the wrath of water i & ii

• “Rau mein hai rakhsh-e-umar kahaaN dekhiye thamey
• Na haath baag par hai na pa hai rakaab mein
• 
  
• (Age travels at galloping pace; who knows where it will stop
• We do not have the reins in our hands nor our feet in the stirrups).”
• 
  
• Asadullah Khan Ghalib - translated by Khushwant Singh

i

kis say gila karaiN, yeh kiya maajra hay

yeh roshinouN ka shehr, shehr e khamoshaan hay 

sukoot buland minarouN ki sada say toot ta hay

aur zinda lashaiN,  bay awaaz 

bay maqsad, sarkaiN naapti haiN

oofak kay par matlaashi aankhaiN

fasurdagi aur naummeedi maiN gharq

siskioun aur shikwon kay bojh talay

ilzamoun ki aah o fugaan maiN

kisi madfun junnat ki talash may haiN

complain? bemoan? sigh?

the city of lights has turned taciturn

silence cascades from under the minarets

the walking dead, doleful and diffident

wander aimlessly

gazing at distant horizon

through prisms of regret and hopelessness

anchored by unreleased sighs, queries

and inaudible allegations

for a disappeared shangri-la

kub fitrat, ya qudrat nay suni hay

zinda laashouN ki  faryad bataiyay

ii

when has nature answered

the call of the living dead?

door ik basti maiN

zindagi kay kuch aasaar haiN

oonki sarsarati siskiyoun maiN

kuch gila hay, kuch faryad hay

aur aisa mehsoos hota hay

kay natwaaN  ummeed ki devi maiN

abhi zindagi ki kasak baqi hay

in some far off town

some people are still alive

and their barely discernible sighs

reverberate with yearnings

carried over here by gusts of wind

their leaden hope

                        still flickers with signs of life