Life in the times of corona

When we are back to normal,
When we are back
polluting and creating chaos
When we are back
Cutting and chopping trees
Killing animals as we please!

When we resume
Building concrete structures
When we restart
Ravaging earth’s resources
And once again bring it
To its knees!

When we are back
To our soirees
And midnight parties
I will remember
The clear skies
The fresh air; the silence
I will remember
This solitary confinement
Punishment or Bliss?
Relationships becoming meaningful
Some becoming meaningless!

I will remember these times
a world with fewer crimes
I will remember the world
And the dichotomy
Some worried about the Economy
Some wailing in agony!

I will remember
Children crying for food
The Poor and helpless
Dying of starvation
So many Jobless
Unable to feed their families!

I will remember
Finding enough time for
Following our passion
Cooking, Writing
And posting the pictures
Over the internet
While some were trying
Not to die!

Disease kills all
It doesn’t differentiate
Religion,Caste or status
Yet some are out of it’s reach
Some are safer
I will remember
This season of death
When a percentage
Of earth’s population
Was wiped out
Just like that
As if somewhere
A Thanos just
Snapped his finger!

-Alka Pandey

War

I am at war,

Within and around,

I have weaknesses

Too many of them

Which take a toll

Time and again

I have insecurities

I gloat in paranoia

I live with self-doubts

And I trust no one

I am a gullible fool

No wonder I am betrayed

Every time somehow

Hence I judge everyone

And I don’t regret

‘Coz I have been judged too

life has become a rat race

Where I am trapped

In a cage without doors

In fact, we are all trapped

In one way or another

An almost impossible escape

I am weary of emotions

I fight battles each day

Prefer one at a time

But there is no guarantee

However, I am not the only one

We all wake up with sorrow

We are fighting our own 

Battles each day

You do what you must

In order to survive

I am at war

From within and around

But so are you!

Alka Pandey

22 September 2019

It’s Not the End Yet

You think I am broken
You treat me like dust
I might have lost this bet
But it’s not the end – Yet!

I have lost a hundred times,
And I have fallen countless
Though with Scars I am beset
It’s not the end – Yet!

I will rise a million times,
I will shine and I will win
Just because I lost one bet,
It’s not the end – Not Yet!

Alka Pandey

26 April 2019

GREY

I am stuck within the contours of extremism,
I am drowning in a sea of judgements,
I am black and white
I cannot be grey!

I defend myself with passivity or aggression
I am sailing in a sea of always or never,
I might be right, I might be wrong
But I cannot be grey!

I can surrender like a wind
I can resist like a tree,
I can be ordinary or exceptional
But I cannot be grey!

You call me bipolar, you can call me insane,
I care too much or I don’t care at all,
I am either obsessed or detached
I can be anything but grey!

I am not a television to be remote controlled,
I am not clay which you can mould,
I am too impulsive or too patient,
I am not grey!

I can annoy you with endless conversations,
I can burn you with silence,
I can suffocate you with love,
I can kill you with indifference,
I want everything or I want nothing
I just cannot be grey!

13 July 2018 – 14 July 2018

Alka Pandey

Fading

I am fading away,
Like your fading love,
My heart burning,
With your caustic words.

I am fading away,
As you watch me bleed,
When you leave me to die,
In this illness of mine.

I am fading fast,
I see you change,
I beg you to stay,
You push me away.

I am fading away,
Soaked in tears,
You leave me alone,
To fight on my own.

The scars on my heart,
The bruises on my mind,
Have left their mark,
I fear the dark.

Burning with fever,
No love no health!
Dying again and dying alone,
But this isn't the final death!

-Alka Pandey

-10 October 2016

The broken angel

The fatal possessiveness,
The blazing love,
In the rage of jealousy,
At the apex of lunacy,

With the deepest cuts,
The weary heart,
Groaned and winced,
Could not be convinced,

Stop here, read no more!
The inner self now naked,
These emotions exposed,
Should not have been disclosed!

The murderous intentions,
And this godly angel fell,
The monster- the demon inside,
Release! Release! the evil cried,

The planning of plot,
The perfect crime,
Just a murder,
Now you are mine,

The satisfied beast,
This criminal’s confession,
No guilt of crime,
The complete possession!