The picture quality is not good because I had a limited window to shoot it since I did not want to stage it.
It is quite common for me to wake up at random points at night and find my old Sony alarm clock showing times such as 11:11, 12:12, 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44 and 5:55. I am always amused when that happens and tell myself these are signals from an alien civilization.
I had, however, never woken up to find the clock showing 12:34 until this morning. Fortunately, my mobile phone was on and I took a quick shot of that just in case I need it to write a post. Anytime I wake up to such digital coincidences I take a while to fall asleep again. Last night/early morning today, however, I felt a particularly strong dose of wakefulness. Almost immediately after I took that picture the following four verses were born in rapid succession. Once again, it is quite common for me to get up in the middle of the night and write down a verse or two or more.
I wrote down the four verses at the back of a notice for late utility payment which I suppose is appropriate for a writer
मुझे तो था उनसे
पर उनको न था मुझ से
क्या?
इश्क़
***
मुझे न था उनसे
पर उनको था मुझ से
क्या?
बैर
***
पंख बिना ही उड़ जाती है
हर शब्
क्या?
नींद
***
मेरी आँखों की गर्मियों से
उड़ गए थे जो भाप बन कर
वह ख़्वाब किसी की बंजर
नींद पर बरसे होंगे
उम्मीद बन कर
--मयंक छाया
Even more weirdly, I coined a term to describe the rousing one feels after writing anything impromptu but fully formed late at night. I called post-poetal awakeness or erudition. Post-poetal is not a word but I coined it around 1 a.m. today as a take off on post-coital. I suppose there is no post-coital for an ageing poet like me.
