An episode from one of my stories

Her worst fears had come true! She was caught...snooping, and he had warned her against doing so. To add to her stupidity, she simply stood dumbstruck, just where she was even as he approached her in slow menacing steps. Her heart was in her mouth as he emerged from the dark alley into the light, within a few feet from her. The light was shining from behind him so she could not quite see the expression on his face, but her foolish awestruck expression must be quite evident to any onlooker even several feet away from her.

As he closed upon her, her body realizing the danger despite her numbed brain, instinctively took a few hasty steps backward, but that brought her bang on the wall behind her. In a few strides he was looming upon her and she had nowhere to go.

He did not stop a few feet away as a gentleman would, but approached closer, suffocatingly closer to her; just mere inches separated him. She could not quite gather the courage to look into his face, rather her gaze was captured by his hands as he menacingly rapped his knuckles against his palm. She felt she would die the moment she heard his deep, threatening voice....just that she was too scared to die.

"Devi, its unfortunate that you did not pay heed to my 'advice'"

She gulped. She wished to say something, but no voice came out. Her mind's eye gazed on either side into the darkness surrounding her. Of course, there was no one around to save her. Even if she shouted there was none to hear...that is if she managed to shout. What a place to be trapped by a womanizer!

"You crave for adventure, don't you?"

There was no hint of sarcasm or bitterness in that voice, yet it was so cold that she instinctively shivered.

"It does not behoove you to be so quiet. Where are your sharp retorts, dear Bhuvana" he tipped his finger under her chin raising it. Every nerve ending in her body responded to his electrifying touch. She gazed at him, at his stern, uncompromising, unforgiving face, and into his penetrating eyes. It was like the hypnotizing gaze of a deadly cobra.

"Even if you choose to remain quiet, you shall be punished" he emphasized every word in a deliberate manner and it was as if they echoed in the corridors of her empty mind.

Suddenly she felt his warm hand on her soft exposed waist. The sensations coursing through her were unbearable as he drew her close to him, as he pressed her against his warm body. He tipped her face backwards and exhaled his warm breath on the nape of her neck, which caused tingling sensations. She sighed, almost surrendering. Why was she reacting thus, instead of pushing him away. She should struggle against him. She should give him such a slap that would reverberate throughout the long dark corridor. But she couldn't do anything, but savor his touch and wait for him to come closer...do more...

She sensed his breath grew ragged and then his palm pressed into her waist, almost pinching her. She winced in pain and looked up at him.

He seemed to have an odd troubled expression on his face, but in an instant that was masked and suddenly a menacing glint shined in his eyes. His mouth twisted in a cruel sneer.

"I will have you one day, but not like this. I will make you mine in front of the entire world...for everyone to see and then you shall not escape me. Now flee my dear, before your brother starts worrying about you."

She looked nonplussed, not knowing what to say.

"Or would it not be fantastic, if we both emerged together from this dark corridor into the main chamber, where your brother may chance upon us coming out together. I would love to see the expression on his face. Come, that would be a fitting punishment to you." and he drew her alongwith him.

His taunt somehow provoked her and in shaky voice, she retorted, "Y-you are a fool...my brother will kill you!"

"Will he? And would not that be fun" came an amused rejoinder.

Tryst beyond the seas

In the distant horizon
where the sky meets the sea
I yearningly await for that moment
when we shall meet

Like the young river
leaving her homeland of mountains and vales
gushing through verdant forests
exuberantly cleaving apart rocks
casting nary a grieving look back,
just full of passion for becoming
one with the sea;
Thus I await thee for
that moment we shall meet
In the distant horizon
where the sky meets the sea

Playing with cast-off sea shells
making pearly necklaces
frolicking wet on the beach
we knew not when childhood passed away
and this intoxicating youth took over
Passion now bubbles within
like the foamy waves;
As I await thee for
the moment we shall meet
In the distant horizon
where the sky meets the sea

Gazing at you - ye alluring moon
this lovesick heart is
swept away by a tidal wave of emotions
the ebb and flow of tides
giving both pleasure and pain
inexorably drawing me to thee.

Forsaking my home, having traveled a world away
I only await for that one tryst
In the distant horizon
where the sky meets the sea

The above is not my creation. I have only translated this Marathi lyric "Jithe Sagara", with a small, insignificant bit of my own imagination and with great help from my friend Ambareesh. The natural beauty of this poetry is amazing and the expression is so compact and powerful.
Lyrics - P Savalaram
Music - Vasant Prabhu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXPwjC5O9Ms

Ho! up the hill we go

Now I trudge up that hill again
Ere from where I've fallen many times

There is hope, and
Traces of innocent enthusiasm
Not unmixed with a wry expectation
of being buffeted by gusts of Fate

One eye looks at everything anew
One mind recognizes the dangers in store

The senses are exhilarated
by the fragrance and feel
of the beautiful rose
The memory of whose piercing thorns
also does linger somewhere

The grass is green
and dales undulating
But one knows a steep abyss
could be anywhere out there

Yet I trudge up the hill now
On this warm pleasant sunshine day
With not a speck of cloud anywhere
With at least some traces of
a bygone innocence
Keeping for a while my fears at bay

No Obsession

The nib is sharp as ever
But the ink has dried up

The paints are well prepared
But there is no color

The model is ready
But the muse is not there

I have the time to think
Yet no thoughts to think about

I can indulge in an obsession
But nothing obsesses me anymore!