Staying Awake

Lying down on the bed.
Not sleeping.Thinking about things.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Ah! the sound.Something is off.
The wheels of his brain.
They are rotating.Yes, that is what is wrong.
It is 2 in the night.He should not be awake,thinking about things.
The wheels should rest.The brain needs oiling.
He forces himself to empty his mind.
It is not working.He starts counting dogs.
He likes dogs.Thinks they are smart.
1,2,3,4,5.No,it is a no go.
He sings to himself,closes his eyes.
All in vain.This is stupid.
He is not a child anymore.There is no time to go to bed.
He has tried everything.Watching movies,reading,the whole drill.
Nothing seems to work.Ah! the wretched sleep,these sleepless nights.
They are driving him crazy.
He tosses and turns.Finally he decides to sit up.
He gets up from the bed,pours himself a glass of water and starts pacing about the room impatiently.
He is suddenly inspired by his lack of sleep and decides to write a poem on it.
He writes that poem till 4 in the morning.
It is a long poem and it does not rhyme.
He gives it a hurried glance for the last time around fiveish.
The house helper knocks on the door and then bangs loudly.
It is now nine.The sun is shining and the wind is sighing.
It is a perfect morning.
His head is bent over the flying pages of a colourful notebook.
Aniket has finally succumbed to the charms of sleep.

Change

Everybody wants it.
Most of the time they don't.
He changed.She changed.People change all the time.
Sometimes they don't.
Places change and then everything changes.
Friendship-different forms of relationships.
Seasons,the weather,time and traditions.
Love,hate,anger,revenge,disgust,happiness and contempt.
Trust,faith,bad times,good times.
It is a never ending list.
What about things that do not undergo any kind of change?
Like the sun,the moon,the mountains?
Maybe they are changing too.
I secretly hope otherwise.
What kind of change is good?
What is good?
Is there anything like that?
Or is everything just contextual?
I do not know.I am not sure.
  

The Train

I hear a whistle like sound.
The rattle of the wheels against the rails.
I open the door in a hurry to see it before it vanishes.
I can barely see anything,there is smoke everywhere.
This is ridiculous.everything is.
How can the smoke blur my vision?
Of course i am imagining this.
Ha! there it is.I am finally able to see it.
The sight depresses me and i can never figure out why.
I see it going and suddenly it strikes me.
Like a bolt of lightning,a flash of truth.
It reminds of the time passing by and how helpless we all are.
Not able to do anything about it.
Despite everything,the sadness and the hopelessness.
I still want to see it and now i know why.

    

Death

One minute you are there.Somewhere.Another second nobody really cares.

He is waiting for the right moment .A few minutes pass.He slowly steps out of the car.

Donned in a black suave suit.Hands joined together as if in prayer.

The face is pitiful.Pain,sorrow and guilt.A sadder face had never walked the earth.

It was pitiful and hauntingly beautiful.

She closes her eyes,waiting as he had earlier.He lifts her chin,examines her face closely as a tear rolled down her cheeks.

She was confused and cold.

He kissed her lightly on the forehead.She fainted in his arms.

He gently laid her down on the road,turned and walked off into the night.

He was thinking along the same lines as she had been thinking before his icy lips had touched her skin-of not dying.