There’s nothing to write about
So I’ll just write about
Having nothing to write about
…
When you can’t really begin
What you’re meaning to begin
Write about having nothing to begin
…
When you can’t really go on
But the pages shout, “Go on.”
Write about having nothing to go on
…
Then when you can’t really end
What you earlier began
I guess that’s the writer’s block’s end
…
I don’t know if it helped
But at least it did help
Me when I needed some help
Mother Earth, mother Earth, will you shut up please?
Stop telling me your problems and your tragedies
I know you’re having troubles, you suffer day and night
But we are your children. We have all the rights
You complain about the felling of forests and of trees
But we are only decorating you with buildings and diseases
You complain about the smog, polluted water and land
But we prefer it the way it is, just try and understand
Look at your Sun and Moon, they never do complain
They’re idle and stationary, why don’t you learn from them?
We are happy as we stand. We never make a fuss
Have I ever kvetched that you’re not big enough for us?
So quit your whining and your sobbing and continue to move around
We’ll treat you as we may please till we burn you to the ground
So quit your whining and your sobbing and quit your petty bother
If we’re ever fed up with you, we’ll find another mother
As strange as it may seem
I think I saw a funny dream
A daffodil woke me up at four
And pointed to the window
I was quite surprised to see
A floral show just for me
Roses swinging on a trapeze
Dahlias flying with the breeze
Lilies decorating the lawn
Sunflowers giving a sighful yawn
Daisies circling around the moon
Orchids floating in hot air balloons
Tulips strumming their guitars
Asters lazing on the stars
Irises singing melodies
Peonies bubbling parodies
A giant lotus sat up straight
Heathers went out on a date
Violets shooting laser beams
A thistle woke me with her screams
As strange as it may seem
I think I saw a funny dream
I never had a family
No friends or children or wife
Then I looked deep inside
And I found a friend for life
I never had a God
No faith, religion or belief
Then I found deep inside
A hope to fight my grief
I never had anything
That’s what I always thought
But I am all I need
I am all I’ve got
Out there floats a ball of dust
Smoke and gas and hollowed rust
Swimming in the sky with swollen glory
Every cloud has his story
…
As they’re born they form and float
While they live they quietly gloat
Some they rain and some they blow
Only a few call a splendid show
For some you reserve your euphory
Every cloud has his story
…
Every leaf has his glory
Every dew has his story
Every breath has his glory
Every cloud has a story
Last night I lay in my bed but I couldn’t get any sleep
I got up and checked the clock. It was nearly three
I stepped outside and I beheld a star-studded sky
Made me wonder at my significance and purpose in life
The road was quiet and peaceful. The winds were blowing soft
I wondered if this is what paradise is all about
Just then my paradise was disturbed by the sound of bullet shots
I think it came from my home but I wished it didn’t
I rushed to the scene and the horror enveloped
Father, he was dead
Mother, she had a bullet in her head
Brother, he was gone
Sister, she will never wake up now
I knelt at my mother’s bed and I held her hand
“Why did she have to leave me all alone?” I began to cry
Just then an arm grabbed me from behind
Pointed a gun to my head and asked me to make a final wish
“I wish to be with my mother.” I said
“Very well. Brace yourself.” he said
I took a deep breath as he began to count
One
Sweat dripping from my forehead
Two
Heart beating ferociously
Three
And then I woke up from my dream, gasping for breath
My head was in a spin and my pillow was wet with sweat
I looked around and everything seemed all right
I had a glass of water just to recollect my heart beat
I checked the clock. It was nearly three
I looked outside the window. It was the same night sky
Streets were all empty. The winds they must be soft
I rested my head on the pillow to try and catch some sleep
But I was wide awake now. A thought disturbing me
Some lives are imperfect. For me, it was just a dream
I wonder if this is what paradise is all about
If I was a lonely clown
In a lonely town
It would be so unsatisfactory
I’d do some silly tricks
An ass would give me kicks
Just for introductory
I’d sing Do-Do-Di-Da-Da
Little John’s from Africa
If I was the only clown in town
…
If I was a lonely clown
In a lonely town
It would be so disappointing
They’d pay to get their laughs
But forget about their halves
There’d be no finger-pointing
I’d sing Do-Do-Di-Da-Da
Little John goes ‘Blah, blah, blah’
If I was the only clown in town
…
If I was a lonely clown
In a lonely town
I’d feel so miserable
There’d be nobody
To put a smile on me
But thankfully its not so unfavourable
I sing Do-Do-Di-Da-Da
A hundred clowns, here they are
I am not the only clown in town
I walked around with a gun in my hand
Looking for Peace
Please, please, please
Would someone show me Peace?
…
I met a boy and I asked him
If he had any Peace
He said, “I only have a little drum for a toy
I play it all the time
It helps the day pass away
But Peace? No, Sir. I haven’t heard of that toy
You might as well go ahead and ask some other boy”
…
I went ahead with a gun in my hand
Looking for Peace
Please, please, please
Would someone give me Peace?
…
I met a young lady
Walking with her man
Happy and smiling
She must know Peace then
I asked her if she knew where I could find Peace
“Peace?”, she said, “I only know Stan
Why would I keep tabs about any other man?
But if you are looking for a lost friend
You might find him in that shrine
Everyone finds everything there”
…
I went to the shrine with a gun in my hand
Looking for Peace
Please, please, please
Would someone bring me Peace?
…
I looked around the shrine
There was nobody there but me
And my faithful shadow
Who refused to leave
The winds made the bells ring
My heart began to beat
I sat there with Silence
While I threw my gun away
My shadow left to grab it
Peace came to stay
Li river in China, Navagio bay in the heart of Greece
Tulip fields in Netherlands and universal peace
Trump as U.S. President, Superbowl and Wimbledon
Pyramids in Egypt and first solar eclipse since ’91
Las Vegas, Paris, Venice in Italy
Would you like to stay home or give me some company?
Gonna see everything that I have never seen
In twenty seventeen
…
Happy, wild, reckless, careless, dumb and free
Rich, lazy, crazy and a famous celebrity
Nominated for an Oscar, dictator of a small country
Losing myself in Sydney. Searching in Miami
Pink-headed, muddleheaded and writing a book on fleas
Astronaut or just a robot with jetpacks for his knees
Gonna be everything that I wished to be at eighteen
In twenty seventeen
…
Watch the sun go down, dance like there’s no tomorrow
Stay up all night, have my own punk rock show
Quit my job and travel, learn to play the piano
Breed dragons and dinosaurs and watch them as they grow
Heli-biking in Newzealand, storm-chasing in Tornado valley
With a beautiful girl whom I’d like to take home and marry
Gonna fall in love, settle down, go crazy for Francine
In twenty seventeen
…
Was twenty sixteen bad? Was it worse than the worst?
In a list of terrible things, I’d like to rate it first
But past is past and I’d like to start on a fresh new page
But not before I kick the year out of this stage
It’s so easy to say goodbye to twenty sixteen
A year of nothingness. Three sixty six days of haloween
Anyway, gotta get going now. Have to revisit my teens
In twenty seventeen
I really want to write a book
But I don’t know where to start
Putting words together
Isn’t really my art
…
I lack the motivation
I make a lot of mistakes
I am easily distracted
I don’t have what it takes
…
I don’t know what to write about
Drama, thriller or love
I can’t even name the characters
I need a sign from above
…
What if I write something ugly?
What if my book is panned?
What if nobody likes it?
What if my book is banned?
…
Why do I think so much?
Who do I have to please?
I should just write to please myself
And put myself at ease
…
So I’ll just take a paper
I’ll pick up a pen
Write three hundred words today
And do it tomorrow again
Frank Solanki 