By: Pramod Rastogi

When I am not with You

My love, when I am not with you,
Never too far from me are you.
If I were a leaf of yellow hue,
A shade of lush green would be you
Based on the shade of the sky blue.

My love, when I am not with you,
Still, I know around me are you,
Gazing from your hiding in dew
With tears in your eyes trickling anew
As if it were your last adieu.

My love, when I am not with you,
Nested deep inside me are you,
Ready to read with me a brew
Of verses that I pen impromptu
In the glory of your virtue.

My love, when I am not with you,
The smell I inhale in me is you,
If I were the wind, its residue
Present within me would be you,
Just like an angel right on cue.

My love, when I am not with you,
Still, forever I want to feel you,
If I were the autumn, my crew
Would be you, bringing much value
To me every night of curfew.

A Wreath to Honor my Lost Dreams

You have trampled without mercy my dreams
By loving my shyness more than the reams
Of my lost dreams pencilled on the shifting seams
Of the sand beaches so pristine.

The thought of taking you, shy, in my arms
I never had, even in my daydreams,
Though the tales of my love with a few qualms
Were written and burned in my vivid dreams.

The dreams I had were to you devoted
Though I shred daily a part of my dreams
To make space in my dream box, loaded
So that I can live with you in my dreams.

Without you, eroded were all my dreams.
I lay a wreath to honour my lost dreams.