Shail’s Nest

1.Bittersweet
Bitter gourds are bitter
and sugar beets sweet
When they come together
Do you call them bittersweet?
2.Mute me
I stand mutely
as silence kills with certainty
dreams and hopes held dearly
Why do you watch nonchalantly??
3.Buried dreams
Six feet deep
I buried them in a heap
the dreams we planted
together to reap.
4.Your kiss
Your kiss sensuous
soft on my lips
makes me burn
For more I yearn.
5.I melt…
When [...]

Don’t come closer
Now that you have gone farther
Any step nearer
Makes me in fear quiver

Once… I let you touch my heart
Draw me out of my past
You rowed me ashore
Showed me heaven’s door

In your love transformed
A new ‘I’ had formed
Pure and untainted
I was joy unalloyed

No longer alone
The world I seemed to [...]

Oh Sita Divine
Mother mine
Won’t you tell your mother
Her love to shower
On a lonely soul
Forlorn and cold…
When in anguish you cried
With her arms opened wide
She took you back home
Never let you roam.
I was not found in Mithila
To be raised by King Janaka
Not traversed dark forests
With Rama and Lakshmana.
No golden deer have I espied
By ten headed Ravana [...]

You killed me yesterday
when defenseless I lay
in your arms.
In love with you
longing for you
lost in the depths of your eyes

You killed me yesterday
when defenseless I lay
in your arms.
Your words
sharp as swords
sliced my heart neatly in two.

You killed me yesterday
when defenseless I lay
in your arms.
As I lay [...]

Lines deeply etched
Skillfully engraved
On palms visible
By hands invisible
Origins unknown
Ends unseen
Making us move
In a predestined groove
The reasons clouded
In mystery shrouded
The spawn
Mere pawns
Lines once drawn
Never redrawn
The master craftsman
Having provision none
In his infinite grace
To alter or efface
- Shail Mohan (Feb 2008)

Showcased post from shail-mohan blogs @ sulekha.com

I am a cipher
You try to decipher
To find your answer
My love, come closer
Take off your glasses
Look deep into my eyes
They hold the keys
That unlocks the codes.

See the wild roses
The haunting demons
The changing seasons
The heart’s reasons
Thorns that prick
What makes me tick
The castles I build
Dreams distilled

Loneliness that chills
Love that fills
Pride that kills
Silence that stills
Captive [...]

Run little girl run and hide
Fearful monsters roam outside
Close the windows pull the blinds
Shut the door and stay inside
The swirling mass of inky black
Slimy hands waiting to hack
Evil eyes and dripping fangs
Wicked laughter deafening clangs
Monstrous trees standing tall
Branches spread to scratch and maul
The scary world holds them all
Do not venture out at all.
Lies and Deceit [...]

Words spouted
Meanings twisted
Feelings shredded
Broken hearted
Love thwarted
Insides knotted
Dreams exploded
The bloom wilted
Eyes clouded
With tears blinded
Breathe suspended
Life has ended.
-Shail Mohan (May 2008)

A flaw in this picture perfect
The colors seem to conflict
What color shall I highlight??
I know not what is right
When I dab some soft yellow
You say it is too mellow
So many shades of the color blue
You feel none are the right hue
Will bright green do the trick??
From the colors take your pick
Violet orange or maybe indigo
Which [...]

Drawing courtesy Vishakh Mohan

Hunger burns scorches and chars
Singes my flesh, sears my soul.
The fiery flame rises, flares and blazes
Turning to ashes, the heart’s desires.
I snatch at the scraps thrown my way
Clutch at the straws that blow my way
Nothing is mine its all half-eaten
When hunger gnaws I grab, I’m fallen.
They throw me bits and [...]