on languages: living or dying

on languages: living or dying

some languages die
with the practitioners
    others die
        when Time
leaves them behind
        and
some come alive
when scholars 
stroke their flickers

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

Outlook Magazine

@Outlookindia

· 5h

#Language Diary | How does it feel to be the last speaker of a language? Or to witness a situation where the person talking to you is the very last speaker of her mother tongue? #MotherTongue #IndianLanguages https://outlookindia.com/magazine/national/language-diary-an-ethnologist-s-view-on-dying-andamanese-languages-magazine-193650…

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round one

 round one

the match begins
emotions and thoughts
        circle the ring
throw punches
some hit, some miss
        bell rings
they return to their corner
        this is how
a poem or a painting
        comes alive

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

how times are changing my lovely

 how times are changing my lovely

          once
emotions were triggered
by your coy smile
or an ephemeral look
         today
in the age of covid
emotions are triggered
by fringe induced
political provocations

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

shaikh o brahman

 shaikh o brahman

brahman bur'h'um hogaya
jub oosnay yeh suna
ka'aba kay poojnay waloN say
kay ho ga'aye haiN
sub brahman, shaikh o zahid
hami farsooda nazaryat kay

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

khabardaar

 khabardaar

bacho oon kaay ghussay say
jinko zair e paa rakha hay
haq e ra'aye dahi say
                  mehroom
tay'aish maiN aaker kisi din
woh sub kuch ker jaiNgay

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

beware

 beware

when push comes to shove
    the underlings
        the disenfranchised
             wake up
become a powerhouse
beware of their fury

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

cyber storm

 cyber storm

mid-ocean
leaving a sinking ship
jumping on a lifeboat
with no oars
survivors wonder
if faith and prayers
work without
cyber connection

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

verbal diarrhea

 verbal diarrhea

his words meant a lot
     once
                 'meant'
lately
they have metamorphosed
into an avalanche
of verbal diarrhea
swallowed eagerly
by oblivious followers

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

#khanistas = #trumpistas

#earthday2022

 #earthday2022

it is earth day
'dharti maa'
'mother earth'
cries and carries on
like millenniums past
no happy-hour for her
and amongst us debate
banning plastic bags
and aerosol sprays
before turning in

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

@sheilabenson
Watching ... and waiting ...

not a love poem

 not a love poem

jub 'dil' aur 'dil' ko
zaire ki jagah
zabar kay sath paRhaiN
tou donoN dil
ish'q kay daldal maiN
phans ja'aiNgay

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

kal, aaj aur kal: yesterday, today and tomorrow

 kal, aaj aur kal: yesterday, today and tomorrow

kya kal aaj say behtar hay
   shayad
kya aaj kal say behtar hoga
   ger salamat rahay tou...

is today better than yesterday
   perhaps
will tomorrow be better than today
   ask me tomorrow

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com
   

poetry

 poetry

pearled words
that strike the heart
    and the mind
        simultaneously

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com


@TaraSkurtu
How would you define poetry?

toe tags

 toe tags

40 plus outside
     minus 10
          inside
edhi's mortuary
some on steel tables
more dumped on the floor
dreams untagged
         toes tagged
             names missing
soon to be embraced
by mother earth


#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

tasbeeh / rosary

 tasbeeh / rosary

cheekh cheekh ker dana tasbeeh ka poochta hay
kaun bata'aye ga mera  qusoor kya hay

puzzled
the rosary bead
wonders why
it is being crucified

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

the man on crutches

 the man on crutches

met this man on crutches
could not make out 
his nationality or ethnicity
   his face bandaged
      body bruised
only his eyes shone brightly
asked his name 
and offered a ride
almost inaudibly he said
'i am Truth; i don't need any help'

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

peeling orange

 peeling orange

wondering 
about this day
in history
how many dreams
were burned 
           buried
              abandoned
and here
am peeling an orange

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

silence

silence

silence is a blessing
in matrimonial contention
silence is a crime
in social, political struggle
|
خاموشی

خاموشی ایک نعمت ہے
ازدواجی جھگڑے میں
خاموشی جرم ہے
سماجی، سیاسی جدوجہد میں

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

another view

another view

from the spaceship
i float over the subcontinent
and see two divides
one a border lighted
the other between
the inhabitants
      of each country
polarized and distrustful
the putrid smell of hatred
reaches me up here

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

aadmi

 aadmi

yahaaN bhee aadmi
wahaaN bhee aadmi
maghrib main bhee
mashriq maiN bhee
          her soo'
aadmi hee aadmi
qehat hay laikin
insaan aata  nahiN
nazar kahiN bhee

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

گورا بھی آدمی ہے تو کالا بھی آدمی
بزدل بھی آدمی ہے جیالا بھی آدمی

سید محمد جعفری

politics

politics

azure sky 
lightening bolts
flashes of melancholy
turbulent unease
stunned 
we fight with flags

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

art in sports

art in sports

anna pavlova
mikhail baryshnikov
flying through air
as younus or mcgrath's run-up
azam or tendulkar's sweep
pele's kick
jahangir's shot
terry fox's run
they all
bring smile
on mona's lips

#tpoem

baithak.blogspot.com 

the eternal puzzlement

 the eternal puzzlement

do we create our destiny
or it is ordained?
destiny or free will
master or 

slave
or both?

#tpoem

baithak.blogspot.com

@sheilabenson · On a personal note, the events of the day have largely been outside of my control. Perhaps this has been a relief ...

a yarn

 a yarn

a yarn
sad or happy
dressed in silk
is still a yarn
disguised as a tale
with lessons
   to be told
      learned
         or ignored

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

riding into ignominy

 riding into ignominy

unlike old soldiers
riding into sunset
the fate of some
rosary telling born again
is not so rosy

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/948144-sc-to-resume-hearing-on-na-proceeding-case-today

acceptance

 acceptance

instrumental we are  
   being proactive
    gender equality, justice
     tactical nuclear weapons
      global warming
      conflicts in cities
is that enough?
enough is never enough
till it is wrapped
and buried six feet under

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

turbulent times

 turbulent times

what to do
in turbulence?
fasten seat belts?
but we are not airborne
and not really grounded
and the turbulence
emanates from ukraine
palestine, iraq,
india, pakistan
what do you do?


#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

bud'dah*

 bud'dah*

aqeedah
ibadah
shahada
sajdah
qaidah
purdah
prada(h)
khatmah
bud'dha
(both meanings)
judah

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

Zahida Rahim

@zahida_rahim

علیم خان نےبتایاکہ خاتون اؤل بشری بی بی کی سہیلی فرح بی بی ہرٹھیکے اورہرپوسٹنگ وٹرانسفرمیں موجود ہوتی تھیں۔بشری بی بی کی سہیلی فرح ایک پوسٹنگ کاتین کڑورلیتی تھی۔جیسےہی پی ٹی آئی کی حکومت کاخاتمہ ہوافرح شوہرسمیت یہاں سے تمام چیزیں سمیٹ کر پاکستان سےفرار ہو گئیں ۔

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funereal reflections

 funereal reflections

six under
chair or rocker
is not needed
just a coffin
or a casket
suffices

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

https://www.dawn.com/news/1683067/na-speaker-dismisses-no-trust-move-against-pm-imran-terms-it-contradictory-to-article-5

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/947136-cabinet-division-de-notfies-imran-khan-as-prime-minister

vanishing words

 vanishing words

way before words
grunts, groan, grumble
moan, murmur, sigh
communicated
and are lost in space
words (and art)
from times past
vanish not
they linger
to please 
acknowledge or haunt 

#tpoem
baithak.blogspot.com

@Nimmstweets

Words that vanish into thin air, where do they go?