scattered leaves

scattered leaves carried by the wind
clouds with faces and forms floating away
words whipped into frenzied submission
long haul truck's dusty imprint lingering
highway hypnosis or
dreamy mirages of the subconscious

kal shubb adh mah ki chandni her sooí
aaj puray suraj ki tamazat
kal bhee woh tha yaheeN
aaj bhee hay woh kaheeN

wonderment ensconcing bewilderment
natureís predictable nature

ana ya wajood
fehmi ya adraak -- khoosh ya bud
kauN batai'ga
chandni bhala kis chandini maiN khailti hay
chand kis chanda per mit'ta hay
shama kis sa'aye ki muntazir hay
andhera kis chiraagh ko dhooNdta hay
yeh ujala kyuN itna muheeb hay
naz'r kyuN naz'r aatee nahiN
yeh shish-jehat tariki
kyuN ujalay ko youN jakaRti hay
shikanj e zeest maiN

in the humid whirlpool of nightmares
fission of dreams, desires, doubts
emerging, merging, submerging
laughing, dodging, hurting,
reconciling, deluding, fusing
unrequited dues of divinity
with wary aversion the living pay
taxes on the air they breathe

ahl-e-nashaiman ka daríd
kaisa hay, kya hay ilaaj
hum na samjhaiN haiN phir
samjhaiN kya khak

hay bus maiN kahaN humaray
dar'd-e-zindagi na koi ilaaj-e-zeest
utaro saleeb say kisi maseeha ko
zehín kay aasmaaNouN say kisi mehdi ko

and though the leaves are scattered
the forests are petrified
hard as triassic rock
once living
............still living
though more dead...
(rev 01/28)

tiredness

crawling
walking
slower and faster
crushing ground

markers and milestones
appear
.......only to fade

cumulative tiredness
..........catches up
with forlorn shadows
they bond in mind
to part when...

gods

blue?
gold?
green?
unseen?
yours?
hers?

chalay ga
her khuda
her bhagwaan
chalay ga

srif muskurahta ho
warna hum tumhaiN
hee khuda maan laiNgay
tum mano
ya na mano

tazabzoob

shubb oos moorti ki
eebadat maiN guzri
aaj is maikhanay maiN
janay kis boot ka
samna hoga

cyber bravado

delusions
nourished
on hotter air

mudfun

milay gi najaat kub
maflooj-kun saayouN say?

kaisi hay yeh kashish
manON malbay talay bhee
choRtay nahiN yeh saath
yeh khayal labouN per
karta hay oojager
ik khafeef muskurahat
yehi waq't hay dosto
sa'aye say rukhsati ka

a'jub mushkil

a'jub mushkil hay
samnay jo pahaR hay
kum bakht humari hee
raftar say
qadam mila ker chalta hay

?

kabhi
kisi nay
kali ya phool
say bhee poocha?

A Wounded Cat in a Sack - Translation of Saqi Farooqi Poem by Hifzul Kabir Qureshi

Jan Mohamed Khan
The going is not easy
In this gunny sack
Itís suffocating.
Firm jute strands pierce the heart;
And in the yellow bowls of eyes
Moon coins cling
Night creeps through the body

Today
Who would strike a fire
On your bare back?
Who would fan the embers?
Who would blossom the bloody flowers of struggle?

I have no strength in my fire scratching claws
Today, the going is not easy.
Soon
This path will break and fall into a dirty pond.
I will go to sleep
Holding the solitude of my coffin
Becoming one with water.
You alone must keep on going
In a deep sleep must keep on...
You cannot recognize though
The empty invisible sack you are in.
Jan Mohamed Khan
The going is not easy.

Khali Boray MaiN Zakhmi Billa - Saqi Farooqui

Jan Muhammed Khan
_________________safar aasaan nahiN
dhaan kay is khali boray maiN
_________________jaan ulajhti hay
putt-sun ki mazboot salakhaiN dil maiN gaRi haiN
_________________aur aakhON kay
_________________zard katOrON maiN
chand kay sikk'kay chunnh chunnh girtay haiN
aur badan maiN raat phailti jaati hay ...

aaj tumhari naNgi peeth per
_________________aag jalai kON
angaray dehkai kOn
jidd o jehad kay
_________________khooneeN phool khi'lai kON
meray shOlagur punjON maiN jaan nahiN
_________________aaj safar aasaaN nahiN
thoRi daire maiN yeh pug'dundi
too'th kay ik ganday talaab maiN gir ja'aye gi
maiN apnay taboot ki tanhai say lipat kar
so ja'ouN ga
paani paani ho ja'ouN ga
aur tumhaiN aagay jaana ...
_________________ik gehri neend maiN chaltay jana hay
aur tumhaiN oos nazar na aanay walay boray ...
_________________apnay khali boray ki pehchaan nahiN
Jan Muhammed Khan
_________________safar aasaan nahiN.

Winds of Change

Election day is Monday January 23, 2006 in Canada

The perennial ruling party of Canada, the Liberals under Paul Martin are shadowing the resurrected Conservative Party under Stephen Harper.

Even the Bloc Quebecois - the separatist-nationalist party is feeling the heat from the Conservatives in Quebec.

Factors contributing to the change in wind:

* Voter skepticism
* Sponsorship and patronage scandals of the Liberals
* Uninspiring campaign by Paul Martin
* Focussed campaigning by Stephen Harper
* Bloc Quebecois also taking their support for granted in Quebec
* Immigrant voters veering away from Liberals
* NDP, the third national party dithers (first Layton attacks Conservatives, then switches to Liberals)

poems by Vivek Narayanan

an excerpt from:

FERNANDO PESSOA IN DURBAN
(to Derek Walcott)


The man who sleeps in your mother's bed
drinks tea with the British ambassador so

the house is kosmos enough. In one room a calliope
like an engine plays; in another, a stone horse smooth enough

to ride or a carved wooden mask with a nose-hole
stinging skin. There's a monocle

and a pipe, a flyer for Ruth St. Denis, there's a feathery moth's wing
and part of a chewed-up but bright pink Europe.


(You tick in sticky names the pages of your enemies—
Plato, Ptolemy, Shakespeare, Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle

and the schoolboys who scrape you on the ground until your knees go red.
You see a girl playing in the street and feel pity.)



for those not familiar, if you click on his name above it will take you to the openspaceindia poetry site where you can read more poems by him

daastaan e safar

cc: kahaan haiN aap?
t: yaheeN kaheeN
cc: hibernating?
t: pause
cc: pause?
t: sabbatical
cc: from?
t: breathin'
cc: enough!
t: enough?
cc: enough deep thoughts
t: k
cc: where have you been
t: travelling
cc: pursuit?
t: chasing shadows
cc: beats chasing cars
t: (grunt)
cc: you were searching bushes
t: no, just the voice
cc: what did you hear
t: tire squeals
cc: you are nasty
t: no mean
cc: that too
t: am in no mood
cc: ok bring out the peace pipe
t: you will smoke?
cc: you are incorrigible
t: (shrug)