ghazal ("Courage")

Every hawker sells   a different kind of courage
every street compells   a different kind of courage

if you voyage east   is it true you'll reach the west?
in the ocean swells   a different kind of courage

when you leave the nest   will the sky become your mother?
apprehension gells   a different kind of courage

it's distressing   to proceed without perception
yet each glimpse propells   a different kind of courage

every temple bell   desires to sound your secret
every breath expells   a different kind of courage

every house is built in hope   every lie's in earnest
every woodsman fells   a different kind of courage

in the marketplace   did you coax a hundred smiles?
every tear impells   a different kind of courage

all the colors strive to paint   the true condition
every inkling spells   a different kind of courage

honkikng horns resemble birdcry   in the city
urban fortune tells   a different kind of courage

must the seeker wander blind   without direction
till compassion quells   a different kind of courage?

many visions prove confusing   to the dreamer
only dawn dispells   a different kind of courage

did Ardeo run to greet you   in the morning?
now his evening knells   a different kind of courage



(written 23 June 2007, in Bangalore; begun with jottings in a 3-wheeler departing the Jayanagar market)