Ode to Sleep

Praise be sung for you, O Majestic Sleep;
Superfluous gratitude for you I keep.
In my life you are the only one who heals
The only one, who with my trouble, deals.

I sing your praises for loving you are
You come to us from the heavenly star.
When night drops its starry veil over day-
To our minds and bodies you find you way.

Tip-toe, tip-toe you quietly come to us
The body accepts you without any fuss;
Into your comforting lullaby we sink
The body relaxes without 'nother blink.

The tensions of the day, to strangle us, fear
When they see your heavenly form appear;
Troubles which earlier were under the nose
On your arrival, are not even close!

And then our inner spiritual self
Finds the ever-wanted peace with your help.
The body relaxes and so does the mind,
O Sleep! you are so very kind!

No Past, no Present, no Future when you come,
All these bodily aspects simply go numb.
We only experience the goodness of God,
Which Man from eternity has sought.

Pain and suffering all are forgotten
To all these your divine song does threaten.
Rich or poor, black or white, you give to all
Your healing balm when they call.

The World of Dreams you own and also rule-
You show us dreams which are often so cool;
A child's fairyland to us you bring,
A nursery rhyme to us you sing!

And as I near the end of this song
       The tone of my little lines I shall change:
For I shall bring forth a thought so strong,
       That you will surely find it strange!

All over the world it is known:
        That men become wiser when they're grown.
The zenith of wisdom then is reached,
        When old age by the body preached.
Then the value of sleep men find
        And realize that Sleep was kind. 
Then, forsaking their health and wealth
        THEY SLEEP THE SLEEP OF DEATH.

                                                     --R. Ranjan

The Nuclear Explosion

Night it was, I went to bed,

The soft pillow greeted my head.

And as I slept, I sunk in deep

Into the comforting pool of sleep.

I really don't know what happened then:

Midnight hour the clock had struck when;

Confused I am but also tempt'd

To believe that I had dreamt.

A horrible night it was

And now I shall narrate the cause-

As I was asleep, in my head

I heard the sound I would ever dread.

It was one blast but seemed like hundred,

I wondered how many would've been dead.

I was mistaken to think it was all;

Soon I realized- it was but a warning call!

Several explosions followed,

I was as dumbstruck as a toad.

The most massive one I did not hear

For into shreds my eardrums it did tear!

Out of the window I gazed in horror,

I bet in everyone's heart there was terror.

A mushroom-shaped cloud arose;

In my veins the blood froze.

To close my eyes I didn't dare

As I saw everything incinerate into thin air!

The massive Earth trembled violently

While I kept watching silently.

The victorious smoke mockingly did touch

The heavenly sky birds loved so much.

The smoke from the ground cleared,

Revealing to me what I feared.

Was it a time machine, taking

Us back to centuries before our making?

There was no life: only barren crust-

Years of development, brought down to dust.

I stood by my window rooted to the spot,

While Time in full speed shot;

And as I glanced through years

I could not hold back my tears.

For I saw, as an effect of the bombs-

Maimed children in mothers' wombs.

I saw pain, cries and suffering leak

As blood from the scar on Time's cheek.

The tears burning my cheeks were hot 

But it was only one thing I thought:

"Was it the Devil's curse?

"Was it Hiroshima, or something worse?"

--R. Ranjan            

The Dark Dream

Rang the alarm and I rose-

        A strange feeling in me arose;

        For in my room brightness was none,

        Though beyond the window was the sun!

I stared,through the window into the park:

        The sun was lit but all was dark.

        The mighty sun wasn't golden yellow

        But as white as an albino!

I looked around for some clues

        But darkness engulfed the various hues.

        The outlines of the world were blurred,

        Suggesting something terrible had occurred!    

The walls in my room dissolved

        Leaving the queer mystery unsolved.

        A darker darkness like a panther

        Consumed it as if it was a monster!

All around me a living soul was none,

        All the world seems dead but one.

        The ground beneath broke and sway'd,

        The rest o' the world drifted away!

I looked at the Earth which once seemed near-

        Into the ever-consuming darkness disappear.

        Unable to comprehend what I saw

        My jaw was dropped in awe!

Suddenly I heard my alarm again

        For a moment I thought I was insane.

        Realizing the truth I awoke

        The sun's consoling rays I did soak.

When I narrate this dream to someone

        They say it had meaning none.

        But to me the mystery remains-

        As if a strange meaning it contains!

--R. Ranjan