Reverse order

Life passes through phases three
We move from joy to stress to an absence of glee
Is the journey in reverse I ask
Is becoming unhappy our only task?

Happily we begin with nothing at hand
Then accumulate sorrow feeling so grand
We strive and struggle and never relax
To move foolishly towards a sad climax

Should we not move from sorrow to joy
Why should we move towards a life sans a toy
Are we travelling faster than light
That events have reversed with all their might

Remember its not by taking or giving
Rather the joy in merely doing
Do things about which you have a passion
Not because its just a fashion

Touching others heart is just a start
Essential is to touch your own heart
Reverse the order my friend, do not fret
There is a chance and enough time as yet

Child's Play

Eyes wide in wonder
I gazed at the toys
Nose pressed on the show window
Jeeps, Tanks, Guns wow

His eyes were also wide in awe
As he saw the men in fatigues
The swiftness of their moves
As they combed his village

The Jeep with the Star on the bonnet
My tiny hands holding the dinky toy
It moved on the shop counter
As I stood on my toes driving it up and down

His mother clutched him tightly
No sound to be made, she said
Why cant I see mom, the big Tanks, the Jeeps
He was full of rage as he thought

I collected them
The fighters, the frigates, the missiles
Mine was the largest collection
In the entire colony

He couldnt have the small toys
But he saw the real ones
The guns were real, the tanks fired
The guys shot would actually die

I still love them
For they make me feel strong
Even though imaginary, I cant deny
The power of it all

His mother lay motionless
As he gazed in horror
The wonderful tank had fired
Silencing her forever

Oh the games we play
The vile shenanigans of our cunning
Selling these toys to both sides
After making them fight

He clutched at her body
Staring emptily at the blood and entrails
As we entered the Mall
To spend our hard earned blood money

Who Rules?

Who rules the world?
The hand that rocks the cradle?
The hand that holds the purse strings?
The one that holds the sceptre or the one that weilds the pen?

The question begets another
What pray do you mean by rule?
The power over others isn't it?
The glee one feels when the puppets dance

The desire to break free
The wish to fly
Unshackle the manacles
And just be myself

The grim reality
The sad realisation
That however much I try
I can never be free

Life depends on breath and food
It depends on give and take
My freedom surely is when I can take more than I give
So I need power, which will make it happen

So my wish to rule
To ride roughshod over others
To see them cringe
To see them bow

And yet freedom looms far away
The lure of the siren drives me crazy
Salivating, I run after the crown
I totter as if in spirits I drown

The summit yes it is in sight
Just that last heave and all is mine
Tarry a while what do I see
The summit eludes for it was supine

All along I was in the flat
The mirage of the challenge was just a trap
I try to see through the haze
So many like me trapped in the maze

Undecided to laugh or to have rage
I look around if anyone saw my chase
The fox going after his tail
In endless circles, efforts doomed to fail

So the conquest is like old wine
The more you drink, the more you shine
But it is mere drunken stupor
This chase for the elusive power

The chase was bad
For there was nothing to be had
Yet it was fun while it lasted
Even though it was all futile

So who rules the world, tell me my friend
The jester for he makes me smile
He hides his wickedness behind his jokes
And makes me dance in quests of the new

The jester, yes the jester sir
He makes you believe what he says is true
He plants those memes that make you think
Needless beliefs that make your head shrink

Freedom comes when you learn to give
Simply because you love yourself true
Chase not power, thinking it makes you secure
For security like power, is always within you

Two Kings

He sat on the tusker high above everyone
Gazing at all below him
He had heard of the challenger
The conqueror of the world they called him

He too sat above others
On a throne withered by time
The days of glory fading away
At the mercy of the invader white

The tusker paused beside the river
The rider surveyed the field
Across he saw the tents with pennants
Soldiers sharpening their swords

They rushed to him, seeking his lead
The gap they made had to be widened
He was frail, he was weak
Why did you rebel, was all he said

They made contact at the break of dawn
Macedonians thrust from the left flank
They stiffened seeing Tuskers for the first time
The Indian element of surprise

He lost the war before he began
For in his mind he had already lost
A poet at heart he loved pathos
Not the crown that he was forced to wear

The tides turned, the tuskers fled
Soon all was lost, as soldiers bled
The king was caught, shackled and tied
Stood proudly as all his nobles cried

His sons slaughtered, his kingdom lost
He was banished to a land he had only heard of
They took him on a cart on a painful journey
One from which he would never return

The conquerer looked long at the monarch
Taken aback at his steadfast gaze
His words rang clear in his mind
I am a king so treat me as one

He sat down hunched over by age
Wrote those lines which are remembered even now
Oh my misfortune that
Even two yards I was denied in my land

Two kings both mighty
One looked at the bright the other at the dark
One lost and really lost
One lost but actually won