Last Hour

I saw her the last hour
when a glow suffused her face,
her movements fast and strong,
more alive than the rest of us
that the house cat stopped by to stare
at her before scurrying away.
Her desperate desire to live
evident in her every action.
The desire that crumbled with time and
faded with the call of destiny.

Modern World

I shudder every time
I am with you,
for I am scared to carry a seed,
which will be a victim of the modern world,
achieving adolescence at age 6,
killing its best friends’ ambitions to achieve its own,
racing wild in a car susceptible to accident anytime.
How safe and innocent was the era of horse-drawn carts, I wonder.
But, were not animals subjugated then, too,
along with humans?

The Box

I stare at a box,
He stares at it,
The fire inside it consumes
us as we sit glued,
unable to move.
The child wails in boredom,
then in thirst and hunger,
his cry turns into a whimper.
But we are dedicated to the box.
The child now sits with us,
with parched lips, sunken skin
and a manic gleam in his eyes.

The Glint

I see the glint
in the eyes
of a militant
caught in his “duty.”
Drained of youth
and innocence,
his wild eyes prick
me like needles
in my sleep

The same glint I see
in the eyes
of a political leader
who urges rebellion.
His soft voice become stealthy bullets,
creeping into my heart and
harassing my thoughts

The same glint
I see in the eyes
of a wild buck,
a goat and a dog
before any attack.

The glint that destroys
finer feelings
and turns humans
into animals.

The Stylish Smoker

I stand in the edge of
the Almora hills,
inhaling my anxiety and
letting out clouds of rings
that merge into the misty hills.
My fear drowns into the nicotine
as I pause by the ancient firs,
which will live for decades.
A piece of butt slips from my fingers
causing hidden rats
to crawl out and scamper away.

The smoke ceases to pretend
and escapes my mouth in
shapeless patterns when I am
in the confines of my home
I cough continuously as I
notice my shriveled plants
and stunted rose.
I stare at the cigarette pack,
seeing my face there,
a stylish skeleton.