Silver Linings

(song that I composed two years back)

Flickering in and out, inside of a dream

One of the fated stars is out of my reach

Call off the Revenant now, he’s walking behind

But things are never as they seem

So it’s wicked wasting time

When I’ve got nothing but affection for you

With happiness stuck in this series of trade-offs,

it’s freedom that’s all that is left to taste

to figure out this conundrum

So what would you say if I just stop for awhile

I was enchanted by my immortal child

When all of my favourite things were falling behind

We were dancing on the rainbow’s edge

A wayward pact in time

When I felt nothing but connected to you

If happiness came with a lock and a golden key

I’d be lost searching for what it’s worth

When everything is upside down

So it’s wicked wasting time

When I got nothing but affection for you

We were caught on the fulcrum of the anger and the doubt

but there was love

interceding

No I don’t believe this life was meant to be hard

Weighed down with all the things that we could discard

I have been sitting still in a garden of stone

My thoughts were bouncing off the rocks

Walking in between silver linings on the freeway

Well I kept my gaze on the spark of a distant light

It’s been a while since I took the map

I’m spinning on a circus wheel

In search of a hypothesis

          ruminating…..

        or, is this fabricating?

        grasping at straws

        or, bending the laws?

        my thoughts are swimming

        in a sea of doubt

        an idea stripped of meaning

        will stand naked in a rout

        my theory is not a lone shark

        looking for its mark

        rather ‘tis a spluttering shrimp,

        that’s served with wine…. to the brim,

        to be eschewed by critics

        who’ve got a bone to pick.

SUBLIME

O Joyous hour! To have come when least expected!

To gentle talks and carefree conversation,

A buoyant mood o’er a smile reflected,

‘Tween tea-sips and quiet contemplation.

O Happy day, that bequeath a space in time

When the fair hand of fate brought an invisible friend

That rests a man from discordant rhyme

And the hour chimes with nary an end

And we as children once were, laughed with gaiety,

Once again to wit, swayed by humour,

Learned to dispel archaic notions in a moment’s clarity,

Ready to welcome the novel with the familiar

A surprise gift of Time these merry seconds!

When a cheery spirit taketh us over,

Haunts us once we resume our day’s errands

For we had chanced upon a four-leaf clover!

And the heart is light, might it not be a red-herring?

A brief delight, as the day fleeted by,

Stay a while even if there be no bearing

To the work and task we strive hereby!

For truth be told, O blessed hour, whether ye chime

In solitary walks or in the guise of friends; Ye awaken

A real joy; delightful nuggets dispersed o’er a lifetime

Much as the spring tree showers flowers on fields once barren.

  

The Lost Path

(My take on a Dave Matthews song that I like called The Dreaming Tree)

I

The chair creaked silently
And the old man turned to me
"Before tall buildings took away the sunshine
There stood greenfields where black-winged sparrows used to fly"
Feeding the birds down by the brook
He would dream the dreams of youth
The promise made to the girl he first kissed
And watched children play under summer trees
Progress robbed simplicity
Established a hollow novelty
A brick wall for a view
And a shadow on the morning grass dew
Worked hard till a dime changed to gold
Gave a little to the brethren soul
"A rich man's fortune I gladly amassed
And little did I notice the things that I passed"
As time slowly changed endless greenfields
To the dead-end of the street
He remembered what his mother once said
"No matter what some treasures never fade"
And now in the ageing sun of the day
He longs to be where black-winged sparrows play
And before the fall of dark
He hastens to catch the song of the last skylark

II

Sitting by the window
Faded beauty in the warm glow
She remembers the little girl dancing in frills
To the sound of flutes in the distant hills
Confident of a future that was hers for the taking
She worked hard for fame's slippery fortune
Friends, gladly did they come when riches were many
But shallow was the promise of a dream once held dear
And turning she says
"I wish I had the  strength to leave it all,
for the clear sound of the water-fall"
And she thinks of what her father said
"As you dance oft to the bagpiper's song
The bone-chilling cold vanishes ere long"
I could see her gazing at the Blue hills
constant in an ever-changing landscape
A place of sweetest comfort
Sleeping beauty in a mountain hut
A time of innocent dreams
and a hope that conquered fear
And with a smile that hid it all
She battles once again the darkness that is life
For true was the call of the bagpiper's tune
As she hastens to claim a lost fortune

In Each of us Lies a Story Untold

In each of us lies a story untold

In each of us lies a word unspoken

In each of us lies a tear unshed

In each of us lies a chuckle unheard

In each of us lies a joy unshared

In each of us lies a smile unseen

In each of us lies an idea unattended

In each of us lies talent undiscovered

In each of us lies a hurt unacknowledged

In each of us lies endurance untested

In each of us lies a song never sung

And a dance never danced

In each of us lies a struggle unexpressed

In each of us lies courage unknown

In each of us lies failure unanticipated

In each of us lies progress unrecorded

And one day if you want to share

This story that is yours

For a reason not important; nor to be judged right or wrong

but simply to lighten your heart

And know that you are not alone,

I am listening.

Faith

(First song that I composed - in college. The song is not talking about love. It's about life, about not reaching goals in-spite of working hard for them.)


There’s a time in your life when you think you can’t go on
There’s a time when you look around for something to hold on
Gave it all you had but it didn’t work out
And all the tears you had had all dried out

Picking dreams up from the dust
Afraid to turn a hope coated in rust
For a prayer too many have been lost
Looking for the one thing that's gone

A simple faith, a simple belief
(That stays) forever like an evergreen leaf
So you will find the way
Wake up to a brighter day
You will come out strong
It won’t take too long



You know this pain will lead you nowhere
Have a little faith in yourself and you’ll see the end
Of these trying times and this endless night
When every little thing is gonna come out right

Finding ourselves is not easy
You have to learn just when to let go
For no one's there to hold your hand
But still you've got to make a stand

(For a)
Simple faith, a simple belief
Forever like an evergreen leaf
So you will find the way
Wake up to a brighter day
You will come out strong
It won’t take too long…

Before it all ever started
You and I were told
That it's not worth the trouble
We were left out in the cold
Only to realize that it wasn't
So bad after all
For we are just a little stronger for it

So if you knew that you could make it
Would you show them what you're made of
You won't ever need no miracle
To go and touch the pinnacle....


© 2011 Tara Dutt