Dupatta Tera Saat Aag Ka: A Bilingual Poem of Seven Fires and a Scarf
Woh dupatta tum roz pehna karte the
Jisme shaamil tha ek patla sa daag
Chupana kaafi aasan tha
Jab tak koi na aaya chiraag
Ek din tumne mujhe woh dupatta diya
Aur maine pyaar se pehn liya
Magar woh daag seene mein phail gaya
Aakhir utaar kar maine aag mein kaskar daal diya
Woh aag pehla bujhne waali thi
Lekin dupatta ne naya josh jagaaya
Woh sholay kaise kapde ke andar se guzre
Ki tumhari aakhri nishaani ko mitaaya
You used to wear that scarf every day
It had just a little stain
One that was easy to hilde
While shielded from sunrays
One day you gave me that scarf
And I wore it in love’s name
But the stain spread through
Til I ripped it off and through it in the bonfire flame
That fire had been nearly extinguished
But your scarf gave it life afresh
The way the flame tore right through the cloth
Put out the last of your memory’s flesh
Leejiye Janaab: A Bilingual Poem of Welcomed Futility
Leejiye janaab, yeh fizool dastak
Aapke darwaaze pe khatkhataaye
Khulna namumkin na sahi
Phir bhi kaafi dhoop se chhaaye
Leejiye janaab yeh fizool dastak
Jo bhari mehfil ko bhar paaye
Jo de sake aisa mauka
Us rukaawat se kya ghabraaye
Take it, master, this futile knocking
Which comes rippling at your door
Impossible to budge, though it may be
‘Tis overcast with sunlight galore
Take it, mistress, this futile knocking
A full production of its own
With such opportunity engendered
The barrier is nothing to bemoan
benjamin, baby
born aged
endowed like a sage
growth casts its spell
stirring timeless regression
wrinkles vanish
youth imbibed
childlike lapses
to the prolonged fate
of a sudden infant death
gham gum ki khudkhushi: a bilingual suicidal verse
tere gham mere gham gum se jod do
gham-ball karke saare dum ko phod do
khushi lekar khud ko chhod do
tere gham mere gham gum se jod do
you are glum, i am glum, tape that with some gum
with a giant glumball destroy the prescient one
joyfully give to oneself true deliverance
you are glum, i am glum, tape that with some gum
vulnerability playlist
esoteric pleasures siphon downward
through a forlorn canal
no more remiss
acknowledging crisis
awakened languorously
to discomfort in incongruity
sound composure
changes composition
a legacy of upbeat juxtapositions
displaced by polyphanous harmonies
musical charades
of a confounded jugalbandhi
smears syncopation
reciting a new nomenclature
Khoon-Hawas Ka Aalam: A Bilingual Rock Ballad of Vampirism
Sab kehte use pardesi lekin sab hain uske pyaare
Uske andar hain laakhon ke rakht ke angaare
Koi de na koi suraag ya aakhir koi to ishaare
Kahi jaan kho na baithe uski hawas mein hum saare
Khoon-hawas ke aalam
Mein woh rehti hain
Sun hawas ke aalam
Sab yeh kehte hain
Woh ajnabi
Woh barbaadi
Khoon-shaarabi
Hain shaitani
Khoon-hawas ke aalam
Mein woh rehti hain
They call her a stranger but to her we all are dear
The fresh blood of thousands fuels the fire for her to sear
Oh please provide a clue, or some signal we can hear
Lest we lose our lives to quench her thirst, an abominable fear
In the world of blood-lust
Is where she resides
Yes the world of blood-lust
Don’t you hear the cries
She’s the outlaw
She’s the fatal flaw
Blood-thirsty jaws
She is Satan’s spawn
In the world of blood-lust
Is where she resides
Madhoshi: A Bilingual Tidbit of Delusion
jiske intazaar mein kho gaye kai raat
jiske bina na koi qaraar tha mere saath
na koi usme tha kudrat ka koi haath
man ki hi takhleeq thi — kya museebat ki baat!
the one in whose anticipation i slept
the one without whom no rest i kept
in that matter, divine interception was bereft
’twas my own mind’s creation — oh, how i’m effed!
khushboo-bhari yaad: a bilingual poem of love
barson baad meri jaan
aayi mujhke ek yaad
woh thi ek choti si
mithi si paad
after years my darling
a memory came to heart
it was an endearing
and sweet little fart
andhi hokar bhi mujhe
ehsaas hua uska
bade hole hole se
khushboo ghusa
though i was blind
its essence i felt
at a very slow pace
its scent i smelt
ab is choti si paad
se juda kaise hoon
mera ek hissa ban gaya
jaise mera lahoo
now from this small fart
how can i distance myself
it’s become a part of me
like the blood in my cells
