Within her: The Cocoon

Introvert words sealed within,

Wrapped in the cocoon of a thousand thoughts!

She smiled bold, brighter than the shine,

Who knew what was lost!

The freaks, they called themselves a society!

Knew nothing, but to judge!

Yet she valiantly broke those walls!

To sigh and to hush!

For those who harked her inner beings!

Yelled 'that mulier sans happiness'

And forgot that her wings'll evolve!

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

The Nilgiris

The blue of mystery and tempts! 

She…

Smiled coyly-

The fume floated gently over her,

From the hearth of that hut…

Cascaded over the mountains-

The blue of mystery and tempts!

No less than a damsel…

Embellished with Anogeissus’s leaves,

And the wild lilacs,

The trails where no humans walked!

Innervated her skin…

Her voice- 

The wind over the tree!

The orchestra of chirps!

The splash of springs!

The roars of beasts…

The blue of mystery and tempts!

No less than a symphony…

Every dawn, she wakes up!

Her beauty as rural as it can be!

Behold her, when she is drenched-

The drops from Heaven!

Intoxicated many stories and rhymes-

The poet’s wonder!

…she never fails!

To spread her charms...

As the wind whispers through her.

How earthly she can be!

Oh, the Nilgiris…

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Quarantinism

Amidst their posts...
Of their indoor fitness tips,
Of the delicacies they prepared,
Of the old albums they treasured,
Of the foreign travels they made,
Also posted, they-
The agony they have!
For the stranded crowds!
The disinfected people!
Picked up the gauntlets...
With a few!
And with another few, they condoned,
The failure!
Kept their phones aside.
"Honey, you want it warm or chilled?"
Hashtagged 'reinventing myself'
Back there, somewhere on the road,
Walked their maids...
As hurriedly as they could!
Hanging their babies as lost as them!
To reach their homes,
Before the pain reached them!
After all, it's the same!
Stay at home!

Time

She knew-

Unseen wounds are more painful!

Than those which bleed…

Of blood, but not of tears!

Yet, she cherished the fear!

She knew-

That time will heal!

Even the deepest of the scar.

Of the past- so bitter!

Yet, she treasured the pain.

Deep in her,

She followed her tears-

The path they cascaded through-

The castles of veins and nerves!

Yet, she was lost!

She promised.

One fine day- she will embrace,

Her time!

And will fly to eternity!

She knew- it will heal!

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Imprisoned.

All by herself.

She stood holding those bars!

And glared into the emptiness.

Someone had secretly spilt-

Silence in the ether!

Clad in melancholy, 

Appeared that dusk!

As the failed rendezvous,

Stitching the memories-

Over the sky!

The Sun descended with a promise!

These promises twinkled every night.

Bestrewn with the bygones-

They say, they are the ones who left.

She hushed.

It’s cold in here. 

She painted that smile over the dolour!

Her hands blue and frozen.

Covered with the rust-

Dark and bitter-

The cage felt heavy!

Her thoughts limned over the floor!

The perfidious wind!

Disguised as kindness!

Blew over them!

Asunder, over the darkness-

Flew the words…

She let them go!

The lucent hope-

Amidst the sky!

Howled a distant wolf!

This repeats!

In the prison of the past.

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Paintings: Kaleidoscope by Isabel Emrich 

Within her! (Darkness)

They feared their shadows.

They lit the lamps.

Shut all the windows.

And muzzled their thoughts.

Their silence spoke-

Darkness, they loathed!

The one in them,

They were no aware of!

The light conceives the darkness!

When it is gone!

She stood facing the light.

And bade a fond adieu!

And left!

She feared no darkness.

She knew it was the one-

Amidst the silent night-

Whispered to her-

The words of silence!

Dreams.

Hopes.

Solitude.

She found her lost being.

Amidst the wrecked walls,

And below the silent sky...

She found herself glowing...

Brighter than before!

She had faith,

And so trusted the darkness!

Else who would know-

How bright she was?

-Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel 'Hridayaninadini" 

Picture: Dark To Light is a painting by Lourry Legarde which was uploaded on February 17th, 2015

The disputed border

"One find day,

You woke up and realize.

A small piece of you goes missing.

When that small piece of you is lost,

you certainly feel the pain...

For they are hard to notice,

And yet most painful.

When Lord Rama gets justice,

And Goddess Sita betrayed,

A silent map...

Goes unnoticed!

Over the millionth of disputes...

The land of kindness

hushes..."

In the end...

A tiny star.

A toppled leaf.

A lost Firefly.

A bird inside a cage.

Asked 'Who am I?'

The inner voice answered:

'Certainly not, who you think you are!

And neither what context you are in...!

You are much more!'

Upon harking themselves.

And it twinkled.

And it swam over a stream.

And it blinked brighter in the wood.

And it chirped sweet.

In the end, it is you!

Who can inspire yourself!

Yes?

"...and she thinks twice,

Before riding an empty bus,

Before travelling alone,

Before meeting her uncles,

Before trusting someone...

She could have trusted!

Who says it's feminism...

If she says teach a man!

Teach a man who a woman is!

Teach a man, that she feels uncomfortable-

If you stare at her!

If you touch her inappropriately!

If you disregard her talent!

If you take her decision lightly!

If you ignore her existence!

And if you steal her freedom!

No, it is not okay!

When you ask her not to go alone!

Not to wear what exposes her freedom!

Not to drink to quench her thirst!

Not to achieve what she strived for!

Not to go out in the dark, to feel the stars!

Can you too teach yourself-

That it is okay to let her do what she wants!

You (men) feel scared while you are all by yourself?

She does!

Can we all just create a world!

A world without fear?

Can we all, respect us!?

Respect whatever gender we are!

Respect the dignity,

Raise your voice and help,

When we see someone being tortured?

Well, if only the answer--

Was:

Yes!"

~Sanjeeta Hridayaninadini

Within her (Lost amidst laughter)

That soft ambience.

Some glitters, some lives.

Claps and laughter.

The warmth inside this room,

Though the world seems frozen!

Everyone is smiling.

She sees no sorrow in their eyes.

Probably, they too are good,

In veiling them.

She ponders.

Again claps the crowd 

And laughs every corner.

She tries floating with the waves.

Claps and fails.

Laughs and fails.

Barely an eye notices.

The roots are deep in her.

She has concealed,

Enough.

Between the mocking walls.

She had spent-

Years of nights awake!

And as the dawn slides,

She pretends.

Pretends to be the shine.

While the dark engulfs her from within.

And the night appears!

When the silence of night whispers,

'You concealed it well today,

Just do it one more day again.'

And the days kept on being added.

Her smiles veil it well,

For the years gone.

And her stories remained,

Within her...

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel 'Hridayaninadini'

Within her (In the forest of many crowds)

In the forest of many crowds,

Lived a tiny girl. 

All of them, phoney. 

She never thought!

Some smiled sweet-

To poke that knife from behind!

And some pulled her down...

To rule and to raise their reign!

She was glad that she was just-

A spirit.

For, they could never kill her.

Or an inch of her being.

So she lived in that forest.

Underneath the concealed agony.

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Unfinished.

Dragged to the old lane,
The string of kites.
An old unfinished story.
And through the babbling fights,
She stood dwindling-
The past was not painful-
But why it pricked,
Her bare feet in that old lane.

Her laughter rejoiced.

And so were her tears.

Amidst the mocking faces,

She preserved her silence.

It has always been there,

With her, within her.

Her shadow, her silence…

Searches no more home.

Feel her in her soliloquies,

As silent as her eyes…

None will know her.

None shall reach…

To her old unfinished story.

Through that lane-

Dusty and dark, yet loved.

Let her story remain abandoned.

For, she won’t be she,

She will laugh her soul out,

And cry till it rain!

Her eyes will be vibrant.

And will let go her silence…

Let the story remain unfinished…

She plucks out the thorn
And it bleeds...

Her bare feet!

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

I am a human!

I just realized-

I am a human now!

Bequeathed with the power!

From another human!

I mock aloud…

As someone falls down.

And extend no hands.

I feel proud of-

Being the supreme…

And chop everything-

The voiceless beings.

If not this one,

I know I can create a new machine!

At the end…

I am a human, indeed.

When I am brave enough-

To discard what comes on my plate!

For having a little salt and little taste!

I ignore them who starve to death…

To trash…

And I laughingly toss my cake!

For the sake of this beauty…

I tear up the skins of that beast.

Grind its bones to have a flawless skin.

To glimmer under the neon light!

I break those black wrists!

Yes, I am a human now!

I do a charity.

And nail my name.

On their leather, so charred!

Let my world shine-

And theirs’ ruin!

Who cares…

I am a human, now.

In an empire of the mighty plastic!

I climb up, stepping others down.

I find pleasure!

The misery of others’ as my clowns!

I care not if the world is on fire!

And my deeds engulf the nature!

I do care!

I care for something that concerns me!

I care for the colours-

And whom to hire!

I will pet someone’s freedom.

Shackle them.

Captivate them.

And break them!

“Aww” the world like me, shall be!

I rise when they fall!

I am a human after all!

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel 'Hridayaninadini'

Picture credit: blogs.nelson.wisc.edu (the great split)

Of the street and life

I seek a bard, deep in me!

While on my voyage in the street!

With no argosy, confront where I,

A thousand stories!

Limned on their face,

Thoughts as high as tides!

Some rough, some smooth,

Inhumed under their smiles,

Bestrewed pieces of life,

I walk, reading them all!

Blithe, a few are not…

A few fulgent in their glory,

Gloomy some, as their shadowy past!

And a few whited sepulchres

With their phoney chivalry!

And a few trysts that should never last!

I cherish, beholding them all!

Why I am happy?

Wondered never I,

When I am lost,

I find more of me!

Amidst these evanescent faces in the street…

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

The emptiness revisits!

That emptiness visits her again…

In the frozen corner of her broken veins!

She taps one and let it bleed-

The faintness of her past refrains!

She runs to catch hold of that space-

Of no worth and just in vain!

Time as slender as a reed…

Slips from her hand-

To not to be found again!

Had she known- she was not a centre!

She would have acted the same!

But why then this emptiness revolved-

Within her and followed her in the murky lane!

She yells at the top of this silence-

And wishes not to be heard…

She grabs that rug of strength…

And wordlessly walks through the rain!

(c) Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

That bird in us!

When the melancholic evening,

Brings to her those delusions-

Of being at her nest-

Of being loved-

And cared with a delight…

She sighs and turns behind,

And to behold nothing-

But a broken string…

Attached to her wings!

In that pursuit-

Of crossing those limits…

Seldom had she thought…

She would be encaged forever… 

When she cut her strings and flew-

Deluded she was- of being free!

When she clutches the bough-

And stares at this vastness…

That caged her spirit…

In this melancholic evening-

She sings no songs about being bold!

But- about those longings to be at home…

(c) Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Words to the wise!

Seek the darkness-

When you begin your journey…

Into the benighted tunnel!

That light at the end-

Will not astound you anymore!

Seek that warmth within you-

When the world goes frigid and cold…

The withered spirit of the last battle!

And a lost caravan!

This warmth shall make you bold!

Do not hitch your wagons-

Anymore to stars-

But to the dust-

Where you bloomed from!

In the rear!

Expect to not to expect!

For, life is not always about-

Floating with those streams!

Neither against them!

But to- seek that solace-

Amidst the crippled you!

Indeed is a two cents’ worth…

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Picture credit:https://www.wallpaperup.com/42438/tunnel_light_painting_fantasy_dark_cave_abstract_landscapes.html

Drops...

And after that crowd,

I grabbed my umbrella-

And my solitude-

Took the narrow lane!

Gazed at the sky-

The monsoon clouds-

And loneliness!

Perfect!

Pearls from the broken necklace-

It rained…

Alone, I thought I was-

Then I harked!

I could hear them talk-

As loud as they could-

In that rhythmic tone-

One shouted and the other followed!

Eavesdropped, I-

For what they could be talking?

About their journey!

The clattered rhythm again…

Guessed, I-

About their journey, must be-

From the puddle to the pond-

Meandering through the rivulet-

To the river-

And levitating to the mightiness-

They chattered loud-

Felt, I

they gloated their salvation!

Levitated to the mighty blue and again-

Reached to the earth-

They belonged to!

I could sense their happiness-

As they gently slid down to the earth-

And disappeared on her arms-

Thin clouds now-

I could only hear a few of them-

They have met their destiny-

And will be back again-

Those drops of rain...

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel "Hridayaninadini"

Picture source: http://www.1zoom.me