Are you alive?

“Is this disease the worst”? Medically speaking, maybe not. Statistically speaking, of course not, given the mortality rate. But is our mortality in this society only decided by our heartbeat, respiratory rate, or a pulse?

Try walking down the road again. Of course not in the towns and cities were it is still not permitted. Wear three masks if you have to, have a sanitizer in your pocket and rub your hands with that sticky stuff like the flies do when they find a stale food. Do it after every little thing, walking down the stairs, reaching the Grocery, selecting your essential items, waiting for the Grocer to pay him, and then you realise maybe its the only human contact you have got in months, while handing him over the money. Are you alive?

You have to be. There’s no other choice. You staying alive is necessary for the people who depend on your earning, in this godforsaken state of economy. You cannot show any sign of weakness mentally or physically at all. Hold back that sneeze that has been tingling your nerves for the last seven minutes while you were crawling down your regular street. One single slip from your nose, and that’s it. Familiar shady eyes caressing you from head to toe, known lips humming some strange vile words from beneath the masks of various colours in known, strange voices, and of course, “social distancing” increasing from three, six feet to ten, twelve maybe. Are you alive?

Some people with regular enemies like asthma, allergy, they are just praying silently inside, hoping their bodies won’t betray them in these dark times. Their fight won’t be seen with pity or compassion anymore, but with suspicious, fearful eyes. They are afraid they might face what the British faced against Gandhi. But then again, where are you supposed to retreat from your own home? Are you alive? No we are not. What this disease killed, is the small flickering trust that humans had for each other. No one can be blamed. Like in those zombie movies.

Stay safe people, apocalypse is here. Try not to sneeze.

The Deal

Featured

It wasn’t a normal day, I had had enough.
If my eyes shifted just an arc more, my own breath I would have snuffed.
The world had jumped in the toilet with its bleeding hand reaching for the flush.
Thoughts were pouring through me like shoppers on a sale spree, I just couldn’t handle the rush.
My brain screaming for help, blood boiling thorough the skull window, with my final gasp I called,
“Hear me, the Greatest Dealer ever, I think I’ve seen it all! ”

Continue reading “The Deal” →

Immortal

Featured

Once there were a man and his friend, who lived in the happiest of towns,
But stories of their selfish deeds made the townies always frown.
They didn’t care for a single soul, all of their promises were fake,
You’ll never hear a single tale of them helping, even by mistake.
So when the people faced any of them, clear they used to steer,
The man and his friend lived alone at a desolate house for years.

One day a dark shade loomed over the town, all the smiles faded so soon.
The river flowing down the hill turned vile, which was once a boon.
People turned black and blue with one sip of the poison,
They left the mortal world in pain before the sun rose in the horizon.
The wealthy left the town, with the less fortunate standing helpless,
They accepted their fate and coldly counted down their days.

The man and his friend went up the hill in search of water fresh,
They planned to bring and sell them at a cost of an arm and leg.
Climbing up through the forest, they met an unknown voyager,
They asked him of his purpose here, he said he’s here to win a wager.
He told them he’s there to find the mythical elixir of life,
You take one sip of it, and for a hundred years you’ll thrive.

The man and his friend looked at each other, as their eyes glowed with greed,
An opportunity for them to be gods has presented to them indeed.
They befriended the voyager, and asked him for the elixir’s location,
The innocent tourist became thirsty as he shared all the information.
The friend brought cool water for the traveler from the river,
He gulped down the venom, as they waited for the sun to deliver.

They reached the top of the hill following the traveler’s words,
In a cave covered with shrubs they witnessed a world unheard.
They saw a dozen species which are no more heard to survive,
Between some ‘extinct’ twigs, in a pot, there lay the elixir of life.
As agreed before, the exhilarated man gulped down half the pot,
Happy for getting a long life, he overlooked his friend’s plot.

His friend had left the spot before his thoughts allowed him to turn around,
The friend poured the elixir in the river and ran with the pot, right to the town.
He went to every home and offered a sip of the river to every sick person,
So as the sun rose the next day, they saw nobody’s condition had worsened.
Smiles soon returned to the faces of people, it was really a miracle divine,
The man smirked, bowed down to his friend, impressed by his design.

There is an old man far away, whose friend once saved a whole town,
There’s a statue of this friend at the heart , to which all people still bow down.
Tale of this heroic deed went around from ear to ear,
He cared for every single soul when he lived, that’s what they want to hear.
But when people see the man now, they still steer away from him clear,
They say the old man lives alone in a desolate house, and unlike his friend, has lived for a million years.

Remember me?

Featured

Hey there! Remember me?
I am the one with whom you used to talk everyday!
Our topics were so wild that if any regular person heard us, they would have recommended us a psychiatrist or would have called the police.
I still remember once your dad called you five times during one of our calls and found you busy.
The call back was more like a Vietnam flashback, and you rung me up again to cry your heart out.
And then you posted on the social media: “No one understands me..”

Hey there! Remember me?
I am the one with whom you used to talk everyday, but one day you stopped. Continue reading “Remember me?” →

Joke’s on you

Featured

He always spoke the truth, no matter the consequences,
He hit you hard with facts, you took too many offenses.
You buried him down with haste, to eradicate his mirth,
But the joke’s on you, he was born down to earth.

She had been going places, society’d failed to shackle her down.
“A girl her age out of home? She must be stopped somehow!”
You pushed her off the cliff, your ears longing for her cries,
But the joke’s on you, she was born with wings to fly.

You detest happy young faces, their beams hurt your features gaunt,
You chain down one hand with responsibilities, other one with daunts.
The joke’s on you, my friend, you’ve again failed to foresee,
My soul might be your prisoner, but my mind’s always been free.