I dip my toe
In a black sea
Darkness surrounds me
I look up
And I see
White dots staring back
I look around
All is black
I seek what I lack
I put my hand
Through a crack
I’m swallowed naturally
Month: January 2024
Frank Goes Out On A Date
I set up a date
With a woman with whom
I had been flirting
For a good many months
I had come to know her a great deal
We had chatted a lot
Yet I had never seen her face
It didn’t bother me much
She had me, and she knew it
The intrigue was burning within me
I wanted to meet her
See her and experience her
The desire flamed my veins
When the day came
I didn’t groom myself particularly well
I knew she didn’t care about
How a person looked
The soul is what matters to her
I reached the spot early
Too early I guess
Too eager, and perhaps too desperate
For a chance to meet the love of my life
She had decided the time
She always does, she says
I waited patiently for the
Hands of the clock to turn
A young girl walked up to me
She said, “I know you’re here to see my sister
But you can’t meet her just yet
Why don’t you grab my hand meanwhile
And take a walk with me?”
Before I could come up with a response
She grabbed my hand and led me
On a dark, lonely road
We walked for a while
Then I began to tire
My face grew pale and
My blood ran cold
My muscles began to droop and
My body was sapped
She was unaffected
She smiled through it all
I ask her repeatedly if I could meet her sister
She says she isn’t done playing with me
Me and her, we still walk this dark, lonely road
The hands of the clock are turning, slowly
How To Become A Better Person
Every once in a while
Smile
Every hour or half
Laugh
Every person you meet
Greet
Every other day
Play
Every now and then
See a friend
Every month or two
Review
Every year or so
Grow
On Finchley Road
I looked at the indicator
Which informed me that my train
Was due in two minutes
I opened my phone
To check and reply
To some messages
I heard some women screaming
I turned in their direction
And saw a man lying on the tracks
He was motionless
Barely an expression
On his face
It was hard to tell whether
The man intended to be there
Or if he had fallen over
A few men jumped down
And pulled him up
Safely upon the platform
The officials
And then the train
Arrived presently
A life was saved
In front of my eyes
By a few good men
A little crowd had gathered on the scene
None of them had their phones out
To record the incident
I Like To Wonder
I like to wonder if the sky could hold me
If it could carry my weight in its arms
And fly away
I like to wonder if the oceans could swallow me
If they could churn me in their blue intestine
And then spit me out
I like to wonder if the grass could cut me
If it could prick my skin till there is nothing
More left to prick
I like to wonder if the ghost in the horror movie
That I just watched would come out of the screen
And avenge itself
I like to wonder if I were breathless before I could breathe
If the air fills my lungs with clean oxygen
Or toxic chemicals
I like to wonder about another way of living
Another dimension to add to our woes
Another slice of life
Sometimes I like to wonder
About death
And death alone
A Flawed Creator
It is clear, as far as I can see
That if this world was created
By a superhuman being
He didn’t do a very good job of it
Consider the proposition: if
He was employed by a company
Would his boss look at his project and say
— “That’s a masterpiece
I couldn’t find a single flaw in it”?
This world is flawed
Life is more and more about survival
And less and less about happiness
It doesn’t matter which life I am talking about
Plants fight for more sunlight
Animals kill each other for food
Humans deceive each other to climb the ladder of life
It is a dog-eat-dog world
A masterpiece?
Flawless?
Nah, far from it
If the world is flawed then it cannot be made by a flawless creator
If the world is flawed then the creator must be flawed too
Just like the rest of us
The Lioness
The leash was strong but not strong enough
To keep a lioness in check
For over a year she was bound
And helpless as she
Let others pelt stones at her
And her lion, who too was
Bound and helpless
They instigated her for no reason
Provoked her and scarred her
She kept quiet and suffered
She was taught to ignore the fools
She was told to forgive and forget
But kindness is often viewed as weakness
And they kept pelting her
Day after day
Night after night
The ring master and her staff
Thought it to be a sport
A little fun to pass the time away
It was indeed all fun and games for them
Till one day the lioness snapped
And with her the leash
She unleashed herself and her fury
Upon the men who dared
To disturb her and her lion
And tried to suppress them
And turn them into passive slaves
For entertainment and chores
It had been a long time coming
But coming it was
When it did, all hell broke loose
The lioness roared
Molded
I gave my body a shape
Molded it into something different
For your sake
It was perfect when you were
Here with me all the time
Like two pieces of jigsaw
We intertwined
And laughed the seasons
Away with locked arms
Now I see myself as crooked
And that’s how the others
See me too; they laugh and
Tell me that I have been
Twisted and deceived
Made to become
Something I wasn’t
It is true what they say, isn’t it?
I am no longer
The missing piece of jigsaw
I am not even
Part of the puzzle
I find it difficult
To straighten my back
My body is deformed beyond recognition
It is not how I used to be
It is me, yet it is not
Like You Used To
If you hold me
Like you used to
Then these thorns and rain will go away
Hear my story
Like you used to
When the night has taken out the day
With the rain falling outside
I’m trapped in my own home
Trying to escape the thoughts
Only brings me closer to them
I’m worried
I’m uneasy
As I watch the flowers wilt for want of air
If you hold me
Like you used to
Then these thorns and rain will go away
Hear my story
Like you used to
When the night has taken out the day
My eyes witness melancholy
My soul shoulders the blame
All I have is the distance
Where one day a bridge shall stand
I’m thinking
I’m hungry
My body will take no other nourishment
If you hold me
Like you used to
Then these thorns and rain will go away
Hear my story
Like you used to
When the night has taken out the day
Untitled #12
It doesn’t feel like we’re meeting for the first time
It may have been another universe
It may have been another lifetime
Another time; another age
It feels like I’ve known you forever
Frank Solanki 