From pretty yesterdays, you peek out at me
I know at once that you bring good news.
Of simple pleasures and joyful abandon
Of love that is so free, of life that gives way to you and me
Our smiles are safe here. Let's stay a while, shall we?

You can sing, and I'll listen.
We'll fall asleep together
We'll share our dreams at night,
And wake up a little closer.

You're a souvenir from yesterday
A remembrance to keep, so not all of it ebbs away.

I won't close my eyes
We'll hold hands and walk this-a-way
They'll stare after us as we whistle past
For we'll leave their worlds a little different
A little better, with our honest flavour.

You're a souvenir from yesterday
A remembrance to keep, so not all of it ebbs away.

I'll hold your innocence in my palm
So when I touch them, I'll leave a little of you behind.
We didn't find pretty yesterdays, we made them because our hands knew how.
So I'll roll up my sleeves and get to work again.
We never forget lines we didn't memorize.

You're a souvenir from yesterday
A remembrance to keep, so not all of it ebbs away.




For mo, because he always makes up pretty thoughts.

12.00 AM
On my bus ride towards a tomorrow unseen,
I can't find a pen to write my story.
Wet window panes and silent sobs from a nearby seat
We'll part ways, we companions.

12.00 PM
I let you happen to me,
But I know, though I'd rather not,
That as you sit beside me and hold my hand,
My breath on your neck may just be a memory tomorrow.
But tomorrow hasn't come, and all I can do is wait.
For I can't find a pen to write my story.

12.00 AM
I look out the window at the passing world
I blink when I don't see your gaze in the reflection anymore.
For a moment, I wonder if I made you up.

12.00 PM
I try to smile you away from our silent embrace
But I've drawn you into my arms far too many times
So I grasp for your hand, though you've gotten up and gone.
I sit on my side of the seat, taking in the empty presence to my right.

12.00 AM
As you leave, I wonder where your story will take you,
For I'd left a space for you in mine.
But it wasn't just my story to write,
So you filled a chapter as you saw fit,
And you sailed on to journies that await your discovery.

12.00 PM
As you weaved your patterns into my story,
I discovered you, I discovered me.
In the fabric of life, our stories are interwined
I love that I can't weave you away if I tried.

12.00 AM
Come as you come, and go as you go.
I'll stand right here, beneath the skies.
I'll stand right here and try to be wise.

12.00 PM
I won't write my way back into your story,
Because authors choose and characters play their parts.
But I wish you a happy ending. May your ship sail gracefully.

She's come out tonight, her fears are slight.
Her cocoon gives way as her woman unfolds
Draped in her silence, sounds flit past
She forgets to breathe as she recognizes herself.

The ground beneath her feet melts away
Adorned in love, she slips into her deepest place
Leaving behind all things made
Resonating with what remains.

She's come out tonight, her fears are slight
Drifting through what's left of space, sailing through what's left of water
Sinking into what's left of the earth, dissolving into what's left of fire.
For she's listening. She's listening.

Stepping out of his shadows
The stranger  fumbled into mine
We didn't shake hands, he didn't say hello.

I wrote his shape in my memory,
Ran my thoughts through his mind.
My fingers pressed against the skies,
We met.

In an enchanted forest,
On a faraway tree, we kiss.
My guard is down
Because in the dark, I clearly see.

Railings along crumbling walls
Sweetened milk from street vendors
Prickling heat, starving skies
Butterflies flitting past bicycle stands

The smell of earth as it awakens
Bullock carts, swishing tails
Children playing in open courtyards
A sewing machine toiling in the background

Saris fondling infant smiles
Jasmine hugs woven into oiled braids
Lamps alive with unwavering flames
Visiting birds on window grills

A man sits on his front porch
Wizened eyes, a beedi dangling from his lips
Rangoli patterns at his feet
The Tulsi plant offers her blessings from the doorway

Trudging past a sea of brown faces
The rickshaw pulls up at the gate
Curious children crowd around to watch
The foreigner comes home to a land that isn't hers.

Heads bent in solemn prayer
Masks painted with careful hands
Pages torn out of sacred books
Tirelessly, these bells, they ring.

Fingers clenched tightly
Choruses die in the winds
Love letters stop traveling
Tirelessly, these bells, they ring.

Faith gone astray
Dark temptations lose taboos
Gods turn away in denial
Tirelessly, these bells, they ring.

Scurrying along a lonely road
Pitter patter feet, searching for abode
Faceless strangers walking quickly past
One looks up with a smile, a shadow cast.

You walk hand in hand for surreal moments
Then he's lost in the crowd, his absence torments
Shards of rain slap across your face
Hiding the tears that can't keep pace.

Scurrying along a lonely road
Pitter patter feet, searching for abode
Faceless strangers walking quickly past
Sad smiles, knowing glances. Fantasies don't last.

If we walked for hours, hand in hand,

I'd like it to be silent.

If we lay on the sand, bare to the sky and the sea,

I’d like it to rain.

If we kissed, at an unexpected moment,

I’d like it to linger.

If you had to leave, if I had to leave,

I’d like it if we remembered.

I hear her murmur a prayer as I close my eyes
The stains run deep while we sleep at night
They seep into the sheets, they numb our bones
We try not to breathe.

In the cracks of the walls, there's a lingering smell
In the unwashed halls, there're tales I cannot tell.

I peel moth-eaten photographs from their frames
Once she's left, I close my eyes and scream.
There's no one to blame.

If I disappear,
We might become one.

We kissed briefly, a long time ago.
I'm another person today
Are you?
If we kiss again, we might taste different.
Or we might taste a memory that never was.

We haven't met before.
Give me a name, but I can only play a temporary role.
I'll colour you funny, because I can choose.
Why don't strangers holds hands?

I've never gotten to know you.
If I peel away your skin, you'll still be out of reach.
And so will I.

Stroll past my life
Take a picture
Leave an impression

Now she's with me
We're making this memory
Her feet stepping on mine
I breathe in a different rhythm

She's dancing in a frozen time
She's moulding this space as never before
The clock ticks away her mask.

Slip behind the curtains
Watch her face tear apart
She's come and gone

Hidden in bright daylight
The textures of my mind
An unknown shade.

Tell my story in a language I don't know
To brothers from lands afar.
Will they see me in your words?
We'll be strangers in communion for a heartbeat in time.

But I can't see through this looking glass!
You'll forever be a stranger to my kind.
You give no explanations, though you ask for mine.
I can't touch you.
My children can't fall asleep to the stories of your people.

Maybe next time, I'll ask you.
Or maybe I won't.
What if you disappoint my imagination?