desi* malaise

 desi* malaise

desis discern
between plebeians
and elites
vernacular schools

and english schools
irony dies
when they pound
on reporters
who lament the bombing
of blue eyed blondes
ignoring the killings
of the black and brown
in the third world

*desi - sub-continental locals

#tpoem baithuk.wordpress.com

reveries ii

 reveries ii

wrapped in a cloak
the whirling reveries
pensive and pointed
pierce the subconscious
trouble the conscious
playfully dancing
to unheard tune
surrendering willingly
to be captured
by misty eyed
whirling phantom words

#tpoem
baithuk.wordpress.com

reveries i

reveries i

picking random thoughts
from the din at the bar
from the hushed whispers at the wake
from discarded notes and manuscripts
retrieving the reveries lost and abandoned
smalltime wordsmith composes
something new out of old
and calls it
whirling phantoms words

#tpoem comment baithuk.wordpress.com

war criminals

 

war criminals

in the news
war criminals
here, there, everywhere
putin, blair
cheney, powell, bush
both husseins (yes, obama!)
war criminals
here, there, everywhere
in the end just you and me
don't make it to the list

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

on writing letters

 on writing letters

wistfully recall the days
of registered letters
aerograms and postcards
writing with a refillable parker
pouring the heart out
then the  pensive wait
for the postman
progress, did you say?

#tpoem
comment  
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khatoot nawaisi

 khatoot nawaisi

kiya yaad hay woh zamana
thaa jub bay-sabri say intezar
kuch khatoot e yaar o butaaN ka
aab is cyber daur maiN
woh lut'f e intezar kahaaN

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

where are the sane voices?

 where are the sane voices?

here, there everywhere
save the mainstream media
look for them in dusty books
hallowed halls, sufi music
and most certainly in cemeteries

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

Sheila Benson @sheilabenson
Where are the sane voices ?

'watch the world go by'

 'watch the world go by'

watching the world whirl by

          like zubin mehta 

sitting on the embankment 

          at marine drive

taking in his childhood

switching that seldom used

"pause-button" *

to reflect, to ponder

as the world whirls by

#tpoem

(search for *pause button)

baithuk.wordpress.com

Syed Arshad Kamal

@syedarshadkamal

Recreational activity in Karachi is so limited that passerbys choose to sit randomly by roadside and watch the world go by..

@titojourno

@abbasnasir59

@DinshawAvari

@RashnaGazder

"The storm is blowing ..."

 "The storm is blowing ..."

so many storms
brewing in the tea cup
from ottawa to yemen
afghanistan to ukraine
the storm mutates
killing workers mainly
and the other storms
raging inside sensitive souls
killing with no respite

@sheilabenson
The storm is blowing ...

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

dreams in the time capsule ii

dreams in the time capsule ii

as the capsule was being sealed
a small dream escaped
i wait in anticipation
wondering if that dream
was about world peace
green revolution
more love, less hatred
gender equality
#AuratMarch
will wait in anticipation

#tpoem
baithuk.wordpress.com

dreams in the time capsule i

dreams in the time capsule i

time to dig up the box
air the folded dreams
discard and shed some
add fresh ones
rearrange them
in shapes and aspirations
and bury them
          once again

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

"i am not of this world"

 "i am not of this world"

is this a delusion
or a self deception
when reasoning
and rhetoric
fall by the wayside
and we are left
to console
the inner self?

@sheilabenson
I am not of this world.
#tpoem comment baithuk.wordpress.com

buchch ker dikhao tou hum janaiN

buchch ker dikhao tou hum janaiN

maan liya humnay
covid 19 say
aamad e flu say
ma'ashi bohran say
maholiyati aaloodgi say
aap bachch jao gay
laikin huzoor
buchch ker dikhao
siyasat kay in
thaikaydarouN say
tou hum janaiN

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

 

a'jub daldal hay

 a'jub daldal hay

shaikh o brahmin kay qissay
hus'n o ish'q ki hikayataiN
kahaaN haiN aur hum kahaaN
hijaab, taalim e niswaaN
hind o maghreb dushmani
is daldal say nikal nahiN pa'tay

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

all that tin box mayhem

all that tin box mayhem

and the river flows
down the plains
taking cognizance
of all that brews 
on the shores
nonchalantly

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

canvas untouched

 canvas untouched

untouched and unblemished
colors floating aplenty
     saffron, green
     blue, yellow
          black on white
          white on black
canvas ready
brushes dripping red

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

chessmen

 chessmen

ozymandias, tutankhamun
alexander, genghis
zarathustra, solomon
          did not know
they were not kings
prophets, sages, poets
          merely pawns
on the cosmic milky way

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

quail egg@aamanlamba · 11hThe chess board defines the chess pieces, what is the state of a piece off the board - a lost wanderer? What of the board, when all the pieces are gone?

trucks and tail lights

 trucks and tail lights

finally similarities surface
          for the lover
torn between two homes
there folks chase tail lights
here the trucks and truckers

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

maujib e ilzam

maujib e ilzam

ger zaeef ho yaad-dasht
aur woh hisaar maiN
yaad kay na aa'aiN
tou maujib e ilzam
kisay thehra'aiN

#tpoem
comment  

baithuk.wordpress.com 

tolerence

 tolerance

if t s eliot
sailed with an idiot
on a small galliot
would he repudiate
or go ashore saying
'come, then let us go'
and read the act riot
a la judas iscariot?

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

single national curriculum

 single national curriculum

if there is one book
to be taught
for all grades
(not revealed)
it would be
rumi and khayyam aside
kalam e ghalib
but who'd listen 
to a small-time poet

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

disambiguation

 disambiguation

from the windowsill
the plant wished
for the day
it will breathe in the garden
am no solomon
or would have replied
we share the same
covid conundrum

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

on darkness

 on darkness

the absence of light
when the sun is 18 degrees
below the horizon
or the blend
of the three primary colors
but that blackness
is more dark brownish
or the one that
fills the void in bigots
and generates hatred

#tpoem
comment  
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such tou yeh hay

such tou yeh hay

jaanay kis such
ki justujoo maiN
shaikh o brahmin
sada sargardaaN rahay
such tou yeh hay
kay such naapaid hay
ger yaqeen aata nahiN
tou pooch lijia'aye
kisi danishwar say

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

resilience

 resilience

hope, hatred or hunger
which is more resilient?
hunger hangs
hatred kills
hope surmounts
ask the children
when the mother
stirs an empty pot
and angels stir

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

"the next available agent will be happy to help you"

 "the next available agent will be happy to help you"

in future
this phrase
will wistfully remind us
of masks
washing hands
shortages
voluntary confinement
and lack of socialization

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

dost or dushman: friend or foe

 dost or dushman: friend or foe

(cliche alert)
in this day and age
the difference
between friends and foes
without inhaling or imbibing
is risk-prone
dost aur dushman ki pehchaan
mushkil hay is cyber daur maiN

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com

crushing dreams

crushing dreams

back in the day
father explained
son, these wrestling matches
are all choreographed
they are fixed
son looked away
from the screen
looked at his father
his eyes said,
'why do you crush my dreams'

#tpoem
comment  
baithuk.wordpress.com