Growing

Uprooted from a humble, shallow home

transplanted in resplendent greens

the earth is still made up of dirt

underneath the scenes,

underneath the greens

though it won’t at first be seen,

the seed holds all the promise

of every single thing,

of all a plant could ever be,

and the air and sunshine and flowers

a plant might never see,

but you’ve been growing upwards

and branching out as well,

tending to your garden

a product least upscale,

that you find your solace

in watering what is silent,

and waiting for tomorrow

to apply your fertilizing talent-

shows the humility in your hands,

the patience in your greenest thumbs,

and the blossoming radiance

that breaks through what is numb,

and sprouts out of a bud long dormant

in kaleidoscopic ways,

but only for the ones who’ll wait

through all the rainy days

princely states

Who knows the rose

who never had a globe?

To keep out the bugs

that made the stems shrug

what is a dove

to an indoor plant?

who gardens its self

on the corner of a shelf

in a cool dim shadow

malnourished and alone

who waters the leaves

to answer its pleas?

The golden-haired boy

arrives on the scene

wearing his cape

and endlessly naive

thinking that he will know

just what to do

to revive this rose,

make it blush from blue

but he asks so many questions

and jumps from here to there

traveling the universe

while the rose is on Earth

learning came easy

to the little princely one,

of all things most exciting

even what was in writing

the further he explored,

the more gold dust he collected,

whimsical wizardry extravagantly sublime:

ideas, friends, and beautiful rhymes

but none of these things

were proof to his heart,

for he had foregone the hard toil

of replenishing the soil,

and the rose had near wilted

under the weight of existence

and no amount of persistence

will raise a rose from a distance

 

hope

 

Hope sounds more exotic in Russian

but you prefer the Western ways

the sunshine and warmth of temperate days

and you see freedom in our flags

You don’t exactly stay hidden

but you know to be careful

for your ultimate mission

isn’t just for you or me

Yes, you swing between languages

and hang with those of many lands

One day may we be global citizens

for now, a netizen of silicon sands

You drench yourself in an online sea

Rather caught up in the internet

than the snares of henchman

out there rounding up the Freshmen

The characters of villains

Are rehearsing their roles

The audience is captive

Not seeing what they came for

it’s real horror-show

as the critics of this theater

are now critiquing heaven

and the light shines bright

on the void of any hero

Hope- a noun and a verb?

Are you enough?

Without a second and a third?

Your heart is many good places

Your thinking will yet develop

As you are what is boundless

A reaching out into the expanse

of all that we need

and haven’t had the chance

to manifest with hope alone

or alone, with hope

As we cast this net into an ocean deep

tighten and stretch the rope

we catch the ones we need to keep

for us to move as one

and pull the ragged dusty rug

out from under the ones who trample over

all beauty, truth, freedom, justice, and love

Constant distractions

Constant distractions

over here, over there

feel like hale pelting

on the top of my car

as I look straight ahead

following the road.

Constant distractions

blinking through my mind

as I try to keep those eyes open

focused on my mission

my purpose, my vision.

Patience eases the effects

of any pitter-pattering

and when I see even each distraction

reflected in the water of my mind

the hale becomes like gentle rain drops

connecting the skies to the sea

Assessment

Where do I go from here?

What have I seen? Who have I met?

What have I learned to take to the next?

What would it mean to be at my best?

Master the self,

subdue my ego (and that of the rest)

humble myself in my work,

my actions, my speech

and my thoughts, above all else.

banish any ambitions for empire,

sit back and listen,

and look within,

let go of any criticism

of the ones I love,

for who am I to judge?

accept the flaws in others and my own,

for truly, knowledge and wisdom don’t sit atop a throne.

expand the reaches of my heart,

dissolve the barriers of different parts,

focus on the vastness of mind

and not the rash desires of this ‘Manas.’

content in everything big or small,

love the crude, the beautiful, the hateful in all,

lying as the fulcrum, steady and tall

balancing the world of wonders,

never beating down,

never going under

Turning point

Reluctant writers

stepping out of the shadows,

out of the cool, damp, mellow home

where we hide our sorrows,

our tortured thoughts

chained to the furnace of regret,

on house arrest for our sins,

and the sins of others,

circling around

in our own captivity

But the light comes through the windows,

through the holes in the roof,

maybe I wasn’t meant to be so aloof.

the doorknob doesn’t seem so scary,

I turn it, walk out, and see,

the light rains down and thunders,

the feeling reverberates in me.

I soak up all around me,

the people and the trees,

growing side by side

with the force of destiny,

the unknown is adventure

with friends along the way,

exhilarated freedom

with every breath I play