~ I love MY land? ~

~ I love MY land? ~

“Dude … Independence Day is so fun,

I got one day off, sweets a day before,

Bought a tiny lovely, tri-color Brooch,

And also a good quality, wrist Band,”

Donning white Kurta,

Kolhapuri Chappal ,

With a few weedy flags,

And firecrackers stacked,

In his brawny hands, he bragged …

“When I roared … ‘Vande-matram’,

Those hotties there oohed and jagged,

I have impressed, many and a few,

By DPs colored saffron, white, green.”

Another day, from the same year —

A skeletal child, begging for alms,

“These crapper rats deserve to rot.”

In a train, a girl being molested,

“Bitch she is, look at her dress,

Let the dogs savor the scant rest.”

Seize fire violated, soldiers dead,

“Change the channel, I’m direly bored,

Watch how good have Brazil scored.”

A newly married burnt dead for dowry,

“An empty dried well perfectly capped.”

And the days pass, listening him testify,

“Give a darn to what is beyond ones barn!”

Then, THE day arrives for him, again —

“Dude … it’s our Independence Day, today,

And I forgot … can’t remember … at all,

Where is my ‘Patriotic’ Brooch and Band,

How the hell will I celebrate this tall day?

Don’t you know … ‘I so love MY land?’ ”

~ … Yes, as I wait … ~

~ … Yes, as I wait … ~

Rice paddies waiting for some more rain,

Hulling is in fate of spikelets, but when?

Wheat berries longing for sanguinity, too,

Lad desires a red-headed belle, to woo ..

Clouds tugging on sun, to get a tad fluffy,

A wench wrapping in, for eyes so grubby,

Tossed buns sighing for one baked patty,

Thirst thirsting for a keg of chilled Natty,

Candle wick, tout, teases the blue flame,

Oil lamp one, glass-veiled, a coy dame ..

Braided, clipped, wired … Oh, they wait,

Wait for the eve’ breeze, to kindle, to mate …

Floats with every soul,

A feather light knoll … of a lingering wait …

Saddled up, but not taken for a home ride,  

Heart gallops so, with every flapping tide …

“Indeed” …

Igniting, taking a drag from my fresh weed,

“Wait is torturous, brings anguish”, I’d coo,

On this side of the abyss, as I’d wait for you,

For a sinned but timeless, virtuous confluence,

Thus … for forever … an ‘indulgence’ ………

~ Layers … ~

~ Layers … ~

Encompass me,

Not as one such cozy camouflaging jacket,

But elementarily — an ‘Unturned Key’ ..

As they do —

Envelope little pink freshness,

Or sometime, just nothingness ..

Dainty, flimsy, my core,

Fragile as that of a neat egg,

Of next to my neighborhood hen,

Spewed out, foul yet afresh ..

Yonder — I wallow, delighted,

In its ‘Profane Mundanity’, as of suburbs ..

Thereby … Layer by layer,

Defile my essence,

Peel my substance,

My shell —

Trueness that I had woven, tight —

Knitting it around my soul, my chi …

Skin me, ruthlessly,

With thy serrated fingers,

Thy nails, brusquely,

Piercing, even beforehand …

Shed that brittleness,

Of trifling I do garb —

In thine eyes ..

Bearing down the scab, smugly,

Astutely scaling my picket,

Sousing the crust it held, for years, in place,

Uncase the nakedness, unrivaled beyond any eon,

To find, and thus learn —

Not what thee did much presume, anticipated,

But what I held subliminally — to proffer,

Maybe, some unripe but honed, nothingness,

Ah … Just a darling … Relic … ‘Naught’!

~ .. Ki … ~

Picture Credit: Sanjay Pandita

~ .. Ki … ~

*

Muqammal se bahane, zidd thi, tujh se door jaane ki,

Kyon badhti gayin becheniyan, tere hi paas aane ki ?

**

Qadam dar qadam, jo tujh se ‘gar yun raabta kiye,

Ek justuju rakhi, parwaz e takhayul'(flight of imagination) milaane ki ..

***

Mannat ke shajar pe, bandhe mutmaeen(satisfied) dhaage kayi,

Mustafeed(avail) na hone payi, koshish thi tujh ko paane ki ..

****

Na hui rangrezz, phir bhi rung daala lafz, tahammul(endurance),

Tarkeeb rahi, yak tarfa, tasveer e nisbat(relation) rungaane ki ..

*****

Tahreer(script/draft) khud ke khawaabon ki, ab tu khud hi likha kar,

Na mazeed(extra) taaqat rahi, lafz balafz tafseer(detail) sunaane ki ..

******

Meelon lamba safar taye kar, muhabbat ghar lauti hai,

Mehsoos hoti hai ab, zaroorat, uss par haq jataane ki ..

*******

Kuredti thi main mitti, har mausam ke guzar jaane pe,

Aarzoo e haqiqi rahi, qabr e alahaidgi, yun banaane ki ..

********

Ilzaam usse de, haq talfi kare jo bayaan e tanhai se,

Faqat khawaish meri, tishnagi ko maiy se sulaane ki ..

*********

Ahmaq(fool) hain woh, jinhain maiy-khwaar(drinker) yun khalte hain,  

Maiy-khanaah ki peshkash sirf, farmayish pe dubaane ki ..

**********

Taaree hai mujh par bhi, junoon e ishq, tujh sa hi ab,

Inaayat kar, apne haath se hi, aab e hayaat pilaane ki ..

***********

Rukh e habeeb(beloved) se raqeeb(enemy) ka sa qaraar, kis pahar ‘ainy’ ?

Kya kaatib(scribe) ki marzi hai, Shamal(north) aur Janoob(south) milaane ki ?

************

~ Old Readings … ~

~ Old Readings … ~

Muslin-tongued ..

Solemnly sequined,

Softly spangling,

Braided fringe,

Of thy twisted, knotted, thespian words ..

It’d lace, silvery,

Contouring,

Pottering about,

Thy small bonny face,

For ..

A writer — that I’m …

I’d only read blue-black ink,

Since horse-and-buggy-days,

Sometime, so red and green, too,

Or … Could …

Just Braille-trace,

Someone ..

And now,

It should austerely be,

Thee! 

~The Boy ~

~The Boy ~

In the densely dull dark, next alleyway,

Who has curled chafed fingers — unwashed,

Uncombed greasy, sunburned hair ..

He, with his noiseless eyes,

Counting, tallying,

The crumbs of life, tossed unto him …

And —

His gold fishes,

Eyes open wide — gawping only …

Calling out,

Gaping,

Breathing,

Sucking in gratis air,

Boy, from untaken barren around,

Fishes, from the nude surface,

Calling out, again,

Gasping,

Filling their lungs again, with superfluous air, hungrily …

Calling out, yet again,

They want food,

To be filled, thoughtlessly,

Choking the wind-pipes, wolfing and devouring,

A little food, one morsel of anything .. something …

Hitherto … Fishes do not want these glass globes,

And their stale ashy water,

Bubbling their seemingly endless world,

But .. pond or brook, lush and leafy  …

Boy … such callow,

Wishes for a jar … an earthen urn …

To call it a home ……

Thitherto — with paradoxical desires — syncing,

They sit as one,

Waiting,

In the densely dull dark, next alleyway!

~ Ye Manzar .. ~

~ Ye Manzar .. ~

Pa gayin hoon sifat ek aaine ki, kya?

Rukh pe … sunheri parat charhaye ..

Ander se … khoob khalish liye …

Deewaaren, deemakh khaati,

Shikan numa, shikaasta wajood,

Purani mazaar si, dulhan ka,

Surmayi andheron sila pairhan,

Seelan lagi payalen,

Kamarband zung ka,

Bebasi risti choodiyan,

Karwaten leti, aadhi raat si, kunwari meri rooh …

Numaish ki …… talabgaar

Dhund idhar bhi … udhar hai par sone chaandi si …

Dhoop chunar odhe, nayi dulhan sa … aks mera …

Saat rangon main ghote lagaate, parinde wahan,

Sookhti tehniyon se bane ujaad gharonde yahan,

Sondhi khushboo liye geeli mitti, doob ki ghaans,

Mutmelii kumblaayi jadhen meri, idhar leti saans,

Baaghicha e saraab, parvaan e kaghazi parchaayin,

Khunaki e gosha e dasht, dum todta mera jism siah’i ..

Jaise hon woh, do chorr, dooriyan darmiyan liye,

Ek baras si lambi, khamida, udhadti dorr ke …

Kitna sach hai, kitna jhoot, Ye Manzar,

Kuch pata nahin …

Kyonki jo main hoon, woh gumshuda hai kahin,

Jaise pehchani jaati hoon, woh khayal hai faqat, apka …

Zamanat meri, paichid’gi e nazar e asal iss taraf, apki ….

Ji …. ek aaina hi, hui hoon main …. Shayad ……….

~ Serenading your unsung Aubade, Love … ~

~ Serenading your unsung Aubade, Love … ~

Hide N’ seek,

Shall we austerely play again?

In the shrubby courtyard of our ripen romance,

Entwined in alleys of ardor, winding in lanes, so coy,

Iron gates of curbs and bends, Oh so impasse ..

Who shall be meek?

You, me, or this noon so bleak?

Blindfolding US again,

One more lie, let’s so pretend,

I shall sheepishly Serenade, ‘I love you, baby,

Deeper, richer, thicker than,

Even when this silky azure shall wan ..’

Behind that blushing pillar, a finger on your impatient lips,

Keep a fairer veneer, as if, nothing did I say ..

Softest sky only shall truly know, of our gloomy vow ..

Would you, too, coo an unsung Aubade, never listened to,

‘My Love, your breaths,

They keep me such alive,

That with every breath, I take your name ..’

I shall whisper in the echoing womb of the sea,

It was and never could be, WE …

This way, I promise,

We’d open, swirl and whisk our hearts — again and yet again,

And let the warm love ooze brimming over, froth and skim,

Without touching the other’s soul … may be …

So, I sing to myself as the babe twilight flits and Moon melts,

‘I love you, baby, dearer to my breaths … and much dearer than that …’

I said it, once again … Would you hear thither?

Hither, your unsung Aubade … I would hear … always!

~ Don’t wanna go … ~

~ Don’t wanna go … ~

Going away,

Is what I despise ..

Not that,

I've been in love with you,

Nor even,

I love you — now,

But maybe, someday,

Heeding to your softest murmurs,

I'd have,

Fallen for you,

Like a wishing star, so lone,

In a distant sky,

Achingly gazing at you,

From a distance, afar ...

Had I stayed,

Any longer,

Any more,

On the other side,

Of the door, ajar!

~ .. na raha … ~/ ~ .. no more … ~

~ .. na raha … ~

*

Murawwat O waasta, usse, bay-tadbeer na raha,

Taab e nigah e muhabbat, wo’ yak tasveer na raha ..

**

Raaz-o-niyaz ka hona, kabhi khawab khawab tha,

Chup chup ke mustafeed hona, ab taqdeer na raha ..

***

Goya chaahat thi iss taalib ki, likhna, aab-e-zar se,

Mazkoor jo kiya daerah e raaz, to’ tahreer na raha ..

****

Chashm-barah phirte they, raazdaan karen kise kise,

Yun barhena hue fir raaz, rawaaj e taa'beer na raha ..

*****

Laaghar la'ilaaj tajribah hi aksar raahat-e-jaan hua,

Warna e'jaaz-e-maseehaaee ho, aisa taqreer na raha ..

******

Zindaan e justuju main, yun humain, aseer na karo,

Mana daad-faryaadi hone se bada, fir taqseer na raha ..

*******

Faaqah-mast rehne do, na jalo ab iss bay-parwahi se,

Zauq e khuraag e rooh kahan, ki aisa takseer na raha ..

********

Daakhila mile ‘ainy’ jo ‘gar, shaukiya mujtahid banen,

Khair, mausiki e ishq hai, aisa nazahir tafseer na raha …

*********

~ .. no more … ~

*

Being close, seeing him, is by chance no more,

My aflame eyes in love, he, a picture no more ..

**

Having an intimate talk, once such a fantasy,

Secretly earning his presence, a fate no more ..

***

His adorer, desired to write him, in ink of gold,

Chronicling this secret’s orb, a script no more ..

****

Impatient was I, to reveal my secrets to whom,

So naked got they, a custom to predict no more ..

*****

Thin, too ill a experience, often comforted my soul,

To become a miraculous cure, such a speech no more ..

******

In the dungeon of desires, do not captivate me,

A fair appealer, even if I, a bigger sin no more ..

*******

Famished lover If, don’t you green-eye my blithe,

How to taste food of soul, such a filler no more ..

********

If possible, ‘ainy’, get in the school of reasoning,

Rendition of love, even if, a hidden sense no more!

*********