Tag: EPFL

DECIDUOUS DREAMS 

My dreams are in free fall.
This year I have not sat beside
My bedroom windowpanes
To watch the autumn winds rise.

Fall is visible along the side lanes;
The winds whip and wound.
The leaves wear a sorrowful look.
Soon they will all drift down

With spasms but without a shriek,
Caught in the currents of the breeze.
My heart skips a beat as it realises
That each leaf was part of its dream.

Soon the leaves will all be gone,
And with them, my dreams.
Like a tree in mourning,
I will have lost my regal allure.

I will be like a tarnished star
That has lost all its shine.
After a pause, though, spring will arrive —
And my dreams will bloom in rose.

Pramod Rastogi is an Emeritus Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is a poet, academician, researcher, author of nine scientific books, and a former Editor-in-chief (1999-2019) of the international scientific journal, Optics and Lasers in Engineering. He was an honorary Professor at the IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004. He was a guest Professor at the IIT Gandhinagar between 2019 and 2023. He is presently an honorary adjunct Professor at the IIT Jammu.

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DYING EMBERS

I have struggled all my life
To keep my dreams alive.
They have held sway over me,
Those that consoled me
And those I learned to disdain.

But in the darkness of time,
None, not even my thoughts,
Stood aligned with me. The fire
Once ignited in my dreams
Left me blind, barely

Clinging to the timber of my bed.
These dreams, like faded stars,
Have drifted awfully far, too far
To cast me still beneath their spell.
Yet I doubt. All is not ash.

Embers lie in slumber.
In storm or in calm, I must tread
Deftly as a whisper, lest a dying ember
Shriek its way from the clutter
And ignite my life into flames.

Pramod Rastogi is an Emeritus Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is a poet, academician, researcher, author of nine scientific books, and a former Editor-in-chief (1999-2019) of the international scientific journal, Optics and Lasers in Engineering. He was an honorary Professor at the IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004. He was a guest Professor at the IIT Gandhinagar between 2019 and 2023. He is presently an honorary adjunct Professor at the IIT Jammu.

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PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

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ETERNAL LIGHT 

Every night, beneath the veil of stars,
I feel your love, mother,
As vast as the ocean,
Its depths whispering calm paradise.

Your eyes, golden pools of tenderness,
Once held my fears,
Turned tears into sweetness,
And wrapped my heart in peace.

Though time has drawn you away,
I find you in the quiet,
In the light that lingers on the horizon,
In the bosom of memories woven into my soul.

You are the warmth beneath the cold,
The golden thread binding my days,
The eternal whisper of love
That lives within me,
Undimmed by the passage of time.

In this stillness, I carry you,
Guardian of my heart,
A light that will never fade,
A love that even the night cannot steal.

Pramod Rastogi is an Emeritus Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is a poet, academician, researcher, author of nine scientific books, and a former Editor-in-chief (1999-2019) of the international scientific journal “Optics and Lasers in Engineering”. He was an honorary Professor at the IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004. He was a guest Professor at the IIT Gandhinagar between 2019 and 2023. He is presently an honorary adjunct Professor at the IIT Jammu.

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PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

By Pramod Rastogi

Wake, my cherished daughter,
And see who waits at your door.
Step forward, welcome it warmly --
This dawn, a guest meant for your heart.
 
Dawn is a dense foliage, alive with its flame.
Look how it rushes to embrace you.
Pluck it from the sky, let its glow
Fill the vase of your waiting soul.
 
Inhale the sacred scent it offers,
A divine aroma to ease your sorrow.
Exhale your grief into the morning light,
For your heart -- steadfast and jewelled -- endures.
 
Through every shadow, my love remains,
A constant light to ease your pain.
No trial too heavy, no wound too deep,
My arms are here, your fears to keep.
 
Fairy tales are not birthed in heaven.
They do not spring from the void.
Remember, they are our creation,
And you, my dear, bring them to life.
 
Your father held you once in his arms,
Steadying you to explore new paths.
Be not despondent; time will mend the scars.
Dreams with edges are dreams that endure.

Pramod Rastogi is an Emeritus Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is a poet, academician, researcher, author of nine scientific books, and a former Editor-in-chief (1999-2019) of the international scientific journal “Optics and Lasers in Engineering”. He was an honorary Professor at the IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004. He was a guest Professor at the IIT Gandhinagar between 2019 and 2023. He is presently an honorary adjunct Professor at the IIT Jammu. 

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PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International