Tag: Poetry

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This life and these people

Not until today
or tomorrow
had i wondered what life will be like
in heaven
in hell

or anywhere but mountains
and forests
and deserts

this life
these times
are turning grey —– pale-grey

and I see people going
from nuts to being nutshells
or perhaps they’ve always been so

only that I didn’t wonder before…

– Inahahs

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Winter is coming

Ever since I got to know about Louise Glück because she won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, I have been reading her poems. The following poem has been on my mind for the last two weeks, all the more likely because it relates to the nights these days getting cold.

The Silver Lily

The nights have grown cool again, like the nights
of early spring, and quiet again. Will
speech disturb you? We’re
alone now; we have no reason for silence.

Can you see, over the garden—the full moon rises.
I won’t see the next full moon.

In spring, when the moon rose, it meant
time was endless. Snowdrops
opened and closed, the clustered
seeds of the maples fell in pale drifts.
White over white, the moon rose over the birch tree.
And in the crook, where the tree divides,
leaves of the first daffodils, in moonlight
soft greenish-silver.

We have come too far together toward the end now
to fear the end. These nights, I am no longer even certain
I know what the end means. And you, who’ve been with a man—

after the first cries,
doesn’t joy, like fear, make no sound?

Louise Glück

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Mushaira-e-Iftaar

Today is the fourteenth consecutive day we’ve been fasting during the day, and will continue to fast for the next 15 or 16 days, depending upon moon-sighting. During the holy month of Ramazan friends and relative invite each other for Iftaar (breaking of fast) dinner.

Yesterday I started a thread on email with a few verses, and my friends gave an overwhelming response likewise. This is how it went like.

{ English}

Me:
O’ my brothers the great
Long time since we’ve all met

Why don’t you invite for Aftaar
Let the venue be near or let it be far!

Sharoon:
You owe us a b’day treat so let it be aftaar,
Do it quickly bro as the eid is not so far

Me:
Ye Eid is near ‘n’ lots o expenses are in line
You must invite us and be our Valentine!!! 🙂

Umar:
In ramzan ..there is no room for wine and dine
Go to langar of Abdullah Shah Ghazi and stand in line

Me:
Anyone from our group should invite
Aftar may be heavy or it may be light…

{ Urdu}

Rehan:
Rasm-e-dunya bhi hay, moqa bhi hay aur ooper sey hey Ramazan
Mil k dey dein Iftaar-dinner, Agha, Azhar aur Umar Khan!

Me:
But, ramzan me b tum log kya kam girte ho
Aftar ko aftar nhi, valima samajhtay ho…

Umar:
Jaib k haalat buhut hain kharab
Kabhi hamain khilao naan shah faisal k kabab

Rehan:
after eid, alag sey dey ga toh phatt jaye gee
mil k dey dou abhi, jaib aur izzat, bach jaye gee

Umar:
Jazbaat o ahsaasaat ko kaarobaar bana baithay ho
Gift daitay nahi party ki batain kartay ho

Sharoon:
Wo Dost tha magar uski achi Kamai na thi,
K Soup, bottle, Chai usne kabi Pilai na thi

Umar:
Baby aur teekoo ki buhut bari kamaaee thee
Q K unkay saath peer ki dua aur rehnumaaee thee

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The Vagabond

IMG_5084

The Vagabond

Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river –
There’s the life for a man like me,
There’s the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field –
Warm the fireside haven –
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Robert Louis Stevenson