cocoon - draft ii

(caveat: not meant to hurt personal sentiments)

storms ravage
winds whirl              
              physical
              metaphysical
all around us

picking a flicker
from past millennia
only thousand years young
               deluding 

we're the chosen ones

refuse to come out 

               of our cocoons

storms ravage
winds whirl   

cocoon - draft i

(caveat: not meant to hurt personal sentiments)

storms rage
winds blow
physical
metaphysical
all around

picking a flicker
from past million years
some thousand years young
we selectively live
in our cocoons

chand sitarON ko bhool jao

mumkin hay

sitarOn say aagay

jahaaN aur bhee hON

(kaha nahiN oos nay 

kay hay woh 

rubb ul aa'lameen?)

woh sitaray

kay jin ki roshni 

a'bhee pohanchi nahiN hum tuk

phir adh shub 

oon sitarOn ko kaisay

gawah banaaiN hum

ger yaqeen ho muhabbat ka

to chand sitarON ko bhool jao

aur muskura do, paas aajao

phir dekhi ja'ayegi

a cabbie in karachi:

crawling through slogans
kashmir banega pakistan
said the perceptive driver
sahib, pehlay karachi
sindh, b'stan, kpk ko
bana laiN apna
phir dekhi jaegi

(a la friedman)  
(mujhay tum buhat yaad aa'aye tom)

a la friedman

a la friedman  

a cabbie in karachi:

kashmir banega pakistan
sahib pehlay karachi
sindh, b'stan, kpk ko
bana lo apna
phir dekhi jaegi

horn

ingrained

in our DNA

wittingly, or ...

we blow horns

some of our manufacture

others, mostly

touting defunct dogmas

sehra navard - desert dweller/wanderer (draft i)

belonging 
is au courant
it and transient homes
seldom coexist

deluding
we belong
in a perceived universe
and its rusted ideals

when reality lightening strikes
creeping under the security blanket 
of tethering walls, fragile beliefs
nestled in straw houses
spread far and wide
over towns, cities 
                         and continents

as wrinkles appear and bones begin to creak
we reminisce the futility
of wandering in the desert

a sudden calm descends
                          momentarily
all is not in vain
we reassure
dust to dust
ashes to ashes
we become
another footnote

horn draft i

ingrained
we blow horns
wittingly, or ...
some touting ambition
others defunct dogmas

barfani sehra

is barfani sehra maiN tu maiN aur andaishON wahimON ki bahar

aik do teen

shaikh o brahmin, rabbi ya padre 
baat daire ki hO, kaabay kaleesa ki 
bOl inkay sitaraOn ko choothay haiN 
fay'el haiN pastiON maiN ghota-zun 

rahaiN  mukhtalif laikin manzil aik
aur sub logON per havi teesri aankh 

dO ankhON say sub mullah o pandit 
aik hee manzil, aik such, aik haqeeqat 
ki joostujoo maiN kOshaaN haiN sad'a 
bhool jatay haiN apni teesri aankh ko


phir yeh kaisa ajooba hay Ya'rub 
kyuN yeh teray meray darmiaN 
nafratON ki khaleej phaliatay haiN

matla ab'r aalood

yeh badal bhee
barsay baghair
guzar jaiNgay

tamanna
dar'd
aur khalish
misl e saaya
saath rahaiNgay

floating clouds

these clouds
                 too
shall betray

pass us by
without downpour

leaving
hopes
desires
dreams
unquenched

ozymandiased

two exclamations rising high symbols of pride once ozymandiased by the deluded #tpoem http://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/core-poems/detail/46565 …

temporal added,

Old Pics Archive @oldpicsarchive

Construction of The Twin Towers, 1970 / Selected Photos, (30 rare pics) http://bit.ly/29USiEz

jahangir park

once a beautiful park
                             in sadar
near the empress market
now resembles post war dresden
a post-apocalyptic
once beautiful park

i don't have a voice

please write
how can i?
pen and paper
or pc
but i don't have a voice
words emanating from soul
need no sound or thunder
understand that
but i don't have a voice

flicker at dusk i

in the dust
and free flying garbage
by the wayside
they sat on a mat
and were fed
a square meal

dO lafzON ki kahani

aa'aye
ga'aye

chalay 
rukay

hansay
rO'aye

likha
mitaya

long haul flight

this night too

shall pass

             

fervent hopes

fall by wayside

the infants

by cosmic design

are chasing

a Guinness

for crying out loud

lightening

lightening

it is lightening

nor defunct dictate

from a by gone era

that is indiscriminative

bijli

deen nahiN bijli hay
jo bila imtiaz
khaas o aam
per girti hay

coins

coins dropped
in a beggar's bowl
(or a fountain)
are gestures
that solve nothing

intiha e khood-faraibi

recycle, reuse, reduce

deserted downtown

flying papers 

(from fallen trees)

flowing out 

from an overturned bin

a municipal logo on the side

proclaiming

recycle,  reuse, reduce

intiha e khood-faraibi

ger aap bura na maanaiN
jo chund sikkay dalay haiN
ghairatmund kay kashkOl maiN
(zaati)
kaavish ka badal nahiN 

safar e na'tamam

inkar nahiN
haqeeqate e safar say

musafir haiN hum
from womb to grave
travel is destiny
whether we trot the globe
or stay put in the village

khadshaat
wahimay
muskilaiN
sub hissa haiN
zindagi kay safar ka

sub say nabar'd aazma
hosakhta hooN
laikin
ger saath ho jahilouN ka
to safar insufferable bun jata hay

where are you

i

are you in the infant's smile?
the infant that turns into an urchin?
a boy soldier in rwanda
an un-blossomed hate carrier
willing to blow up 
innocent bystanders
innocence robbing innocence?

ii

are you in the clouds?
that lazily float away making faces
or the one that quenches earth's insatiable thirst
sea, land, mountain, snow, rivulet, stream, river, sea?
in the lotus contently floating in the pond
in the plucked flower in her hair
in the garlands around deities
in the flowers in a painting
or adorning the cemetry
creator's creature creating

iii

are you in that sought after smile
behind every painted mask
plastered all over?
                            
we strive to find the face
behind that seductive smile 
that leads astray with promises
the smile that eludes
the smile that stares

iv

are you in the surreptitious smile
that plays on bush bin laden's face
or the one that went awol from adolf's?
are you  in the earnestness 
of the cobbler's gaze
in the shade 
in the glide of the eagle
or the scream of a swallow in his claws

v

you cannot be in that swallow 
that died in my hands
and was ceremoniously buried

if you created intolerance, hatred and death
why did you bother with smiles?
why did you bother at all?
why are you smiling now
                                  you mayhem maker?

where are you? v

v

you cannot be in that swallow 
that died in my hands
and was ceremoniously buried

if you created intolerance, hatred and death
why did you bother with smiles?
why did you bother at all?
why are you smiling now
                                  you mayhem maker?

where are you? iv

iv

are you in the surreptitious smile
that plays on bush bin laden's face
or the one that went awol from adolf's?
are you  in the earnestness 
of the cobbler's gaze
in the shade 
in the glide of the eagle
or the scream of a swallow in his claws

where are you? iii

iii

are you in that sought after smile
behind every painted mask
plastered all over?
                            
we strive to find the face
behind that seductive smile 
that leads astray with promises
the smile that eludes
the smile that stares

where are you? ii

ii

are you in the clouds?
that lazily float away making faces
or the one that quenches earth's insatiable thirst
sea, land, mountain, snow, rivulet, stream,river, sea?
in the lotus contently floating in the pond
in the plucked flower in her hair
in the garlands around deities
in the flowers in a painting
or adorning the cemetry
creator's creature creating

where are you? i

i

are you in the infant's smile?
the infant that turns into an urchin?
a boy soldier in rwanda
an un-blossomed hate carrier
willing to blow up 
innocent bystanders
innocence robbing innocence?

thaktay nahiN dohratay hu'aye

thaktay nahiN
dohratay hu'aye
insha allah
maasha allah
subhan allah
alhamd o lillah
thaktay nahiN
dohratay hu'aye

aaj batay hee day
aye rehman o rahim
hay kahaaN tu

jumhooriyat kay maray

hum
neem tareek rahouN maiN 
nahiN maray ga'aye

hum
kohrelay ujalON maiN
diin dahaRay
votON ki chabook say
maray ga'aye