Love is kind, love is good
Love is where you do not look
Hate is a self-scorned lover’s gruel
Bitter burnt and served al-cruel
Faith is fine, faith is coarse
Even when doubts scream hoarse
Fear is faith’s aggravated assault
That grows unchecked in imagined faults
Love stews, hate incites
Faith explains, fear ignites
Time still rows the oars of fate
Domino of choices disconsolate
– Akanksha Gupta
Dip into History
Etched onto every crenulation
On either side of Ganga’s might,
A relic of truth - a piece of history
Mired in faith and legend and mystery
Resides; quietly, contently, reverently
Burning day and night fervently
Cremation
Waters brim with the black of night
Still with the cold of death
Weep endless ashes and dust, and yet
Echo the warmth of undying embers
All reflective, quiet, solemn faced
Sailing past Harishchandra, Manikarnika Ghats
Reverent and disquieted in equal parts
Sandhya Aarti
Melted drops of a long-gone sun
Burn the wick of every prayer
On the ghats
On the boats swarming the ghats
Mesmerising chants of song and dance
Fill the air
Breath mingles with oil and incense
Headiness of lights and sounds and scents
Harmony of Dasashwamedh and Ganga
Symphony of souls swept into an orchestra
Of carefree precision, of piety
Intoxicated with sobriety
As time crescendoes;
Halts to a moment,
Ensnares,
Dusk darkening, night lightening,
Heart tightening,
I wonder how aarti at dawn compares
– Akanksha Gupta
Faith pours artistry into simple words
Conviction cauterises the beginnings of doubt
Wisdom lends belief to the beholder
Goosebumps brush tingles inside out
Richness of history delights the senses
Depth of knowledge astounds
Stories impress the spirit with wonders
Unearthed from ancient grounds
Wellsprings of sounds bloom in the chest
Rushing of conscious shuffles closer to mind
Peace combs through a restless strength
And waters the soul with wealth beyond time
– Akanksha Gupta
Ole friend…
You once promised to stay
Throughout the journey
But in the middle of nowhere
I lost you, you left me
I thought I reached at last
I think was almost there
But, o but alas
I was struck by despair
Broken bones, broken faith,
Broken heart and broken soul
At once gone with the wind
Was me; my life, my whole
Then I called for you, you came
And so did my hope and might
And I revived my little world
Building on by bit and byte
Yes, you were right dear ole friend
You were always there for me, with me
But i forgot you somewhere in the dark
When i met with fear, my ole enemy
The Pluming PoeTree 