I emerge like a tree from a dirty seed;

There is compassion in destruction The flyaway ashes reveal an ancient fire The mirror that shows my ugly parts Becomes my guardian angel. Not long ago, staying high on bliss was home I found darkness a trace of sunlight, just painted black Now, crystalized scales fall off my eyes I wake up and panic in the abyss Should the choices remain the same? Well, what's your poison?, the voice asks A pleasing lie Or an ugly truth I ask for neither The truth was always there And, the lie was my set of blinkers Break those horse tacks But give me a new set of eyes I could go back to sleep Color nightmares into my personal rainbow. Make demons my dream-catchers And, when a skeleton lurks in the darkness Shout in jest 'Happy Halloween to you'. I could remain wide awake Burn hot in the embers of truth Hedge my bets Sharpen the spears Wage my battles from an unstable, bleeding, dark crevice. Or I could watch the battle but know it's futile Forgive myse...

Aug'17- 2 Muslim men lynched for transporting cattle   24 Muslims lynched, 124 attacked In Hindutva we trust, proclaim their tweets Protesters murdered, Farmers shot Just another hill of discarded meat Media is dead Bought or bled They gouged their eyes out but gave them a new mouth Slipped on with no teeth and they all look the same Reasons aplenty when the weak leads Roars are pitch-corrected to friendly bleats 500 people died in flood, we cry The sin against the Cow, they say Rupee at an all time low They laugh Congress in 1947 caused the fall We close our windows Keep blood out the doors It stinks still The flies buzz around They walk with sickles in hand Pied Pipers lay claim to our land Become a zombie or pretend to be one Don't talk, don't see, don't feel And, yet Heroes rise To pay the price With Love With Life They fall with a smile They are crushed into divine light We feel We see Crimson clouds everywhere! It ...

The internet is replete with a number of self-help gurus. Most have a predictable template that cults typically follow for mind-control, albeit with varying degrees. I am super cautious of people I listen to because the most dangerous factor that distracts us from following our path is bias. Bias primes us and can impact our decision making process and actions in every possible way. It's impossible to be free of bias but we can always try to limit its hold on us. 1) What is the 'hook'? What made you notice them? Marketers trade emotions. The easiest way to get someone's attention is working with their fear and guilt. If a self-help guru starts with your fear and build that to evoke guilt for doing something, run fast! Away, NOT towards them!! 2) How much freedom do you have? If they have figured out the finer details of how to live your life, their intention is to control you. Good teachers would only offer broad guidelines that can be broken down to granular ...

The violent counter part of this poem is  here The Sufi's notion of Love is seeing God as the beloved. More often than not, God is the lover in Rumi's poems. The earth kissed her feet Warm, Tender, Soft She slipped Slid into the belly of a wet, paddy field Its scent on her back Coarse sand on her neck She took a breath Hu! The sun touched her brows Draping its rays as a veil It dripped down Like a runnel of desire A thousand caresses Sieving through her breasts Her tummy squeezed out a breath Hu! She stretched out her hands Her fingers found the palm of wind It tip toed around her body And touched her tongue Slowly at first and then like a storm A blaze of sweet trickle pressed her mouth Her throat felt a ball of fire That stretched her body out Like a bow A breath sneaked in Hu! She saw the stars She saw Time The Universe She saw Love itself A song without words And, it covered her With a glimpse of an ancient memory She...