A brush with life
A day in adulthood

A helpless follower

A man draped in tattered clothes

After dark

An axe on Keats

And can't I mould my future

And how the dreams fall

Being in love

Bereft of success

Between despair and hope

Come back soon
Devil and his counterpart

Devour

Engineers

Epitaph

Farewell

Farewell from the circle of friends

Fast moves the time

Femina

Finding Estella again

Freedom came cheap

From where to nowhere

Fulfillment

Harvest

Heart in Everest

Heaven to hell and back again

HOME

How he lies amid his ruins, and you smile

How I missed the beauty

I want to be your nosering
I weave a dream
I wonder
Insomnia

Kiss from a rose

Land's end

Leeches in my soul

Letter from battlefield

Looking back

Losing everything

Love and compromise

Love in modern times

Madonna

My abode among the clouds

My beloved

Naga Sadhu goes digital

Nevertheless I tried

Ode

On St. Valentine

On visiting an old place

Papa dear

Rancour

Reminiscences from my graveyard

Stranger at the tavern

Suspended animation

Tears, idle tears

Telephone call to my beloved

Tell her I am dead

Termination

That passed, this also may

The blissful illusion

The breathless seashore

The bride

The Buddha smiled, but he died

The cigarette butt, the mosquito blood

The day after the crossing

The desert princess

The dipping sun

The eve of St. Valentine

The frozen wet damsel

The last word

The pen and the paper

The phoenix

The pimp

The silence spoke so much

The soldier's lament

The tear left a trail

The world beyond innocence

They tell me I am mad

Thoughts of tomorrow

Titanic

To hug her close or leave her alone

Today I die

Vain is the wish to be born again

Vanished figure

Walking through the streets of a country deprived

When loss pains no more

Where the grass in not painted green

Which is better?

Wild nights
You don't ask

You see why I died

 

Priyatu's World > Poetry>  To hug her close or leave her alone

To hug her close or leave her alone

Often it seemed to me, in moments when
Bars numerous crossed, we clung, in fusion
Of hearts, as one, that like a work of art,
My love would live unto eternity.
Mistaken beliefs die hard when in love.
But they do; they do crumble into bits
Along with tears many that flood the floor.
A jerk of destiny-
They crumble the faith, trample the emotions;
And smothered you lie, awe-struck, that how
Could fate turn sides, and dump you from Paradise.
Hands clenched, sweating you lie, restless-
And you not know what hit you, what to hit!

My love is so strong and not God can make it die.
We lived together and what not the Hell try!
Who can but dictate desires upon destiny?
When it brings wrath, hard you cry.
You blame many- and how people would gape
When you held her hand!
Curse be upon you, people of the world,
Who could not see a happy couple in your land!

And then the sky clears up, the golden sunrays strike
The earth and Oh! Darkness, like mist, vanishes.
The smile that left your face returns
Amid applause of a thumping heart.
Hands are clasped, breasts are hugged,
Lips are wetted with kisses intimate,
And you huddle up close to share moments rare,
To bring back from time’s share of moments lost.

As you move from Heaven to Hell, and sometimes back again,
Oh! Bewildered are you left deciding, whether
To hug her close who brought Heaven to you,
Or leave her alone who brought you to Hell.
-19\12\98,Calcutta-63

 

My favourite picks

Devil and his counterpart
Devour
Epitaph
Farewell from the circle of friends
Femina
Finding Estella again
Harvest
Kiss from a rose
Land's end
Leeches in my soul
Love and compromise
Nevertheless I tried
Stranger at the tavern
Suspended animation
Tell her I am dead
The blissful illusion
The breathless seashore
The bride
The cigarette butt, the mosquito blood
The dipping sun
The pimp
They tell me I am mad
To hug her close or leave her alone
You see why I died
Wild nights