ghazal ("into the weave of the poem")

How deep can you pierce   into the weave of the poem?
the hand disappears   into the sleeve of the poem

the peering eye blears   panning & sieving the poem
careening who steers?   pulled by the heave of the poem

to sweep through its spheres   null disbelief in the poem
the heart's balladeers   loll on the leaf of the poem

through hours & years   patient   retrieving the poem
hope fending off fears   blindly believing the poem

* * * * * *

if ink perchance smears   painting's conceived in Rabindra
if old   get new ears   quaintly naive in the poem

to hazard careers on   rash irrational gambles
the danger zone nears   then   the reprieve of the poem

strange symmetry steers recitative   in the crow's nest
the symphony tears   into a reef   in the poem

the lamp becomes fierce   seemingly manic-depressive
the laugh becomes tears   sweetly you grieve in the poem

* * * * * *

man booted from Eden   loss is gaining its gesture
solicitude nears   bosomed by Eve   in the poem

the ground of the fall   springs from primordial heartbreak
where pathways appear   all interweave in the poem

night's chanter declares this ink   an ocean of love-notes!
till dawn's chanticleers   let's not take leave of the poem

you love a beloved   hence are the heavens moving
her tress   with star-gears   gets interleaved in the poem

* * * * * *

perfection's her hangout   an inhibiting address!
esteem of one's peers?   petulant peeve of the poem

where writers set snares   Rama himself couldn't see through
iridescent deer   darkly deceive in the poem

a good doctor swears by   what's engraved   in time's marrow
why settle for   merest aperitifs   in the poem?

to tell you the truth   I'm often stunned   with confusion
as dust anon clears   where went the thief?   in the poem

I tended my desk   playing their game   in the office
a stalemate nears?   I've gone on leave   in the poem

* * * * * *

impossible grace   punctured by fate   gets deflated
the clip of the shears   you might perceive in the poem

in dream you descry   nuggets gone gold!   but awaking
the threshing-ground sneers   grainless these sheaves of the poem

creation inspires   yet things require   dissolution
you witness Shakespeare   greet Mahadev   in the poem

to Delhi I've come   seeking a tumbler of ocean!
don't hawk souvenirs   bring me the wave of the poem

sharp entrepreneurs   hone what a hundred heads fancy
might one dull heart hear   what you achieve in the poem?

what architects build   myriads of bodies inhabit
soul's secret frontiers   hide in the eaves of the poem

we face dismal odds   dear Raphael   you ignore them
your countenance cheers   even conceiving the poem