gray

Hardly an inch
Of gap
Between white
And black,
And yet I managed
To stay
In that tiny
Space of gray.

Hardly a flower
Blossomed
In my heart,
Before its fragrance
Was taken away.
Yes, I too have lived
In that shiny
Place of gray.

Out of those
Colored glasses,
Though in bits
And pieces did
They lay,
I could merely
Pick the one
With the lightest
Shade of gray.

And of all
The souls on earth,
Those
That wander
Rampantly worried,
And in wonder,
Night and day,
I did myself find out
That my own
Was made of gray.

-- Praveen Kumar Singhmar.

The Smell of Books

Oh, thou old books,
Fresh of library out,
I hold thou in full,
And smell throughout.

Thou fragrance to me,
And I sniff so deep,
Till the odor has
In my soul seeped.

And it brings rest to
My all wandering mind,
As I inhale thy pages
In one go, all at a time.