:)

teraa cheharaa jaise anjuman armaanon ki
tu palke uthaaye to har parda utar jaaye

masroof si rahti hai khud hi se baaton me
muskaan ugaati hai tu jaise jidhar jaaye

maaynon me bandhi baaton se bezaar sawaal kare
yeh kaisa junoon hai tera jisme shaam-o-sehar jaaye

raqeeb ho ya ho sanam, zakhmi hai sukoon tujhse
phir kyun na koi tujhpar ab mukadama kar jaaye

kiston me bharti hai tu ishq nigaahon me
aankhein jo band kare, qaaynaat thahar jaaye

bejaan se lab mere, pal me, khil jaate hai
nooraani yaad teri bas chooke agar jaaye

manzil ki fiqar hai kise? raahon pe pair tere -
pade to raunaq hai, jaise bhi safar jaaye

raqs karna yun shab bhar, rasm apni puraani hai
aasmaan ab surkh hua; chalo ab to ghar jaaye? :P

jo bhi ho phir kal hoga. phir zinda ho jaayenge
chalo aaj ki dasht pe ham baras-ke mar jaaye?

hawaa pe ghazal likh-kar, tere dar pe chodi hai
padh lena ghazal meri, tu chat pe agar jaaye
----------------------------------------------
To Damini, the orange girl! :)

Italicised

She wakes up to a dark room
& makes an attempt to ignore-
all the monsters under her bed,
all the skeletons in the closet,
all the demons in her head;
But nightmares have their way.
She wipes her forehead & whispers
a fervent prayer.
"No, un-italicise me."

She walks on golden brown sand
in a city of frozen glass volcanoes.
Everything is different;
everyone's the same.
She looks at a wisp of white overhead
in a blazing blue sky.
She shades her face & whispers
rather amusedly.
"To un-italicise me?"

She stands on an escalator
& the wrong crowd waves at her.
Colours erupt at a distance
where she is not allowed to go.
She meanders to a mirror;
a muffled reflection flies towards her.
She closes her eyes & whispers
another useless spell.
"Go, un-italicise me"

She stares at a pseudonym-
a name she vowed not to take!
Her fingers drum on her keyboard.
Should she now or should she not?
Her mind is a cluttered warehouse
of stale sense & safe alibis.
She smiles at herself & whispers
to the faceless intruder.
"So, un-italicise me"

Maps are not always
about straight lines.
She had taken a U-turn
before she reached it;
& now she lives a bad dream
stained with credibility.

Let's hope she wakes up someday
with amnesia & an empty past!
If she does , do remind her:
She is better off-
italicised.
------------------------------------------------
:)