore.
It leads me down a neverending road
Of baking, frying, steaming, and more.

And what leaves me truly astonished
Is that there’s nothing like errors in it –
For an error is actually an opportunity
For me to cook up a yummy new dish.

Once Upon A Wall

The hunt is on,
And in the grasslands,
Stands a solitary mammoth.

The hunters close in
Silently and downwind
With coordinated movements.

At the leader’s signal,
They launch the attack
With their pikes and spears.

The hunt is a success,
And there’s enough food
For the entire settlement.

Later, they illustrate
The entire event
On the walls of their cave.

Maybe, to celebrate,
Or maybe as a guide
For future generations.

Walls – they may be built
Of lifeless stones,
Or bricks and cement.

Yet, they are alive
And are full of tales.
Yes, they, too, have a voice!

Like the walls of my home
That are due a renovation –
Of paint, a new coat.

As I unhang the photographs
And the paintings.
I feel myself going back

In time, to the memories
That I somehow left behind
And reminisce all the stories.

These are no longer objects
Of mere decorations,
But of my family, little snippets –

Of the times we cherished,
Of days spent together,
Of the people we miss.

This is the inheritance
That I’d leave behind
For my future generations.

Each one with a narrative
Very much like the drawings
On the cave walls in the ice age.

Is It?

Is it just a coincidence
That I keep running into you?
Our paths cross with persistence
Whenever I least expect it, too.

Is it just a coincidence
Or is it a divine intervention?
Is there a purpose in each instance
With a beautiful hidden intention?

Is it just a coincidence
That you make me so happy?
I am filled with a love so intense,
And you leave me head over heels.

Is it just a coincidence
That with you, I become different?
And it doesn’t need any evidence –
I bloom with your smiles so radiant.

Is it just a coincidence
Or are we meant to be together?
In this universe, and every dimension,
Are you my love, always and forever?

The Odyssey

The sailor set off on the ship,
A huge brown one with sails.
Cold and gusty were the winds.
White-crested were the waves.

Soon, they were in the high seas,
And the blue water turned white,
White as milk with blue frothy tips,
It rocked the ship from side to side.

The sailor rushed onto the deck,
But tripped on a barnacle and fell!
A pair of eyes peered back at him,
For he was standing on a black shell

Of a giant crab with giant red claws
That snapped at him as he gaped!
He dashed from side to side to dodge,
And tried very hard to escape!

Just as he thought his end was nigh,
There formed a twister in the sea.
It pulled him up into the sky so high
That the ocean’s edges he could see.

Then suddenly, he was free falling,
And a scream rose up to his throat.
He saw the white-blue waves rising,
And nothing on which he could float.

His screams did seem a bit familiar.
I thought I’d seen him somewhere.
Wait a minute! Is that me, oh dear,
Caught in the midst of a nightmare?!

Yes, I have never been happier
To have woken up in my warm bed –
A safe and sound landlubber
With an adventurous odyssey to pen.

The Yes Day

Yes, there are so many days
When the world celebrates.
Be it a festival or a relationship,
There’s a day dedicated to it.

Yes, I, too, want to create
A day that we all can celebrate.
A day on which we all agree
To say a “yes” to everything.

Yes, a “yes” day is needed
For all the people to see –
A “yes” brings opportunities.
It welcomes all possibilities.

Yes, I accept myself –
My strengths and weaknesses,
My past and my present,
And every fleeting moment.

Yes, I accept all I have,
And, also, all that I lack –
My blessings and my wishes
And everything that’s unfulfilled.

Yes, I accept all my days
Of happiness and sadness –
Days when I won and also lost
And the ones that bore a cost.

Yes, I accept the people I met –
Those that stayed; those that left.
With some, I laughed and shared;
Some left me broken and in tears.

Yes, today I celebrate
Everything that gave me shape –
They made me what I am today;
To them, a “thanks” is what I say.

Yes, a “yes” day would be great
If everyone celebrated it every day.
The world would be a happy place
As peace, in every home, would grace.