Shashi Gupta

Letters.

It's been so long since he's been gone
Pages I've stacked on the shelves of my heart
Each day, each moment i add to them
The weight of them is heavy on my chest.

Someday when i get down to writing them down
The 'Hello, How are you', will meaningless be
The dam will burst and flood the lands
I will bare my heart and express my pain.

Letters i will write from the depth of my heart
The ink will flow when my tear drops start
Smears on the pages will make my letters illegible
Where to post the letters, God's address i know not.

But release i will get, i know from the pain
That suffocates me and makes me insane
I speak to you like you lie by my side
But oh so far you've gone, my letters won't reach.

Shashi Gupta

I spent my life in hiding in corners,
Secrecy being my theme.
I couldn't face the realities of life, so,
Mystery I spun around my being.
No matter what the world thought of me,
My identity I hid from them all.

Then came a day when the truth I saw,
Where was the need to hide?
I too am a creation of God,
With gifts that have been hidden from all.
So what will I do to make life worthy,
For days I thought about it.

Now a fabric I weave
Textured like velvet or silk,
From nature's palette
The colours I take, dark and bright.
The patterns too, the world gifts me all.
All this I put it into words
That will never fade away.
Sometimes I weave a happy pattern
For life is so beautiful, though sometimes sad
And then I show the sorrows to all
That burden this life in unhappy ways.
But always in my thoughts, I try to bring,
A beautiful piece that I hope
Will stay for a lifetime to cherish.

No more secrecy do I hoard now,
My life is as open as a book.
No mystery reigns, my life is free
And this freedom is my precious gift.
I am proud of my identity, my very being
I am what God meant me to be.

Shashi Gupta

As a child I used to pretend
That sunbeams pretty, I could pluck.
Tie up in knots and keep in my stock
Of all my worldly precious things.

Someday then, I would imagine,
When the sky with clouds is darkened,
I'll take one out, unfurl its length
And spread light amongst the forsaken.

But that was my childhood dream,
And now I'm a full grown woman.
There's much to be done and I'm just one
But I know I have to keep on trying.

Childhood is abused and beaten
Youth lies in gutters in stupors
The old are abandoned and forgotten.
What has mankind reduced itself to?

Come join hands in this endeavour
If we try we can uplift the poor.
The needy cry out, we can hand out
Some caring, warmth and love amongst them.

Now is the time to use my bundle
Spread light in these darkening lives.
Spread smiles, they cost not much
And from one they pass on to another.