Voyage

I stare at the lone lizard traversing across the stark white ceiling
of my empty house,
Nonchalant, indifferent…
There have been wars, they say,
There have been floods, I hear,
I am told about the coups and assassinations,
The wise have briefed me about the famines and royal births…
Well, the sands mean impermanence,
The winds bring in change,
The moonlight bathes me in passion,
The clouds make me a wanderer,
I disappear in the sky,
I drown in the sea,
I get addicted to life,
I taste a drop or two of the elixir stored in the damp cellar of dreams,
Somehow, inspite of being cautioned about barren lands,
I bathe in the moist equatorial forests, unmindful of the arid winds…
I recoil - time becomes a nemesis;
I recollect – words become a prophecy…
I sail across the dancing river in a rickety boat,
I rest in the abandoned circuit-house,
I search for the faded nameplates in the dilapidated ruins,
I befriend the hostile tribes,
I deny entry to the padlocked years,
I gather dreams in the clumsy ashtray and blow the ashes in the air…
The rainbow smiles down at the silver dreams…
I blossom in the smoke of the cigar,
And the lizard travels a long way….
May be even across the salty waters of the stagnant sea…