Wasn't sure what to do with all the poems I've been writing, so decided to keep penning them in this blog, on someone's recommendation. All of them are original to the extent posible by drawing inspiration from everyday life, and people.

my bike tires came to a screeching halt
a pool of blood drying in the summer heat
a tail still fluffy unattached to a body
a farrago of organs that could startle anybody
a life cut short, deemed unworthy
by somebody in a hurry

may she rest in peace
her pieces reminding drivers hence
of the price of saving time sloppily
time that is snatched away
from a free soul living happily

until the blood’s red succumbs to attrition
until the organs are crushed past recognition
until the tail disappears into oblivion

and then,
a new driver
a new cause for hurry
a new life taken away recklessly

Just after I sat down
And started sipping my cappuccino,
I saw the barista walk out
And after ten minutes,
Return with a cup of coffee
From the cafe across the street

She goes to bed late at night
Blessed by the starry light
She wakes up a minute before the bus
And hurries to grab it making a fuss

She lights up at the sight of cookies behind glass
And stops to buy them in spite of being late for class
She wraps up her homework at her desk
And submits it just in time after the lecture ends

She scurries from one class to the next
Always late, leaving instructors perplexed
And when the day’s classes end,
Her calendar reminds her, ‘meet a friend’

Her friend is early and she is late
As has been since the time they became friends
They eat and drink and sing and dance
And reach home on the last running bus

She craves ice cream, and looks at her fridge
The molten ice cream stares at her unhinged
The door of the fridge is visibly wide open
When she rushed out, she must have forgotten

With ａfrown she rolls on her bed singing Beyoncé
While looking at her calendar for the next day
She sees a “meeting at 9” and sighs
Wondering “will an alarm be enough to arise?”

Can you truly be near if you've never been far?
Can you experience genuine happiness if you’ve never been ravaged by sorrow?
Can you be a leader if you've never been a follower?
Can you know it’s love if you’ve never let them go?
Can you enjoy freedom if you’ve never been trapped?
Can you understand the world outside if you're too terrified to look within?
Can you follow rules if you don’t understand the consequences of breaking them?
Can you empathize with others without first sympathizing with them?
Can you be a teacher without first being a student?
Can you know what is good, if you’ve never known evil?
Can you know the time, without looking at your watch and letting the moment fleet?
Can you know the power of words without understanding the power of silence?
Can you really live if you know you’d never die?

They come into your life unannounced
They stay in your life with your choice
They show up when you’re least expecting
They touch your life in infinite ways
They fill up voids you didn’t know existed
They tickle your heat and lift your soul
They test your limits and stretch them beyond
They connect with you even without speaking
They help you without expecting help in return
They join you without knowing the destination
They hold you when you’re about to fall
They carry no ego, nor an urge to stand out
They demonstrate humility through action
They bring with them no agenda
And, when They go
They leave you longing for more!

When I was young, I couldn’t wait to be like the cool older kids
When I grew older, I envied the freedom college kids enjoyed
When I started college, I craved the stability of those in suits and ties
When I got a job, I longed for the wholesome life of family people
When I had a family, I desired the responsibility free life of a retiree
When I finally retired, life was peaceful, and free of worries

And then, as I looked back, I realized
That decades went by without warning
That life had come a full circle, from a young kid to an old man
That the passage of time is not linear, but circular
That I had a life free of worries, even as a kid
And that I had spent years yearning instead of living

  Sudden Attraction
Intense Passion
   Blind Devotion
Painful Separation

I walked a road full of potholes
With people around me,
Laughing, chatting, and fooling around
Strangely, I couldn’t see their faces
Nor hear the speech of their voices

I walked, and walked, with no end in sight
With no idea of where I was heading
Or where I had come from
The feeling was strange,
But even stranger, was that it felt all too familiar

It was as if I had walked down the same road,
Several times in the past
I knew in my heart that something just didn’t fit
But I didn’t know what it was

I suddenly tripped, and fell,
Face down on the road with potholes,
And just as my face was about the hit the ground,
Boom! I woke up, to the sound of silence

“What is time?” asked the baby to her mama
Mama responded with a nervous grin,
Not knowing what to answer
What actually is time?

Time is what causes our hair to turn gray
Time is what heals wounds that seem fatal
Time is what introduces uncertainty in normalcy
We know so much about time
And yet, we know nothing at all

We never know what time has in store for us
We don’t know what will happen next
In the next second, hour, day, month
It’s the uncertainty of time that makes it hard to comprehend
And we fear that which we don’t understand

Yet, in spite of our ignorance about it’s nature,
We can’t ignore it’s reality and omnipresence
Time is the only constant in the universe
Everything else is created, destroyed, and re-created
But time, it keeps flowing in its own pace
Unwavering, unchanging, and never stopping

Time is the only true equalizer in life
Given enough time,
The problems of our past become unimportant, and
The uncertainties of our future become the present reality
Time equalizes health and wealth, prosperity and suffering
It doesn’t care about ego and humility, nor about conviction and doubt

So the next time an obstacle seems insurmountable
To the point that we have lost all hope,
We must not quit, knowing in our hearts
That even when all is lost,
We still have time on our side

If you can eat food, without worrying about saving for later
Because if you don't you might not have any
And still have some leftovers
That can feed those who suffer in this worry

If you meet someone by chance
Whom you love to keep meeting by choice
And not have to change your true self, to fit in
Nor have to plan ahead what you say or how you behave

If you can go home safely,
Without having to travel for 2 days
And worrying about complex procedures
That may or may not allow you to return

If you can accept the monotonicity of life
While creating opportunities to challenge yourself
And embracing both the light and the dark
While not being afraid of uncertainty and chaos

If you can walk on the streets safely
Without getting yelled at, mocked, or abused
And once you head out of home,
have the comfort of knowing you’ll return

If you can see things for what they are
Without being trapped by dogma
Or getting ensnared by charismatic leaders
Who lie through their teeth and seduce with their eyes

If you are not troubled by indecision
And don’t have to think twice about
Which bridge to burn and which to cross
Which plants to nurture and which to kill

If you can sing like no one’s listening
Write like no one’s reading
Paint like no one’s watching
And live like suffering’s bliss

You, my friend, are lucky!

I saw a bunny today
Jumping up and down;
Staring at the sky;
Staring at me;
Staring at the green
Grass in between

She looked in my eyes
Her glance fixated on me
Her body still
Her legs firm

I looked back
Albeit, with much less conviction
My mind, clouded by the worries
Of conforming to rules of society
Rules that make our species thrive
While killing our individuality

Her eyes opened wide
She could see
What stood before her was not free
Not free in the way she was
Not free to do what she could
She was a creature of nature; unbounded

I saw a bunny today
And as she looked at me,
I was reminded
Of a time, when I was truly free
Free to cry without being mocked
Free to laugh without being shushed
Free to express without being judged
Free to jump, fall, roll, and rise again

There was so much the bunny said
Without saying anything at all
She didn’t budge, as I got closer
As if to tell me, she isn’t afraid
Of someone who isn’t free

I stepped back to observe,
She went back to jumping,
Eating, and jumping again
And before I could say farewell,
She disappeared
Into the green she came from
The green that has no bounds
Like the creatures in its undergrounds

I saw a bunny today
And it made my day!

If you have any thoughts about my poems, feel free to let me know! My email is hbharadh at cs dot cmu dot edu