ASHOK BHARGAVA

ASHOK BHARGAVA

Morning Serenade

They say be positive and I want to

who will lament and temper the arrival of dawn.

Gray is the sky

pelting rain on the lonely road.

I am mostly not myself

in the expectant morning.

I take what is given

the smell of insecurity.

I breathe it in, gasping for oxygen

positivity is thin.

I am determined to fight

the mysterious outcome until known.

I wait patiently

until the gray sky invites the sunlight to shine.

I will leap and regale

in the ever widening pale glow of dawn.

Light

Often I step back

into the past

as if it's my future.

I know I am real

I am nothing

I am everything.

Light is life

when it is gone

so I will.

Joy Returns With Morning Light

I talk

to my invisible friends at night

they listen with inscrutable faces

they do not argue.

I tell them about

the hopes in my eyes

desires in my mouth

and fears in my heart.

Words fail me

constantly moving

shifting feelings

until I am exhausted.

They leave me alone, confused

I weep through the night

joy comes in the morning.

You are more in me

than I in you and

you remain while

obliviously I go outside looking for you.

Unsteady

My balance had been poor for sometime

robbed me of equilibrium.

I ask you be here within calling distance

whether I call or not.

You think I am incapable of joy now

I am I assure you.

I still have blue sky days

I still have black night skies.

Fragrant flowers outside

and a loving God inside my heart.

I am still as I am

a beautiful light.

Waiting to taste the wine of my survival

where believing is knowing.

Where Is God

The uncertain future has a voice

with many echoes.

There is nothing

that won't be ignited

by the graceful light of His eyes.

Power Of Prayers

Your prayers

rescue me always.

Even waves lift me up

when I am about to drown.

Where This Journey Ends

Sailing across the sea

of open water

makes me think

of the life I have lived so far

journey of a thousand miles

genetic memory

returning

like salmon spawning.

Holding hands tightly

you whisper

your desire to go back

a primal place

where you once belonged.

I felt the pain

of a hooked fish.

I am unsure

here it all ends

or here it begins.

Words

When a poem dawns on me

it shines its lights on me

beauty I hardly deserve.

Showering of words

pour down

delicately

I am drenched.

Swaying in elation

I forget the difference

between pain and healing

between light and dark

between faith and doubts

between promises our bodies make

and the ones they keep.

Today Is The Day

Could you feel

my bruised heart

tender rhythmic cold melody.

Do you know why

I reached out for your hand

as the first snowflakes buried my soul.

I am waiting to know

but there is no need to know

what is already known.

I have seen many blizzards

swirling across the sky but

you never failed to arrive as early spring dawn.

Riding Alone

I am young no longer

except to those who are older.

I grew even older when diagnosed with cancer.

Body chemistry changes from light to yellow

to layers of dark

under chemotherapy regime

punctual pain.

I am reincarnated

as two thirds polluted toxins.

I don’t know how to live this life

I want to

at least today.

I don’t want to end with this ending.

Dawn leans in.

I ride into a dazzling world.

Alone in silence.

Faith

I gape, I snicker

as air swirls

with so much that is visible.

I wish

I had eyes to see what I can’t

the invisible.

What is seen is fleeting.

What is unseen is eternal.

What Is Wished And Can’t Be …

The day was ordinary.

No fear, no quivering.

No obsessive hopes.

No thoughts of pain.

A sudden discovery

cancerous lymphatic nodes.

All things change.

Darkness descends.

The universe turns upside down.

I don’t look away.

I am determined to stay alert.

I will fight for light.

I will not vanish.

Something stirs inside me.

A desire to stay awake.

It can be anything.

It is everything.

ASHOK BHARGAVA

ASHOK BHARGAVA is a poet, writer, committed community activist, public speaker and a keen photographer. Based in Vancouver, he continues to combine in his life, all of the above yet it is apparent that his main passion is poetry. He has published several selections of his poems: Riding the Tide, Mirror of Dreams, A Kernel of Truth, Skipping Stones and Lost in the Morning Calm, among others. His poetry has been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. He is founder of WIN – Writers International Network Canada, a non-profit organization that discovers, nourishes and recognizes writers of diverse genres, artists and community builders.