The Last Guest

I will come for you,

just as I have for everyone else.

When the time is right,

when you are done watching your life unwind.

At the end, when everything will be alright,

at the end, there will be a door.

I hope you greet me with a smile.

and I will embrace you with moistened eyes.

And finally, you will recognise me.

Not by my bony face,

nor by the darkness clinging to my skin,

but by something you have always known.

Because, at the end, 

I am the beginning.

We will travel beyond the stars,

through galaxies without names,

making memories

that time can never break.

And then, once again,

I will say goodbye.

I will treasure our memories,

and once again when the curtains fall,

I will be there.

After decades, we will meet again.

I will come for you

with the same warm embrace.

And hopefully,

just hopefully,

you will recognise me

before you forget.

- Anshu Sharma

Where the Branches Reach

 

Webs dangling over me,

An entrapment plain to see.

Fingers as long as branches sway,

Calling me softly into sleep's embrace.

Dark figures gather, silent and slow,

Luring me where lost shadows go.

Their whispers linger in the evening air,

While moonlight fades without a prayer.

Frozen beneath their sight unseen,

My soul suspended between what was and what has been.

Waves

 

Uninvited waves crashing on the shore,

Mending the soul while breaking the bones.

Sun bathing on the ocean floor,

Moonlit nights being the only cure.

Happiness hidden away on a Moore,

Anxiety and depression, how do we endure.

Life disguised as a metaphor,

Arrived like a blessing, left like a lore.

Contradictory mess

 

She’s a mess,

With her big words and an anxious soul.

Searching everywhere,

For a destination that is unsure.

A contradiction so immature,

Meticulously weaving a Folklore.

Taking every step carefully,

She wanders through various doors.

Looking for someplace or someone,

That would feel like ‘Home’.

Who am I

Dedicated to every woman managing various personas that they have and still slaying everyday. #women-empowerment    

I am what you see and more,

A contradiction; Aphrodite and Medusa united in a lore.

 

I am what people imagine and more,

A subtle gesture proficient at gore.

 

I am everything I need, and more,

One minute I am the sun, shining brightly of my own. In another, moonlit at the shore.

As sophisticated as neurons or as naïve as a child.

You’ll never know what rhythm and notes are being compiled.

 

Quiet, compromising for the sake of all,

I am the volcano before the calm.

 

Never underestimate the power of a woman,

As she is the epitome of strength, the origin, giving life to the world’s ‘Goodman’.

       - Anshu Sharma

Reality

“Do you ever wonder if what the people think about us is the reality of us?”

“Sometimes, I try to gaze into people’s eyes to see what they perceive me as”

“Sometimes I wonder if what they are looking at is the real me.

If I were to change the appearance, would they be able to recognize me in a crowd full of analogy?

If I were to get lost in this crazy world, would they notice me from afar?

Would they be able to comprehend the true implications of my real identity?”

 

“Sometimes, I take some extra effort and stare into the windowpanes to figure out who I really am”

“Sometimes, I question if my existence is mine at all.

If I were to be born again, would I be the same or would I be a mere reflection of who I am supposed to be?

Looking desperately into the mirror to find the line between reality and pretense; sometimes I stay wide awake trying to understand my subsistence.

In the innocence of a child, in the kindness of a stranger, and in the nonchalance of a student, engraved could be the beauty of existence.”

 

“Often, I stay a little longer outside to stare at the clouds making countless shapes and wonder if form is indeed just another part of someone’s imagination”

“Sometimes I glance at the scars and wonder if the true beauty is really in the eyes of the beholder.

If I were to remove all the scars and the stains, would we be able to distinguish between the beauty and the beast?

If God were to make everything flawless, would there really be anything perfect?

So enlighten me, could there be light without the dark and rain without the storm?”

                                                                                                                                - Anshu Sharma

Rejuvenation

"With all these dark clouds hovering over us, don't you think this season is the most depressing of all?"

"Nah, the clouds, the rain; they comfort me."

"This season has a weird way of reassuring me that everything and everyone deserves a new beginning."

"The raindrops falling from the sky have a strange way of talking to me,

They speak to me in a way no human can.

They listen to my cries; they help me smile.

They stir me, they inspire me.

The water has the strength of purifying me of all my doubts and insecurities yet the thunder brings with it all the fears that I experienced."

"The smell of the rain,

The scent of the sand; the petrichor,

The colors in the sky, the movement of the breeze,

They all have a unique way of connecting with me.

They cure me of my writer's block yet force me to wrap myself up in a blanket like a cocoon;

They help me heal yet bring all the sadness up on the surface."

"The droplets on the leaves and the flower petals,

The repercussions of greenery;

All the aesthetics, the rainbows,

They give a new birth to my soul.

When deserted, they give me company, just like a moon in a starless night sky;

Silently whispering to my soul, healing intensely from within."

"The soft breeze flowing through my hairs,

The rain drops falling on my hands,

The melancholy feels; the reminiscence,

The rain brings with it all the emotions.

It brings all the precious memories that I often lock in a place where I no longer intend to go;

It exposes the memories which I no longer wish to possess."

"Nudging me in the right direction,

Proving to me the possibility of a new beginning.

They bring all the pain,

And along with it all the strength.

The rain has a weird way of making me smile, it brings all the peace and the chaos.

It teaches me in a cruelest way how to be happy again."

"Everyone breaks down once a while,

But all you got to do is revamp after the storm ends;

Rise higher than before;

Just as after a rainfall everything looks prettier, so should you.

Breathing in the haze and breathing out the negativities.

It helps me wither and rejuvenate."

-Anshu Sharma

A December in February

A December in February

"It is difficult to stay wide awake in a dream when you know the agony of being in a fantasy, that you want so bad to be true but never would wish to be real."

"Like a December dawn,

slowly crawling through the clouds;

With the snowflakes falling over the window,

Swiftly yet steadily;

You entered my soul.

As a reminder of the uniqueness each snowflake possess,

Descending from the sky,

slowly making their way onto the ground,

You settled there, with certainty.

Just like an unexpected hailstorm,

you arrived with a cool breeze;

Shattering all the insecurities;

Lightening all the doubts,

You wrote our history.

Like a December dawn,

waiting for the sunlight to reach home,

with the warmth and radiance of the sun;

For the blue sky to enclose yellow and orange,

Today too, I was left waiting.

As a reminder of us fading away,

this white canopy still hides the green trees;

February still clutches on to December,

the way we cling to the memory.

Just like those snowflakes falling on the window,

unique and special;

Picture perfect yet destined to melt away;

All the warmth inside of us withered,

Yet it still lingers, like, 'A December in February'."

                                          -Anshu Sharma

Don't judge.

You saw him slipping his hand in a man's pocket & you tagged him a thief;

You saw her going out after midnight & you labeled her characterless;

You saw him staring at a little girl & you judged him malevolent;

You saw her screaming at her Dad & you judged her spoiled.

The boy you saw, he was helping the blind man keep the money safe.

The woman, she was going to get her drunk brother safe home.

The man you saw, he was missing her late daughter.

And the girl screamed  because his father was hitting her mother.

Your classmate started wearing earrings; your friend cut short her hair.

The guy wanted to join your group but you said he was not cool, now with his piercing you say he's a fool.

Irrespective of loving her hairs, she shortened them as a bully glued chewing gums to them.

You heard she's a slut, so you decided to let your feelings die inside of you ;

You never understood that the rumors were started by a boy whom she refused to date.

You made fun of the guy who wore full sleeved shirt on a sunny day;

You never realized he was concealing the scars that resulted from his suicide attempt.

That girl you called too skinny, gained weight due to depression

And the one you called fat, is hospitalized for hypoglycemia.

The boy you called geek, is struggling to get scholarship for college.

And the boy you beat for being gay, is already fighting for his identity at home.

One of your colleague started going home late and you started making fun of his routine.

Another one started taking more leave and you judged her bone-idle.

One was coping with his failing marriage and other was tired of being hit on by the boss.

Wherever you live, wherever you work, don't judge! Everyone in their own ways are struggling in life; working their own way out. In spite of making fun of them and laughing at them, try to hear them out and laugh with them.

The girl at the corner, who smokes might have had a financial/relationship trouble.
The boy who fails his test might have some other talents.
The one who keeps forgetting her lines on stage might have serious anxiety and the one who prays a lot might have only few days to live.

The one who makes everyone laugh, might be fighting with his demons alone. 
The kid who works overnight might be saving for his ailing mother.
The one who bully others would have been a victim before.
Stop the cycle before it gets too late.

You might not know who's at the verge of breaking down, tired of fake smiling at the society.

Don't judge. It won't do any good for anyone.

Mistakes..

"If you ever get a wish, Would you wish to go back and change things?
Change the choices that you made, the choices that maybe were mistakes?"

"Maybe, I will; maybe, I won't.

But also, If I ever went back, I'm afraid I might do the same mistakes again and hurt myself even more.

I'm scared  for once again, I would fall for your tricks. I am sure I would let open all my scars and you dressed as a bandage would rip open the wounds.

I would love your soul and once again, you would leave me right there in the middle with nothing but broken promises and an empty heart.

Even if going back and changing things would let me have you, I don't think I could ever live knowing that you left once.

Being aware of my innocence you deliberately departed; with unsaid words, outwitting goodbyes.

And even, for once, if I believe, by changing the past I would know what I want or by choosing different paths, I could be better off; I won't be going through all the memories and lessons.

I wouldn't be reminiscing at 4 in the evening or 4 at the dawn.

I wouldn't be realizing how ignorant the feelings could go. I wouldn't be the one appreciating and cherishing the ones who love.

For once I could do with knowing your intentions.

But I m afraid I might still fall for you.

In spite of knowing your tricks, about how you could fell for everybody.

I would still be sitting there, awestruck on your random stupidities and clumsy strolls.

Memorizing how I knew the Devil's tricks yet I lured myself into the trap."

                                                                - Anshu Sharma