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Cheerful, Balachandran V, in English Clear filters

CheerfulBalachandran V

Borderline

Borderline is a thrilling word Borders between countries Evoking images of the drama at Vagha. Borderline is ominous The borderline between sanity and insanity. Borderline between friendship and intimacy, Bringing into focus And blurring your vision, the line you step out From restrained emotions to riotous expressions of love. To stand on the borderline Is to hold your life in your hands To decide to cross over or not. Borderline is an exciting place to be -
CheerfulBalachandran V

Trees and Doves Don’t Wear Clothes

When was the last time My privates pricked, playfully By the teasing raindrops Splattered by the wind? When was the last time I stood in the rain, nude? As a child? No, mother would have Frisked me away and gave A slap on my bottom too! Once I stripped on a beach Blushing at my lesser size Than that of the tourist by my side. Played, all dangling, Jumping and rolling, Bewildering unfamiliar freedom. It wasn’t raining then, though.
CheerfulBalachandran V

Face to Face

At the bar, nursing a Romanov - or two Sometimes three or four I am forced to look into myself - Not a pretty sight. At the barber, as he twists my neck Left and right, up and down And then firmly upright I am forced to look at myself - Not a pretty sight either!
CheerfulBalachandran V

The Female of the Species

Lying beneath the ceiling fan that pummel me With gusts of hot air that refuses to leave my room; Sweating, half-asleep, I swap at the mosquitoes biting me. It is midnight or so, but I wake up; my skin burns and itches. Switching on the light and switching off the fan I scan the room for those bloodsuckers and hit At one or two which lie on the floor. I have the immense satisfaction of crushing them with my toe Leaving a smear of my blood on the polished tiles. Sitting on the floor cross-legged, in the nude I watch a mosquito landing on my thigh and stick its proboscis into me. I could imagine her stomach billowing with my blood.
CheerfulBalachandran V

The Slide

He climbed up the ladder, one, two, three The ground fell lower, three, two, one The sky came closer, one, two, three. Up went the kid, four, five, six Down went the ground, six, five, four Up was the Future, bright and bold Down was the Past, dull and dead. The kid sat at the top And the slide took him down In one smooth rush, On a roly, jolly ride. The wind hit his face, The ground zoomed up - And thud! He was back where all it began.
CheerfulBalachandran V

Gecko

He moved swiftly, through the little gap Between the door ajar and the wall Hiding then, behind the desk, presumably Catching his breath - but soon as I pulled the desk back Like lightning, he took cover behind the pile of papers. I grinned at him, he was young and little, a juvenile, and said - 'Gotcha, my boy' and with a quick brush of the broom Escorted him out into the glaring sun. That was yesterday, that was when I felt I could not stand This suffocating sensation, the revulsion of solitude, Yet shunning company, sans I am, of love and friendship. Now, defeated, depressed and disconsolate, I welcomed him As he skulked in a corner, nodding, licking his chops clean
CheerfulBalachandran V

Monday Syndrome

In the fleeting moments that fall In between fleeing from one task to another At the back of my mind, desparate, I wonder How to freeze Time to an eternal Sunday!
CheerfulBalachandran V

Mirror images

At the fair, at my favorite stall with distorted mirrors I look at A squat me A fat me A looong me A twisted me A me I think me A shattered me A stretched me - Suddenly- the images begin to speak They raise a finger at me and says I am you you are me I am you you are me - I hide a smile - They too...
CheerfulBalachandran V

Caught Behind

Every time I am caught With my back to someone's camera I look aghast Refusing to believe, to accept That the unfamiliar posterior of a human head With dirty grey wisps of hair Like an odd-looking horseshoe Stuck on a hairless scalp That reflects the light of the camera flash Is really me Hiding behind an anterior I thought I knew all my life - A view of myself that I will never see With my own eyes...
CheerfulBalachandran V

Cycling on a Sunday Morning

Laboured breath, squeaking knees Crunching pain in the lower back Stench of garbage ride up the nose. Passing by people, sleepy dogs Newspaper boys whizzing by Cycling, cycling, cycling Cycling on a great Sunday morning. Old men on cycles pedaling by I could love them, warts and all. Sticking up my nose at the bikes and cars Cycling, cycling, cycling Cycling on a good Sunday morning. Smells of the sea wafting by Drone of the jets sweeping by Caw of the crows flying by Roar of the waves lashing by

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