Welcome to Neverland

 

“She’s gone to Neverland Peter, and you can visit her anytime you want”

“How?”

“By believing”

Finding Neverland

 

Funny how when you least expect it something pops up in your mind, isn’t it? Funny how your mood swings from being outrageously happy to inconsolably sad in the blink of an eye. Funny, the power your mind has, you know. It’s your greatest gift actually…..

You know the things that your mother used to tell you only happened in the movies? They kind of stay with you. No matter how grown up you get, you always come back to that one place, in that one time which gives you that special feeling deep down within yourself, a place where I guess, it’s just you. Untethered. Unchained. Free. At peace. I call that place Neverland.

 

Yeah Neverland from Peter Pan. One of my favourite stories as a child. I mean come on it had pirates, Indians, a crocodile and a boy who (like me) refuses to grow up! I would have killed to have one day to spend with Peter!. That’s when I realised, we are ALL Peter. All of us have that one special place, that Neverland in us. We just need to find it.

 

So an obvious question guys….what or where is Neverland? The answer is anywhere you want it to be. In the pages of a book, somewhere in the verses of a song, maybe a smell you really like or the sound of someone’s voice. Anything that reminds you of a time and place where you feel content, defined…..where you feel YOU. As in the poem “Leisure”

 

“What is this life, so full of care?

We have no time to stand and stare?”

 

You see mate, when you do that, when you just stand and stare, you’ll somehow realize that there’s a lot going on even when nothing’s going on. When you do, you’ve found Neverland. Trust me, you’ll like it. Go on then. Stop reading this and LOOK!

 

The Bilge Master

The Well of Souls

Part One- The Assassin

 

He stood facing his target, one he had come many a mile to eliminate

He struck without any regret and the world was rid of another man,

Who had naught but false smiles and empty promises

On a day like any other this deed was done, in the absence of the shining Sun…

 

Part Two- Transitions

 

As the dust settled on his past life, one that was cloaked in shadows

That did dance and revel in the moonlight,

His senses left him and he felt his heart go still,

He wondered if this was what dying felt like,

Thus in the blink of an eye, the Reaper came and whispered

You are Mine…

 

Part Three- The Keeper of Souls

 

I was called to bear witness to the sins of a man,

Who was bereft of all his senses

I saw the light leave his eyes and knew then

That I had acquired yet another soul

To convey to the trial…

 

Part Four- The Boatman

 

I ferry the souls across this mystic water,

To the lands of neither mind nor matter,

But your journey will end at the cradle of the Maker,

For only he has the power to free you from Samsara

And to grant you Moksha and Nirvana…

Part Five- Oblivion

 

Journey’s end, his soul is now free

It has reached the grove of trees,

Ahead is the palatial palace and behind him waters running deep,

It is here that the Maker dwells, he makes them ready for their final journey

“Thy kingdom come Father”, the soul says

And is answered, “Be at peace my son”…

 

 

 

The Bilge Master

Directions to a New Day

 

Hey wake up mate

Let’s not let this day go to waste now

What’s wrong why so gloomy?

Aren’t you feeling groovy?

Relax, there’s never nothing going on yknow

Shake the cobwebs from your hair,

You’ve been hiding behind a rock too long,

Come with me see the sun shine

It rises up in the East each day, setting in the West,

A bit like me

I wake up and greet the day and wonder what I’m gonna do today

You know what they say, a day without laughter is one gone to waste

Come feed the rain, slake your thirst on the desert plains

Let me take away your pain, and show you how to be whole again

 

The Bilge Master

Comics!

Phew! Been a while since I blogged. Reason being college entrance exams. Thankfully the last one is on Sunday next so…..
Either way, this post is about those pages in the newspaper that I haunt, and the world refers to as the funny pages. Calvin and Hobbes, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible and of course the immortal Garfield without whom Sunday mornings are a waste man!


This inadverently brings back memries of Tintin and Snowy captive in Marlinspike Hall while Haddock sets off on a treasure hunt or Obelix and Asterix out for a little shopping


Last but not the least, welcome to the dark world of the Amadeus Arkham Asylum, where the Joker reigns supreme.


Like it or not folks, comics be here to stay!

The Bilge Master

Four Years Ago

 

Here’s a little poem to mark Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

 

Four years ago, we sat by the brook,

And did nothing, but quietly read a book,

While the birds in the adjacent tree gave us stern looks.

Eight years hence, a lot of things have changed,

I’ll admit a lot of it does not make any sense,

We seem to have grown, yet it’s difficult to tell the difference,

Sixteen years hence, you have grown old,

And the children keep asking for another story to be told,

And all those years ago, I gave you my heart,

And it’s yours, even if Death do us part

 

The Bilge Master

Happily Ever After?

Ankur has returned, and this time it's a poem! Give it a read below

Sitting on the terrace, watching the blonde sun dive,
Into the dingy pool of the city,
As I wait for my superpower to arrive,
Killing time with a cup of tea.

To zip into the past, uproot the weeds of pain,
The brambles that choke my creative thoughts,
To sow the seeds of a luxuriant, noble forest
Rampant in the plains of my present mind;

Or flash into the spectacular future,
To build gleaming cities of gold,
With beautiful, mysterious women sunbathing
In dark glasses on the soft beach sand.

I wait with grim brow, marshaling my powers,
Willing them to grow, intent and furious,
While the laughing blonde Sun pirouetted through the air,
Flirting in the arms of the humming breeze,

The unthinking birds flew back to their homes,
While the graying clouds slumbered to rest;
And all the while it was just stupid me,
Sinking in my past, and leaping to my future.

Written by Ankur Roshan

Meet Me at the Gallows

 

Days have slipped by unnoticed,

There have been some changes,

We are at the walls now of their ancient dwelling,

The door is being swept off it’s hinges,

Last time we were afraid, but today there is no fear

Our foes, they have waited and their time has drawn near,

Their scouts speak uncertainty, swiftly they are slain,

It’s time to assemble near that old hill again,

Onward we will march, we will take what is ours,

Meet me at the Gallows, of Gundslag Tower,

And help my hungry blade, bring it a head to devour

 

The Bilge Master