If this world were more perfect
We’d have more heart and less brain
More squirrels and less pain
Less religion and more blossoms
More humility and less problems
More love which is sacred
Less anger, less hatred
More leaves with shining droplets
Less gadgets and less idiots
More violins and trumpets
Less critics and more poets
When I was a kid
I had balloons
Lots and lots of balloons
I would hold on to the end of their string
Let them transport me away
They would take me to the skies
Over the city’s scrapers
Amongst the cool winds and the birds
I could see everything down below
People marching about like ants
Trucks the size of my toy car
Factories and schools all looked alike
Marvellous things all around
Yet I gazed at the clouds
Those white, fluffy balls
Floating, wandering aimlessly
Just how I wished to be
I would jump from one cloud to another
Like an astronaut on Moon
With my gravity-defying balloons
Hours and hours would jump with me
Till the daylight disappeared
And dark clouds and fatigue took over
Then I would descend
Upon the mundane earth
Into my warm room with a cozy bed
I would sleep on a cloud-like pillow
Smiling, dreaming
Of another fascinating trip the next day
That’s how my childhood passed
But now I’m a grown man
With those balloons still with me
They could still transport me to the skies
I just don’t let them
I’m a grown man now
I read about a poet who
Wrote thousands of poems in his life
I wonder how he did it
Didn’t he marry, have kids and wife?
Why must I be like this?
There must be a better way
A better person I can be
A better role I can play
…
Why must I be like this —
Different, unlike and weird?
Some they call me special
But so often I’ve been jeered
…
Why must I be like this —
Separated from the rest?
All the folks they have much fun
Am I missing life’s best?
…
I’ve never really envied them
They have their lives and I; mine
They may be happy or whatever
But I am just about fine
…
I have my friends albeit few
I have my reasons albeit new
I owe nothing to them or you
I’ve had never much to rue
…
Why must I be like this?
Well, this is the rightful way
A better person I can be
In this very role I play
When nobody loves me
I simply cry and weep
I feel mighty tired
But I can’t fall asleep
…
When nobody loves me
I feel insecure
To banish all my thoughts
Is there any cure?
…
When nobody loves me
There’s just Me and I
Myself then joins the glumness
We decide to die
…
When nobody loves me
All the meaning’s lost
Death sends an invite
For a petty cost
…
When nobody loves me
I tie myself a noose
I am just a step away
From all pain and abuse
…
When nobody loves me
I just close my eyes
Say my final prayers and
Think of all the lies
Think about the fairytales
Eros and happy endings
That all the emotions are
Merely someone’s lendings
That love is a giant pie
And each will get a bite
Some may get a large chunk
Others will get a slight
The idea makes me laugh
To see everyone so starved
That’s how the world was formed
But not how I was carved
…
When nobody loves me
I stop giving a care
Unbothered with anyone
Anytime, anywhere
…
When nobody loves me
I don’t listen to what they say
This world may not be for me
But I am here to stay
…
When nobody loves me
Unbound by their chains
I love myself a little
That love ever remains
The concept of friendship has been overused
Tales of great alliance just leave me bemused
I only ever had myself from end to end
That is all I ever needed for a friend
A poem is not a reflection
Of the poet or his thinking
The poet, while, is a shadow
Of the poem that he’s drinking
He is merely a medium
Between the poem and the page
To flung the doors wide open
Of the concealed cage
Darkness is my brother
Evil is my sis
Sadness is my mother
Dad’s antonym of bliss
Trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble is my family
…
Despair is my nephew
Wicked is my wife
Guess what’re my children?
The antonym of life
Trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble is my family
…
Trouble is my second name
Trouble is my house
Trouble is my pet tortoise
The cat and the mouse
Trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble is my family
I wanna lock my heart away
Never ever let her out
This world is just too evil
As my heart’s just found out
…
I wanna firmly lock the door
Throw away the key
Shut all the windows
In darkness, she would be
…
I’ll let her out if only
This world would see a change
But that doesn’t look so likely
So she will there remain
I saw the summer lose her warmth
I saw the winter raise her head
All the flowers lost their charm
All the trees — they looked so dead
And I didn’t know why
…
I heard the angels shivering
While the heavens were trembling
The nasty wounds within myself —
Those echoes were resembling
And I didn’t know why
…
I caught the Devil and I asked him
“I am just a child of His
Spare me or kill me
But don’t leave me hanging like this.”
…
The winds whispered soft’ to me
About the blood they carried free
All through her lamentations
Not a word came back to me
And I didn’t know why
…
So I set off, I walked the earth
Rising above the frozen dirt
I kept the secrets to myself
Of my pain, my grief, my hurt
And I didn’t know why
Frank Solanki 