I Wish...

I wish I was the first dawning
to arouse you from a deep slumber
Rising in intensity like sun rays
a tender warmth across your face.

I wish I was the water
to glide freely into your palms
Hastily in the fear of loss
a splash of gentle freshness.

I wish I was the dew studded grass
to tickle your bare feet
Teasing with prickly edges
rekindling a lost dream.

I wish I was the air
to linger around you for just a moment
Just one breath of air
unnoticed and yet essential.

              - Niharika Prasad

Randomzz

Stronger Alone

You lay my heart on a slab of ice
To quiver like a pale leaf, in late autumn sky
Like a crystal broken more than twice
It lay frozen, forced to comply.

Its pace just slowed with passing time,
As it lay in a casket of stiffened veins
The pain inexpressible in prose or rhyme,
Bound in memories worse than chains.

Wringing my heart of every emotion,
You made me as cold as stone
As it lay paralyzed without a motion,
I realized I was strongest when alone.

I am strong because I have been weak,
I am wise because I have been a fool
Fearless because I have been meek
You exalted me to such power, 
now I shall rule.

- Niharika Prasad

देवों के देव महादेव, हे शिव।

मानव ने पार की ऊंचाईयां अनेक, किन्तु उनमें बचा एक शेष है,

बर्फ़ की परतों से ढका है कैलाश, रहस्यमय उसका वेश है। 

मानसरोवर के पार, कहानियों का वह स्रोत,

कल्पित देवों का जैसे वहाँ निवास हो। 

चमचमाता जैसे कोई दिव्य अमनजोत,

गुप्त जिसका पूरा इतिहास हो। 

उन्हीं गहराईओं में जहाँ कोई ना पहुंच पाया,
मानव क्या, जहाँ रोशनी की हर किरण भी हिचकिचाए,
उस घोर अंधियारे में, एक ही है साया,

जिसके प्रत्येक चरण से, संपूर्ण कैलाश काँप जाए।                               

रक्त के सागर में ,एकाएक भंवर उठ आया,
महाशक्तिमय ने कुछ ऐसा ताण्डव मचाया,
बलिष्ठ शरीर पर लिए, नागों का साया 
नागभूषण, नटराज, संछिप्ततया मुस्कुराया।

एक प्रतिबिंब, है,या अद्भुत एक स्वप्न,
आक्रोश के भंवर से प्रकट 
भैरव रूप में, प्रकट क्यों त्रिलोचन ?

बिखरे जटाओं में सर्पों की फुफकार है,
कैलाशनाथ के राज्य में क्यों आज ये हाहाकार है ?
देवों के देव, महादेव, तू तो पालनहार है,
लोकांकर है तू , फिर क्यों ये विनाश है ?

- निहारिका प्रसाद 

  

Just as...

Just as a sliver of moon waits uneasily at the daybreak,
waning to let the sun command the sky.

Just as glistening dewdrops slide down fresh blades of green,
making it seem that the rains did just weep and sigh.

Just as tiny crabs burrow, creating sandy bubbles on the beach,
betrayed by the mighty frothing tide.

Just as countless silvery scales stuck to nylon fishing nets,
the morning catch, reflecting a fisherman's pride.

Just as the grittiness of sand stuck in the web of my toes,
fresh reminiscent of my walk at the beach

Just as this anaphora, my heart races back to you
your memories entwine me, just as you fade out of my reach.

                           



                                                                                  
                                                                                                         - Niharika Prasad

The forty rules of love#Elif Shafak ❤️

The Edge

Those eyes trapped between thick lines of kohl, frigidly stare
But yet glued to the screen.
Those eyes tire with the glare
But are possessed by a power unseen.

A hundred emoticons fast as a pulse
Yet none stir her expression less face,
Nor, was there a moment of impulse
As she typed with a practiced pace.

She did not not notice as a breeze blew her curls,
Nor when the screen blurred her eyes,
She was busy abbreviating her words
Finding solace in a world of lies.

He painted a rosy escape, dragging her to the edge,
The edge of an abyss, an abyss of his love.
His words lifted her, prepared to fledge
Far away from the chaos above.

The breeze failed to stir a single ripple in the abyss
She dreamt of gliding through it
Soaking in its bliss;
For as long as fate would permit.

She waited on that very edge, where she was told to wait
The edge, where her heart beats too fast.
She curls her toe, undaunted by fate 
His love, she knew, would have it recast.

                                                 - Niharika Prasad