POEM_: Two Stains

.



Years ago,
I found
a beautiful little firefly
and imprisoned it, in a cloth cap.

Bewitched,
I watched it for hours.

Next morning,
eager to see it shimmering again,
I opened the gates of his prison--
And found an ugly bug inside.

My ayah said,
come the night
he’ll shine again.
Our bahishti, the water-man, said
free him now,
he has been yours for a night.

Betrayed and dispossessed,
unable to accept
a single night’s connection,
I threw it on the cemented floor.
And quashed it
until it was no more
than a stain.

- Owais

--

This is first being published on this page.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POEMH: Ghazal - Aashiq Hoon / Kya Hai

Ghazal Aashiq hoon, ishq ke siwa kiya kya hai Na kaho, ke tum faqeer ho, diya kya hai Mehram bhi ho, haram bhi, haraam bhi Ahraam baandhe hoon, ab haya kya hai Aayega voh laut kar, phir mere hi paas Zingdagi khel samjhe hai, jiya kya hai Aashiq ka gribaan hai, kitne jatan karoge Sau baar hi taanka hai abhi, siya kya hai Tumhari hi chahat hai, baqi to bas hain Aakhirat bhi chhod doonga, duniya kya hai Sadqe tumhari pyaas ke yeh jaam surahi Darya hi sukhaya hai abhi, piya kya hai Hum se aashiq hain har dar pe hazaron Tu na ho mehboob to phir naya kya hai Sirf naam-o-izzat-o-daulat hi luti hai abhi Jab tum ho saath mere, to phir gaya kya hai Jaan, rehne do andhera kuch daer aur abhi Saraapa noor ho tum, mujhe diya kya hai Khudaaon ke Khuda khud ho, mujh se poochho Masjid ko jaao kyun, tumhen khuda kya hai Bhoolun main  khudi ko, khud ko, khuda ko Mujhko jo mil jaaye tu, to phir bachaa kya hai Khushdil ki khataon ko muaaf kaun karega Nafraton ka daur hai, yeh maajraa kya hai - (c) owa...
Read more

POEME: All I Ever Ask

All I Ever Ask My Sweetie, My Lamb, My Lover, You are upset.  Essentially with the whole world. He has hurt you.  She has hurt you.  They have hurt you.  Even, it has hurt you. You have a litany of grievances. And you are upset with me too, because I should also have been upset with them, if I, at all, loved you. But, Honey, you miss the point. I do not just love you. I worship you. I exist for you. But, beyond that, I love me too. And most of all, I love my heart. It is a sacred space for me. It is the sanctum sanctorum of all that which has sanctity for me. It is a place where I keep my treasures. Like the divine vision of the first day you asked me to dance with you. And the first day you swam with me. And the first day you asked me to hold you. In that, Darling, I do not keep all the uncountable hours and days and months and years when you were nasty towards me. The times when you knew I wanted you with me and you stayed away. Most often, while sitting right acro...
Read more

POEM_: Words and The Law

Literal is always right in the matters of the law, but always wrong in the matters of The Law. When dealing with things that matter not, the externals, quarrels must be ended through a clear edict, no matter how ad hoc.   For those are the matters of the humen.   Attended to by the human changeable law. When dealing with the matters of the spirit, the only ones that really matter; the literal will always lead one astray.   For the Immortal and Unchanging Law has existed much, much before Man ran riot on the face of the Earth. The Law is timeless. The Law cannot be defined, cannot be laid down. By humen.   It can, perhaps, only be understood, in a measure, by us. And since we lack a tool to really understand, we will always approach closer, or stray farther from It, but at The Law, never arrive. Thus the words will only corrupt our understanding of It.   Any words will only seduce us away; The Law can be understood only in being one with It.   Only on lo...
Read more