The Faded Dreams
&
Other Poems
Ravinder Kumar Soni
Ravinder Kumar Soni
The Faded Dreams
&
Other Poems
Ravinder Kumar Soni
Ravinder Kumar Soni
The Faded Dreams
and other poems
The Faded Dreams
& Other Poems
First Indian Edition 2019
© 2019 Ravinder Kumar Soni
ISBN
All right reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written
permission from the publisher.
Published by: Ravinder Kumar Soni
Email: rkszia@gmail.com
Ph.: +91 9871626005
Printed at: Delhi
Select Poems
Of
Ravinder Kumar Soni
*Listen To The Emptiness
True,
I must listen to the emptiness
That is within me
And surrounds me all the time,
Then I can know where I belong,
Why I live and die, and procrastinate
My rides and tides.
*My Poem
Past midnight, as we stepped
On to the empty dark street
I heard him recite my poem
That I wrote only three days ago.
‘To ward off fear,’ he softly said
‘I read aloud your lines.’
*The Faded Dreams
Faded dreams
That is all now I have
As memories
Bitter and cold
Sans delight.
They have seen me through
The roughs and toils
The daily grinds
And seasonal bites
Retaining their hold
Keeping me whole
In a vestibule
Narrow and dark.
Emerge from it
I will one day
To see the sun
Glow brilliantly
As ever before.
*The Book
The book, my dear Father,
The one I hold in my right hand,
It is the same
Old orange calico bound book
You gave to me on my 12th birthday,
I am now preparing to celebrate
My 76th this year;
Then, I had just learnt to read and write.
Your gift does not contain fables
Or heroic tales of adventures,
It talks of waging wars
Against the unrighteous,
About controlling and calming
Mental tendencies and turbulence,
Discovering own strength and morality,
Finding a forgotten self;
All this couched in simple terms
The entire process is simple.
I have followed those guidelines
But you did not stay long enough to guide me
Till its end
Now I have no one to tell me
Whether I have reached that end.
O, Father! Why did you leave me alone?
To fight this world of extremes!
*No One Believes Me
No one believes me.
I have just returned
From the other side of the sun,
No one believes me.
I should not speak about my travels
From one end of the universe to the other,
The journeys that I make all alone
To strange worlds.
Maybe
I should not tell them what lies in the Beyond -
A sea of delight;
Their small reach
Does not allow them to believe me.
*On A Wet Morning
On a wet morning
Scared of getting drenched
He did not venture outdoors
To go to work;
It had been raining since midnight.
He was disturbed
By the speeding gallop of falling raindrops
Striking hard and noisily the tin-shed, he called his home,
The ruckus caused did not let him go to sleep
And,
The day had dawned rather late.
By then, he had grown tired
Counting the remaining minutes to sunrise.
The dampness of the air
And the loneliness in his room
Was extracting its toll,
He was feeling drowsy
And, badly needed sleep.
His morning cup of tea could wait,
He was fond of preparing green tea.
With this thought creeping in
He rolled over and went to sleep.
*Begin With Me
I thought
My long wait is over,
The solution found
I need no longer pay heed
To the approaching footfalls
Nor listen to the old songs
Or stories often told;
Now,
A voice, loud and clear,
Asks me to retrace my steps
And commence the beginning
That began with me.
*Find My Perch
O My fanciful thoughts!
Do not pick on me,
Be fair to me,
Please do not berate me,
Do not call me lazy or maimed,
I am neither.
You gave me the reason to live,
Because of you, I survive.
You made me bury my past,
Look forward to the future
And count my little gains.
You have brought me very far,
Now do not displace me
Or injure my pride
For having walked the path
Paved by you
Curious and investigating.
Keep me adrift,
Make me fly and roam the sky,
Let me find my perch.
*Missing the Fun
One late evening
In front of the mirror
Finding myself talking to me
I said -
Do not be fussy
I know the shadows are lengthening
The night approaches silently
Soon we will fall asleep
You are missing the fun, is it?
That I in the mirror said -
You know dreams are not tailor-made
You cannot order them long or short
Lie down and close your eyes
Imagine riding a bike across barren Ladakh
Facing biting cold and gasping for breath
Wanting to be on the Marina Beach down far south
You find yourself
Admiring the rock-cut temple at Ellora
In the sculpted heaven listening to the music played
By the Apsaras on their veena
And yourself writing a parody
Would you call that funny?
I kept quiet.
*In Awe
And
The silence broke
I heard a piercing cry
A cry of pain
Intense deep-rooted pain
I wondered
Why it was not
The sound of laughter
Or the note
Of a lilting melody
That broke the silence
Surrounding me
I still wonder
*At The Gate
He did not wait
For the bells to sound
Summoning him
Yet came,
Sat cross-legged
Outside the temple-gate.
He did not enter
Nor circumambulate,
He was in possession
Of his heart and mind;
He was free and fearless.
He was his temple,
He did not seek
To escape himself.
*Easy Way
His walk is brisk,
He must reach the riverbank,
A boat waits for him,
It will take him sooner
To the more promising other-side
Where there are more trees seen.
He knows,
The boat leaves in an hour’s time.
He is in a hurry.
You do not want him to tire
Or give up his quest,
Do you?
He had asked you to join him,
Share his joy,
Instead, you chose the easy way out,
You stayed
To write these lines
To immortalize him.
*Cared
I sat dejected.
Patience, she said,
Will win the world for you,
Gifted you are
You make words you write
Work for you,
As they dispense meanings
Sought by you
And create the worlds they intend;
I shall keep a watch over you
Even when you are asleep;
I will not forsake you,
I am your pride.
*Outsiders
Then
Though reluctant
He was walking alongside
On the very path
I had bragged about
That leads to nowhere
We were the only two nobodies seen
Laughing aloud
Hoping to earn a name
By descending low and
Exploring the depths of nothingness
As the two ranked outsiders.
*Unforgiving Nights
The one thing I long for most is
The peaceful dreamless sleep
Like the sleep of the dead.
My painful hope-filled eyes
That have seen many quiet nights
And without respite
Scan the dark sky
Studded with stars unable to sleep
Because of their endless dreams,
Their mind as unsteady and restless
As is mine.
I do not seek their pithiness
That will make me brood more
And never let me sleep.
I do not need these twinkling stars
But I cannot wish them away either.
Can I?
Can I ever lose sight of my heart?
*Lonely Cloud
O Cloud!
Nasty people,
Wicked and mean,
Roam the earth,
Ignore them.
Take me with you.
Take me
To wherever you go,
As a happy dream.
I will narrate tales,
Revive gaiety,
Release new songs,
Fill hearts with love.
Then,
No one will be sad.
Take me with you
As an arguable thought
That is wispy as a dream,
Warm and nosy,
To find and unravel
The secrets
Hidden from you
I ask you
To tag me on to you.
O Cloud,
Make me a part of you.
*My Love
SMSed in three words
I had told her how I felt for her,
In just three small words
That said more than a million would
Had I written them filling reams and reams
Mailed to her packed in many fancy boxes
She would not have even bothered to open.
She is a wise waif
Aware of my weak grammar and spelling errors.
Why should I remind her about her beauty?
She sees herself in the mirror every day.
Why should I reiterate my love for her?
She senses my presence even in her deep sleep
When I am somewhere far away.
I know she loves me
And she knows that I love her as much.
On second thought
I need not have SMSed to her
Those three small light words,
You do agree, my friend!
*New Beginning
Once again,
The same old dark shadow
Lurks surrounding me;
I know it to be Death
That tirelessly protects
And waits for me;
As a true companion
It stays with me all the while,
Watching me at work and play,
Never guiding, praising, scolding
Or hurrying me on,
Never instilling any fear;
Easygoing is Death
Knowing it is
Th