as relatable as an ‘i do’ as short as a haiku as deceitful as a magic trick as shallow as a limerick as stupefying as the universe as ill-structured as a free verse as convenient as an abbreviation as useless as a quotation ~ a not-poem
Do not be at a liberty To leave little lies lying and leaping about Lock them up in a large lead box Lest they light a fire in your lovely life because
Little lies love to loathe lovely lives Little lies long to link to each other and Form a large lump or a long line Of lethal missile To launch an onslaught of loneliness Upon loving hearts and Tear them apart Like only little lies can do
Little lies lay low Only for a little while They get hungry pretty quickly Limitlessly and Demand to consume larger and larger Chunks of your lively life
Once uttered, apologise Let them not levitate In front of your eyes When they’re little they’re brittle That’s when the damage done can be limited Lose not the sight of The long-term lugubriousness That will not be lulled with a lullaby
Let this be a lesson for life Never let your luscious lips Lose their lustre to little lies because Little lies love to loathe lovely lives
I turn and reach for the phone The light shocks the sleep out of my eyes It’s 3:42 am and the world outside is as Dark as dark could be
The phone tells me it’s Sunday already But is it really? It was dark when I went to sleep On an ordinary Saturday night And it is the same dark Which surrounds me now When did Saturday and Sunday change hands? Do they have a defined process? Is it documented and verified by cosmic powers? Is it periodically checked and reviewed by superiors?
How does the transition work? Does Saturday box all his Baggage and hands over to Sunday? Does Saturday switch off while Sunday switches on? Does Saturday serve his notice period? Does Saturday say to Sunday — this Is all the darkness I could Handle, now it’s your problem; I’m outta here I don’t know It’s dark outside and my wife is snoring gently Maybe my wife would have the answers But she’s asleep Peacefully, thankfully If she were awake she Would have asked me to Go back to sleep She says I think too much about work And too little about myself Do I? I don’t know It’s dark outside but some birds are busy chirping
I wonder if they saw the day change I wonder if they saw something spectacular And are now busy discussing the impact It would have on the overall economy I wonder if my eyes will ever see anything spectacular Nothing spectacular has ever hit them Nothing yet, but I am hopeful If my wife were awake She would have told me that Everyone gets what they deserve That what is meant to be will be
I wonder if darkness was meant to be This darkness — this which envelops me Like a ghastly blanket Did it have a schedule handed out? Is it merely following orders? Did someone write this in its destiny?
I let out a yawn Darkness has that effect on me Maybe somebody wrote that yawn in my destiny Somebody with powers enough To establish and run the universe Would have enough powers to Dictate the lives of ordinary human beings
I feel like a dumb chatbot Responsible for handling customer queries And providing them with the best possible Response based on pre-defined codes An existential crisis hits me Nothing spectacular though Many such crises have hit me At such odd hours
Maybe whoever wrote my destiny found it Amusing to hit me with an existential crisis At this time of the day when all is dark and quiet While my head is ruptured with endless thoughts
Whoever he or she or it is Must have had quite a chuckle when It must have been written in my destiny that I will Contemplate the creator’s existence at 3:49 am On an ordinary Saturday night/Sunday morning
I wish he would have written something spectacular in my life I don’t know what spectacular even means anymore Maybe I already have experienced spectacular things but never bothered to see them as such This life — the mere fact that I was born is spectacular, isn’t it? We seem to take that for granted I have taken it for granted all my life I have gotten wet in the rain I have felt the summer rays hit my skin and warm my soul I have seen what autumn does to leaves I have watched the snow turn the world white I have fallen in love I have got married I have seen ants scurry around my feet I have found a job after going through the horrible ordeal of an interview I have been promoted I have moved countries I have spoken languages I have had dreams I have had nightmares I have stayed awake all night I have contemplated the creator on a Saturday night/Sunday morning
Whether or not he or she or it is real Is not within my comprehension It’s 3:52 am and I am in the dark
Frank Solanki 