~ Dekh … ~ / ~ See … ~

~ Dekh … ~

Kirchi,

Kirchi,

Adh-pake rangon ki,

Chun’un, kaanch si,

Ungliyon ke poron pe,

Ek chutki … ya shayad do …

Gholu’n … tujh main,

Dhulu’n pheeka pan,

Teri Duniya ka,

Rakhu’n pukht’gi,

Kachchi palkhon pe,

Bharu’n jadeed, pakke rang,

Inn nokhaiz ankhon main …

Aa dekh,

Uss paar,

Sab rangeen milega,

Bara’bar ka,

Na kam, na zyada,

Na tula, na napa,

Andaaze se,

Har rang khilega,

Uss qadeem, pursoz, firozi kiwaad pe,

Udharhti deewar pe,

Zung lagte taale,

Uss ki ri’waaj-i chaabhi,

Aur jo ander … inn ke chupta hai,

Nahin kisi ko dikhta hai,

Uss par bhi yahi rang chadega,

Sab ek sa dikhega …

Har shaks phabega …

Aa dekh zara tu … meri ankhon se …

~ See … ~

Specks of unrefined color,

I let them alight,

And rest for a while,

On the tip my finger,

Piercing my skin,

Deep unto my warm bone,

A pinch of glass … nonetheless would it seem …

I dissolve the same,

In you and your world,

Letting the eruditeness,

Perch on your eyelids, those so unripe,

To steal your young eyes,

Of their jaded monotone …

Look hither, O’ boy,

Sneak into that side,

All colors are balanced,

Nothing astray, nothing vile,

But only, kindly poised,

On the old, mournful, turquoise door,

Bereft, decaying, neglected wall,

On its last legs, lock,

The deep-rooted, melancholic but august key,

And what it holds, inside,

Secreted from plain sight,

Would, too, be dyed,

In the same hue and light …

Nothing would seem unbefitting,

Either peculiar … funny … or tired,

Look … just once … through my eyes ……