the day
when even the not so faithful
were tempted to pray
for the health of the nation

every now and then
I receive emails from former students
with pictures of their newborns

each time
I am deeply touched
that they feel
I would like to know
about their lives’ great events

I reply with loving mails
congratulating them
wishing them much joy
    and patience
with their adorable offsprings

it is just nice to know
that the people
whose lives you shared for a few years
are doing well

they are infinite in number

from our most frightening childhood dreams
to terrible nightmares in our later years
born from guilt, disillusionment, trauma, shame

they glare at us all of a sudden

apropos nothing they flash into our minds
disrupt what little peace we may have found
in our busy lives

when they arise from their sealed chambers
undo the locks we put on them
    to keep them quiet and remote

we have to face them
    eye to dreadful eye
    face to frightening face

then   gradually

    surprise

the closer our  stare
the more we are aware
that all these faces share
what we find hard to recognize

they look
    quite disconcertingly
like us

maybe we should
    rather than banish them away
acknowledge them  as what they are

the different facets of our selves
that we present to our world
from day to day

More urgently than driverless cars
we need more car-less drivers!

My soul can't hear you
My soul can't speak
For it portrays beauty
In beauty, unimaginable
My soul dreams

The soul is where you can be free
It sparks imagination
It guides your creativity
We all have it, suppressed, maybe
With hope and guidance
It will show you who to be

Let my soul fly
Follow it in flight
For the tandem in our spirits
Connects who we are
In mind
In spirit
In body
And we ride the heavens
We ride the universe unknown
We ride, ride, RIDE into the glories of eternity!

We just need to get past
The pale form of our shell
That contains us in a day-to-day form
A routine fashion
We must seek and find the freedom
That will guide our lives true
Freedom comes from within
No, not from within our bodies
But from within our souls
Join us who fly
And be free
Be free
Free

Picture a perfect world in harmony
Picture an imperfect world in chaos

A stranger in a strange land
Doesn't know what he's meant for
Survival haunts us all
Motion, change, that is survival
Sending folks far, far, far
To new lives await.

is here
shivering in the wings
of pop culture

There's no death in it
no sadness
no Dickensian heartache

There's no old man
searching for God's approval
no young man
hungry for the
jazz of life

I'm only ready now for sleep anyway
sleep that beckons
on some hazy horizon
My eyes shutting out light
My breathing labored
My fingers too weary
to hold a pen

I hear my muse urging me
to surrender to the
lure of slumber

She's telling me
this is not my last poem
and sings me to sleep
on this soulless April night