Poetry

Defiant

ब-ईं सैले ग़मो सैले हवादिस मेरा सर है कि अब भी ख़म नहीं है। मजाज़ Ba-een saeley ghamo saeley hawadis Mera sir hai ki ab bhi khum nahin hai Majaaz Despite the pain and hurt bestowed My head yet remains firm, unbowed.

Two lines to my heart

अब तू ही मुझे समझा कि तेरी रज़ा क्या है ऐ दिल तुझे समझाते हुए थक गया हूँ मैं Ab tu hi mujhe samjha ki teri raza kya hai Ae dil tujhe samjhate hue thak gaya hun main I’m tired of trying to make you see Old fool, what do you want of me?

Happy birthday to me…

I do know what it’s all about When every breath becomes a shout A grating, rasping, wordless sound I know the deeps where it is found This leviathan of my sea Who makes his torture known through me He rises up, he gulps for air Lets forth a scream beyond compare He screams so that … Continue reading →

Couplet from an old Hindi film song

वक्त़ ने किया, क्या हसीं सितम तुम रहे न तुम, हम रहे न हम। Waqt ne kiya, kya huseen sitam Tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum. Time wrought such a beautiful tragedy You changed so much, my love, and I remained not me.

You took my words with you You stole my rhymes away You cut my tongue in half So I couldn’t even say Metres at my command On tempo did I reign Words held in strict array When shall I rule again? You had no need to rob I gladly wrote for you And polyglot that … Continue reading →

Why I’m wordless at times…

A moment of courage A moment of doubt A quick look within A quicker without And then you are with me And now I’m alone And that’s how I forget All words that I’ve  known

Couplet (ख्वाजा Mir “Dard”) 

This couplet is taken from a ghazal about love, loss, and despair. The lines seem to talk about how lonely the poet feels, no one will even look at him. But scratch the surface and you realize why no one looks at him, they do not like what they see about themselves in him; he’s … Continue reading →

Ghazal (mine)

I don’t usually preface my verse. This is something I wrote sometime ago, I waited until I was in the mood to translate this into English, for those who read my posts but don’t know Hindustani. I’ve tried to keep a meter to the verse; this means, of course, that some of the couplets aren’t … Continue reading →

A mouthful of words…

Is it cathartic to bare your soul? Is there an up-tick from sharing the whole? When demons are gathered does it help to slay? Or are angels and demons best kept away?   I struggle for answers and find there are none. I look at the questions and there is just one. Does word-play heal … Continue reading →

Business as usual 

The hottest love is soonest cold The higher stakes, the faster fold  Love is bodies, bought and sold  A bastard trade o’erlain with gold