Nonchalance

nobody ever tries to relate

the rosy things in their life

to the good things

they may have done

in a previous birth

like empathy and charity

 everyone seems addicted

to the habit of tracing

their present adversity

to the bad things

they might have committed

in an earlier life

I don’t understand

why I in my wildest fancy

haven’t dreamt of the prospect

of a promotion to a better life

in the next birth or later

and eventual riddance

of the curse of karma

this nonchalance afterall

may be my karma

already scripted in my genome

Darkness Dancing

you want to admire

and be admired

you want to love

and be loved

you want to hug

and be hugged

you want to kiss

and be kissed

when these don’t happen

you want to hate

and be hated

you want to kick

and be kicked

you want to kill

and be killed

the world isn’t kind

to anyone

especially to those

who seek kindness

no cheer

but only tears

in every eye

no light

but darkness around

dancing devilishly

to smother and squeeze

Babu Joseph