Not Digital Beings

Between "have"s and "have not"s

Between being there and absent slots

There's a bit more to messages we leave

Than the mere dashes and dots

There's more to the unspelled

Than what has been spelled

A dash of emotions...that's always there

But has been withheld 

A rush of feelings

And a flow of thoughts 

There's an entire cosmos

Between the ones and noughts

That's where art is born

And stories and poems are spun

When the heart skips a beat 

And have dreams in it adorned

For humans are not just beings

With flesh, blood, and bones

A true human is beyond that

Enriched with empathy and consideration 

With a heart, a soul, feelings, and notions

And beyond figures...

With borrowed and perceived digital emotions

Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Views

In the grim heat of an arid parched dune

She is the heart of a sanguine June

Among the chorus voices

That lauded just the moon

She adores the entire cosmos

And the sun has her swoon

In the illusion of the rainbow roses

The verses let the thorns speak

The Peony too has braved winters

But she sings of spring in a voice,

That has never been meek

The words have kept them alive

But they string them in moulds of pain

Disguised in robes of what-they-call-love

They damn them in poems

Time and again

But she loves without bounds

Even though her words are often sans sounds

Love has been Life and Life has been Love

She has cherished them, with words from her trove

With Love, her dreams are pearled

Perhaps she is not from the same world

Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Never-Ending Pages: ଅସରନ୍ତି ପୃଷ୍ଠା ସବୁ

ଚିରନ୍ତନ ସେ ପ୍ରେମ ପୁସ୍ତକର

ଅସରନ୍ତି ପୃଷ୍ଠା ସବୁ ଓଲଟାଇବା ବେଳେ

ଦୃଷ୍ଟି ରହିଗଲା ସେହି ପୃଷ୍ଠାଟିରେ

ପୃଷ୍ଠାର ନାମ "ଜୀବନ"...

 

ଅସୀମ ବହିର ସିମୀତ ସେ ଜୀବନ ଫର୍ଦ୍ଦରେ

ଅନେକ ଗାଥା ଅନେକ କାହାଣୀ

କିଛି ଇତି ହୁଏ, କିଛି ରହିଯାଏ ସେମିତି

କିନ୍ତୁ ସରେ ସେ ଯାତ୍ରା,

ଫେରେ ସେ ପଥ, ଦେଇ ଲେଉଟାଣି...

 

କିନ୍ତୁ ପ୍ରେମ...

ଅନନ୍ତ ଅସରନ୍ତି ଅଦ୍ଭୁତ ଚିର ଚଇତି

ନା ଅଛି ତା'ର ଆଦି,

ଅନ୍ତ ବା ତା'ର ହେବ କେମିତି!?

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A little something:

They say... Love is a page in the book of Life. But I believe, Life is a page in the book of Love. Even though the pages of Life is limited, this book called "Love" is never-ending, eternal.

It started with the thought: While skimming through the pages of (a book called) "Love", I stumbled upon a page which spelled "Life".

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Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

When Rain Comes

On a vivid Friday afternoon 

Of those warm spring days

The condensation drops trickled down

From his coffee cup

As he shifted his gaze 

 

There in the distance

Upon the chest of the cerulean skies

The infant clouds chuckled 

As they ambled and met his eyes

 

His eyes smiled but had a hint of forlorn

They longed for something 

The clouds could have sworn

 

The zephyr whispered

To the clouds with a shy smile

It's the rainbow he wishes to see

Their destiny's taking quite a while

 

The clouds replied

As they took another stride

 

The wait will not be long enough

And certainly will not be short either

Tell him to wait for the rains

And not to let his hope wither

 

For when the rain comes

And drizzles upon the flowers  

The sunshine too shall dance

And dabble her feet in the golden showers

 

Ask him to wait

With that love in his heart

For when the rain comes 

The sunrays too

Shall play their part

 

The word of the clouds

The zephyr did relay

His eyes glimmered

As he smiled at the day

 

For forever with her 

I will wait with adore

Through springs and summers

And through rains across the shore

 

I will wait for the day

With a heart that hums

When the sun shines

And when the rain comes

Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Memory-filled Pages

It was a land of magic

A land of unknown

But more familiar than anything

She had ever seen or known

In gardens of possibilities 

The seas let her sail

Every walk through the flowing pages

Told her about a dreamy tale

Words so soft and eternal 

They weaved in a potent loom

Like between shadow and sun

When the loving Azaleas bloom

The essence of the earthy vanilla

Lighted her imagination in the cozy nooks

Where she delved in the memory-filled pages

Of her treasure chest of books

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A little something:

Azaleas, considered as a birth flower in some regions, signifies happiness, passion, and positivity. While most flowering plants either bloom yearlong or in a particular season, Azaleas bloom and bloom again: in Spring, a part of Summer, and sometimes during Autumns. This aspect of the flowers are motivating and inspiring. In addition, I find it lovely that they too like the morning Sun.

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Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Ek Baar Aur

वह सिर्फ एक तस्वीर थी

या तसव्वुर की कोई परछाई,

मालूम न था मुझे ठीक से,

फिर भी ...

एक बार और मुड़ के देखने की इच्छा हुई  ।

है वही आसमान सी खुशबू

आंखों में कशिश...जैसे सागर की गहराई,

शायद हजारों बार देखा,

फिर भी...

एक बार और मुड़ के देखने की इच्छा हुई ।

लबों पे वह दिलकश हंसी

जिससे नवंबर की धूप भी थी शरमाई,

भला भूले वह कैसे कोई,

फिर भी...

एक बार और मुड़ के देखने की इच्छा हुई ।

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English Translation:

Was it just a picture

Or a figment of my imagination 

I was not too sure

Still..

I wished to see it once more.

I could smell the fragrance of the sky in there

Those alluring eyes...feels like the depths of the ocean

Have witnessed it a thousand times maybe

Still...

I wished to see it once more.

The lips adorned that charming smile

Which makes even the November sunshine to shy away (or feel less confident)

Who would ever forget that

Still...

I wished to see it once more.

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Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Deemed Different!

Do I see nothing? 

Or may be hear nothing? 

Oh no no! They can be mimicked.

Possibly you feel nothing!

I feel nothing? 

But my heart still beats.

Oh no no!

It's just another thumping sound.

It really means nothing!

Why does it have to mean nothing? 

It might just be something

For I do not hear, I feel my heart beating.

I feel the rush of happiness 

And the blush of Love

My eyes maybe illegible

And tears invisible 

But my soul...

It cries the emotions thereof.

It might not be what it seems. 

For your actions for perfection

belong to different themes. 

For you speak of bliss and light

And the world relates to tales of dreary sight.

Even "belong" seems to not belong

For you are different, so different 

Like the lyrics of an alien-made song.

That came to me as a blessing 

But was taken as a curse

By the world that tried to coerce

My melody to their different verse

I see the beauty of the morning

And feel the depth of the charming night

My words smell the dew's purity

And innocence of the flowers

That dance with delight

There maybe a sense of fear

But never of loss

For the night maybe dark

But it leads to a morning of hopeful gloss

Be as different as it may seem to the world

But my words of Love

Have been my dreamy abode

On and on, I will move on that road. 

For the catharsis my thoughts seek

They have, upon me, bestowed.

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A little something:

The thoughts for this piece have been there with me since a few years now. When I came across the prompt "Catharsis", I knew the time has come. 

Catharsis, the term, has several interpretations depending upon the context. The popular interpretation, as I have seen,  is to express deep-seated emotions through some medium, mostly through arts. 

In this piece, I have used a conversational style of representation. The context used here is primarily based on 2 different mediums,viz. literature and theater.

The aim is to let go of the things that have been pulling you back or are too burdensome for you. The first step is acceptance of the burden that you carry. In the process of letting go, you end up losing things, and that loss is the harbinger of new beginnings. The outcome also becomes the catalyst of the process  And I find this beautiful, poetic.

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Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

The Morning Spell

I woke up to the fragrance 

Of a nautical twilight 

And witnessed the smiling cuckoo's voice

Streaming through the room's skylight

A moment, and some more, passed by

As I waited there 

Awaiting nothing

But I let the dreams fly

The tingling bells of my window chime

Chimed and clinked and twinkled

To the touch of the first rays of the sun

They sprinkled

Tales of the journey and moments of yore

That the sun listened

From far across the shore

They entailed the stories of the smiles

That jingled my heart strings

From three thousand and some miles

And I almost hear the voice

That melts my soul

And lets my heart rejoice

Upon the caress of the breeze

The wind chime calls again

And sings the song's bridge

That runs through its vein

With a smile in my heart

And dewy glimmer in my eyes

I go on with the day

As I glance towards the skies 

The skies seemed fine

But were still under a spell

Possibly of that smile

And of the tingling bell

Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Of Desires

Of the thousand desires

That rules the human mind

Some are flaunted

And some confined 

Then there are those 

That rule beyond leaps and bounds 

Of mind, of heart, 

And of the eternal soul

Amongst the cosmic sounds

A desire to desire

Or be desired

Desires wane

When inspiration gets tired

But somewhere down in the dark

Lies a lone waning desire

That has stepped back for a while

In the busy hustling fire

It was fiery like the sun's core

And loving like it's rays

The waning desire was masked

In the shadows of the ecliptic phase

That phase, too shall pass

When the hope shines its rays

For the sunlight wanes for hours

And the moon wanes for days

Burn like the sun 

With all your might

Or glow like the moon 

With borrowed light

But the light will wax once more

Keep the faith

And believe in your core

Copyright © 2024 One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved